Apes and Monkeys: Their Life and Language

by R. L. Garner

One fact peculiar to this ape is that the palms of both the hands and the feet are perfectly black. In other animals these are usually lighter in color than the exposed parts. In most other apes, monkeys, baboons, and lemurs, as in all races of men, the palms are lighter than the backs of the hands and feet. The thumb of the gorilla is more perfect than that of the chimpanzee, yet it is smaller in proportion to the hand than in man. The hand is very large, but has more the shape of the hand of a woman than that of a man. The fingers taper in a graceful manner, but by reason of the web alluded to they appear much shorter than they really are. It is not really a web in the true sense, but the integument between the fingers is extended down almost to the second joint. The forward edge of this is concave when the fingers are spread. When the fingers are brought together the skin on the knuckles becomes wrinkled, and the web almost disappears. This is more readily noticed in the living animal than in the dead. The texture of the skin in the palms is coarsely granulated, and the palmar lines are indistinct. The great toe sets at an angle from the side of the foot, thus resembling a thumb. It has more prehension than the corresponding member of the hand. The foot is less flexible than the hand, but it has greater strength and prehension.

At this point I wish to draw attention to one important fact. The tendons of the foot, which open and close the digits, are imbedded in the palm in a deep layer of coarse, gristly matter, which forms a pad, as it were, under the soles of the foot and prevents it from bending. Therefore it is not possible for a gorilla to sleep on a perch. In this respect he resembles man more than the chimpanzee does, but it is quite certain that neither of them has the true arboreal habit. The gorilla is an expert climber, but he cannot sleep in a tree. In the hand the tendons which close the fingers are the same length as the line of the bones, and this permits him to open the fingers to a straight line, which the chimpanzee cannot do.

One other important point I desire to mention. The muscles in the leg of the gorilla will not permit the animal to stand or walk erect. The large muscle at the back of the leg is shorter than the line of the bones of the leg above and below the knee. When this muscle is brought to a tension, those bones form an angle of from 130° to 160°, or thereabouts. So long as the sum of two sides of a triangle is greater than the other side, a gorilla can never bring his leg into a straight line. In the infant state, while the muscles are elastic and the bones less rigid, the leg can be forced nearly straight. The habit of hanging by the arms and walking with them in a straight line develops the corresponding muscle in those members so that the bones can be brought in line and the limbs straightened.

The gorilla can stand upon his feet alone and walk a few steps in that position; but his motion is very awkward; his knees turn outward, forming an angle of 40° or 50° on either side of the mesial plane. He never attempts to walk in this position except at perfect leisure, and then he holds on to something with his hands.

YOUNG GORILLA WALKING
(From a Drawing.)

The leg of the gorilla from the knee to the ankle is almost the same in size. In the human leg there is what is called the “calf” of the leg, but in the apes this is very small. However, there is a tendency in the ape to develop that feature. In the human species the calf of the leg appears to belong to the higher types of men. As we descend from the highest races of mankind this characteristic decreases, and it almost disappears in the lowest savage. The pygmies and the bushmen have smaller calves than any other men. It is not to be inferred from this that apes would ever have this feature developed in them by their elevation to a higher plane. So long as they remain apes they will retain this characteristic, which is one of the distinctive features of their apehood. One thing which makes the calf appear smaller in the gorilla is the large size of the muscles about the ankle and the flexibility of that joint. Also the fact that the joint of the knee is larger in proportion to the leg makes it appear smaller than it really is. The corresponding parts of the arm are more like those of the human body.

In a sitting posture the gorilla rests his body upon the ischial bones and sits with his legs extended or crossed. The chimpanzee usually squats, resting the ischial bones upon his heels. He sometimes sits, but more frequently he squats. When in either of these attitudes both kinds usually fold their arms across their breasts.

The hair of the gorilla is irregular in growth. It is more dense than that of the chimpanzee, but less uniform in size and distribution. On the breast it is very sparse, while on the back it is dense and interspersed with long, coarse hairs. The hair on the arms is long and coarse. The ground color is black, but the extreme end of the hair is tipped with pale white. This is so even in early youth. With age the white encroaches, until in extreme age the animal becomes quite gray. The top of the head is covered with a growth of short hair. In certain specimens this crest is of a dark tan color. It looks almost like a wig. This mark seems to be peculiar to certain localities. It is uniform among those captured in the Ferran Vaz basin.

A white trader living on Ferran Vaz Lake claims to have seen a gorilla which was perfectly white. It was said to have been seen on a plain near the lake in company with three or four others. It was thought to be an albino. In my opinion it was only a very aged specimen turned gray. A few of them have been secured that were almost white. It is not, however, such a shade of white as would be found in an animal whose normal color is white. I cannot vouch for the color of this ape seen on the plain, but there must have been something peculiar in it to attract attention among the natives. They regarded it as something very extraordinary.