156 LECTURE VI. 



not separately; tlie projecting anterior cushions, formed by 

 tlie bones of the metatarsus ; the vaulted juncture of the meta- 



Fig. 56. Skeleton of the Human Footj top view. 



tarsus with the tarsus, which equalises the weight of the body 

 upon the whole arch, favouring the raising of the foot and the 

 elasticity of the sole ; the narrow but high heel, which projects 

 but little backwards ; — all these peculiarities in the structure 

 of the human foot constitute it an important organ as regards 

 the characters diiferentiating man and ape. But here, too, we 

 must not forget that connecting links exist. The foot of the 

 gorilla is more anthropoid than that of any other ape, and the 

 foot of the Negro more ape-like than that of the white man. 

 The bones of the tarsus in the gorilla exactly resemble those 

 in the Negro ; the ape has the same broad, flat, low heel ; the 

 large toe is thicker and longer than in the other apes, but the 

 toes, on the whole, are longer, more moveable, and the thumb 

 more opposable. " The posterior limbs of the gorilla," says 

 Huxley, " terminate in a real foot, with a moveable great toe. 

 It is a prehensile foot, if you like, but no hand, — a foot which 

 differs from that of man, not in any fundamental character. 



