THE TRUE CHIMPANZEE.[11]
CHIMPANZEE. (From a Sketch by Wolf, in the possession of the Zoological Society.)
The name Chimpanzee has sometimes been given to all the great Apes just described, but reference has been made, in considering some points in their anatomy and habits, to a particular animal which bears this name. This one comes next to them in the descending order of the scale of beings, and completes the number of the kinds of these man-shaped Apes of Equatorial Africa. It is the animal, the young of which have frequently been brought to England, where they have been celebrated for their gentle fun, romping play, good climbing, and their ability to imitate many human habits—clothes-wearing, tobacco-smoking, and tea-drinking especially. It is the Chimpanzee of Chimpanzees, the young of which have such very human-looking faces and most baby-like skulls. Being covered for the most part, and especially on the top and sides of the head, with long black hairs, it is called the Black Chimpanzee, or Troglodytes niger.
It was a sight worth seeing to be present in the Monkey House of the Zoological Gardens, in London, when the keeper paid an early morning visit to his attached friend, the Chimpanzee. If he was not quite awake, or lazily inclined, and snugly covered up in his little wooden house, and the keeper called him, a commotion was heard inside, and then a round little figure with a large head came tumbling out, and rushed to the iron wicket. He creeps along at a great rate on all-fours, but the body is half erect, for the fore limbs are long, and the knuckles, or rather the back parts of the second joints of the fingers, are allowed to touch the ground and support the frame in front, whilst the elbows are kept straight. The hind legs, being short, move one after the other as in a canter, and it is readily noticed that although the feet touch the ground on their outer edges they can rest flat on the soles.
There is much joyful recognition, and after he has put his arms around the keeper’s neck, he enjoys being tickled and laid on his back in the straw. Making grunts and little laughs, he shows his fine set of teeth, and his fine hazel-coloured eyes twinkle with fun. Then he rushes off, tumbling head over heels, scampers over the straw, and with a jump clasps one of the horizontal wooden bars in the cage, and swings himself up and on to it with an ease and grace which many a gymnast might envy. Running along this, and just balancing himself with the assistance of the back of his hand, he nears a rope, and then, after seizing it, swings with arms out at full length, now catching hold of others or of the wire lattice-work with his feet and toe-thumb, or suddenly coming to the ground with a great bounce. This is usually preparatory to coming to the spectators, and he then squats down, folds his arms, and moves his shoulders from side to side in a quick and restless manner. Another scamper brings him to his house on the ground-floor, into which he looks, and then taking a lot of biscuit, he gives a jump on to its shelving top, sits down, and begins to eat. He sits upright enough, and puts the biscuit into his mouth, but rather clumsily. He does not take it between the tips of his fingers and the thumb, but between the thumb and the side of the first finger, for the thumb is short. Hence, as the food disappears, he appears to be cramming the knuckle of his first finger into his mouth.[12]
One is struck with the colour of the face, which is nearly hairless, for the tint of its skin is a dirty yellow-ochre; but it is relieved by the beautiful white teeth, the hazel eyes, and the long hair which comes down from the top of the head in front of the ear like a lock. The upper lip has no furrow running down from the small and flat nose, but it is very large, and the mouth looks like a slit in the face when both lips are together. He has distinct eyelids; and when he sits and looks forwards, the chin reaches below the top of the breast and hides the neck. The palm of the hands is flesh-coloured, or darker, and the foot looks very strange, for the hair is long over the ankle and very black, and it ceases suddenly, so that the heel and all the sides and the sole are naked and flesh-tinted. The absence of hair on the face—there being a little straggling beard only—is possibly an ornament, and it is noticed in many Monkeys; but its absence from the under part of the hand and foot, of course, is of use, for it gives a greater power of grasp and a finer sense of touch. The front hair comes to a peak over the forehead, and the curve on either side is as graceful as that of a Queen’s Counsel’s wig; then it covers a broad low head, which looks very big behind and decidedly over-burdened with two great ears, larger than those of the Gorilla, and which are close neighbours to the high shoulders. Long black hair, with the ears peering through, covers all the back and sides of the head and the wide shoulders and very short neck, and is continued down the back, which shows no sign of a waist, and only becomes smaller just above the thighs. Here, then, is another instance of the frog-like body shape, and it is produced by the same general internal arrangements which have been noticed in the great Apes already described. That is to say, large lungs, and a great stomach and digestive apparatus, are more important than a slim and elegant figure; and good short back-bones, and at least thirteen ribs on each side are more satisfactory possessions in an African forest than long bones and a weak spine.
The arm, fore-arm, and fingers, as a limb, are long, and the tips of the fingers reach just below the knee. This is consistent with the scheme of the construction of the animal, and its adaptation for the forest life, which requires the ability to move rapidly and also to climb very easily. The arms are in constant movement when the Chimpanzee is walking, and if they are not assisting in the motion they are uplifted, the head being, moreover, carried a little forward with regard to the body. When the hands clasp a cross-bar, the little use of the small thumb is readily noticed, and the body is allowed to swing, as it were, at the full length of the arms, the thumb not assisting in holding on. But when it climbs a pole, it grasps just like a man under the same circumstances, and the thumb partly encircles the wood. It is very curious to feel the grasp of the hand, and the vigorous squeeze that the foot can give, and to look at the palms and soles. The palms seem very wrinkled across, but not to have a ball under the thumb of any size, and they seem narrow for their length. But although this is the case, and the thumb is short, they assist in grasping very forcibly. All the fingers and the thumbs have flat nails on them, which do not approach the character of a claw, and corresponding nails are found on the feet. All the heel is naked, as if it came through a hole in a stocking of black hair; and as a whole, the foot is shorter than the hand, the third toe being the longest. The toe-thumb is easily movable, and assists in climbing, for it grasps with the aid of the other toes very readily. Like the other large Apes already mentioned, it has no calf, and the legs seem to be too small for it, and to be stuck on to the body by small hips. The roundness behind is wanting, and therefore the muscles which particularly assist in the erect position are not large, as in man.
Yet at first sight there is something very human about the Chimpanzee; it looks like a very old child, and doubtless this is increased by its gentle habits and amiability; and there is every apology to be made for the early geographers and anatomists, who called it the “Pigmie.”
One of the first living Chimpanzees which was brought to England took strange dislikes to people. When it was brought on board the ship it would give its hand to be shaken by some, but refused it to others of the sailors with marks of anger, and it speedily became very familiar with the crew, except with a boy, to whom it never became reconciled. When the seamen’s mess was brought on deck, it was a constant attendant; it would go round and embrace each person, while it uttered loud yells, and then seated itself to enjoy the repast. If it was pleased at any favourite morsel, or if a piece of sweetmeat was given to it, satisfaction was expressed by a sound like a “hem,” in a grave tone; but if it was made angry or vexed, it would bark like a dog or cry like a child, and scratch itself most vehemently. It was active and cheerful in warm latitudes, but it became languid as it left the Torrid Zone, so that a blanket had to be given it as the English Channel was reached.