72 THE NOAIENCLATURE 



than the infant : He grows failer : The fupporE 

 of his mother is neceflary for a few months only : 

 His education is purely individutil, and confe- 

 quently as limited as that of the other animals. 



Hence the ape, notwithftanding his refem- 

 blance to man, is a brute, and, inftead of ap- 

 proaching our fpecies, holds not the firft rank 

 among the animals ; becaufe he is by no means 

 the moft inreliigent. The relation of corf)oreal 

 refemblance. alone has given rife to the prejudice 

 in favour of the great faculties of the ape. He 

 lefembles man, it has been faid, both externally 

 and internally ; and, therefore, he muft not only 

 imitate us, but do every thing which we perform, 

 Wc have fcen, that all the adions which ought 

 to be denominated /jww/iiM, are relative to fociety; 

 that they depend, at firft, on the mind, and af- 

 terwards on education, the phyfical principle of 

 which is the long intercourfe that neccffarily 

 fubfifts between the parents and children ; that, 

 in the ape, this intercourfe is very fhort ; that, 

 like the other animals, he receives only an indi- 

 vidual education ; and that he is not fufceptible 

 of that of the fpecies. Of courfe, he can per- 

 iorm no human adions, fmce no adion of the 

 ape has the fame principle, or the fxme delign. 

 V/ith regard to imitation, which appears to be 

 the moft rtriking character of the ape-kind, and 

 which the vulgar have attributed to him as a pe- 

 culiar talent, before we decide, it is neceflary to 

 inquire whether this imitation be fpontaneous or 

 forced. Does the ape imitate us from inclina* 



tion, 



