An Unique Phenomenon.
That a plantar arch is peculiar to man is a matter of fact, and Lydekker in the Royal Natural History, Vol. I., p. 41, says of the gorilla’s foot incidentally “there is no sort of resemblance to the human instep in the whole foot,” and Professor Keith in the work referred to “the arch is a human character.” One may see this for oneself in living apes and monkeys and in the wonderful series of drawings of apes in all kinds of postures in the Royal Natural History, and indeed in the feet of dead apes and monkeys. All Primates other than man walk on a flat sole.