, 1859-01-04
The Gorilla the Connecting Link Be-
tween Han and Beast.


i perfect specimen Of tile Gorilla his 1''en
recently secured and put on exhibition in
England. Ne may as well reply ct once to
the question, of"What is a Gorrilla?'' by
stating that it is an animal that resembles
more nearly than any other known creature
tue members tie human family :and there is
this extraordinary fact relative to it. that it
las 1,ecn accurately describrl u,rN several
occasions before it was seen, ur was ever
known to exist with perfect certainty. Scmc
ten years since, Il traveller lin the interior OF
Western Africa, saw q native tribe engaged
in wu7nnipping what appeared to be human
skull sci upon pole. The curiosity Of the
traveller was excited. and with considerable
trouble be obtained possession "f the idol,
AMI forwarded to Prot. Owen for his opinion
respecting til nature Of the animal Of which
il hatl once formed i part. Prof Owen dcci-
t1.d that The creature did not belong IL aug
Of the species o: the cAimpapzee, or in,leel 10
any ofthc monkey tribe; that it was altogtt!l-
cr unrcI,rrsc Ell by any sptci linens of natu-
ral history known 10 the scientific world
and 'flc learned Professor embodied his vicWs
On The subject in fl very interesting paper,
which hc read beforc th, Geological Socltty.
At length, after extraordinary eycrtlons, an
animal VAS captured. and picked IN :! c:tsk .!
ofspirits Of wire, duly arrived in this eoun.
try, Il fex weeks since, aud is fund to cores
pond iu tllc most minute respect with Tue des-
cripiien Of il by Prof owen. Tic Gorilla is
natiye IF Western Africa, and j. known TO
exist, it is said. in very large plumbers, in tile
Gal,oou districts, where they are a1noug tie
most formidable Of the wild animals of the
tnrrSt. The present specimen, which has
bren lne-t carefully skinncfl anil preserved l!y
Mr. Bartlett, tue taxidcrmlst of The Crystal
Palace, under the direction ofProfessrr Owen
is rather 'nnrc than tire feet in hight. 1t is a
male, known to bc young 1'y the state Of lis
teet'l, and tie condition OF tic tnturcs Of tlc
skull. The fore leg, or arms are Of great
le"gtA ard Of Wol|"aus strength, greatly sur
lmssing that Of any human arm tile biul legs
arr comparatively slrrt, and are well adapt
eli for TREE c1iming. IL features the animal is
very much like n negro. and the orbits over
lhc eyes are considerable projected. The
teeth are formed almost precisely as in 1uan,
and unlike The monkey, chimpauzee or OIL
rangnutaug, they are ofgrcrt strength, and
in the skull which v:Ss first sent over to this
country, the caulncs we're nearly :1s large and
strong as those "f lion. The b:ljr OIL the
Nppegra7t Of the Aead uf the Gorilla is rel.
1ish brown upon the checks. the slpooth
balr Is Of greyisl hue the hack is covered
with dun or n,ousc-colored hair; the hair
upua the atm, from tile hand 10 the elbow, is
blnck. ;lld grows upwards frotn the hand to-
wards tic clbnE- The chest j. nearly bare.
1hcfe were thirteen wounds in the body .!
the animal, aud tHo bulie'a were extracted
From it, one from wound which had been
healed over.
Tie Gorilla hal to all appearances lied
ofE.arvaton his hody WAS in most enlAcia~
tod ropIfti,,f1 .,f,.1 h5c c.,y.raj