INTRODUCTION xxvii 



The last Family is that of Pongiioe containing the great Apes, 

 represented by three genera, arranged according as their species are 

 considered nearest to Man. In this Review the Ourang-utan is placed 

 lowest in the scale or farthest from Man; and the genus Pongo is 

 considered to possess but one species certainly, and one very doubtful. 

 The Author is fully aware that this opinion is by no means shared by 

 some of his colleagues, who would recognize a large number of species, 

 but after examining all the material of Ourangs contained in all the 

 large Museums of the world, the writer was able to discover no char- 

 acter that would prove the existence of more than one species. The 

 opinions as to the position the Ourang should occupy in reference to 

 Man have varied greatly yet despite the views of so great an authority 

 as that of his friend the late Sir Richard Owen, who would place the 

 Ourang before the Gorilla in its relation to Man, the Author, from the 

 result of his own studies, and the evidence produced by others, con- 

 siders that the testimony in its entirety shows that the Gorilla, low as 

 he may be in the scale of intelligence, has more of an affinity for 

 Man than the Ourang, while both are far exceeded in man-like qualities 

 by the Chimpanzee. The second genus then is Gorilla with certainly 

 two species, and seven subspecies of more or less distinctive value. 

 Pseudogorilla has one species, connecting Gorilla and Pan. The last 

 genus is Pan, containing the Chimpanzees, nearest in the scale to Man 

 of all existing earth born creatures. There are at present eleven 

 scheduled species and three not yet named, but how many of these will 

 eventually be able to prove their right to be regarded as distinct species 

 cannot as yet be determined. 



GENERA. 



The genera bestowed upon the Primates have been many and of 

 varied importance. Some of course are necessary in order to properly 

 recognize natural divisions of a Family ; a few are useful to segregate, 

 as subgeneric groups, certain portions of a genus which seem to have 

 in common, characters not possessed by other species of the same 

 genus ; but a considerable number of the proposed terms find no legiti- 

 mate place, and only help to swell the list of synonyms. In the follow- 

 ing arrangement the genera proposed are placed in the various Families 

 to which they belong according to the year in which they were first 

 published, beginning with Linnaeus in 1758, earlier than whom no 

 Author may be recognized. 



