86 report — 1865. 



On the External Form of the Hand and Brain of the Orang (S. satyrus). 

 By Edwards Crisp, M.D. 



The injected brain of an Orang and the hand of an animal of the same species", 

 formerly belonging to the Linnean Society, and believed by the author to be the 

 largest ever seen, were exhibited by way of contrast with the same organs in man. 

 The measurements of the Orang's hand were as follows :— 



From the carpal joint to the longest finger 11 inches; across the palm 2 inches 

 ith ; the metacarpus 4 inches ; the middle ringer 5 inches ; the thumb 2 inches -^th ; 

 from the root of the thumb to the point of the index finger 9 inches. 



By these measurements, it will be seen that the hand of this ape is longer by about 

 4 inches than the human hand, and about 1 inch longer than that of the largest 

 Gorilla. In a large Orang, in the possession of the author, the measurement from 

 the tip of each finger, when the arms are extended, is 7 feet 11 inches, and the 

 same measurement in the animal in question must have been of much greater ex- 

 tent, exceeding that of any human giant. 



The brain of the Orang, when compared with that of man, presents many im- 

 portant deviations, not only as regards size, but especially in the direction of the 

 medulla oblongata, an important feature that has been apparently overlooked. In 

 the brain exhibited, as in Dr.'Rolleston's specimen, the cerebellum is not wholly 

 covered by the cerebrum ; and the same is the case in the brains of two Gibbons, 

 casts of which were exhibited ; but in the twenty-eight casts of the brains of 

 various Quadrumana the cerebellum was in nearly all covered by the cerebrum. 

 The difference in the number and figure of the convolutions, the want of lateral 

 and anterior cerebral development, and the more vertical direction of the fissure of 

 Sylvius Jiave been pointed out by different observers. Another very important 

 matter Dr. Crisp believed had been overlooked by all writers on this subject. As seen 

 by the brains of foetal monkeys, and monkeys at birth, which were shown to the 

 Section, it will be noted that the brain at this period is much larger than in the 

 human foetus and child at birth ; but it must be remembered that the apes and 

 monkeys, unlike the child, and like many of the inferior animals, are able to take 

 care of themselves, to a great extent, as soon as they are bom, and at once 

 evince a great amount of activity. The author controverted Professor Huxley's 

 statement in his Lectures at the Royal College of Surgeons, " that there was less 

 difference beticeen man and the anthropoid apes than between these and the lower 

 Quadrumema." The existence of a penis-bone in these apes, the author held, was 

 alone sufficient to disprove this conclusion ; he hoped hereafter to adduce abundant 

 additional evidence against this inference. 



A Description of Two New Species of Aporose Madreporaria, from Guernsey. 



Bi/ Dr. Dtracvsr. 



Mr. H. S. Ellis exhibited some Tiles with Young Oysters. 



On the Occurrence of the Bones of Extinct Struthious Birds in JS T ew Zealand in 

 the same Oven with those of the Boa. By the Rev. F. Hewlett. 



Notes on the Development of a Deep Sen Sponge. By W. R. Hughes, F.L.S. 

 The specimens, six in number, and each about the size of a large pin's head, 

 were dredged in the neighbourhood of Torquay, in the month of July 1863, and 

 were afterwards placed in an ordinary aquarium, consisting of a large round glass 

 pan, having a bottom of three inches of sand, and holding about a gallon and a 

 half of water. The aquarium was placed in a N.E. aspect, and the stones and 

 shells in it were well covered with confervoid growth. The sea-water in the vessel 

 was never changed, but fresh water was occasionally supplied to compensate for 

 evaporation ; it was always pine and limpid as crystal. The specimens continued to 

 develope, and by the month of December 1864 had each attained the size of a large 

 pea, and about this time two, which were originally half an inch apart, coalesced 

 and further continued to develope. By an accident, in the month of February 



