134 
POPULAH SCIENCE EEYIEW. 
bone as our standard of comparison, is in the Grorilla mord 
like that of man than is the thumb of any other of the 
SimiincB, But the same degree of resemblance to man exists in 
many lower forms ; and in the short-tailed Indris the proportion 
is precisely the same as in ourselves. 
The very same remarks may be applied to the index finger 
also. 
The proportion borne by the thumb to the longest finger of 
the hand in the Grorilla is slightly more human than what we find 
in any other latisternal apes. Nevertheless the difference between 
these apes is trifling, and all differ greatly from man in this 
proportion ; while in the Slender Lemur, and in the Marmoset, 
the proportion is nearly as it is in us, although in the Marmoset 
the thumb is not, as in us, opposable. 
The pelvis, consisting of the two haunch-bones and sacrum, 
is one of the most characteristic parts of the human skeleton, 
closely connected as is its shape with the upright posture of 
man’s body. 
In the breadth of the pelvis, compared with the extreme 
length of each haunch-bone, man greatly exceeds every other 
Primate ; he is most nearly approached, however, in this respect, 
not by the Gorilla, but by some of the Gibbons. 
In the breadth of the pelvis, compared with its extent from 
before backwards, man is more nearly reached by some Baboons 
than by any latisternal ape. 
The haunch-bone {os innominatum) is made up of three 
bones — 1, the ilium; 2, th.ejpuhis; and 3, the ischium — which 
have coalesced into one mass. 
In the length of the whole mass, compared with that of the 
spine, the Gorilla, Chimpanzee, and Orang, are considerably less 
human than are the Gibbons. In the relative length of the 
crest of the ilium, however, the Orang takes precedence. 
Each ischium ends below in what is called its “ tuberosity,” 
on which the body is supported when in a sitting posture. Above 
this tuberosity is a prominence called the “ spine of the 
ischium.” 
The shortness of the ischia, the smallness and the non-ever- 
sion of the tuberosities, and the prolongation of the latter 
upwards nearly to the spines of the ischia, are four characters 
almost peculiar to man. He is most nearly approached in these 
points, not by the Gorilla, nor by any of the Simiinw, but by the 
Slender Lemur {Loris). 
The development of the spine of the ischium is much more 
human in the Orang than either in the Chimpanzee or Gorilla. 
The length of the thigh-bone {femur) compared with that of 
the back-bone, is greater in man than in any latisternal ape. 
