LANGUAGE. 419 



to the upright posture now and then, in order to see 

 some object at a distance, but supporting that posture 

 with difficulty, holding on to a branch with one hand. 

 They were slow in their movements ; their body was 

 almost naked, so scantily was it clothed with hair ; the 

 males had but poorly developed tusks, or canine teeth ; 



(the ears were flattened from disuse, and had no longer 

 the power of being raised ; the tail as in all great apes 

 had disappeared beneath the skin. This defenceless 

 structure resulted from the favourable conditions under 

 which, during many ages, these animals had lived. 

 They inhabited a warm tropical land ; they had few 

 enemies, and abundant food ; their physical powers 

 had been enfeebled by disuse. But nothing is ever 

 lost in nature. What had become of the force which 

 had once been expended on agility and strength ? It 

 had passed into the brain. 



The chimpanzee is not so large a creature or so 

 strong as the gorilla ; but, as I was informed by the 

 natives in that country where the two species exist 

 together, the chimpanzee is the more intelligent of 

 the two. In the same manner our ape-like ancestors 

 were inferior to the chimpanzee in strength and ac- 

 tivity, and its superior in mental powers. 



All gregarious animals have a language, by means 

 of which they communicate with one another. Some- 

 times their language is that of touch : cut off the 

 antennas of the ant, and it is dumb. With most 



» animals the language is that of vocal sound, and its 

 varied intonations of anger, joy, or grief, may be dis- 

 tinguished even by the human ear. Animals have 

 also their alarm-cries, their love-calls, and sweet mur- 

 muring plaintive sounds, which are uttered only by 



