MAMMALIA—APES. 67 
this is not found to be the case: and though the family of apes have, like 
man, their anterior hands free, and their thumbs opposable, though in a less 
degree, yet itis not found that their sagacity is superior or even equal to 
that of some other tribes of mammiferous animals. The structure of their 
body indeed enables them to perform many movements similar to those 
of man; but these, when they approach the usages of the human race, are 
in general the effect of mere education or imitation, in individuals with- 
drawn from their kind. Possessed of hands at both extremities, capable, 
were they directed by intelligence, of turning the soil or the inhabitants of 
the forests to their use, they aré inferior in sagacity to the beaver and many 
other animals which live in society. The social instinct of the apes, indeed, 
seems limited to the tendency which frugivorous animals have in general 
to live in wandering troops, for the purposes of mutual protection. 
The whole structure of apes marks them as essentially formed for climb- 
ing trees, and it is in forests, accordingly, that they are chiefly found. Their 
gait on the ground, and on all fours, as quadrupeds, is awkward and by 
leaps; and their head not being placed in equilibrium on the spine as in 
man, their pelvis being small, and the muscles of the thigh being attached 
lower in the leg, prevents their assuming the erect posture. Their’ very 
long arms and hands at both extremities, are, on the contrary, admirably 
calculated for their mode of life. 
The apes are lively, petulant, and extremely lascivious. They possess 
the talent of imitation to a great degree, and have the ancient generic 
denomination of Simie, from Simulare, to imitate. Condamine and Bou- 
guer, when making their observations, in South America, on the figure of 
the earth, were annoyed by domesticated apes, looking through their tele- 
scopes, planting signals, running to the pendulum, taking the pen to write, 
and imitating all the actions of these learned astronomers. Their intelli- 
gence is not, however, greater than that of the dog, though their imitative 
actions appear advantageously from their particular conformation. Their 
senses of touch, of smell, and of taste, are particularly acute, and seem to 
direct all their appetites, which are sensual and gross in almost all the 
species. 
Apes bring forth one or two young ata birth, after a gestation of from 
five to seven months, according to the species. The females carry their 
young in their arms or upon their backs, offer them suck, ainuse them, and 
sometimes strike or bite them, when they are dissatisfied. Among the 
Sapajous, or American apes with prehensile tails, the young seat themselves 
upon the haunches of the mother, preserving their equilibrium by their 
tail. The males are polygamous in the smaller species, but often monoga- 
mous in the largest. Their geographical range is extremely limited, and 
they are only found under the tropics in both hemispheres. 
