250 PROFESSOR OWEN ON THE EXTERNAL CHARACTERS 



that in the Human foot '. The hallux in its natural position diverges from the other toes 

 at an angle of 60 degrees from the axis of the foot ; its base is large, swelling into a kind 

 of ball below, upon which the thick callous epiderm of the sole is continued. The trans- 

 verse indents and wrinkles show the frequency and freedom of the flexile movements 

 of the two joints of the hallux (PI. XLVI. fig. 6) : the nail is small, broad, and short. 

 The sole of the foot gradually expands from the heel forward to the divergence of the 

 hallux, and seems to be here cleft, and almost equally, between the base of the hallux 

 and the common base of the other four digits. These are small and slender in propor- 

 tion, and are enveloped in a common tegumentary sheath as far as the base of the second 

 phalanx. A longitudinal indent at the middle of the sole, bifurcating — one channel 

 defining the ball of the hallux, the other running towards the interspace between the 

 second and third digit — indicates the action of opposing the whole thumb (which seems 

 rather like an inner lobe or division of the sole) to the outer division terminated by the 

 four short toes (ibid.). What is termed the " instep " in Man is very high in the Gorilla, 

 owing to the thickness of the carneo-tendinous parts of the muscles as they pass from 

 the leg to the foot over this region. The mid-toe (PI. XLVII. figs. 4 & 5 Hi) is a little 

 longer than the second (ib. ii) and fourth (ib. iv) ; the fifth (ib. v), as in Man, is pro- 

 portionally shorter than the fourth, and is divided from it by a somewhat deeper cleft. 

 The whole sole is wider than in Man — relatively to its length much wider, and in that 

 respect, as well as by the offset of the hallux, and the definition of its basal ball, becomes 

 a " hand," and one of huge dimensions and of portentous power of grasp. 



In regard to the outward coloration of the Gorilla, only from the examination of the 

 living animal could the precise shades of colour of the naked parts of the skin be truly 

 described. The parts of the epiderm remaining upon the face of the subject of the 

 present description indicated the skin there to be chiefly of a deep leaden hue ; it is 

 everywhere finely wrinkled, and was somewhat less dark at the prominent parts of the 

 supraciliary roll and the prominent margins of the nasal " alae:" the soles and palms 

 were also of a lighter colour. 



Although the general colour of the hair appears at first sight, and when moist, to 

 be dark, it is rather of a dusky grey : it is very diff'erent from that of the Chimpanzee 

 (T. niger), being lighter and more varied in difi"erent parts of the animal : this is 

 due to an admixture of a few reddish, and of more greyish, hairs with the parti- 

 coloured fuscous and grey ones which chiefly constitute the " pelage ;" and the above 

 admixture varies at different parts of the body. The reddish hairs are so numerous on 

 the scalp, especially along the upper middle region, as to make their tint rather pre- 

 dominate there ; they blend in a less degree with the long hairs upon the sides of the 

 face. The greyish hairs are found mixed with the dusky upon the dorsal, deltoidal, 

 and anterior femoral regions ; but, on the limbs, not in such proportion as to affect 

 the impression of the general dark colour, at first view. The hairs are wavy, approach- 

 ' See, however, the difference between Homo and Gorilla in this respect (Memoir, No. VII. pi. 11. i,i). 



