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AMERICAN

PUBLIC LIBRARY 275729

ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS

1903

EDUCATIONAL MONTHLY.

VOL. III.

THE

JANUARY, 1866.

THE ANTHROPOID APES.

No. 1.

HE order Quadrumana has in all ages been regarded with peculiar interest, because it resembles man in structure and appearance. The name, four-handed, originates in the belief that the monkey possesses

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four prehensile extremities, all adapted to use in walking, yet partaking more of the hand than of the foot. Some of the later naturalists prefer

the term Pedimana, or foot-handed, regarding the foot element as predominating. Professor Huxley maintains that the ape is properly bimanous, possessing two hands and two feet; and his reasoning has lately been strengthened by the investigations of Dr. Endleton, who, after careful anatomical examination of a young chimpanzee, has concluded that that ape, at least, is not quadrumanous, but properly bi-manous, although its extremities are all prehensile.

Though occurring only in or near tropical regions, the Quadrumana are of wide geographical distribution; and the characteristics of those in different continents are distinctly marked and easily classified. We have the Simiadæ, or Monkeys of the Old World; the Cebidæ, or Monkeys of the New World; and the Lemuridæ, or Monkeys of Madagascar. The Simiadæ are the most interesting family, including the largest and most manlike members of the order. This family is divided into the Tailed, and the Tailless or Anthropoid apes.

THE ANTHROPOID APES DESCRIBED.

These are distinguished by teeth like those of man, by a lack of tails and cheek-pouches, and by being able to walk erect, although naturally moving on all-fours.

The ORANG-OUTANG, or Simia satyrus, in former times, included the chimpanzee, which, however, is now regarded as belonging to a different genus; and the term orang refers only to an ape found in Indo-China and the East India islands.The.S. Satyrus is about five feet high when erect, is covered with reddish hair, and, as the forehead is full, and the snout not extremely prominent, resenftes man mote tlf.ny other ape of which we have satisfactory information: It is solitary in its habits, and builds in trees a rude shelter from storms.Sonre naturalists have placed this ape below the dog in the scale of intelligence; but this seems unjust. Buffon and others have given instances which very considerable intelligence was manifested. The orang is little known in the West, as few specimens have been imported, although many of other genera have been exhibited under its name.

...

The CHIMPANZEE, or Troglodytes niger, inhabits a narrow district of western tropical Africa, and is the Angola orang of the old naturalists. It is four to five feet high, covered with grayish hair, long and thick upon the back, but short and thin elsewhere. It is gregarious, and lives almost wholly among the trees. To protect itself against the furious storms of its country, it constructs a hut of twigs and leaves like the orang, and when attacked defends itself with clubs and stones. The first individual of this species ever seen in Europe was brought to England in 1738, and exhibited as a curiosity. Of late years, many have been brought to Europe and America, where they have been exhibited as orang-outangs.

The NSHIEGO MBOUVE, or nest-building ape, the Troglodytes calvus

of Du Chaillu, inhabits the Gorilla country. It is of secluded habits, and is but little known. It is of moderate size; its face when young is white, but sooty black in the adult; its head is bald, and its body is covered with dark hair. It skillfully constructs nests or huts in trees, with the tops curved to shed rain. In one of these a pair (for the T. calvus is not gregarious) abide until the berries in the vicinity are consumed, when they remove and construct another nest. These huts are so well built that Du Chaillu was for a long time unwilling to believe them other than the work of hunters.

The KOOLOO-KAMBA, or speaking ape, was also discovered by Du Chaillu. It is covered with hair, which on the face is arranged like the whiskers of the bearded races. Its forehead is very prominent, and its cranial cavity is very large. If Du Chaillu's account can be relied upon, it resembles man more than any other of the family. Nothing is known of its habits, as its timidity is so great that even Du Chaillu himself was unable to discover or invent any thing concerning it.

The GORILLA, or man-monkey, is found only in Western Africa, inhabiting a narrow strip of country near the equator. It is of gigantic size, a specimen in the museum at Melbourne, Australia, being nearly seven feet high, and five feet about the shoulders. The body is covered with thick hair, varying in color from gray to black; the face is black and bearded, and the eyes are deeply set. Although, like other apes, its natural mode of locomotion is on all-fours, yet it is able to move erect with ease and rapidity. It is a restless, nomadic creature, living in pairs with its young; is strictly, vegetarian, and always sleeps with its back to a tree. The strength of the gorilla is prodigious. It is said to bend and break a gun-barrel without ditheulfy, This, however, is doubtful. We have only Du Chaillu's word for it. It is known that one stroke of its massive hand will disembowel a man; or break his arms. The lion is not found in its country, and the topard flees at its approach. When excited, it beats its breast, and makes a deep roaring sound. Although the only animal that meets man face to face, the gorilla is not the frightful creature of our imagination. Usually it is retiring, even timid, and is found after patient search. Its ferocity appears only in defence of its young, except in case of a lonely male, who, having been deprived of his mate, seems full of malice, and wanders up and down, doing all possible damage.

THE DEVELOPMENT THEORY.

A belief that man is related to the Quadrumana has long prevailed. The ancients maintained that, in certain islands of the Indian Ocean, there was a race of men with tails. Koeping, a Swede, pretended to have traded with them. Smith, in his Natural History of the Human Species," states that a certain family, chief of the Sesodya tribe, claims to be descended from the monkey-god which they worship. Captain Harris tells

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us that the inhabitants of Aden, in Southern Arabia, regard the monkeys of the rocky heights near the city as the remnant of the once powerful tribe of Ad. Having incurred the displeasure of Heaven by attempting to establish a rival paradise, they were metamorphosed into monkeys.

Within two hundred years, a race of philosophers has sprung up, which has embodied similar ideas in what is known as the "Development Theory." According to this "Theory," the animal kingdom is derived from the simple cell, which, under the influence of two principles-a tendency to progression and the force of external circumstances-has developed through all the successive stages of organization and intelligence, and has at last culminated in man.

We shall consider only the last stage-the transformation of the ape into man. Lamarck, the father of the theory, explains the process. One of the quadrumanous races, which had attained a high degree of development, lost, by some means (concerning which history is silent), the habit of climbing trees and hanging from boughs by the feet as with hands. Afterward, by constraint of circumstances, it was compelled for many generations to walk upon its feet, until, at length, walking on all-fours became inconvenient. The inherent tendency to advance induced a desire for ruling, and the weaker quadrumana were driven into woods, where, being in subjection, neither their wants nor their ideas increased, and they remained undeveloped. The others, however, as they grew in number, found their wants more numerous, and so acquired industrious habits. As generations passed; the ideas of the dominant class increased. To communicate these, signs were at first use, which eventually proved insufficient, and were succeeded by sounds. By cortinued exertion, the vocal organs became so confarmed as to admit of sustained conversation, and language was the result

Against this theory many objections may be urged. We consider, first, its

IMPROBABILITY.

It depends too much upon mere hypothesis, and requires us to take too much for granted. It is impossible for us to conceive of circumstances which would compel quadrupeds to move on their hind feet for generations. Yet this must have taken place, or the theory is untenable. Again, the tailless apes must have developed from the tailed apes, and, therefore, must have "developed" away their tails, which, as may be seen by the engraving, are not inconsiderable. This, too, is improbable. Disuse causes the organ to diminish, but not to disappear. The mammary KAHAU, S. nasica, Schr. glands of the male are small by disuse, yet six thousand years have not availed to obliterate them.

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