Notes on a Skull of the Troglodytes Niger, 41 
III. Notice of a Skull of the Troglodytes Niger, Desm,, the Chimpanzee, 
found in a " Devil-house," Old Calabar, Africa. Bj John Alexr. 
Smith, M.D. 
The skull on the table was one of those interesting objects 
of natural history, for the exhibition of which the Society is 
indebted to the zeal of our Treasurer, Mr William Oliphant, 
and, through him, to the missionaries of the United Presby- 
terian Church at Old Calabar. It was sent home by Mr 
Archibald Hewan, the Mission surgeon, and was entitled by 
him the skull of an ape, taken from an old ^' devil-house" 
at the Guinea Company's villages, about a hundred miles from 
the mouth of the Old Calabar Kiver. It is the skull of an adult 
Chimpanzee, indicated by its general appearance, the calva- 
rium smooth and rounded, the partially obliterated sutures, and 
the full complement of teeth, well ground down on their sum- 
mits. These teeth are similar in number to those of man. 
The skull measures 19 inches in circumference, in the line of 
the alveolar processes of the incisor teeth in front, and the oc- 
cipital protuberance behind ; and rather more than 7 inches in 
length between the same points in a straight line. The skull 
of an adult male is described as measuring 8J inches in length ; 
this is probably therefore the skull of an old female, — the 
muscular ridges being but slightly marked ; the space between 
the incisor teeth and the canines is very slightly developed, 
measuring little more than 1-lOth of an inch. The charac- 
teristic high superciliary ridge of the Chimpanzee is strongly 
marked; showing at a glance the very vague character of 
any deductions as to the amount of brain, to be drawn from 
the extent of what is called the facial angle in a cranium 
such as this. This formidable animal stands some 3 feet 10 
inches high, the male reaching the height of 4 feet from the 
top of the head to the sole of the heel in a straight line. You 
are aware these creatures have been frequently described 
as reaching a much higher stature (it was believed with in- 
creasing age), but it now appears from the recent researches of 
naturalists, both in America and in this country, that there 
are at least two distinct species of Chimpanzee, inhabiting in 
one instance the same district of country, one of which is 
much larger than the other. The cranium now exhibited be- 
VOL, II. p 
