370 
MR.  R.  OWEN  ON  THE  OSTEOLOGY  OF 
17.  In  the  shortness  and  weakness  of  the  thumb,  and  narrowness  of  the  hand  in  re- 
lation to  its  length. 
18.  In  the  shortness  of  the  lower  extremities. 
19.  In  the  greater  proportional  length  and  narrowness  of  the  foot. 
20.  In  the  small  size  of  the  os  calcis. 
21.  In  the  shortness  and  opposable  condition  of  the  hallux. 
These  differences  result  from  original  formation,  and  are  not  liable  to  be  weakened 
in  any  material  degree,  either,  on  the  one  hand,  by  a  degradation  of  the  human  species, 
or,  on  the  other  hand,  by  the  highest  cultivation  of  which  the  anthropoid  Apes  are  sus- 
ceptible. 
With  respect  to  the  structure  of  the  foot,  it  has  been  asserted  by  the  supporters  of 
the  theory  of  progressive  development  and  transmutation  of  species,  that  the  position 
of  the  great  toe,  which  converts  the  foot  into  a  hand,  is  a  modifiable  character.  M.  Bory 
de  St.  Vincent^  assuming  that  this  is  the  only  organic  difference  between  the  Orang 
and  the  human  subject,  endeavours  to  invaUdate  its  importance  as  a  zoological  character 
by  showing  that  a  prehensile  property  of  the  foot  is  gained  by  Man  himself  under  cer- 
tain circumstances,  and  that  therefore  it  ought  not  to  disunite  the  members,  as  he  terms 
them,  of  the  same  zoological  family.  In  support  of  this  view  he  proceeds  to  relate,  that 
in  certain  districts,  as  the  Landes  of  Aquitaine,  the  peasants,  who  obtain  their  livelihood 
by  collecting  the  resin  of  the  Pinus  maritima,  and  who  are  termed  Resiniers,  acquire  a 
power  of  opposing  the  great  toe  to  the  others,  like  a  hinder  thumb  ;  but  supposing  the 
extent  of  motion  of  the  great  toe  to  be  sufficiently  increased  by  constant  habits  of 
climbing,  or  in  connexion  with  a  congenital  defect  of  the  upper  extremities,  yet  it  does 
not  appear  that  the  os  calcis  or  the  other  bones  of  the  foot  have  lost  any  of  those  pro- 
portions which  so  unerringly  distinguish  Man  from  the  Ape.  The  author  of  the  article 
Orang  in  the  '  Dictionnaire  Classique'  seems  even  to  doubt  whether  the  hinder  hand  of 
the  Ape  may  not  be  a  mark  of  an  organization  superior  to  that  of  the  Bimanous  type. 
"  C'est  un  chose  digne  de  remarque,  que  pour  rejeter  les  Orangs  parmi  les  Singes,  et 
ceux-ci  parmi  les  brutes  stupides,  en  conservant  a  nos  pareils  la  dignite  qu'ils  s'arrogent 
au  sein  de  I'immense  nature,  on  ait  argue  d'un  avantage  incontestable  que  possederaient 
sur  nous  les  Singes  et  les  Orangs.  En  efFet,  quatre  mains  ne  vaudraient-elles  pas  mieux 
que  deux  comme  elemens  de  perfectibilite  To  give  due  force  to  this  proposition 
the  four  hands  of  the  Ape  ought  to  be  independent  of  any  share  in  stationary  sup- 
port or  progression  ;  now  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  observe,  that  the  perfection  of  the 
hands  of  Man  results  in  a  great  measure  from  the  free  use  he  is  enabled  to  make  of  them 
in  consequence  of  the  organization  of  the  lower  members  as  exclusive  instruments  for 
sustaining  and  moving  the  body.  It  has,  however,  been  suggested  that  the  hallux  of 
the  Orang  might  acquire  increased  length  and  strength  during  the  efforts  of  successive 
Art.  Orang,  Diet.  Classique  d'Hist.  Nat.,  torn.  xiii.  p.  264. 
°-  Ibid.  p.  264. 
