30 



VERTEBRATES. 



and by indulging in a high style of living, it is diflScult to 

 determine. 



His thighs and legs are short and bandy, the ankle and heel 

 like the human ; but the fore part of the foot is composed of toes, 

 as long and as pliable as his fingers, with a thumb a little situated 

 before the inner ankle ; this conformation enabling him to hold 

 equally fast with Lis feet as with his hands. When he stands 



erect, he is about 

 fire feet high, and 

 can walk, but his 

 natural locomotion, 

 when on a plain 

 surface, is support- 

 ing himself along, 

 at every step, by 

 placing the knuc- 

 kles of his hands 

 upon the ground. 

 All the fingers, 

 both of the hands 

 and feet, have nails 

 exactly like the hu- 

 man race, except 

 the thumb of the 

 foot, which is with- 

 out any. 



When young 

 the Orang-outan is 

 very docile, and has been taught to make its own bed, and to 

 handle a cup and saucer, or a spoon, with tolerable propriety. 

 For the former occupation it proved itself particularly apt, as it not 

 only laid its own bed-clothes smooth and comfortable, but exhibited 

 much ingenuity in stealing blankets from other beds, which it 

 added to its own. The young Orang in the collection of the Zoo- 

 logical Society, London, evinced extreme horror at the sight of a 

 small tortoise, and, when the reptile was introduced into its den. 



The Orang-outan. 



