OEDEE OP QUADEUMANA. 601 



markedly distinguishes this Monkey from Man. The lower limbs, 

 besides, have no calves ; the hands are massive and thick, and 

 the fingers short and stumpy. The back of the hands is hairy ; 

 the finger-nails are black, thick, and strong. The foot is pro- 

 portioned like the hand of a giant. This foot is well adapted for 

 maintaining the bodj^ in a vertical position. 



The habitat of the Gorilla is that part of Western Africa which 

 extends some degrees to the south of the equator, and is traversed 

 by rivers. The natives give it the name of Ngina. 



The Grorilla has been the subject of lively discussions among 

 anatomists and anthropologists. Isidore Greoffroy Saint-Hilaire 

 has created for the Grorilla a separate genera to distinguish it from 

 the Chimpanzee — a Monkey which, according to him, bears more 

 resemblance to Man than the Gorilla. Such is also the opinion of 

 Mr. Wymann. 



Professor Owen, on the contrary, has claimed for the Gorilla 

 the honour of being placed next the himian species, and M. du 

 Chaillu shares his opinion. 



"It must be acknowledged," says this traveller, "that at 

 first sight, the Gorilla oflfers in every one of its traits something 

 more bestial than the Chimpanzee or the Orang. All the cha- 

 racters of the Gorilla, particularly of the male, are pushed to 

 exaggeration : the head is longer and narrower, the brain is 

 behind, the cranial ridges are enormous, the jaws are very pro- 

 minent and possess prodigious strength, and the canine teeth are 

 very thick. The brain cavity is marked by the immense develop- 

 ment of the occipital crests ; but the other parts of the Gorilla's 

 skeleton resemble that of Man more than any other Monkey. 

 After carefully studying the zoological characters that I have just 

 noticed, after having observed the kind of life led by the Gorilla 

 and its mode of progression, I am convinced that in all its 

 movements it more nearly approaches the human species than any 

 of its congeners." 



We hasten to say, nevertheless, that the opinion of Professor 

 Owen, who compares the ferocious animal of the Gaboon with Man, 

 cannot be admitted. An attentive study of the cranium of this 

 quadrumanous creature has led to its being placed far behind Man 

 in an intellectual point of view, and to rank, on the contrary, 

 among the Monkeys lowest in the organic scale. 



