# Popular Science Monthly/Volume 28/April 1886/External Form of the Man-Like Apes

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* EXTERNAL FORM OF THE MAN-LIKE APES.
By ROBERT HARTMANN,
PROFESSOR IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BERLIN.
IN the gorilla, the chimpanzee, and the orang-outang the external form is subject to essential modifications, according to the age and sex. The difference between the sexes is most strongly marked in the gorilla, and these differences are least apparent in the gibbon.
When a young male gorilla is compared with an aged animal of the same species, we are almost tempted to believe that we have to do with two entirely different creatures. While the young male still displays an evident approximation to the human structure, and develops in its bodily habits the same qualities which generally characterize the short-tailed apes of the Old World, with the exception of the baboon, the aged male is otherwise formed. In the latter case the points of resemblance to the human type are far fewer; the aged animal has become a gigantic ape, retaining indeed in the structure of his hands and feet the characteristics of the primates, while the protruding head is something between the muzzle of the baboon, the bear, and the boar. Simultaneously with these remarkable alterations of the external structure there occurs a modification of the skeleton. The skull of an aged male gorilla becomes more prognathous, and the incisor teeth have ​almost attained the length of those of lions and tigers. On the upper part of the skull, which is rounded in youth, great bony crests are developed on the crown of the head and on the occiput, and these are supported by the high, spinous processes of the cervical vertebræ, and thus supply the starting-point for the powerful muscles of the neck and jaw. The supraorbital arches are covered with wrinkled skin, and the already savage and indeed revolting appearance of the old gorilla is thereby increased. A comparison of the two illustrations (Figs. 1 and 3) which accompany the text will make this clear.
These distinctions are not so striking in the female as in the male gorilla. Although there is much which is bestial in the appearance of an aged female, yet the crests, so strongly marked in the male, the projecting orbits, and strong muscular pads are absent in the female, as well as the prognathous form of the skull and the length and thickness of the canine teeth. The aged female gorilla is not, in her whole structure, so far removed from the condition of the same sex in youth as is the aged male. The structure of the female has on the whole more in common with the human form. It has been said, and indeed on good authority, that the female type should take the foremost place in the study of the animal structure, since it is the more universal. But H. von Nathusius maintains that we must take both sexes into consideration in the study of domestic animals, since both are needed to determine the breed. I accept this condition in the scientific study and description of wild animals also, of every kind and species. All that is said of the universal type of the female animal is and must remain in my eyes a mere phrase. Only the accurate observation of males and females, and of young individuals of both sexes, can throw sufficient light on the history of the race. The male animal is the larger, and predominant with respect to the complete development of certain peculiarities of form in the specific organism, since these are doubtfully present in the adult female, and are either altogether absent in the immature young, or only rudimentary.
Let us now consider, in the first place, the prototype of the species, the aged male gorilla in the full strength of his bodily development (Fig. 1). This animal, when standing upright, is more than six feet in height, or two thousand millimetres. The head is three hundred millimetres in length. The occiput appears to be broader below than above, since the upper part slopes like a gabled roof toward the high, longitudinal crest of the vertex. The projecting supraorbital arches start prominently from the upper and central contour of the skull. In this species, as in other apes, and indeed among mammals generally, and especially in the case of the carnivora, ruminants, and multi-ungulates, eyebrows are present. In the gorilla these consist of a rather scanty growth of coal-black bristles, about forty millimetres in length. Beneath the projecting supraorbital arches are the eyes, opening with ​somewhat narrow slits, and with lids which display many and deep longitudinal folds. The upper lid is set with longer and thicker eye-lashes than the lower. The dark eyes glow between the lids with a ferocious expression.
Fig. 1.—Aged Male Gorilla.
The bridge of the nose rises gradually outward, from between the inner corners of the eyes, and is keel-shaped in the center. This part of the head is from seventy to eighty millimetres in length, longer and narrower in one individual, shorter and wider in another. The skin in this region is covered with a net-work of wrinkles of varying size. The end of the nose and the nostrils are high, conical, and very wide ​at the base. This part of the nose, attached to the very projecting forehead, has the effect of an altogether snout-like muzzle. It is intersected by a central longitudinal furrow, which divides the whole tip of the nose into two symmetrical halves. This furrow is more strongly marked in the case of adult animals than in the young. The aperture of the nostrils is large and triangular, with the cartilaginous point turned upward, and the edges applied to the bridge of the nose and to the cheeks have a somewhat retreating appearance. The lateral margins of this part of the nostril take an arched form, first diverging in different directions, then gradually converging again toward the upper lip. The lip is short, and this, combined with the large nose, gives a certain resemblance to the mouth of an ox. This resemblance is the more striking, as the whole of this region is covered with glandular skin of a deep-black color, which is either glabrous or provided with a few scattered hairs, but furnished with small flattened warts.
Below the eyes the cheeks are broad and very round, dwindling away and becoming depressed in the lower part of the face. They are seamed with curved wrinkles of varying depth, which tend downward in the same direction as the wrinkles on the lower eyelids. The short upper lip is provided with oblique folds which converge outward in the center. The points of the strong canine teeth, which in many individuals are from thirty-eight to forty millimetres long, and twenty millimetres wide, diverge a little from each other, and stretch the upper lip in an oblique direction, so that this part of the face takes the form of a triangular, beveled surface, with its prominent base-line between the canine teeth. It may also be observed that, in many individuals of this species, the nose is not very deeply set on the upper lip; that in others, again, the nose is decidedly raised, and the lip only presents a small hem below the nose. In many such cases the prognathism of the face is strongly marked, so as to give a baboon-like effect. In other specimens, again, this debased type is not allied with strongly marked prognathism.
If we take a front view of the skull of an aged male gorilla we see that the upper edges of the great supraorbital arches are beveled off below and at the sides. This beveled form is repeated in the broad cheek-bones, as we see them in front. The front view of the head, and indeed of the whole animal, presents a strongly projecting contour, an impression which is strengthened by the puffed cheeks, with their lateral pads of fat. The lower jaw, with its scarcely indicated chin, retreats in the center and dwindles into a triangular form. This contour is characteristic of the species. The whole skin of the face is glossy, set with few hairs, and of a deep-black color.
The ear (Fig. 2) averages sixty millimetres in length, and from thirty-six to forty millimetres in width. It seems to be fastened to the head by the back and upper part, is generally of an oval shape, and furnished with a strongly marked helix. The helix varies in ​width in different individuals, and often terminates on its inner edge in the projecting peaked excrescence described by Darwin, of which I shall have more to say presently. The anti-helix, tragus, and antitragus, and the cleft which lies between these two latter parts (incisura Fig. 2.—Ear of a Male Adult Gorilla. inter tragica) are generally fully developed; the lobule is more rarely present. Individual variations in the special structure of these parts may frequently be observed.
The strong trapezoid muscles are prominent on the neck, and when the head is stretched they stand out like pillars on the sides of the neck. Owing to the great development of the spinous processes of the cervical vertebrae, and of the muscles attached to them, and to the occipital bones of the skull, the neck is very powerful, almost like that of a bull. The shoulders are remarkable for their breadth, and the pectoral muscles for their large size.
On the upper and forearms the plastic form of the strongly developed flexor and extensor muscles is very apparent, testifying to the enormous strength of the upper extremities. The hands are large, and very wide, with short, thick fingers. The thumb, of which the extremity takes a conical form, is short, extending little beyond the middle of the second metacarpal bone. The extremities of the otherwise broad fingers are somewhat laterally compressed. The fore-finger is not materially shorter than the middle finger. The third finger is sometimes shorter than, sometimes of the same length as, the first, and the fourth is decidedly shorter. The back of the wrist is covered with deep oblique folds. A net-work of wrinkles, oblique or curved, also covers the skin on the back of the fingers, on which there are callosities up to the first joint. The gorilla closes the fingers when going on all fours, and turns the back of the hand on the ground, thus producing this thickening of the upper skin on the joints. Callosities of the same nature, although not so extensive, are not rare on the second finger joints. The palm of the hand is covered with a hard, horny skin, generally beset with warts, especially at the roots of the fingers. In spite of the blackness of the skin which covers them, these characteristics are still apparent.
The fingers are united by a strong web, reminding us of the membrane found on the otter and other web-footed animals, and reaching nearly to the first finger-joint. A thick coat of hair extends to the root of the fingers, although on the backs of the fingers there are only a few isolated hairs.
The trunk of the body of a gorilla, seen from behind, somewhat ​resembles a trapezium in form, of which the longer of the two parallel sides extends between the shoulders, and the shorter between the two halves of the pelvis. The longitudinal sides, which are not parallel, correspond to the sides of the back. The arrangement of all the lower part of the trunk, on which the bones of the pelvis stand out prominently in an oblique direction, somewhat resembles a four-sided pyramid with its apex reversed. The gluteal muscles are not strongly developed. The tuberosity of the ischium projects in a somewhat angular form.
The thighs are covered with strong muscles, which appear to be smoothed off on the inner side, and somewhat arched on the outside. The lower part of the leg is also muscular, and its section is of a long oval form; the region of the calf is more strongly developed than in other anthropoids. The bones of the foot are not at all prominent, and the same remark applies to those of the hand. The contour of the back of the long, broad foot is flat; the sole is convex, covered with strong muscles, and padded with layers of fat. When the animal puts the sole of the foot on the ground, its muscles go back to the region of the heel, and forward into the inner side of the foot, thus presenting the primitive formation of a heel.
The great-toe, as in all apes, is detached like a thumb from the other toes, and can be used as such. The metatarsus serves as a base for its projection, in the same manner as the thumb starts from the fore part of the contour of the wrist. The great-toe sometimes extends as far as the joint between the first and second phalanges of the second toe, sometimes nearly as far as the middle of the second phalanx. This characteristic varies in different individuals. At the point of union of the first metatarsal bone with the hinder extremity of the first phalanx of the great-toe, there is a round projection on the inner side of the foot. The great-toe is very broad at its root, then becomes smaller, and widens again into a broad final phalanx. With its strong lateral ridges of skin, which cover the sinews and cushions of fat, all this part of the foot appears to be wide and flattened off from the back to the sole.
The second, third, fourth, and fifth toes are more slender than the great-toe. The second toe is in most cases rather shorter than the third. The third and fourth toes are almost of the same length, and only a little longer than the second toe. The fifth toe is considerably shorter than the fourth. The last phalanges of the toes taper in front, and are furnished on their lower surface with long, laterally compressed pads. The section of such a phalanx is almost trapezoidal, with a long upper parallel side. The upper part of the foot, although generally flat, rises a little in the neighborhood of the first metatarsal bone, and slopes thence to its outer edge.
The hair grows thickly on the back of the foot, as far as the ​extremity of the metatarsal bones, more sparsely on the back of the toes. There are strongly marked oblique furrows on this part of the foot, especially on the joints, often combined with horny callosities, since
Fig. 3.—The Young Male Gorilla, from the Specimen in the Berlin Aquarium or 1876–'77.
the animal sometimes doubles up the toes and runs upon the back of them. The nails of the hands and feet are black, like the whole Fig. 4.—The same Animal at a still Earlier Age. of their skin-covering, distinctly grooved, very much arched, and generally somewhat wider at the base than in front.
On the sole of the foot we find the region of the heel, the ball of the great-toe, in this case resembling the ball of a thumb, the roots and tips of the toes, together with pads consisting of muscles, tendons, and skin. The several divisions of these padded balls are separated from each other by furrows which are longitudinal, oblique, and transverse, and more or less distinct from each other. The black skin which covers the sole ​of the foot is thick and horny, but provided with a series of papillæ. The whole skin of an aged animal is of a deep-black color, somewhat glossy, and covered with intersecting wrinkles.
The young male gorilla does not essentially differ from the old male in its general and external appearance. Its skull is, however, without the crest which characterizes the latter animal, and is still of a rounded form in the region of the crown and occiput. At this age the head is not so high at the back and on the top as in aged males. The orbits are less prominent, the general aspect of the face is not so decidedly prognathous, and the bridge of the nose is shorter. The lines of the body in the young male are softer and less exaggerated, and the expression of the face is less ferocious than in an aged male. The horny callosities on the hands and feet are altogether wanting or only faintly indicated, and the hands, fingers, and toes have not arrived at the powerful development which we observe in the older animal.
Considerable differences may be observed in the whole structure of the adult female gorilla. The animals of this sex are smaller and weaker than males of the same age. The skull of the female is smaller and more rounded than that of the male, and the great bony crests are also absent. The orbits are less prominent, and a front view of the head gives the impression of a trapezoidal form. The coronal arch rises above this trapezoid. In the male, on the contrary, the crown seems to lengthen above and behind into a pyramidal form. In the aged female the bridge of the nose is generally shorter than in the aged male; but even in this particular there is great variation in different individuals. Sometimes the bridge of the nose in a female is much depressed, and then the interval between the orbits and the end of the nose is shorter: I intentionally avoid the term tip of the nose, on account of the blunted form of this organ. Even when the bridge of the nose is more prominent, the interval between its end and the orbits is sometimes very short.
The aged female gorilla usually has wider cheeks, a smaller nose, and a higher upper lip. This last peculiarity is shown in the correct and well-stuffed specimens in the museums at Paris and Lübeck. Although in the process of drying the skin of the nose may have shrunk a little, yet there is still room for the upper lip, provided with folds which are either vertical and parallel or diverge like a fan. Owen and Mützel have given satisfactory illustrations of these parts. In the aged female the shape of the neck is not, as in the aged male, strong and bulging, so as to resemble a cowl. Yet it is enlarged in conformity with the not inconsiderable development of the spinous processes of the cervical vertebræ, and with that of the powerful cervical muscles. Even in a young male, of the age of the specimen which was kept in the Berlin Aquarium, between July, 1876, and November, 1877, ​this enlargement of the neck was present in a marked degree. In still younger individuals, however, under a year old, in which the spinous processes of the vertebræ have not yet been developed, there is no such enlargement, but, on the contrary, this region of the neck takes a concave form.
In conformity with the smaller size of the body, the shoulders, arms, and thighs of the adult female are smaller than those of the full grown male, but they are still very powerful. While giving suck, the breasts of the female are swelled in the form of a half-cone, instead of assuming the convex shape which is observed in many European women, and still more frequently in those of the negro, Indian, and South Sea races. The nipple is cylindrical rather than conical in shape, and covered with finely wrinkled black skin, which is sometimes hard and horny. When not giving suck, the breasts hang slackly down, like short empty pouches.
In a young female the cranium is rounded, and the face is only slightly prominent. In aged specimens, especially in those of the male sex, there is a somewhat typical prolongation of that part of the face which lies between the eyes and the end of the nose, and this is to a slight extent apparent in the young female. Variations in form and in the extent of the prolongation are, however, apparent even at this early period. The trunk and limbs are more slenderly built than in a male of the same age.
The hairy coat of the gorilla consists of long, thick, straight or stiffly curved bristles, and also of shorter, thinner, and curled woolly hair. On the crown of the head the hair is somewhat stiff from twelve to twenty millimetres in length, and it becomes erect under the influence of anger. While the sides and fore part of the chin are only clothed with short, stiff hairs, they grow thickly on the back part of the chin, like a beard or forelock. The hairs which turn outward from the sides of the face and on the neck are thirty or more millimetres in length. On the shoulders the hair is from one hundred and thirty to one hundred and fifty millimetres long, hanging down on the upper arms and the back. In the middle of the upper arm the hair is from fifty to seventy millimetres long, growing downward as far as the bend of the elbow. At this point it generally begins to grow in an upward direction. On the back of the forearm it again grows downward. In the middle of the forearm, on its inner side, a parting of the hairs takes place, as one portion goes in front of the radius, while the other portion turns behind the ulna. On the back of the wrist a tuft of curved hair turns upward; a middle tuft goes directly back; and the lower tuft, also curved, turns outward. On the back of the hand the hairs turn toward the fingers. On the breast and belly the hairs are shorter and grow more sparsely. On the breast their direction is, as a rule, upward and outward. On the belly they converge from the ribs toward the center and the navel. On the ​thighs the hairs are about one hundred and sixty millimetres long, and here, as on the lower part of the leg, they tend outward, while on the back of the foot they grow toward the toes. On the back, shoulders, and on the thigh and leg, the bristles are slightly curved. This quality increases the general impression of shagginess and fleeciness which is produced by the hairy coat of these creatures. The woolly hair does not grow very thick, and is not much matted.
The color of the hair not only differs on different parts of the body, but also in different individuals. On the crown of the head it is of a reddish-brown, or rarely of a decided brown or black. The hairs in this region are sometimes dun-colored at the root, grayish-white in the center, and brownish-red, shading into the dark-brown tip. The hair on the lips is sometimes of a blackish-brown, sometimes whitish, or both colors are found together. The hair growing at the sides of the face is gray below, dark brown or almost black above. On the neck and shoulders the hair is of a gray color at the root, and gradually becomes lighter toward the tip. In the center it is brown, shading into a lighter color at either end; but this ringed form of color is not universal. The tips of the hair are dark, sometimes brown or reddish. The hair on the back, on the upper arms and thighs, is whitish or light gray for half its length, with a blackish-brown ring toward the tip, which is of a dark-gray color. Many of these hairs on the back have two brown rings on them. The forearms, hands, shanks, and feet are covered with hairs which are gray at the root, brownish gray, dark brown, or black at the tip. Round the posteriors there is a circle of white, gray, or brownish-yellow hairs, from ten to twenty millimetres in length. In both sexes variations from the color of the coat here described are not rare. It has been already observed that the brownish-red color of the hair on the head is sometimes exchanged for another shade. In many individuals the neck, shoulders, and back are of a dark gray, brown, or even black color. In others the forearms, hands, shanks, and feet are covered, like the rest of the body, with gray and brown hair intermingled.
The second species of anthropoid apes is the chimpanzee. In this case also we must consider successively the aged and young male, and the aged and young female animals.
The full-grown chimpanzee is smaller than the adult gorilla. In this species also the male is larger than the female. The chimpanzee is, speaking generally, of a slighter build than the gorilla.
The head of the aged male chimpanzee fundamentally differs from that of the aged male gorilla, since the skull of the former has a depressed crown, and the transverse occipital ridge is only faintly indicated. Since the orbits are also less strongly developed than in the aged male gorilla, and the spinous processes of the cervical vertebræ do not assume the same elevated form which is characteristic of the latter species, the countenance of the chimpanzee is not of a square ​shape, and there is not space for the strong muscular system arching over the neck like a cowl, which is so characteristic of the gorilla. The head of the chimpanzee displays, both in aged and young specimens, the concave neck which is common among apes, that is to say, a depression between the head and the throat. In an aged male the crown of the head presents a rounded, arched contour, since, as we have already said, the prominent bony processes are wanting. Although the supraorbital arches are not so excessively prominent as in a gorilla of the same age, they are strongly developed, covered with wrinkled skin, and in this case also there is a species of eyebrow, stiff and bristly, with shorter hairs between. The large, wrinkled lids are furnished with thick eyelashes. The inner angle of the eye somewhat resembles that of the gorilla.
A general physiognomical distinction between the gorilla and the chimpanzee consists in the fact that the bridge of the nose is shorter in the latter than in the former. In the chimpanzee this part of the organ is depressed, yet the depression is of a conical and convex form, and is covered with a net-work of wrinkles of varying depth. In the chimpanzee the interval between the inner angle of the eye and the upper lateral contour of the cartilaginous end of the nose is shorter than in the gorilla. There is also some difference in the form of the nose: it is on the whole flatter, the tip is less apparent, the nostrils are not so widely opened nor so thickly padded. (Fig. 3.) In the chimpanzee, as well as in the gorilla, a central and vertical furrow directly divides the triangular nostrils, and these are likewise divided from the rest of the face by the broad pear-shaped furrow which surrounds them. The upper lip is generally high, sometimes as high as thirty millimetres; but in some individuals it is much lower. As in the gorilla, the chin forms a triangle of equal sides, with its apex reversed.
The external ear of the chimpanzee has on the whole less resemblance to the human ear, and its contour is larger than that of the gorilla. But this organ varies so much in individuals that it is difficult to lay down any rule for its average size. It ranges from fifty-nine to seventy-seven millimetres in length, and from forty-two to eighty millimetres in width. Many individuals have a distinct lobule to the ear, others not. (Fig. 5.) In this example the helix and anti-helix are developed, in others they are wanting. The tragus and anti-tragus are more or less apparent in different individuals, as well as the other modifications of the external cartilage of the ear.
An aged male chimpanzee has broad, rather rounded shoulders, a powerful chest, long, muscular arms, reaching to the knees, and a long hand, which seems to be very slender in comparison with that of the gorilla. The thumbs vary in length, for the most part reaching as far as the metacarpal phalanges, but not in all cases. The middle finger is longer than the other three; the first and third fingers are shorter ​by the length of the last phalanx, the third is a little longer than the first, and the fourth is again shorter. A web, which reaches to the middle of the first row of phalanges, stretches between the bases of Fig. 5.—Ear of Chimpanzee. the four fingers. There are horny callosities on the back of the hand of the aged male, since the chimpanzee, like the gorilla, supports himself on the backs of his closed fingers. The fingers are laterally compressed, but slightly arched on the back of the hand, and more decidedly so on the palm, A net-work of furrows covers the back of the hand, and these are more deeply impressed on its palm. The thumb is separated from the palm by a distinct furrow; and from four to six furrows of varying depth cross the center of the palm. The finger-nails are short, wide, and arched, very convex at their free edges.
In the aged male the sides of the belly are compressed, the thighs are broad and muscular, and somewhat flattened both on the inner and outer sides. The knees are rather prominent, the shanks are somewhat laterally compressed, and the calf of the leg is very slightly developed. As in the gorilla, the long, wide feet have a thumb-like formation of the great-toes, which are of considerable size. They extend, when drawing anything toward them, as far as the second phalanx of the second toe. The four other toes are more slender, and only a little longer than the great-toe. The heel is but slightly developed, and slopes away below. The joint between the first phalanx of the great-toe and the first metatarsal bone is marked by an angular projection on the inner edge of the foot. The back of the foot is very slightly convex. The last phalanx of the great-toe is very much sloped off on its upper surface, but this is less apparent in the other parts of this member. The last phalanges of the other laterally compressed toes are strongly arched on the under surface. Considerable convexities may also be observed under the metacarpo-phalangeal joint of the great-toe, and under its last phalanx. The shape of the toe-nails resembles that of the fingers. Large callosities are not unfrequently found on the backs of the toes, since the animal sometimes supports himself on these parts. A connective web is found between all the toes, except the great-toe and its neighbor, but it does not extend so far as that between the roots of the fingers.
Although the young male chimpanzee is distinguished from the aged male of the same species by differences in the structure of many ​of its parts, yet those distinctions are not so characteristic as those between the young and aged male gorillas. The skull of the younger animal, which is altogether devoid of the prominent bony crest and ridges, is shaped almost like a truncated cone in the region of the crown; in some individuals of only a few years old the bony development of the orbits has already begun, starting from the principal part of the frontal bone, and covered with pads of wrinkled skin. The short and depressed bridge of the nose becomes longer and higher, the cartilaginous end of the nose becomes larger, and the prognathism of the face increases with each successive stage of growth. The strength of the trunk and limbs is early developed. The sexual characteristics are gradually and plainly developed; but the male gorilla far exceeds the chimpanzee in demoniacal ferocity.
The adult female is smaller, and has a smaller head, with an oval crown to the skull. The orbits are not so strongly developed as in the aged male, the nasal parts are less prominent, and the teeth are not nearly so strong. The body of an animal of this sex is rounder in all its parts; and the belly, with its wider pelvis, is more tun-shaped than in the aged male. Neither do the limbs display the same angular formation of muscles. The hands and feet of the female are also smaller and slenderer. In a young female the characteristics here describep are presented in the mitigated form which corresponds with its youthful condition. But the female sometimes becomes a very strong and even violent creature. This was often proved in the Hamburg Zoölogical Garden, where a female specimen, in splendid condition, survived for several years under the faithful care of old Siegel.
The skin of the chimpanzee is of a peculiar light, yet muddy flesh color, which sometimes verges upon brown. Spots, varying in size and depth of color, sometimes isolated, sometimes in groups, and of a blackish-brown, sooty, or bluish-black tint, are found on different parts of the body of many individuals, especially on the face, neck, breast, belly, arms and hands, thighs and shanks; more rarely on the back. The face, which is soon after birth of a flesh color, merging into a yellowish-brown, assumes a darker shade with the gradual development of the body. The hairy coat is sleek, or only in rare cases slightly curled, and the coarser and bristly hair is generally stiff and elastic. The parting on the forehead is often so regular that it might have been arranged by the hairdresser's art (see Fig. 6). Close behind that part of the head at which the projecting supraorbital ridges of the gorilla generally meet, there is in the chimpanzee an altogether bald place, or only a few scattered hairs. Round the face the growth ​of hair streams downward like a beard. On the neck it is from sixty to eighty or one hundred millimetres in length, and it falls in the same long locks over the shoulders, back, and hips. The hair on the limbs is not so long, and takes a downward direction on the upper arm, and an opposite direction on the forearm, while there is often a longitudinal parting on the center of the inner surface of this part of the limb.
Fig. 6.—Young Chimpanzee.
On the back of the wrist the hair grows in a kind of whorl; the upper hairs turn upward and backward, the middle ones turn backward, the lower ones backward and downward. The backs of the hands and the roots of the fingers are hairy. On the front of the thigh the hair takes a downward direction, while behind it grows backward. On the shank it grows downward in the region of the tibia, and turns back on the inside of the leg. The back of the foot and the roots of the toes are likewise hairy. There is a shorter growth of these scattered hairs on the face, chin, and ears. On the supraorbital arches there are from ​eight to twenty, or even more, stiff, scattered hairs, after the manner of eyebrows; and eyelashes are likewise present.
In most cases the hair of the true chimpanzee is of a black color. Short whitish hairs may be observed on the lower part of the face and chin, as well as round the posteriors. Sometimes the color of the hair is shot throughout with reddish or brownish black.
The orang-outang, the chief representative of the anthropoids in Asia, differs from the African forms of this group, almost at the first glance, in the height of his skull, of which the fore part is compressed and shortened in a backward direction. In the aged male it is, however, provided with high and erect bony crests, which give a prognathous appearance to the countenance. We take an aged male as the type of our description.
The forehead is high and erect, not retreating like that of the chimpanzee; it is open, and has moderately convex frontal eminences. From the center of the forehead a round or bluntly oval eminence sometimes projects. The supraorbital ridges are strongly arched, yet not so prominent as that of the aged male chimpanzee, setting aside that of the gorilla. The eyes are not widely opened, nor are their lids large and furrowed, but on the lower lids there are deep wrinkles. The small bridge of the nose is generally much depressed, but sometimes assumes a slightly conical form as it issues from the central longitudinal depression of the face. The end of the nose, farther removed from the eyes than is generally the case in the chimpanzee, is not so broad as it is in the latter animal and in the gorilla. The wings of the nose are narrow and highly arched in their upper part, divided from each other by a vertical furrow, and the nostrils are small and oval, separated by a thin partition. The upper lip is high, broad, and projecting, and seldom much wrinkled. It is divided from the cheeks and from the upper part of the face by a deep depression; and behind the cheeks two large and long-shaped or sometimes triangular pads of fat often project forward and downward.
The very mobile lips are furrowed, and not remarkably thick. The chin is very retreating, but somewhat uniformly rounded in front (Fig. 7). The small ear averages fifty-five millimetres in length, and twelve millimetres in width, and has a general resemblance in structure to the human ear (Fig. 8). On the fore part of the short, thick neck there are irregular, and in some places very deep, circular folds of skin. The throat-pouch distends part of this slack, wrinkled skin, which hangs down in front like a great empty wallet (see Figs. 7 and 9).
The structure of the other parts of the body lacks even, to some extent, the powerful and symmetrical formation which we observe in the gorilla, and indeed in the chimpanzee. The trunk, with broad yet rather angular and sloping shoulders, with flattened breast, rounded back, and still more rounded belly, is tun-shaped, and gives the impression of a want of proportion. In lean individuals the gluteal ​region resembles the projecting rump of a fowl, and this may also be observed in the young gorilla and chimpanzee. The long, muscular arms reach to the ankles when the animal is in an erect position, and are altogether out of proportion with the rest of the body. The powerful
Fig. 7.—Head and Shoulders of a Male Orang-Outang.
upper arm is shorter than the lean forearm. The hand is long and narrow. The thumb, which reaches as far as the metacarpo-phalangeal joint, has a displeasing and almost rudimentary effect. A web unites the fingers, sometimes extending along a third of the first Fig. 8.—Ear of the Orang-outang. phalanx, sometimes along half. The middle finger is somewhat longer than the first and third fingers, and the third is next to it in length. The fourth finger is comparatively long. The palm of the hand is flat, only marked by a few deep furrows. The long, slender fingers are laterally compressed, and the nails on their tapering ends are arched. The thighs, somewhat compressed on the inner side, are, however, very muscular, but become much smaller on their back side. The calf of the leg is less developed than in the gorilla, or even than in the chimpanzee. The feet are, like the hands, long and slender. The narrow, flat heels, project very slightly behind. The great-toes are short, with wide extremities, rounded above, and provided on the sole with thick, fatty skin. In old age these animals not only often lose the nails of their great-toes, but sometimes even the last phalanges themselves. This is not merely a disease produced by confinement, as is the case with sea-cat monkeys, hyenas, etc., which in this ​condition lose portions of their tails of toes, but it also occurs among orang-outangs in their wild state. The middle toe is the longest, and the fourth toe is the shortest. Layers of fat may be observed on the under side of all but the great-toe, where they rarely occur. The backs of the hands and feet are covered with very ribbed and wrinkled skin, and on the hands there are callosities.
This animal, of a quieter and more phlegmatic disposition than the gorilla and chimpanzee, has a very strange appearance, with its projecting head and short neck; its face widening in the middle and tapering toward the forehead and chin; its tun-shaped trunk, long, thin extremities, and shaggy coat. It differs widely from the chimpanzee and gorilla in these particulars. In the young male the compression of the forehead is less marked than in aged animals, and the bony crests which conduce to raise the coronal arch in its upper and hinder part are also absent. The supraorbital arches are less strongly developed, the jaws are less prominent, and the layers of fat upon the cheeks are absent. The head is more detached from the neck, the structure of the whole body is slenderer, the expression of the countenance is milder. A small, conical nail, blunted at the end, may generally be observed on the great-toe.
In the adult female, as I have pointed out elsewhere, the physical characteristics of the young male are repeated in an exaggerated form. The skull, displaying only very small bony crests, is indeed high, but more rounded than in the aged male; the face is prominent, but the head is more detached from the neck than in the latter case. On account of the greater width of the pelvis, the body is still more tun-shaped than in the aged male. When giving suck, the breasts are distended in the form of a half cone, but when this condition ceases they fall together and only present two short, wrinkled, slightly prominent folds of skin; the small, horny nipples are almost cylindrical; and the areola, of which the traces are scanty at all times, altogether disappears. The throat-pouch is less strongly developed than in the aged male, but the limbs are as fully developed. The head of the young female is still more rounded, with a more flattened though still projecting face, and the limbs are slenderer, and thus still more out of proportion with the thick trunk than is the case with a young male.
The orang-outang's skin is of a grayish-blue color, sometimes mixed with brown, but the grayish-blue shade is predominant. A yellowish or brownish gray is less common. Round the eyes, nostrils, upper lips, and chin, there is often a ring of a dirty, yellowish-brown color, forming a strange contrast with the general bluish-gray tone of the face. The arms, legs, hands, and feet are black or grayish-black, more rarely brown or reddish-brown.
The hairy coat of the orang-outang consists of long, curved, waving bristles, and some scanty downy hairs. On the back of the head, on the shoulders, back, and hips, I have measured hairs from two hundred ​and twenty to two hundred and thirty-five millimetres in length. In other individuals they were, however, much shorter—twenty, forty, or sixty millimetres long. There is often a natural parting of the hair of the head, which falls asunder on either side. In some eases there is no parting, and the hair streams wildly down; and in others, again, it stands upright, stiffening from the sides and top of the head in a demoniacal manner (Figs, 7 and 9). A beard frequently encircles the
Fig. 9.—Adult Male Orang-Outang.
checks and chin. The hair grows upward and outward on the neck and fore part of the throat, on the shoulders, back, breast, belly, upper arms, and thighs, while it takes the opposite direction on the forearm. On the wrist the hair grows in the manner described in the case of the gorilla. There is only a scanty growth of hair on the breast and belly, ​and it is also short and weak on the face, ears, and backs of the hands and feet. I have not observed eyebrows on the animals I have seen, but they may occur, and the eyelashes are fully developed.
The hair is of a reddish-brown color, something like burnt sienna, and the hair-tips on the back parts of the body are generally brown. In some individuals the hair is darker, of a russet or blackish brown; in others it is lighter, and in the latter case the breast and belly are of a yellowish white. The beard is sometimes dark yellow. Some individuals almost devoid of hair have been observed.
* ↑ From Anthropoid Apes. By Robert Hartmann. With Sixty-three Illustrations. No. 51, International Scientific Series. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1886.
* ↑ "Vorträge über Viehzueht und Rassenkenntaiss," vol. i, p. 61. Berlin, 1872.
* ↑ Compare Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, table v; also Hartmann, "Der Gorilla," p. 14, Anm 4.
* ↑ Owen, "Memoir," etc., plate ii; Brehm, "Thierleben," vol. i, p. 56.
* ↑ Compare Hartmann, "Der Gorilla," Fig. 8. This is undoubtedly one of the most successful illustrations of the chimpanzee, its habits, expression, and disposition.
* ↑ Compare Hartmann, "Der Gorilla," Fig. 27, representing the Hamburg animal in middle age. Fig. 6 gives the wild Paulina of the German Loango expedition. The inscription, by an error of the press, states that it is a male, not a female chimpanzee.