104 THE ORANG-OUTANGS, OR 



require artificial heels higher than thofe of our 

 fhoes, 4. Though the orang-outang has thir- 

 teen ribs, and man but twelve, this difference 

 does not make him approach nearer to the ba- 

 ,boons or monkeys than it removes him from 

 man ; becaufe the num.ber of ribs varies in moft 

 of thole Ipecies, fome of them having twelve, 

 others eleven, others ten, &c. Hence the only 

 differences between the body of this animal and 

 that of man are reduced to two, namely, the 

 figure of the bones of the pelvis, and the con- 

 formation of the feet. Thefe are the only parts 

 worthv of confideration, by which the orang- 

 outang has a greater refemblance to the other 

 apes than he has to man. 



From this examination, which I have made 

 ■with all the exaftnefs I was capable of, a judg- 

 ment may be formed concerning the orang- 

 outang. If there were a fcale by which we 

 could defcend from human nature to that of the 

 brutes, and if the effence of this nature eonfifted 

 entirely in the form of the body, and depended 

 on its organization, the orang-outang would 

 approach nearer to man than any other animal. 

 Placed in the fecond rank of beings, he would 

 make the other animals feel his fuperiority, and 

 oblige them to obey him. If the principle of 

 imitation, by which he feems to mimic human 

 actions, were a refult of thought, this ape would 

 be ftill farther removed from the brutes, and 

 have a greater affinity to man. But, as we for- 



merh 



