74 
gether, is the same as in man; but the development of a pair 
of ribs to the first lumbar vertebra, which is an exceptional 
occurrence in Man, is the rule in the Gorilla; and hence, as 
lumbar are distinguished from dorsal vertebre only by the 
presence or absence of free ribs, the seventeen “ dorso- 
lumbar” vertebre of the Gorilla are divided into thirteen 
dorsal and four lumbar, while in Man they are twelve dorsal 
and five lumbar. . 
Not only, however, does Man occasionally possess thirteen 
pair of ribs,* but the Gorilla sometimes has fourteen pairs, 
while an Orang-Utan skeleton in the Museum of the Royal 
College of Surgeons has twelve dorsal and five lumbar verte- 
bre, asin Man. Cuvier notes the same number in a Aylo- 
bates. On the other hand, among the lower Apes, many 
possess twelve dorsal and six or seven lumbar vertebre ; the 
Douroucouli has fourteen dorsal and eight lumbar, and a 
Lemur (Stenops tardigradus) has fifteen dorsal and nine 
lumbar vertebre. 
The vertebral column of the Gorilla, as a whole, differs 
from that of Man in the less marked character of its curves, 
especially in the slighter convexity of the lumbar region. 
Nevertheless, the curves are present, and are quite obvious in 
young skeletons of the Gorilla and Chimpanzee which have 
been prepared without removal of the ligaments. In young 
Orangs similarly preserved, on the other hand, the spinal 
column is either straight, or even concave forwards, through- 
out the lumbar region. 
Whether we take these characters then, or such minor 
ones as those which are derivable from the proportional length 
of the spines of the cervical vertebrz, and the like, there is 
* “ More than once,” says Peter Camper, “have I met with more than six 
lumbar vertebre inman. . . . Once I found thirteen ribs and four lumbar 
vertebre.” Fallopius noted thirteen pair of ribs and only four lumbar vertebre; 
and Eustachius once found eleven dorsal vertebre and six lumbar vertebra. 
—‘(CEuvres de Pierre Camper, T.1,p.42. As Tyson states, his ‘Pygmie’ 
had thirteen pair of ribs and five lumbar yertebree. The question of the curves 
of the spinal column in the Apes requires further investigation. 
