8 
ORDERS OF MAMMALS— APES AND MONKEYS 
The Apes. — The three great man-like (or 
an'thro-poid) apes — gorilla, chimpanzee and 
orang-utan — are so much like human beings 
that, to most persons, they are the most won- 
derful of all living creatures below man. Their 
points of resemblance to man are so many and 
so striking that they are a source of wonder even 
to savages. 
By permission of J. F. G. Umlaoff. 
As will be observed from a comparison of 
the skeletons of man and gorilla, below the 
skull their parallelism is remarkably close. 
Both in kind and in number the bones are 
the same, and they differ only in their pro- 
portions. The hands and feet of the gorilla 
are designed for a life that is half terrestrial 
and half arboreal, while those of man 
are for life on the ground. The long 
thumb and great toe of the gorilla are far 
superior to those members in the chim- 
panzee and orang-utan. 
The widest differences between man and 
the gorilla are in their skulls. In the 
gorilla, the high forehead and intellectual 
faculties so characteristic in man are totally 
wanting, indicating a very low order of 
intelligence. The long and powerful canine 
teeth are alone sufficient to proclaim the 
savage wild beast. 
To many persons it seems strange that 
notwithstanding the seemingly wide dif- 
ferences between the various races of men, 
all mankind be referable to a single species. 
In spite of the vast differences in intellect 
between the native Australian — not yet 
out of the stone age — and a Caucasian 
philosopher, both belong to Homo sapiens, 
and between them there is not even a sub- 
specific difference. 
Even if the great apes could talk as well 
as the Veddahs of Ceylon, whose vocabu- 
lary consists of about two hundred words, 
their anatomical differences from the genus 
SKELETONS OF MAN AND GORILLA. 
1 , cervical vertebrae, 
2, collar bone, 
3, humerus, 
4, sternum, 
5, ribs, 
6, rib cartilages, 
7, dorsal vertebrae, 
8, lumbar vertebrae, 
9, pelvis, 
10, radius, 
11, ulna, 
12, carpals, 
13, metacarpals, 
14, phalanges, 
15, cavity of pelvis, 
16, sacrum, 
17, femur, 
18, patella, 
19, fibula, 
20, tibia, 
21, tarsals, 
22, metatarsals, 
23, phalanges. 
Homo would separate them quite as widely 
as they now are. To segregate a species 
requires a structural difference that is con- 
_ stant. 
The Gorilla 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 is the largest, the ugliest, 
the most fierce in temper, and by reason 
of its shorter arms and longer legs, it 
is really the nearest to man. It is the 
only ape that walks erect without being 
taught, and that spends a considerable por- 
tion of its life upon the ground. In bulk 
it is larger than an average man, and its 
1 Go-ril'la gorilla. 
