1841.] Asiatic Society, 837 



by better specimens. The number of perfect skeletons is 28, comprising several large 

 and valuable species ; besides vi^hich, we have nearly all the bones of the Malayan 

 Tapir, and of a large species of Whale, with a few belonging to some other species : of 

 skulls, there are examples of fifty-four species additional to the thirty represented 

 by the entire (or nearly entire) skeleton ; and the remainder of the collection consists 

 of a few specimens of Bats, and one of the Sylhet Mole, preserved in spirits, the frontlets 

 and horns of various Ruminants, and a few specimens of tusks and other parts, beino- 

 all that we possess of their species, and comprising those of the Narwhal, Hippopotamus, 

 Phacochcere, the molars of the Cachalot, &c. 



" It will interest Zoologists in Europe to be informed that the spoils of the identical 

 specimen of the Sumatran Orang-utan described by Dr. Clarke Abel in the 15th 

 Volume of the "Asiatic Researches," and to which so gigantic a stature has been 

 ascribed, are still preserved in our Museum, in so favourable a condition that I have 

 even had the skin cleaned and mounted, which has enabled me to examine the speci- 

 men minutely, and to ascertain positively the fact of its possessing the same cheek- 

 callosities as the great Bornean Orang-utan ; the omission of Dr. Abel, to notice 

 this conspicuous and unsightly feature in his elaborate description of the specimen, 

 has induced a suspicion that the remarkable character in question would prove not 

 to exist in the Orang-utan of Sumatra ; nor was I able to satisfy myself of the presence 

 of the callosities until the skin of the face was moistened and rendered pliable, when 

 they became conspicuously apparent. This will account for their not having been 

 remarked by Dr. Abel, as that naturalist took his description from the dry skin, 

 as 1 first saw it. The individual being merely adolescent, the callosities on the 

 cheeks had not attained the frightful extent of development figui-ed by M. Tem- 

 MiNCK, in the instance of the fully mature Bornean Orang ; nor had its beard 

 grown to nearly so great a length. With regard to the size of the animal, the 

 statement of Capt. Cornfoot, that "he was a full head taller than any man on board 

 (his ship,) measuring seven feet in what may be called his ordinary standing posture," 

 (As. Res. XV, 493,^ is an exaggeration to which I can only wonder that Dr. Abel 

 gave publicity ; the length of the body, from shoulder to ham, could never have 

 exceeded two feet and a half, and I suspect was even some inches less ; and the animal 

 was thus by no means of the largest size, nor probably quite full grown. I can perceive 

 in it no external difference whatever from the great Bornean Orang, and consider 

 them to be very decidedly the same in species ; nevertheless, in the only portion of 

 the skeleton of Dr. Abel's Sumatran specimen which the Society possesses, namely, 

 the lower jaw, there is a very remarkable difference in form from the lower jaw of 

 a male Bornean Orang of similar age, also in the Museum, — the ascending portion 

 of the jaw being half an inch less broad, while the alveolar portion is considerably deep- 

 er, especially in front, and the chin more slanting. I shall take an opportunity of 

 recurring to this subject on another occasion. That individual variation of form 

 occurs, to a considerable extent, in certain details in skulls of the Orang-utan, is now, 

 I believe, generally admitted by those who have had opportunities for observation. 



" Considering how many yeai's the valuable specimen which I have been noticing has 

 been exposed to the destructive influences of an Indian climate, hanging from the 

 wall of a room, it is consolatory to find that it is in no respect much injured by such 

 exposure, while it encourages me to hope that, with proper care and attentioB, the 



