ANATOMICAL STRUCTURE OF ANTHROPOID APES. 105 



to trace it in the labouring population of country 

 districts in Europe. I have myself frequently 

 observed this characteristic in Canton Wallis, and in 

 the Lombard and Genoese provinces, through which 

 I travelled on foot in 1869 and 1871, when I devoted 

 special attention to this point. In Fig. 32 I give a 

 negro hand of a type which seems to be common 

 among the blacks in the inland districts of North- 

 eastern Africa. It can hardly be denied that the 

 form of this hand, which is certainly not flattered, 

 possesses the characteristics of a thoroughly human 

 organization. 



With respect to other primitive peoples besides 

 negroes, we have not at present sufficient informa- 

 tion, and we ought therefore to beware of pre- 

 mature generalization. The thin shanks, with 

 imperfectly developed calves, found among many 

 primitive races, and especially among the African 

 and Australian blacks, are often and not unjustly 

 adduced as an instance of their ape-like formation. 

 In fact, the general uncomeliness of these parts in 

 the races in question is one of their significant 

 characteristics. 



The anthropoid foot resembles in structure those 

 of other apes, including those of the New World, 

 and as a rule it differs from the human foot 

 in the flexibility of the great toes. It has, how- 

 ever, been justly observed that many individuals of 

 different races have been able to use the great toe 

 almost as if it were a thumb. Such persons may be 

 found everywhere. Men who have been born without 

 arms, or who have been deprived of them during life. 



