212 GORILLAS AND CHIMPANZEES 



that of man, but the teeth are larger and stronger, 

 and the canine teeth are developed almost into huge 

 tusks. One thing to be remarked is the great variety 

 of malformations in the teeth of this animal. It is a 

 rare thing to find among them a perfect set of teeth, 

 except in infancy. The cause of this appears to be 

 violence or accident. 



The eyes of the gorilla are large, dark, and ex- 

 pressive, but there is no trace of white in them. 

 That part of the eye which is white in man is a dark 

 coffee-brown in the gorilla, but becomes lighter as it 

 approaches the base of the optic nerve. The 

 taxidermist or the artist, who often furnishes him 

 with a white spot in the corner of his eye, does 

 violence to the subject ; and those who pose the 

 animal with his mouth open like a fly-trap, and his 

 arms raised like a lancer, ought to be banished from 

 good society. It is true that such things lend an 

 aspect of ferocity to the creature, but they are 

 caricatures of the thing they mean to portray. 



The ears of the gorilla are very small, and lie 

 close to the sides of the head. The model of them 

 is much like the human ear. 



I shall not pursue the comparison into minute 

 details, but leave that to the specialist, in whose 

 hands it will be treated with more skill and greater 

 scope. As my especial line of research has been in 

 the study of their speech and habits, I shall confine 

 myself to that, but the general comparison I have 

 made is necessary to a better understanding of the 

 subject. 



