HUNTING THE GORILLA.
The thick ankles of the Gorilla are rather exaggerated by the hair which covers them, and it is found over the whole of the upper surface of the foot to the clefts of the toes. The sole is not thus covered, and its bare state enables grasping to be performed with ease, while the absence of hair assists the delicacy of the sense of touch. Another cause of the ugly appearance of the foot is the backward projection of the heel, and the hand-like look is of course given by the great toe-thumb, which projects from the side of the foot at an angle of 60 degrees at least. The sole is narrow behind, and expands to where the great toe-thumb projects, so as to become very wide close to the clefts between the other toes. It is marked with lines or indentations, and there is a kind of pad beneath the ball of the great toe-thumb. The Gorilla seizes objects and grasps boughs with its feet, the great toe-thumb being exceedingly movable to and fro as well as across the sole of the foot. Hence the hand-like appearance of the foot and the thumb-like appendage of the great toe. Yet it is a foot, and the movable toe is not really a thumb.
Each kind of animal must be compared with others, some of which appear to be more complicated and some less highly organised, so that its peculiar construction can be comprehended. Man, as the perfection of living forms, is naturally considered the model or type with which all others should be compared, and therefore anatomists who begin by studying man name the bones, muscles, and other structures of animals after his. That is to say, any of their structures which are comparable with those of man, by their native position and use, are named similarly.
The question then arises, and can of course on this principle be answered, are the hinder extremities of the Gorilla feet or hands? do they resemble human feet or human hands in their anatomy, or in the arrangement of their bones, muscles, leaders, and blood-vessels?
By placing side by side the joined bones of the foot of man and those of the hind extremity of the Gorilla, it will be observed that the same number are present, and that they can be compared, as regards their shape and position, in a most remarkable and satisfactory manner.
A human foot is composed of three parts, so far as its bones are concerned. These are the toes, or the very movable bones in the front of the foot (1), and then there are five slender bones (2) placed side by side, and reaching from the toes to the pieces forming the back of the foot or ankle. The five bones thus parallel, and situated between the beginning of the toes and the ankle-bones, are counted from within outwards. That attached to the great toe is the first, and that to the little toe is the fifth. These are called metatarsal bones, and give length and narrowness to the foot, and they can be readily felt with the finger on our own bodies.
BONES OF THE ANKLE
AND FOOT OF MAN.
