APE 
mifchief, and deflroy both the eggs and the young. 
In thofe . countries, therefore, where Apes moft 
abound, the feathered tribe difcover a remarkable 
degree of fagacity; contriving their nefts with the 
iitmoft ingenuity, and placing them in fuch fitua- 
tions as may render them ieaft liable to the obfer- 
vation, or wholly beyond the reach, of thefe in- 
vaders. Thefe animals, however, are very different 
from one another; and their numbers, and various 
conformations, render it neceffary to methodize 
and fubdivide tlie genus. 
In the Ape kind, properly fo called, we fee the 
whole external machine ftrongly impreffed with 
the human fimilitude, and feemingly capable of 
the fame exertions : they walk ereft ; are without 
tails; and have flefliy pofteriors, calves to their 
legs, and feet nearly like thofe of men. 
In the baboon kind, or fecond divifion, we per- 
ceive a more diftant approach to the human form. 
Thefe, which generally go on all-fours, but have 
the power of erefting themfelves at pleafure, have 
fhort tails, long fnouts, and are pofleffed of brutal 
fiercenefs. 
In the monkey kind, or third divifion, which 
are removed a ftep fardier from the human form, 
the fize of the animal becomes much more dimi- 
nutive, the tail long, and the face flattifh. 
Ape, Large, Ourang Outang, or Wild 
Man of the Woods. Names given indiffe- 
rently to various animals, agreeing in one comnQon 
chara6ter of walking upright, but natives of coun- 
tries, and poffeffmg proportions and pov/ers ex- 
tremely difTimilar. The troglodyte of Bontius, 
the drill of Purchas, and the pigmy of Tyfon, 
have all received this general appellation; and, 
by fome naturalifts, they have been ranked un- 
der one general defcription. If credit be given 
to the reports of many travellers, we are, under 
this name, prefented with a formidable animal 
from fix to eight feet high; while others, of 
equal authority, make it no more than three or 
four. In this diverfity of accounts, we mufi: be 
fatisfied with blending the whole into one gene- 
ral defcription, having no reafon to difpute any of 
their relations 
The Ourang Outang, then, which of all other 
animals moft nearly approaches the human form, 
appears to be of different fizes ; from three to fix, 
feven, and even eight feet high : in general, how- 
ever, it's ftature feems to be much lefs than that of 
man; but it far exceeds him in ftreno-th and agi- 
lity. Travellers who have had opportunities of 
feeing feveral of thefe animals in their native foli- 
tudes, give furprizing relations of their force, their 
fwiftnefs, their addrefs, and ferocity; while fuch 
naturalifts as have viewed them only in a ftate of 
captivity, have chiefly admired their patient, pli- 
ant, imitative difpofitions, with that curious ap- 
pearance and conformation which render them fo 
nearly human. Several of the fmaller fpecies of 
thefe animals have occafionally been exhibited in 
England; but that obferved by Dr. Tyfon is beft 
known to naturalifts, having been defcribed with 
aflronifliing minutenefs and precifion. This ani- 
mal, in the defcription of which that learned phy- 
fician difplayed fo much ingenuity, was brought 
from Angola; having been caught in the internal 
parts of that country, with a female of the fame 
fpecies, who died before ihe could be tranfported 
into Great Britain, The body was covered with 
black hair, more refembling that of the human fpe- 
cies than of brutes; and, in it's different lengths, 
APE 
it bore a ftlll ftronger fimilitude to that of man j 
for, in all thofe parts where it is longeft on him, it 
was alfo longeft on the Ourang Outang. The face 
nearly refembled that of a man ; the forehead, how- 
ever, being larger, and the head more orbicular: 
the upper and lower jaws were not fo prominent 
as in monkies; but flat, like thofe of mankind. 
The ears were exaftly like thofe of the human 
race; and the teeth bore the fame refemblancei 
the joints of the arms and legs were likewife the 
fame as in man ; and, in fhort, the animal, at firft: 
view, exhibited a figure almoft wholly human. 
Hov/ever, on a more minute infpe6lion, the va- 
riations between this creature and the human race, 
and the comparative imperfections of it's form, 
became plainly conipicuous. The firft obvious 
difference was in the flatnefs of the nofe; the next, 
in the lownefs of the forehead, and the deficiency 
of the prominence of the chin : the ears, likewife, 
though regularly formed, were diijDroportionably 
large; the eyes too clofe to each other; and the 
interval betv/een the nofe and mouth too ex- 
tenfive. The thighs were too ftiort, and the arms 
too long; the thumb too fmall, and the palms of 
the hands too narrow: the feet alfo had lefs the 
conformation and appearance of hands than at 
firft glance they appeared to poffefs; and, if we 
may judge from the figure, the animal had too 
great a bend with it's hams. On an anatomical 
examination, however, a furprizing fimilitude was 
feen to prevail in the internal conformation; 
though it diftered from man in the number of ribs, 
having thirteen, whereas he has only twelve : the 
vertebr£E of the neck were alfo fhorter, the bones 
of the pelvis more narrow, the orbits of the eyes 
deeper, the kidnies rounder, the urinary and gall- 
bladders longer and fmaller, and the ureters of a 
different ftiape. 
Such v/ere the principal diftinftions between the 
internal parts of this animal and thofe of man ; in 
almoft every other refpefl they were exadlly the 
fame : indeed, many parts were lb much like thofe 
of the human fpecies, that it feemed aftonifliing 
they fliould not be produ6tive of greater advan- 
tages. The tongue, and all the orgarfe of the voice, 
were the fame as man's; and yet the animal was 
dumb ; and the brain was like^vife formed in the 
fame manner as his, though the creature was defti- 
tute of reafon : an evident proof, as Buffon very 
beautifully obferves, that no difpofition of matter 
can con'ftitute a mind; and that the body, how 
nicely foever conftrufted, is conftrufted in vain, 
when no foul is infufed into it for the purpofe of 
direfting it's operations. 
The back and pofteriors of the Ourang Outang, 
as defcribed by Dr. Tyfon, were exceedingly hairy; 
and this covering was fo thick, that the fkin was 
with difficulty difcerned: but, in front, the hair 
was confiderably thinner, the flcin every where ap- 
pearing, and in fome places being almoft bare. 
When it went on all-fours, it appeared entirely 
hairy; but, when it ftood creft, the difference we 
have juft noticed between the back and front was 
iiT.mediately confpicuous. The hair had none of 
that finer and fliorter fur intermixed, which is 
ufually feen on brutes, but was wholly of one kind; 
except only that it was greyifh, and a little longer, 
about the pubes, and on the upper lip and chin. 
The face, hands, and foles of the feet, were per- 
feftly clear, as was alfo the greateft part of the 
forehead ; but, down the fides of the face, the hair 
was thick, being there about an inch and a half long, 
M which 
