xiv] 4 TWO FORMS OF ORANG-UTAN 



orangs with a wide face and lateral cheek-expansions, and smaller 

 orangs without such expansions ; some have short, other have 

 long hair, and thus at least two or three kinds may be distinguished. 

 But for the naturalist the question is a very different one, and is 

 connected with one of the most discussed and disputed points in 

 zoology. However, I shall now venture to give my own opinion on 

 the case, in accordance with the facts I have observed and the 

 materials I have at my command. 



From a careful examination of specimens in the flesh, and from 

 the preparation of a number of skeletons with my own hands, 

 I have come to the conclusion that it is rare to meet with two 

 specimens of orang-utan perfectly alike, even when of the same age 

 and sex, and belonging to the same race. Professor Henry Giglioli 

 arrived at a similar conclusion after studying the series of crania 

 which I collected, now in the Museo Civico at Genoa. 1 



There exist, however, as I have more than once stated, two 

 forms of orang especially distinct from the others. One possesses 

 lateral adipose cheek-expansions and highly developed cranial 

 crests: this is the Mayas Tj aping. The second form, even when 

 perfectly adult, has no lateral cheek-expansions, and its skull is 

 devoid of strongly pronounced crests : this is the Mayas Kassa. 

 I do not attach much importance to the third form, distinguished 

 by the natives as Mayas Rambei, on account of its long hair. 



It is possible that in a remote past the Mayas Tj aping 

 and the Mayas Kassa were two quite distinct species, perhaps 

 having their origin in separate regions, and only later coming into 

 contact on the same area. The cheek-expansions may possibly 

 have been developed in those individuals living (during the period 

 of specific malleability to which I have before alluded) in localities 

 where there was an abundance of nutritious food, which was 

 devoured immoderately by them, and eventually stored, in 

 the form of fat, in their distended cheeks. On the other hand, the 

 Mayas Kassa at the same evolutive period may have lived in 

 localities where food was equally but sparingly distributed through- 

 out the year, and the need for the storage of fat did not exist. At 

 present, however, it seems hardly likely that the two races should 

 remain distinct, for individuals of each are found promiscuously in 

 the same locality, and even on the same tree. 



I am thus inclined to suppose that Mayas Tj aping can 

 give birth to young both with and without cheek expansions, and 

 to any intermediate form, i.e. with rudimentary " tj apings." Xor 

 do I see any impossibility in the theory that from a Mayas 

 Kassa a Mayas Tj aping may be born, just as a human couple 



1 E. H. Giglioli. Studi Craniologici sui Chimpanse, etc.; in Annali 

 Museo Civico di Genova, vol. iii. p. 56. Genoa, 1872. 



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