Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-06-08

inclined to divide the genus Gorilla into many
species, some students even advancing the
hypothesis that there several distinct
races" on the different volcanoes of the
Birunga Range, the classification has recently
been simplifed. An exhaustive study of this
subject has been made by DR.. Harold j. Cool
idge, jr., of the Museum of Comparative Zoology
of Harvard University, who concludes in his
recent paper, Revision of Genus Gorilla" that
all gorillas may be divided into two species,
commonly called the Coast Gorilla and the
Mountain Gorilla The coast gorillaS" live Tor
the most part at some distance from the
Atlantic in French Equatorial Africa The
mountain gorilla" is found in comparatively
- narrow strip of the Eastern KongO.
1t was the mountain gorilla that for seven
weeks was our neighbor in the high Kivu forest
of the Pare National Albert Though indi-
vidual gorillas differ greatly in physiognomy,
yet the general resemblance between these 1ndl-
viduals is always striking. The females and
young are almost black. The black coat OF
the males is, relieved by light colored band
extending across the back. This band varies
from dark gray in comparatively young
animal to beautiful silvery white in the
largest and oldest males
T NJ DERscHE1D, the explorer, Who with
~ Carl Akeley, led the Akeley-Derscheid ex-
petition, believes that the denudation of the
chest and the protrusive jaws becomes accen-
tuated with advancing age and also that the
hood crest of hair which gives to the goril-
las of the volcanoes their characteristic aspect
appears relatively late in life. It is obviously
much more pronounced in the males than in
the females. With advancing age the coat
of the males assumes more grayish aspect
generally Because he lives in coud-land
where during our six weeks stay the night
temperatures frequently fell to 80 degrees and
the day temperature did not rise above 46 de-
grees and where we had rainfall all but
of AZ days; it Is understandable that
the gorilla finds his thick hairy coat very
comfortable asset. AS to size the males are,
may be expected, much larger than the
females. We hear many extravaganza accounts
of the great weight of the gorilla. Some have
been estimated at $50 pounds, others as high
TOO, but in each of these cases, the actual
height and other measurements of the gorilla
have been less than those of the large gorilla
which my husband collected and actually
weighed in 1921. Here are the me aSurements
and weights:
Height, S IT. 71a inches.
Weight, $50 pounds
Chest, SO inches.
Upper arm, 18 inches.
Reach, 81 inches.
Calf, 1874 inches.
Reference is frequently made to the long
arms of the gorilla. 1t Is more accurate to
speak of his short legs and spinal column, mas
much as the greater correlation OF arms and
cneSC makes IL more loSlcaI 10 compare Tie dIm
length with the thorax rather than with the
spinal column. A comparison of the arm and
chest measurements of man and the gorilla
shows that the gora's is relatively shorter
than mans.
Natural histories, encyclopedias and stories
OF travel have SO long pictured the gorilla walk
ing erect that 1t Is little wonder that this mis-
conception of his mode of locomotion is preva-
lent. My husband saw no indication that goril-
las ever walk other than on all fourS. Even
when they stopped to look back at him, they