ITS ANATOMY. 
48 
knee when the skeleton is placed upright. Moreover, this great length is accompanied by correspond- 
ing strength, and also by a very curious condition of the hands. 
It has a larger hand in relation to its breadth than that of the Gorilla, and there are no bunches 
of muscle forming rounded swellings or balls under the thumb and little finger. On the contrary, the 
long and narrow palm is, as it were, bent across, as if it could fit capitally on to a bough. There is no 
doubt that this Ape, like all the others, does a good deal of swinging, by holding on to boughs with 
its hands, when the arms are straight above the head ; and that they move along a bough, or from 
tree to tree, in this position, and without bending the elbow. This method of getting along may 
also be seen in Chimpanzees in the Zoological Gardens. Evidently the curved palm will be of immense 
advantage in such actions, and especially when it is combined, as it is in the Koolo-Kamba, with a 
slightly bent-downwards condition of the fingers. The bones (phalanges) of the fingers are long, and 
each is slightly curved, and not straight, as in man and the great Apes already noticed, so that their 
three bones, when in their proper position, are decidedly out of a straight line, and present a general 
curve, which is rendered all the more decided by the bend in the palm. All this is very useful for 
grasping and holding on. But it is not all ; in man and the other great Apes, the wrist con- 
sists of two rows of small bones, one placed before the other : the first row is jointed to the bones 
of the fore-arm, at what is called the wrist-joint, which moves forwards and backwards as a hinge; 
and the second row is so jointed on the first row that there is no movement, and in front it is jointed 
to the bones of the palm, and to those of the thumb. Now in the Koolo the second row of wrist-bones 
— or as they are called from the Latin, carpus , a wrist — carpal bones are movable on the first row, and 
muscular exertion can bend, not only the metacarpal bones and the fingers, but also the wrist-bones. 
Hence the hand is more movable hi the bending direction than that of man, and the reason is because 
of the peculiar requirements of the creature’s life. The thumb is small, and only reaches the first 
joint of the forefinger : its tip can only touch the tip of one finger at a time, and not those of all, as 
in man, and therefore it is not of much use in distinguishing objects by touch ; moreover, it cannot be 
stuck out far — and this is necessary, for in climbing its tip is required to be as close to the fingers 
as is possible. The muscles of the hands and arms resemble those of the Chimpanzee generally, 
and will be noticed in describing it. 
When the Koolo-Kamba walks, it does so like the Gorilla, by leaning on the backs of its fingers, 
and hence it has callous pads on the back of their second bones. All the peculiar construction of the 
hands and wrist bears a relation to the vast muscular development of the muscles of the back of the 
chest and shoulders in the process of climbing; and it is to be observed, as it was in the instance of 
the Gorilla, that these muscles have more to do with such actions than those of the chest, which go to 
the arm, and which are so much used in man for that purpose. The muscles of the chest are not large 
and strong in the Apes, for, as has already been mentioned, they climb with the back of the hand towards 
the face, and do not attempt, like man, to lift the body with the palm and nails turned towards him. This 
last proceeding necessitates large chest muscles, and the former large ones at the back of the shoulders. 
There is something remarkable about the haunch-bones, or those parts of them which support the 
body when sitting. In man they are well in front of the end of the back -bone, which tapers off and 
turns in a little, and forms a rudiment of a tail. These tuberosities of the haunch-bone (as they are 
called, because they are swollen out and flattened for the especial purpose in mail) are placed, in the 
Koolo-Kamba, behind the end of the spine or the true rudiment of the tail, and this throws all the 
under parts backwards, giving the animal a thorough Baboon and animal character. Oddly enough, 
the rudiment of the tail in this Ape is smaller than in man. 
A study of the foot shows that it is of immense use in holding on and in climbing, and of none in 
walking. It looks more like a small hand, furnished with a great thumb, than a foot with a 
toe-thumb. 
It differs from human feet in the length of the toes, and this is rather an interesting artistic point, 
for there is some diversity in the opinions regarding which should be the longest toes in man. 
The Greek statues — those grand models of the highest types of mankind — very constantly have the 
second toe the longest, and reaching more to the front, when the foot is on the ground, than the great 
toe and the third. Nowadays, after men have had their feet pinched, cabined, and confined in all sorts 
of boots and shoes, generation after generation, it is wonderful that their toes should be of any shape at 
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