130 ANTHROPOID APES. 



In the vertebral columns of the gorilla, the chim- 

 panzee, and the orang we may observe an incon- 

 siderable forward projection between the penultinate 

 cervical and the second and third dorsal vertebras. 

 In the region below the second lumbar vertebra a 

 similar forward projection may sometimes be observed. 

 The so-called promontory at the entrance of the 

 pelvis, that is, in the region developed between the 

 lumbar and sacral vertebras, which is remarkable in 

 man, is only faintly apparent in anthropoids. The 

 vertebral column is arched behind, since there is a 

 dorsal curvature (see Figs. 17 and 23). 



Aeby observes that the bodies of the vertebrae 

 aie tapering in the gorilla, and this is, in fact, the 

 case. In climbing, or when he goes on all fours, 

 the dorsal curvature of an anthropoid maintains its 

 position. This curvature is still more apparent 

 when the animal, in climbing, withdraws his body 

 from the tree, mast, or whatever it may be, and 

 bends forward his head. A similar dorsal curvature 

 of the vertebral column may be observed in men 

 who stiffen their hands and feet to climb up a tree 

 or mast. If an anthropoid holds himself so erect 

 as to be able to place his hands behind his head, 

 the dorsal curvature of his spine is necessarily 

 straightened, and indeed it becomes rather a ven- 

 tral curvature. 



The bony pelvis of anthropoids, with its high, 

 narrow, and projecting ilia, and the lowest lumbar 

 vertebrae deeply embedded between them, together 

 with the sacral and coccygeal vertebrae, which 

 directly remind us of the vertebrae of a rudimentary 



