400 TWO YEARS ITT THE JUNGLE. 



that of the orang is with the fingers tighth* closed, and, when meas. 

 uring our dead specimens, we often found it an absokite impos- 

 sibiUty to straighten a single finger without cutting the tendon in 

 the palm of the hand. Thus, when an orang is asleep, the most 

 natural position he can assume is to firmly gxasp a branch with 

 each hand. 



Male individuals of Simia Wurmbii are distinguished by their 

 wonderful cheek callosities, each side of the face being greatly ex- 

 panded and flattened into a thick, semi-circular disk extending A^er- 

 tically from the top of the forehead to the angle of the jaw. This 

 remarkable feature is a sexual characteristic, for it is never pos- 

 sessed by the female orangs. So far as I have been able to deter- 

 mine, these facial callosities are purely ornamental, since they are 

 not controlled by voluntary muscles, and are composed merely of 

 tough, white, semi-cartilaginous tissue. In different individuals 

 these callosities vary in width from ten to thu-teen and one-half 

 inches. 



The skin color of orangs varies according to age, as follows : In 

 infants and all young individuals up to three or four years of age 

 the skin is generally chocolate brown, yellowish on the abdomen 

 and in the palms, while the skin sun'ounding each eye to the edge 

 of the orbit, and the entire muzzle, or jDrojecting lower portion of 

 the face, is of a more decidedly yellowish or raw-sienna color. In- 

 dividuals between childhood and middle age vary from dark-yel- 

 lowish to blackish-brown, the latter color largely predominating. 

 Very often the face and neck is almost or quite black, the palms 

 light-brown and the breast and abdomen mulatto-yellow. In 

 old specimens, especially males of Siin'ia Wurmbii, or the "mias 

 chappin " species, the skin is everywhere a deep, shiny-black, ex- 

 cept in the palms, where, from constant wear on rough bark, the 

 cuticle hes in several thick, calloused layers, and is of a du-ty 

 gray color. 



The hair of orangs varies greatly in color, quantity, quahty, and 

 distribution, and has no bearing whatever on the question of spe- 

 cies. Speaking generally, it may be described as brick-red, or to 

 be exact, of the color known to painters as Indian-red. It may be 

 said, however, that marked differences in color are found almost 

 entirely on adult male specimens. On all others, it varies but 

 little from pure Indian-red ; but on old males it often assumes a 

 faded yellow or raw-sienna color on the arms and legs. 



It is always longest on the arms, shoulder-blades, and thighs, 



