14 
PRIMROSE : THE ANATOMY OF THE ORANG OUTANG 
the lower apes. Thus, in the lower apes, with very few exceptions, one 
finds that the lower extremities exceed in length the upper. In the 
Lemurs the hind limbs exceed the fore limbs to a very marked degree. 
The hind limbs of the Orang are always bent ; it is impossible to 
straighten them completely. This is mainly due to the arrangement of 
the muscles at the hip and the knee. On the other hand, the fore limbs 
may be straightened out perfectly. I leave for consideration in 
another part of this paper the question as to whether the Orang is four 
handed or not, but in the meantime I shall speak of the “ hand ” of 
the fore limb, and the “ foot ” of the hind limb. The hand of the Orang 
is very much longer and narrower than the human hand. This is largely 
due to the great elongation of the metacarpal bones, but, in addition, the 
phalanges too are proportionately longer than they are in man. Pick 
states that the Orang grasps things by preference with the right hand, 
and that in all other manipulations they are decidedly right handed, as 
is common in most apes. The thumb is very short and rudimentary; it 
does not project as far as the head of the metacarpal bone of the index 
finger, and the ball of the thumb can hardly be said to exist. Much 
more remarkable, however, is the foot of the Orang. Like the hand, it is 
very long and narrow, but it has a well developed opposable hallux and 
is evidently modified as a grasping organ. The four outer toes are 
greatly elongated and remain separate, so that they resemble the fingers 
of a hand rather than the toes of a foot. It would appear that the Orang 
never stands erect without some support from the arms. Thus it may 
stand upright whilst it supports itself by grasping the limb of a tree 
overhead, or it may rest the fore limbs on the ground. MayeP and 
others have observed that whilst resting on the fore limbs the Orang, 
like other quadrumana, does not place the palm of the hand on the 
ground when walking, but rests upon the outer margin and the back of 
the wrist and fingers. Whilst standing the foot is supinated and the 
toes bent, the foot resting upon its outer margin. This differs from the 
Gorilla, which is able to stand erect without the support of the arms, and 
is capable also of bringing the sole of the foot to the ground. 
The lines upon the integument of the palm of the hand and of the sole 
of the foot in the Orang may be compared with the markings which 
exist upon the integument of the human sole and palm. If the palm of 
the hand in man be examined (see photograph) one may readily observe 
that the markings upon the palmar aspect of the fingers themselves are 
1 Mayer. . . “ Zur Anatomic des Orang-Utang und des Chimpanse.” Archiv|fur Naturgeschichte, 
Berlin, 1856, p. 285. 
