150 ANTHROPOID APES. 



of this surmise is rendered doubtful by the fact that 

 the ligament is not unfrequently absent in other 

 anthropoids. Moreover, the gait of all these arboreal 

 and climbing animals is extremely ungainly. 



The muscular system of anthropoid apes is very 

 interesting. I must necessarily refrain from giving 

 a detailed account of it, and will only mention 

 some points in connection with this organic system, 

 and their relation to corresponding points in the 

 muscular system of man. I rely partly on the 

 researches of others, and partly on my own. The 

 amount of " material which has been collected up 

 to this time is, unfortunately, too scanty to enable 

 us to draw satisfactory conclusions in all cases. 

 We are often unable to decide whether the con- 

 ditions presented to us in the case of anthropoids 

 are normal or exceptional. Nor are the statistics of 

 muscular variations in the human subject by any 

 means firmly established. My own labours in this 

 direction are not yet concluded. The assertions on 

 the subject which have been published to the world 

 and accepted as authoritative have already been 

 shown to be to some extent untrustworthy. Even 

 the little which I am now able to produce may not 

 altogether stand the test of subsequent research. 

 Bruhl justly remarks that in no department of 

 anatomy more than in tbat which treats of the 

 muscles, is it more essential that we should not 

 decide whether a form is normal or exceptional until 

 it has been repeatedly examined.* 



The cranial muscles of anthropoids are formed 



* Wiener mediciniscjie Wochenschri/i, p. 4 : 1871. 



