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ON THE 



raise his arms above his head and throw thdni 

 behind him to keep his balance." 



It is the quality of climbing, (and for which, 

 their limbs are so peculiarly adopted,) and not 

 the erect position, which is the attribute that 

 nature intended the Ourang Outang, and all 

 the ape and monkey families, exclusively to pos- 

 sess; as fully confirmed by the authorities which 

 we have previously quoted, as well as by every 

 individual who has seen them in their wild state; 

 and in this action they seem to excel all other 

 animals; running up with the greatest facility, 

 the rigging and masts of vessels, and the tops of 

 houses, when under human protection ; and in 

 their native regions, the loftiest trees ; and mak- 

 ing their summits their nightly abode. Thus the 

 forests, form the principal haunts of this extrar- 

 dinary race of animals, and in these, and in their 

 vicinity, they find the fruits, the eggs of birds, 

 the insects, and the seeds of vegetables, from 

 which their food is derived ; and it is in these 

 recesses that their young are brought into life, 

 and protected until they can help themselves. But 

 all these are physical circumstances only. The 

 most important fact to be determined is, how 

 nearly the Ourang Outang approaches our own 

 species in those intellectual qualifications, which 

 have elevated man very far above, and have bes- 

 towed on him that superiority, which he pos- 

 sesses over every other part of the creation. 



