[   343  ] 
XXXIX.  On  the  Osteology  of  the  Chimpanzee  and  Orang  Utan,  By  Richard  Owen, 
Esq.,  F.R.S.  ^  Z.S.,  Assistant  Conservator  of  the  Museum  of  the  Royal  College  of  Sur- 
geons in  London. 
Communicated  March  10,  1835. 
In  tracing  the  successive  stages  by  which  the  lower  animals  approximate  the  structure 
of  Man,  the  interest  increases  as  we  advance,  and  becomes  most  exciting  when  we 
arrive  at  the  highest  term  of  the  brute  creation.  At  this  point  every  deviation  from 
the  human  structure  indicates  with  precision  its  real  peculiarities,  and  we  then  possess 
the  true  means  of  appreciating  those  modifications  by  which  a  material  organism  is 
especially  adapted  to  become  the  seat  and  instrument  of  a  rational  and  responsible 
soul. 
The  Orangs,  or  great  tailless  Apes  of  Africa  and  Asia,  have  long  been  recognised  as 
the  Mammalia  which  make  the  closest  approach  to  Man  ;  and  their  organization  has 
therefore  been  studied  with  more  or  less  care  and  detail  by  many  distinguished  physio- 
logists and  comparative  anatomists.  Tyson \  Camper^,  Blumenbach^,  Cuvier'*,  and 
Lawrence^,  have  been  the  chief  contributors  to  this  department  of  zoology,  and  by 
their  labours  most  of  the  peculiarities  of  structure  have  been  pointed  out  which  relate 
to  the  semi-erect  posture  and  climbing  habits  of  the  Quadrumanous  order.  The  nu- 
merous analogies  to  the  human  structure  which  have  at  the  same  time  been  brought 
to  light,  have  ever  held  a  prominent  place  among  the  facts  that  have  served  as  the 
basis  of  the  theories  of  animal  development :  but  as  it  has  uniformly  happened  that  the 
Orangs  which  have  been  described  have  been  of  immature  age,  many  circumstances, 
as  the  facial  angle,  the  forms  and  proportions  of  the  teeth,  and  the  shape  and  relative 
size  of  the  cranium  to  the  face,  have  had  an  undue  importance  assigned  to  them,  and 
the  transition  from  the  Monkey  to  the  Man  has  been  assumed  to  be  much  more  gradual 
than  a  more  extended  investigation  will  be  found  to  sustain. 
'  Orang-outang,  sive  Homo  sylvestris;  or  the  Anatomy  of  a  Pygmie,  &c.  4to,  Lond.  1699. 
2  CEuvres  sur  I'Histoire  Naturelle,  la  Physiologic,  et  1' Anatomic  Comparec,  torn.  iii.  8vo,  Paris,  1803.  Anat. 
dc  rOrang  Utang,  tom.  i. 
3  Bcytriige  zur  Naturgeschichtc.  Gottingen,  1790 — 1811.  Abbildungcn  Natur-historischer  Gegenstande. 
Short  System  of  Comparative  Anatomy,  translated  from  the  German  by  W.  Lawrence.  8vo,  Lond.  1807. 
Manual  of  Natural  History,  translated  by  R.  T.  Gore.  8vo,  Lond.  1825. 
*  Regne  Animal,  nouv.  ed.  8vo,  Paris,  1829.  Legons  d' Anat.  Comparec,  passm.  Dissertation  on  the  Identity 
of  the  Simia  Satyrus  and  Pongo,  read  before  the  Academic  des  Sciences  Naturelles,  but  not  pubhshed.  (See 
F.  Cuvier's  Dents  des  Mammiferes,  8vo,  p.  10.) 
^  Lectures  on  Physiology,  Zoology,  and  the  Natural  History  of  Man.  8vo,  Lond.  1819. 
2  z  2 
