THE KINDRED OF MAN. 633 



his race, and to how many metaphysical final causes has his speculative career 

 traced its way ? 



The orang is really not so stupid as appearances would have it, and it is an 

 interesting fact that the actions of the one in question once gave evidence — and 

 the only evidence the writer has ever observed among the lower animals — of what 

 seemed to be some understanding of death. Another orang had been procured 

 as a mate, and arrived in bad health ; it was exceedingly irritable, and though 

 weak from disease, managed to appropriate the only blanket in the cage, and 

 fought off the rightful proprietor whenever she approached. This, with other griev- 

 ances, caused Topsey to regard the intruder with marked dislike and fear. She 

 watched it from a distance all through the several days of illness, and the more 

 attentively as the last moments drew near and pain and weakness were showing 

 plainly their ravages, until finally, after a hard struggle, the little sufferer lay 

 motionless and dead, then, for the first time, she drew near, looked at the body 

 for a moment, pushed it with one hand, and then after putting her nose close 

 down against its face, as if to listen for a breath or any sign of life, she began 

 pulling from under it the coveted blanket which it was no longer able to defend, 

 and in the most satisfied manner wrapped herself up and laid down in peace. 



Much less opportunity has been afforded for critical observation of the re- 

 maining anthropoids — the gorilla and the gibbons — as few of either have been 

 kept in captivity; but the former may fairly be considered as not presenting 

 marked mental differences from the chimpanzee, and the latter seem in all re- 

 spects to be below the level of the others. 



In considering the proper station of man and these animals in the zoological 

 system, a brief glance must be given at the other members of the order to which 

 they belong. 



Three remaining families complete the group of Primates : the Catarrhini, 

 embracing all the monkeys of Africa and Asia, and the Platyrhini, inhabiting 

 tropical America and the West Indies. Besides these are usually included in the 

 order, the Lemurini, a large and ill-assorted group known also as Prosimias or 

 half-apes, all of which fundamentally are of the monkey type of structure, but 

 many forms of which partake also in the characters distinctive of bats, rodents 

 and insectivores. The two groups of old and new world monkeys are very well 

 distinguished by anatomical pecuharities ; thus in the Platyrhine group the nos- 

 trils are far apart and look almost directly forward ; there are no cheek pouches 

 for the stowing away of food, nor any of the brightly colored callosities on the 

 haunches, which are common to many of the others ; all the American monkeys 

 have long tails, which in many species are strongly prehensile. and serve almost 

 the purpose of a hand, while in all of Africa and Asia not a prehensile-tailed 

 monkey is known, and a number of species, including the higher apes, have no 

 tails at all ; in this group, too, the nostrils are close together and look downward. 

 The number and arrangement of teeth correspond to that of man, while the great- 

 er part of American monkeys have two more teeth in each jaw, and in those 

 which do possess the same number the arrangement is unlike. Geographically 



