GORILLA 



49 



British Museum gorillas by 2 feet, one hardly dares to believe that it indicates the 

 height from heel to crown, and that it does not include the length of the foot, and 

 further information is required with regard to this point. Even, however, if the 

 measurement is from the crown of the head to the toes, it indicates a monster 

 far exceeding the British Museum examples in size, and thus one of the biggest 

 examples of its kind hitherto recorded. 



Although there is only a single species of gorilla, yet this is divisible into a 

 number of geographical races, owing to the fact that their habitats are circumscribed, 

 and that there is no evidence that these animals can swim. Of the typical Gabun 

 gorilla there is a red-headed and a dark-headed variety, as there also is of 

 the race from the south Cameruns (A. g. matschiei) ; in the typical form the red- 

 headed individuals (the so-called A. castaneiceps) outnumber the dark-headed ones 

 by four to one. Of the south Cameruns race the skins are too few to enable the 

 proportion to be estimated. The race from the north Cameruns (A. g. diehli) is 

 distinct, and as it possesses a beard, it appears to be identical with A. g. beringeri, 

 from Kirunga, in German East Africa. Of another race (A. g. jacobi) the type 

 was obtained in the west central Cameruns, and is distinguished by the immensely 

 broad bones of the skull, compressed face, and large size. A dark-headed male 

 from the same region is one of the largest brought to Europe, exceeding the height- 

 measurement of the type of the south Cameruns gorilla by 4 inches, which makes 

 it 5 feet 10 inches high. The north Cameruns gorilla, which is of smaller size 

 than the rest, has a long black beard, and the whiskers, which in the other races 

 are ashy grey, are also black. 



It may be added that in the typical Gabun race the ground-colour is blackish 

 grey ; many specimens showing on the crown a mixture of reddish brown hair. 

 As they get old the males take on a whitish grey tinge on the upper part of the 

 thigh and the lower part of the back. These animals go in small troops, the young 

 males leading the way, the females following, and an old male, the lord of the 

 troop, bringing up the rear. When he has selected a resting-place he is fed by the 

 females. At night these and the young males sleep among the branches of trees, 

 forming a kind of seat of twigs, as chimpanzis also do. The old male takes up his 

 position at the foot of the tree, leaning against the stem. 



It is not always easy to distinguish between some of the larger races of the 

 chimpanzi and small gorillas ; but the following points have been recently stated 

 by an eminent anatomist to be distinctive of the heads of the two species : — 



" In the head of the gorilla the chief points of interest to be noted are the 

 prominent brow-ridges, the flatness of the nose, the remarkable elevations on each 

 side of the nasal aperture, the short but prominent upper lip, and the small ears 

 with inconspicuous lobules. The nuchal region is not depressed as in man, for in 

 the gorilla the great development of the muscles of the back of the head fills up 

 the space between the head and the shoulders. . . . The head of the chimpanzi is 

 smaller and rounder, and though the brow-ridges are very prominent and the 

 upper part of the nose is depressed, yet the physiognomy is very different, owing 

 mainly to the smaller size of the nasal alee and the long protruding upper lip. 

 The ears, too, are different, being very large. There is also a slight but distinct 

 nuchal depression." 

 vol. in. — 4 



