It may be doubted whether the most scientific of the scientific could do much in the way of science at first with such varied and amusing creatures before him; but the mind will attempt to compare and notice differences under all sorts of circumstances, and therefore some general truths would possibly be got at amidst all the noisy debates, divisions, and cheers and counter-cheers of this Apes’ Parliament. There would be clearly two sides to this house of representatives, the Americans and the Old World-ites, and the most uncritical observer would separate them. It never entered into the mind of a Monkey of the Old World to have a tail which would be as useful as another leg and hand, and as manageable as if it had an eye at its tip—that is an invention of Dame Nature in the American tropics, and is an evident improvement. Now this tail is visible enough, and so is another American peculiarity. The Monkeys there have a broad end to the nose, and the openings of the nostrils look outwards, being separated by a thick gristle; but those of the Old World have a thin gristle in the same place, and the nostrils are not wide apart but open in front, more or less like those of men and dogs. Here are, then, two “parties,” those with nostrils wide apart with a wide and thick gristle—“broad noses,” called in scientific language “Platyrhines”[1]; and those with the nostrils “looking downward,” or “Catarhines.”[2]
ONE OF THE ANTHROPOMORPHA—THE CHIMPANZEE.
The great American section, or that of the broad-noses, is split up to a certain extent, for all have not long prehensile tails, those of some being short; and others have them feeble in strength and almost brushy with fur. Here are, then, the means of readily knowing one set from another, so far as these far travelled Monkeys are concerned.
The Old World section, with its close and downward-looking nostrils, at first sight appears very united, but after a little noticing there seem to be many different groups in it. Firstly, the commonest kinds make up for the absence of a clinging tail, such as their American cousins have, by having something which the Transatlantics would be glad of, namely, cheek pouches—comfortable receptacles for nuts and such delicacies within the mouth, where food can be kept as in a cupboard, until it is required, or can be enjoyed in safety. These are the valuable properties of many of the smaller African tribes. Then they also have, in the absence of soft clothes and comfortable chairs to sit upon, fur or hair and a natural hardness or “callosity,” or seat, which does not wear out, and which is often strangely coloured. Another group has no cheek pouches, but it possesses the callosities, and these less favoured creatures come mainly from Asia and the great islands, and only a few from Africa.
Finally, the most important group of the section consists of the large Apes, with neither tails, callosities, nor cheek pouches, but having very man-like features; for instance, the great Troglodytes, Chimpanzees, and Orangs, the first two from Africa, and the last from the great Asiatic islands and the mainland.
ONE OF THE CYNOMORPHA—THE BABOON.
These tribes could be, with more study (especially if the merry company were broken up by the anatomist taking them one by one and dissecting them), divided over and over again, and separated into kinds or species, which would not, however, always tally with the corresponding arrangement of the naturalist, who would go by the skin and the outside of the animals.
One thing would be quite clear to every one, and that is that some of the creatures greatly resemble man at first sight, and that although this likeness diminishes with study, still there is a group, which deserves the title of the “man-shaped.” Others form a group which go usually on all fours, looking like dogs, more or less, and they are the “dog-shaped,” but they of course retain the more or less man-like peculiarities which characterise the whole of the Monkeys.