Transcriber’s Notes
This e-text is based on ‘Cassell’s Natural History, Vol. I,’ from 1896. Inconsistent and uncommon spelling and hyphenation have been retained; punctuation and typographical errors have been corrected.
In the original book, [Chapter XI] of the order ‘Quadrumana’ (page 185) had been erroneously named ‘Chapter IX.’ The correct sequence of chapter numbers has been restored.
In the List of Illustrations, some image titles do not match the illustrations presented in the text. The following titles have been changed:
- ‘The Green and RedMonkeys’ → ‘[The Gorilla]’ (To face page 111)
- ‘The Sacred Baboon’ → ‘[The Chimpanzee]’ (To face page 137)
- ‘A Group of Lemuroids’ → ‘[Anubis Baboon]’ (To face page 211)
The list item ‘[Hand of the Spider Monkey]’ has been added by the transcriber.
The printed book shows some references to numbered ‘Plates’ (full-page images). This numbering scheme seems to originate from an earlier edition. Even though the present edition shows no image numbers, all original references have been retained.
ORANG-UTAN AND CHIMPANZEES IN THE BERLIN AQUARIUM.
(From an Original Drawing.)
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CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED, LITH. LONDON.
BIRDS.
![[❏LARGER IMAGE]](#5124374508368520790_i_000b_hr.jpg.id-6250769254813912626.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}
CASSELL’S
NATURAL HISTORY
EDITED BY
P. MARTIN DUNCAN, M.B. (LOND.), F.R.S., F.G.S.
PROFESSOR OF GEOLOGY IN AND HONORARY FELLOW OF KING’S COLLEGE, LONDON; CORRESPONDENT OF THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, PHILADELPHIA
VOL. I.
ILLUSTRATED
CASSELL AND COMPANY, LIMITED
LONDON, PARIS & MELBOURNE
1896
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
APES AND MONKEYS.
PROFESSOR P. MARTIN DUNCAN, M.B. (LOND.), F.R.S. F.G.S., &c.
LEMURS.
J. MURIE, M.D., LL.D., F.L.S., F.G.S., &c.,
AND
PROFESSOR P. MARTIN DUNCAN.
CHIROPTERA.
W. S. DALLAS, F.L.S.
INSECTIVORA.
W. S. DALLAS, F.L.S.
CONTENTS.
PAGE | |
| INTRODUCTION | |
| CLASS MAMMALIA. | |
| ORDER I.—QUADRUMANA.—THE APES AND MONKEYS. | |
| [CHAPTER I.] | |
| INTRODUCTION—THE MAN-SHAPED APES—THE GORILLA. | |
| The World of Monkeys, and its Division into great Groups—Distinction between the Old World and New World Monkeys—Classification of Monkeys—[THE GORILLA], Ancient and Modern Stories about it—Investigations of Savage and Du Chaillu—General Description—The Head, Brain, Teeth, Taste, Smell, and Voice—The Air Sacs, and Ear—The Limbs and Muscles—Method of Climbing—Diet—Hunting the Gorilla—Attempts to Capture Alive—A Tame Gorilla | |
| [CHAPTER II.] | |
| THE MAN-SHAPED APES (continued)—THE NSCHIEGO MBOUVÉ—THE KOOLO-KAMBA—THE SOKO—THE CHIMPANZEE. | |
| [THE NSCHIEGO MBOUVÉ]—Its Nests and Habits—A Specimen Shot—Differences between it and the Gorilla—Structural Peculiarities—[THE KOOLO-KAMBA]—Meaning of the Name—Discovered by Du Chaillu—Its Outward Appearance and Anatomy—[THE SOKO]—Discovered by Livingstone—Hunting the Soko—[THECHIMPANZEE]—In Captivity—On board Ship—A Young Chimpanzee—The Brain and Nerves—Anatomical Peculiarities—General Remarks upon the Group | |
| [CHAPTER III.] | |
| THE MAN-SHAPED APES (continued)—GENUS Simia—THE ORANG-UTAN. | |
| Origin of the Name—Description of the Orang—Rajah Brooke’s First Specimen—Mr. Wallace’s Experiences in Mias Hunting—The Home of the Mias—A Mias at Bay—Their Nests, Habits, Food, and Localities—Different kinds of Orangs—Structural Points—The Intelligence and Habits of the Young—The Brain and its Case—Resemblances and Differences of Old and Young | |
| [CHAPTER IV.] | |
| THE MAN-SHAPED APES (concluded)—THE GIBBONS—THE SIAMANGS—THE TRUE GIBBONS. | |
| General Characteristics of the Species—[THE SIAMANG]—Its Habits and Anatomy—Distinctness from the Orangs and Gibbons—Special Peculiarities—[THE WHITE-HANDED GIBBON]—Where Found—Its Cry—Its Habits—Special Anatomical Features—[THE HOOLOOK]—Where Found—A Young One in Captivity—Shape of the Skull—[THE WOOYEN APE]—Its Appearance and Habits—[THE WOW-WOW]—Very little known about it—[THE AGILE GIBBON]—Reason of the Name—Peculiarities of the Anatomy—General Comparison of the Different Varieties of the Great Apes | |
| [CHAPTER V.] | |
| THE DOG-SHAPED MONKEYS—SEMNOPITHECUS—COLOBUS. | |
| General Characteristics of the Monkeys of the Old World—Distinguished from the Apes by Length of the Hinder Limbs and presence of Tails—Divided into those with and those without Cheek-pouches—Use of the Cheek-pouches—The two Genera of Pouchless Monkeys—[THE SACRED MONKEYS], or Semnopitheci—Derivation of the Name—First Discovery—Ape Worship in India—General Description—Limited to Asia—[THE SIMPAI]—Its Locality and Appearance—[THE BUDENG]—Hunted for their Fur—Its Colour and Appearance—[THE LONG-NOSED MONKEY]—Reason of the Name—Quaint Appearance of the Young—Anatomical Peculiarities—Their First Appearance in Europe—Description of the Nose—Peculiar Formation of the Stomach—Bezoars—[THE HOONUMAN MONKEY]—The Sacred Monkey of the Hindoos—Legends about it—[THE DOUC MONKEY]—Its Appearance and Habitat—[THE BLACK-LEGGED DOUC]—Anatomical Peculiarities—[THE CROWNED MONKEY]—[THE RED MONKEY]—[THE SUMATRA MONKEY]—[THE WHITE-BEARDED MONKEY]—Found in Ceylon—Its Intelligence—[THE GREAT WANDEROO]—Other Ceylonese Monkeys—[THE GENUS COLOBUS], or Thumbless Monkeys—Description of the Hand and Wrist—Different Varieties—[COLOBUS VERUS]—[COLOBUS GUEREZA]—Their Habitat and Peculiarities—Fossil Semnopitheci | |
| [CHAPTER VI.] | |
| THE DOG-SHAPED MONKEYS (continued)—THE GUENONS. | |
| [THE GUENONS]—Where they are Found—Early Notices of them—Resemblance to the Colobi and Macaques—Distinctive Peculiarity of the Group—Often seen in Menageries—Their Terror of Snakes—Peculiar Expression of the Face—Beauty of their Skins—Minor Divisions of the Guenons—[THE DIANA MONKEY]—Origin of the Name—Anecdotes of their Mischief—[THE MONA MONKEY—]Description of one at Paris—[THE WHITE-NOSED MONKEY]—Origin of the Name—[THE TALAPOIN]—Anatomical Peculiarities—[THE GREEN MONKEY]—Found in Senegal in abundance—[THE RED-BELLIEDMONKEY]—[THE RED MONKEY]—Observed by Bruce—[THE MANGABEY]—Singularity of its Appearance—Special Structural Peculiarities | |
| [CHAPTER VII.] | |
| THE DOG-SHAPED MONKEYS (continued)—THE MACAQUES. | |
| Their Description and Anatomy, and its reference to that of the Semnopitheci and Guenons—[THE COMMON MACAQUE]—Its Character—Appropriateness of the Name—Occasionally an Albino—[THE ROUND-FACED MACAQUE]—Found in China—Ideas of the Chinese about them—[THE TOQUE, OR BONNET MONKEY]—[THE BHUNDER]—Described by Cuvier—Their Thieving Propensities—Hindoo Tales of their Sagacity—[THE MOOR MONKEY]—[BELANGER’S MONKEY]—[THE PIG-TAILED MACAQUE]—[THE MAGOT]—One of the Commonest Monkeys—Described by Galen—Early Notices of—Predatory Habits—Abundant at Gibraltar—Probably come over from Africa—Similarity to the Baboons—[THE WANDEROO]—Account of one in the Zoological Society’s Collection—Geographical Range of the Macaques | |
| [CHAPTER VIII.] | |
| THE DOG-SHAPED MONKEYS (continued)—THE BABOONS. | |
| Early Accounts of the Baboon—Origin of the Name—Held as Sacred by the Egyptians—Used as the Emblem of Thoth—Brought into Europe in the Middle Ages—Their Literature—General Description of the Family—Structural Peculiarities—Brain—Skull—Geographical Distribution—[THE SACRED BABOON]—Found in Great numbers in Abyssinia—Formidable Antagonists—Size and Colour of the Male and Female—Anecdotes—Propensity for Spirituous Liquors and Thieving—[THE GELADA BABOON]—[THE PIG-TAILED BABOON]—Usually called Chacma—Description of it—Its Ferocity in Captivity—Le Vaillant’s Monkey—[THE SPHINX BABOON]—Its Dexterity of Aim—[THE ANUBIS BABOON]—Its Locality and Food—Method of Running—[THE COMMON BABOON]—Often found in Captivity—Anecdotes—Anatomical Peculiarities | |
| [CHAPTER IX.] | |
| THE DOG-SHAPED MONKEYS (concluded)—THE BABOONS. | |
| The Second Division of the Baboons—[THE MANDRILL]—Easily distinguished from the rest—Peculiar Appearance and Colour of the Face—The Cheek-ridges—Noticed by the Ancients—Brutality of its Disposition—“Jerry” at the Surrey Gardens—Their Wild State—Anatomical Peculiarities—The Back-bone and Liver—[THE DRILL]—Distinguished from the Mandrill—Probable Antiquity of these Baboons—Theories of their Relationship to other Animals—[THE BLACK BABOON]—Its Locality and Description—Probably a Forest Ape—General Summary of the Dog-shaped Quadrumana and Classification of the Group | |
| [CHAPTER X.] | |
| THE MONKEYS OF THE NEW WORLD. | |
| THE CEBIDÆ—THE HOWLERS—THE WOOLLY MONKEYS—THE SPIDER MONKEYS—THE SAJOUS. | |
| The Monkeys of the New World—How Distinguished from those of the Old—Their Division into Families—The First Family, [THE CEBIDÆ], with Prehensile Tails—[THE HOWLERS]—Appropriateness of their Name—Where Found—General Description—[THE YELLOW-TAILED HOWLER]—Anatomical Peculiarities and Appearance of the Face—Other Members of the Family—[THE BLACK HOWLER]—Its Locality—[THE WOOLLY MONKEYS]—[THE CAPARRO AND BARRIGUDO]—First noticed by Humboldt—Peculiarities of the Skeleton—[THE SPIDER MONKEYS]—Seen by Humboldt in the Brazilian Forests—Remarkable Power of the Tail—Flexibility of the Limbs—Conformation of the Brain—Other Species—[THE COAITA]—Curious Stories of them in Captivity—[THE CHAMECK]—[THE BLACK SPIDER MONKEY]—Its Geographical Range—Its Position in Sleep—[THE VARIEGATED SPIDER MONKEY]—[THE SAJOUS]—[THE CAIARÁRA]—Observed by Bates on the Amazon—Other Varieties—[THE BROWN SAJOU]—[THE CAPUCHIN SAJOU]—Described by Brehm—Their Remarkable Dexterity and Cleverness—Diseases of Monkeys | |
| [CHAPTER XI.] | |
| THE CEBIDÆ (concluded)—THE SQUIRREL MONKEYS—DOUROUCOULIS—SAKIS. | |
| General Description of the Second Division of Cebidæ—Without Prehensile Tails—[THE SQUIRREL MONKEYS]—Described by Buffon and Humboldt—Peculiarities of the Species—Anecdotes by Le Vaillant—A Tragic End—[THE WIDOW MONKEY]—Origin of the Name—[THE ONAPPO]—Its Nocturnal Habits and Peculiar Cry—[THE DOUROUCOULIS, OR OWL MONKEYS]—General Description of the Family—Peculiar Formation of the Arm-bone—[THE THREE-STRIPED OWL MONKEY]—Described by Humboldt and Bates—[THE RED-FOOTED DOUROUCOULI]—[THE SAKIS]—Remarkable Resemblance in the Face to Man—Structural Peculiarities—[THE COUXIO]—[THE PARAUACÚ]—[THE MONK]—Description of the Brain—Other Varieties of the Sakis—Anecdotes of them—[THE BLACK-HEADED SAKIS]—General Description | |
| [CHAPTER XII.] | |
| THE MARMOSETS AND TAMARINS—HAPALE—MIDAS. | |
| The Dentition of the Genus Hapale, or the Marmosets, or Ouistitis—The Face—The Paw-like Hands and Feet—Their Claws—The Skull and Brain, and the Nature of the Diet—[THE COMMON MARMOSET]—Its Habits—[THE CLOAKED MARMOSET]—[THE GENUS MIDAS]—[THE TAMARINS]—Their Dentition—[THE NEGRO TAMARIN]—Its Habits—[MIDAS ARGENTATUM]—[DEVILLE’S MIDAS]—[THE SILKY TAMARIN]—Notes on the Arctopithecini in General | |
| [CHAPTER XIII.] | |
| GENERAL REMARKS ON THE MONKEYS. | |
| The Classification of the Monkeys of the New World—The Geographical Distribution of the Genera—The Fossil Monkeys of the New and Old World and their Alliances—The Former Old Fauna of Europe, Asia, and Africa—The Resemblance of Monkeys to other Animals and Man | |
| [CHAPTER XIV.] | |
| THE LEMUROIDA. | |
| THE GENERA INDRIS AND LEPILEMUR HAPALEMUR. | |
| The Name of the Genus Lemur popularly given to the Group—Lemuroida the Correct Name—Their Distinctive Characters—Their Hands and Feet—Ankle-bones—Tail—Rete Mirabile—Nostrils—Colour of the Eye—Ears—Teeth—Brain—Resemblance to Monkeys—Their Locality—Lemur at Liberty—Its Playfulness—Division of the Lemurs—Beauties of Madagascar—[GENUS INDRIS]—Described by Grandidier—Their Locality—Colour—Fingers—Teeth—[THE DIADEM INDRIS]—Specimens at the British Museum—Little known about it—[THE WOOLLY LEMUR]—Described by Sonnerat—[THE SHORT-TAILED INDRIS]—Distinguished by its Tail—Its Skull—[GENUS LEPILEMUR]—Their Teeth—Tail—[THE WEASEL LEMUR]—[THE GREY LEMUR]—Specimens obtained by Pollen—Their Cry | |
| [CHAPTER XV.] | |
| THE LEMUROIDA (continued). | |
| THE GENERA LEMUR AND CHEIROGALE. | |
| Called by the French Makis—Restricted to Madagascar—Their Activity—Different Species—How to Distinguish them—[THE RING-TAILED LEMUR]—Reason for the Name—Tail—Colour of Body—Eye—Hand and Foot—Geographical Range—Anatomical Peculiarities—Playfulness in Captivity—[THE WHITE-FRONTED LEMUR]—Specimen in the Zoological Gardens—[THE LEMUR OF MAYOTTE]—Where Found—Colour—Manner of Life—[THE MONGOOSE LEMUR]—Description of one sent to Buffon—[THE RUFFED LEMUR]—Described by Ellis—Domesticated Specimens—[THE BLACK LEMUR]—Geographical Range—Hand—Foot—[GENUS CHEIROGALE]—Bushy Tails—Resemblance to the Hapalemur—Nocturnal Habits—Difficult to Distinguish—[THE FORKED-CROWNED CHEIROGALE]—Wonderful Powers of Leaping—Cry—Reason for the Name—A Nest-making Variety—Specimens in the Jardin des Plantes—Resemblance to the Galagos | |
| [CHAPTER XVI.] | |
| THE LEMUROIDA (concluded)—THE GALAGOS. | |
| [THE GALAGOS]—[DEMIDOFF’S GALAGO AND THE MOUSE GALAGO]—[THE SENEGAL GALAGO]—[THE SENNAAR GALAGO]—[THE MAHOLI GALAGO]—[THE GRAND, OR THICK-TAILED GALAGO]—[MONTEIRO’S GALAGO]—[THE AFRICAN SLOW LEMURS]—[VAN BOSMAN’S POTTO]—[GENUS ARCTOCEBUS, OR BEAR MONKEY TRIBE]—[THE ANGWÁNTIBO]—[THE ASIATIC SLOW LEMUROIDS]—[THE SLOW LORIS]—[THE SLENDER LORIS]—[GENUS TARSIUS]—[THE SPECTRE TARSIER, OR TARSIUS]—[THE MALMAG]—[GENUS CHEIROMYS]—[THE AYE-AYE]—The Puzzle of the Naturalists—Opinions regarding it—Specimen Examined by Owen—Feeding—Teeth—Hands—Classification of the Lemuroida—Geographical Distribution | |
| CHIROPTERA, OR WING-HANDED ANIMALS. | |
| THE BATS. | |
| [CHAPTER I.] | |
| INTRODUCTION—CLASSIFICATION OF BATS—THE FRUIT-EATING BATS. | |
| One of Æsop’s Fables—Opinions of the Ancients regarding Bats—Scaliger’s Statement of the Puzzle—Opinions of the Middle Ages—The True Position of the Bats—The Wing of the Bat—General Structure: The Breast-bone, Arms, Fingers, “Wing-membrane,” Wings, Skull, Ribs, Pelvis, Legs—In Repose—Walking—The Teats—Organs of the Senses—“Blind as a Bat”—The Eyes—Spallanzani’s Experiments—The Bat’s Power of Directing its Flight in the Darkest Places—Their Food—In Winter-Quarters—A Battue of Bats—[FRUGIVOROUS AND INSECTIVOROUS BATS] | |
| [CHAPTER II.] | |
| SUB-ORDER I.—MEGACHIROPTERA, OR LARGE BATS. | |
| PTEROPIDÆ, OR FRUIT-EATING BATS. | |
| Characteristics of Fruit-eating Bats—Distribution—Diet—Flying Fox of Ceylon: its Habits, as described by Sir E. Tennent—The Flight of the Pteropidæ—Known to the Ancients—The Fruit Bats in the Zoological Gardens—[INDIAN FLYING FOX]—Diet—Dissipated Habits—[GREAT KALONG]—Linnæus’s Description—In their Dormitories—[NICOBAR, MANED, JAPANESE, AND GREY FRUIT BATS]—[GREY-HEADED FRUIT BAT]—[GOULD’S FRUIT BAT]—[ROUSSETTE]—[EGYPTIAN FRUIT BAT]—[HOTTENTOT FRUIT BAT]—[MARITIME FRUIT BAT]—[MARGINED FRUIT BAT]—[WHITE’S FRUIT BAT]—[HAMMER-HEADED BAT]—[HARPY BAT]—[GREATER HARPY BAT]—[CLOAKED FRUIT BAT]—[DWARFLONG-TONGUED FRUIT BAT]—[BLACK-CHEEKED FRUIT BAT]—[FIJIAN LONG-TONGUED FRUIT BAT] | |
| [CHAPTER III.] | |
| SUB-ORDER II.—MICROCHIROPTERA, OR INSECTIVOROUS BATS. | |
| HORSESHOE BATS AND MEGADERMS. | |
| [INSECTIVOROUS BATS]—Mr. Dobson’s Objection to the Name—Characteristics—Nasal Appendages—[THE VESPERTILIONINE AND EMBALLONURINE ALLIANCES]—The Fur in the two Alliances—[THE HORSESHOE BATS]—General Characteristics—Distribution—Diet—Carnivorous Propensities—[GREATER HORSESHOE BAT]—General Appearance—“Nose Leaves”—Habitat—[THE LESSER HORSESHOE BAT]—Habitat—[THE MOURNING HORSESHOE BAT]—[THE AUSTRALIAN HORSESHOE BAT]—[THE ORANGE BAT]—[PHYLLORHINÆ]—[THE DIADEM BAT]—Character of their “Nose Leaves”—Captain Hutton’s Account of their Habits—[THE PERSIAN TRIDENT BAT]—[THE MEGADERMS]—[THE LYRE BAT]—Characteristics—Called Vampire by Europeans in India—Mr. Blyth’s Account of a Megaderm’s Blood-thirstiness—[THE CORDATE LEAF BAT]—[THE AFRICAN MEGADERM]—[THE DESERT BAT] | |
| [CHAPTER IV.] | |
| VESPERTILIONIDÆ, OR TRUE BATS. | |
| The Genus Vespertilio and the Family Vespertilionidæ—Characteristics: Nostrils—Tail—Ears—Dentition—Diet—Distribution—[LONG-EARED BAT]—Ears—Distribution—Asleep—In Captivity—[BARBASTELLE]—Characteristics—Distribution—Habits—Flight—In Captivity—[BIG-EAREDBAT]—[TOWNSEND’S BAT]—The Genus Nyctophilus—Its True Place—Characteristics—[GEOFFROY’S NYCTOPHILE]—[PIPISTRELLE]—Distribution—Diet—[NOCTULE]—Natural Food—Mr. Daniell’s Observations—[SEROTINE]—[PARTI-COLOURED BAT]—[HAIRY-ARMED BAT]—[NEGRO BAT]—[KUHL’S BAT]—[NILSSON’S BAT]—[COROMANDEL BAT]—[THICK-FOOTED BAT]—[TEMMINCK’S BAT]—[WELWITSCH’S BAT]—[NEW ZEALAND BAT]—[MOUSE-COLOURED BAT]—[NATTERER’S BAT]—[DAUBENTON’S BAT]—[WHISKERED BAT]—[BLACK AND ORANGE BAT]—[PAINTED BAT]—[HARPY BAT]—[RED BAT]—[SCHREIBER’S BAT]—[BROWN PIG BAT]—[STRAW-COLOURED BAT] | |
| [CHAPTER V.] | |
| EMBALLONURIDÆ, OR THICK-LEGGED BATS. | |
| Characteristics of the Emballonuridæ, or [THICK-LEGGED BATS]—[CUVIER’S FURY]—The Genus Saccopteryx—[STRIPED SACK-WINGED BAT]—The Pouch or Sac in the Wing-membrane—Dentition—[MOUNTAIN BAT]—[TOMB BAT]—Origin of its Name—Dentition—The Peculiar Sac or Pouch under the Chin—Other Species of the Genus (note)—[EGYPTIAN RHINOPOME]—Difficulty of Assigning its True Place in the System—Characteristics—[GREAT HARE-LIPPED BAT]—Seba’s Description—Linnæus’s Mistake—Dentition—Distribution—The Genus Nyctinomus—[CESTONI’S BAT]—[PALE CHESTNUT MASTIFF BAT]—Distribution—Habits—[SMOKY MASTIFF BAT]—Habits—[COLLARED BAT]—Hideous Ugliness—Characteristics—[NEWZEALAND SHORT-TAILED BAT]—Characteristics—Mr. Dobson on the Wing-membrane, Thumb, and Foot | |
| [CHAPTER VI.] | |
| PHYLLOSTOMIDÆ, OR VAMPIRES. | |
| Distinguishing Marks of the Phyllostomidæ—Location—Diet—Blood-sucking Propensities—Exaggerations of the Older Writers—Testimony of Azara—Darwin’s Evidence—Bat-bites—The Witness of Bates, Wallace, Fraser, Prince Maximilian—Conclusion of the Whole Matter—The Desmodonts and Javelin Bat—The Tongue in the Genus Phyllostoma—[BLAINVILLE’S BAT]—Extraordinary Development of Face and Head—[OWL-FACED BAT]—[JAVELIN BAT]—Allied Species—[VAMPIRE BAT]—Mr. Bates’ Testimony to its Inoffensiveness, and Description of its Habits—[NEUWIED’S LARGE-LEAFED BAT]—[GREAT-EARED LEAF BAT]—[SORICINE BAT]—[REDMAN’S BAT]—[SEZEKORN’S LEAF BAT]—[SPECTACLED STENODERM]—[JAMAICAN STENODERM]—[DESMODUS]—Classification—Dentition—Blood-sucking Propensities—The Bites—Stomachs of Desmodus, Frugivorous and Insectivorous Bats—Concluding Remarks | |
| ORDER INSECTIVORA. | |
| [CHAPTER I.] | |
| COLUGOS—BANGSRINGS—JUMPING SHREWS—HEDGEHOGS—TANRECS—RIVER SHREWS. | |
| Functions of the Insect-eaters in the Order of Nature—Their Leading Peculiarities—Classification—[COLUGOS]—Various Opinions regarding their Place—[COLUGO, OR FLYING LEMUR]—The Patagium—Parachute-like Membrane—Dentition—Offspring—Diet—[BANGSRINGS]—[TANA]—[FERRUGINOUS BANGSRING]—[HORSFIELD’S BANGSRING]—[LOW’S PTILOCERQUE]—[SHORT-TAILED BANGSRING]—[JUMPING SHREWS]—[ELEPHANT SHREW]—[ALGERIAN JUMPING SHREW]—[PETRODROME]—[RHYNCHOCYON]—[HEDGEHOG]—Characteristics—Distribution—Diet—Attacks Snakes and Vipers—Taste for Eggs and Game—Its “Spiny Skin”—“Rolled up”—Enemies—Female and Young—[LONG-EARED HEDGEHOG]—[COLLARED HEDGEHOG]—[BULAU]—[TANRECS]—[TANREC]—[TENDRAC]—[TELFAIR’S TENDRAC]—[RICE TENDRAC]—[EARED EARTH SHREW]—[AGOUTA]—[ALMIQUI]—[WEST AFRICAN RIVER SHREW] | |
| [CHAPTER II.] | |
| GOLDEN MOLES—MOLES—DESMANS—SHREWS. | |
| General Description of the Golden Mole Family—Their Points of Difference from the True Mole—[THE CAPE GOLDEN MOLE]—Its Varieties—The Family of True Moles—[THE COMMON MOLE]—Described—Distribution—Teeth—Fore-limbs—Breast-bone—Not a Miserable Creature—Extreme Voracity—Diet—His Blindness a Popular Error—A Thirsty Soul—His Fortress—The Roads leading to it—Speed of a Frightened Mole—“Mole-hills”—A-wooing—His Strong Family Affections—His Persecution a Doubtful Benefit—[THE BLIND MOLE]—Several Allied Species—[THE STAR-NOSED MOLE]—Its Snout—[THE COMMON SHREW MOLE]—Other Species in the United States—The Family of Desmans—[THE DESMAN]—Its Otter-like Habits—Its Trunk—[THE PYRENEAN DESMAN]—[THE HAIRY-TAILED MOLE-SHREW]—The Family of Shrews—[THE COMMON SHREW]Or Shrew-Mouse—Superstitions about it—[DEKAY’S SHREW]—[THE GARDEN SHREW]—[THE TUSCAN SHREW]—[THE RAT-TAILED SHREW]—[THE WATER SHREW]—Essentially Aquatic—Its Prey—Allied Species—[THE TIBETAN WATER SHREW]—[THE TAILLESS SHREW]—Concluding Remarks—Classification—Distribution—Affinities | |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
INTRODUCTION.
THE Natural History of Animals has always been a most interesting and instructive subject, and its popularity increases year after year. It is a branch of knowledge which is entertaining at every age, and it is a favourite study with men of every race and country, and of every intellectual capacity. All children delight in having their little tasks associated with pictures of animals, and the alphabet is learned all the more readily by its being illustrated with spirited drawings of household pets and the terrible creatures of the woods. The marvels of the intelligence of the dog and horse are inexhaustible sources of delight to young readers; and there are few greater pleasures than those which are felt when living animals, whose descriptions and habits have been the subject of instruction and amusement, are seen in some large menagerie or zoological gardens. On the whole, it is probable that few books are so interesting to young men and women as those which relate to animals, and it is their study which, in the majority of instances, leads to the desire for further knowledge of Natural History. The young student soon begins to yearn for information regarding the manner in which different creatures live; how some breathe air, how others live in water; how it is that some fly and others crawl; and he desires to connect the peculiar construction of animals with their method of life. Or he may be content with endeavouring to understand the names of animals, and the reasons why they are arranged or classified in a particular manner by scientific men.
As years roll on, if the interest in Natural History has not diminished, the man, with increasing intelligence and scope of reading, masters the knowledge desired in his youth, and has the opportunity, should he care to grasp it, of the highest intellectual enjoyment. He can enter into the consideration and discussion of the mysterious problems of life: of its origin; of the reasons why animals differ; why they are distributed here and there, or limited in their position in the world; what connection there may be between those of the past and of the present, and of the relation between the creation and the Creator.
Besides this, even should he not aim so high, the man who has had a slight training in Natural History often employs his knowledge for the benefit of art and commerce. How beautiful are the representations of animals on some old coins, how grotesque are those on others! Yet the most correct, and, therefore, the most beautiful, were the result of the careful study of Nature. What benefits to men have resulted from the production of certain breeds of horses, sheep, and oxen! But it has been the study of Nature, and of the laws of the powers of inheritance, which led to most of these results: and thus the practical man is dependent upon the student for his success.
Notwithstanding the interesting nature of the study of the Natural History of Animals, there is certainly more interest taken in it during early life than later on. As a rule, men have no time for it, or they find that, after gaining a certain amount of knowledge, they must study hard if further progress is to be made. Moreover, the vast amount of useless things which had to be learned at school and college have no relation to Natural History, except, perhaps, to convey erroneous ideas and to teach fables, so that this important science has generally to be begun in earnest after the usual education has been completed. When the determination has been made to learn the Natural History of Animals, the student will have to study two separate, yet inter-dependent, branches of knowledge, namely, Zoology and Comparative Anatomy: for the one considers the external shape, habits, distribution, and classification of animals, and the other refers to their internal construction, anatomy, and physiology, and the relation which the internal parts bear to the external in the scheme of classification. These studies are evidently inseparable.
Now, it is the fact that, owing to the importance of Comparative Anatomy to those who study the Anatomy of Man, it is much more frequently learned than simple Zoology. Comparative Anatomy is useful to the medical man, but Zoology is not, and therefore the majority of students whose previous education has led them up to Natural History care but little for the classificatory part. It is equally true that the names and the apparently complicated methods of expression used by zoologists deter most people from the study. If this is a correct view of the relation of the Natural History of Animals to our education, and to the advance of our intellectual culture, it is evident that there is a weak point in the method of the instruction of this charming science during that age when young people begin to inquire for more solid information. The story-book has been read, and the heavy work on Zoology and Comparative Anatomy is as yet sealed, and hence books are required in advance of the one which will lead up to the other; books which—whilst they entertain—instruct and convey, in simple language, the results of the best and latest scientific inquiries. This kind of literature should, moreover, be sufficiently meritorious to attract the general reader who may desire information in any particular portion of the Natural History of Animals.
The book of which this is the Preface has been written in order to obviate the difficulties which have been alluded to, and to form a useful and entertaining Natural History of Animals. It is the result of the work of several English naturalists—of men who have felt the want of such a book in their own studies, and who have had to encounter the difficulties which it is trusted that it will remove. Every endeavour has been made to explain the most interesting facts simply and correctly, and to unite the studies of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy. The anecdotes of the instinct and habits, and of the methods of the capture of animals, have been given so as to illustrate particular gifts and the actions of important organs and structures.
The plan of this Work is not to open with a classification of animals, the majority of whose names and shapes are entirely unknown to the reader, but to describe the shape, nature, and habits of groups of creatures, and then, when they have become familiar, to arrange and classify them. In a popular work it seems more desirable to proceed upon a plan of this kind, than to lead off with an introduction dealing with the nature and importance of Natural History studies, with the abstract ideas of classification, and with the explanation of the necessity of dividing the Animal kingdom according to the principles of Comparative Anatomy. For, obviously, such an introduction would to a large extent defeat the very objects with which this Work has been undertaken.
It is necessary, however, to make a few observations on what is termed classification and its nature. Animals are classified by their resemblances and differences. Those creatures which resemble each other more than others are grouped together, and are separated from dissimilar groups. The first act in classification is to distinguish one animal from others by differences in the shape and internal construction, and the second is to group together the beings whose differences are small. A kind or species is a letter of the Zoological Alphabet, and it is usually said to refer to beings which produce others like unto themselves. A genus is a group of species closely resembling each other; a word in zoological language made up of few or many letters of the alphabet. There may be few or many species in a genus, and whilst some of them very closely resemble each other, others are not quite so much alike; and these link on one genus to another. The notion of a genus is to include a number of kinds in a group which has a character given to it: that is to say, certain peculiarities of shape and of anatomy. It will be obvious that the genus is an artificial affair, and is necessary for the purpose of making science easy.
In order to explain this, look at a domestic cat, a lion, a tiger, a leopard, and a cheetah, and it will be observed that there are differences between them in shape and colour which cause them to be separated into distinct SPECIES. They all have some points of construction in common; and, therefore, they are classified together as five species of a GENUS—the genus Felis.
Then consider the figure and colour of a hyæna, and of a civet, and study their internal anatomy, and it will be found that although there are differences between them which are sufficient to necessitate the placing of the hyænas in one genus (Hyæna), and the civets (Viverra) in another; yet the genera are closely united or allied, in consequence of their possessing many similarities.
On comparing the genus Felis with the genera Hyæna and Viverra, it will be noticed that the last two resemble each other more than they do the first, and thus two FAMILIES are formed—one the Felina, to comprehend the genus Felis; and another the Viverrina, to include the genera of hyænas and the civets. But the slight resemblance between these families is sufficient to cause them to be grouped in an ORDER which is called Carnivora, or that of carnivorous beasts.
Again, the Monkeys and Sloths do not resemble each other in shape and internal construction sufficiently to be placed in the same order even, but they and the Carnivora, and many other animals, suckle their young. They may, therefore, be separated, in a classification, from other animals which fly and lay eggs, and do not suckle: as the birds. The Birds form one CLASS, and the Mammalia, or animals that suckle their young, form another. Other Classes are formed by the Reptiles, Amphibia, Fishes, etc.
All the animals of these numerous Classes have a back-bone; but if we examine a nautilus, a snail, a beetle, a worm, a coral, or an animalcule, nothing like an internal skeleton made up of bones, some of which are placed inside the back, can be discovered. Hence all the animals can be arranged into two SUB-KINGDOMS, those with and those without back-bones, or the Vertebrata and the Invertebrata. (The name vertebrata is taken from the Latin word vertebra, which means a turning-joint in the body, or a back-bone.) Those are the sub-kingdoms of the animal KINGDOM, which is so called in contradistinction to the kingdom of plants.
It must be remembered, however, that the best classification is but an attempt of a finite understanding to arrange the infinitely variable things of Nature. It is but an artificial and arbitrary arrangement which is necessary for study: for were the whole truth before us, there would be no classification which would depend on marked differences in shape and internal construction. Were the figures and anatomy of every animal that has lived, and of every creature which is now living on the globe, placed before us, the gaps which enable one genus to be separated from another would be filled up, and even species would cease to be distinguished. But, in spite of the artificial nature of the classifications, there is this to be said of them: that they give some faint indications of the philosophy of creation. The differences and resemblances of animals relate to structures of the body which have been inherited from creatures that lived in the remote past; and we glean this when it is known that the young unborn of one genus resembles the old and fully-formed creatures of kinds belonging to other classes which preceded it in the history of the globe, and when it is shown by the microscope that some of the parts of the bodies of the most insignificant animals of the invertebrate sub-kingdom resemble those of the most gifted of animals.
A classification thus opens out a little of the scheme of Nature, and it proves that the resemblances and differences of animals are not matters of chance, but that there is a law which has produced them. Such a law, yet perhaps not fully comprehended, is Man’s idea of the action of the will of the Divine Creator.
CASSELL’S NATURAL HISTORY.
GROUP OF APES AND MONKEYS, AND A LEMUR.
CLASS MAMMALIA.
ORDER I.—QUADRUMANA.—THE APES AND MONKEYS.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION—THE MAN-SHAPED APES—1. THE GORILLA (Troglodytes Gorilla).
The World of Monkeys, and its Division into great Groups—Distinction between the Old World and New World Monkeys—Classification of Monkeys—[THE GORILLA], Ancient and Modern Stories about it—Investigations of Savage and Du Chaillu—General Description—The Head, Brain, Teeth, Taste, Smell, and Voice—The Air Sacs, and Ear—The Limbs and Muscles—Method of Climbing—Diet—Hunting the Gorilla—Attempts to Capture Alive—A Tame Gorilla
IF one of each kind of the Apes and Monkeys which are now living on the globe could be collected and placed in a large zoological garden, and if those which lived in former ages, and whose skeletons have been discovered by geologists, could be brought to life, and added to the whole, they would certainly form a very amusing and remarkable assemblage. What endless fun there would be, what scamperings, skirmishes, and quarrels would take place; how they would grin, chatter, and pull tails all the live-long day; and as evening began, how some, which had been quiet spectators before, would commence howling, and how others would rush about amongst their tired and sleepy companions, with noiseless bounds until the return of daylight!
If each of these representative Monkeys could give an account of itself, whence it had come, how it lived in its native forests and woods, and what it did with itself all day, a most interesting and novel Natural History book could be compiled, for only the histories of a few have been written, and they are by no means always veracious. They would have come from Asia and many of its islands, from Africa, from South America, and the Isthmus to the north, and Europe would have sent one from the rocks of Gibraltar; and yet, unless those of the same country had been properly introduced, either by Dame Nature or by the chapter of accidents incident to such a very unlikely meeting as we are imagining, they would not know many of their fellows. They are exclusive in their habits, and their particular parks and forests are limited in extent, and sometimes very much so. Of course, there are some exceptions, and many kinds which roam over large countries, and are even found in different islands, have gained the superior intelligence and the ready affability and easiness of intercourse characteristic of the cosmopolitan and traveller. Every kind of temper and capacity would be shown; the Gorillas would probably be shy and cross, the Chimpanzees lively and kind, the Baboons grumpy, the Spider Monkeys restless, and most of the Macaques impudent and cunning—the result of a knowledge of Apes and of many Monkeys. There would be every shade of colour, and of shape and size; there would be many without tails, some with stumps, and others with long tails of no great use except to afford temptation to the mischievous; and not a few with fine large ones useful in the extreme, by acting as a fifth limb. Many would have very human faces and sharp eyes, others would look more like dogs, and fierce enough, and there would be every variety of posture. Some would sit very well, others would go on all-fours, and there would be others swinging with their long and strong arms, and making tremendous jumps and bounds assisted in some by the prehensile tail. Some would want one kind of fruit, and others different kinds of vegetables, but only two or three tiny little ones would care much about grubs and eggs. All would have the very best possible limbs for climbing, grasping, picking, and stealing, and all would have good hands, that is to say, fingers and thumbs and wrists, in front, and foot-hands, that is to say, feet with a great thumb-like toe behind. In a general sense they would all be four-handed or Quadrumanous, and this peculiarity would distinguish them from any interlopers who might have got into the assemblage unasked.
AMERICAN MONKEY, WITH PREHENSILE TAIL.
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.
Hence, after all these divisions and differences and resemblances have been mastered, it would be found that the noisy assemblage could be arranged as follows:—
1.—CATARHINES.—Old World Monkeys, man-shaped and dog-shaped.
2.—PLATYRHINES.—New World Monkeys.
The first section, the Catarhines, may be divided into the man-shaped, or in the Greek the Anthropomorpha, and the dog-shaped, or the Cynomorpha.
Or they may be arranged as those, with: 1, cheek pouches and callosities, for instance, the Baboons; 2, those with callosities only, the Monkeys; and 3, those without either, and without a tail, the Apes.
The second section, or the Platyrhines, may be divided into those: 1, with prehensile tails; and 2, those with the tails not prehensile; and 3, those whose tail is furry.
This great array of manikins (whence they get their name of Monkey—the word homunculus, “a sorry little fellow,” having possibly something to do with it) is formed by creatures next to man, the highest in the scale of animals. They could be very readily distinguished from all others, were it not for the existence of a group of beings which resemble them in some particulars. These are the next lowest in the scale, and they have thumbs on the hands and thumb-toes on the feet, but their fur is woolly, and they are cat-like in shape. They are called the Lemurs, or by some zoologists “Half Apes.” These Lemurs only resemble in a slight degree some of the Monkeys of the New World, but they are more like them than any other animals, and therefore are classified with them.
GROUP OF LEMURS. (From the Transactions of the Zoological Society.)
The order of beings to which these various creatures belong is known by the name of “Primates,” which implies the rank they hold in the scale of creation. Man stands first, very distinct in his intellectual powers and spiritual gifts from the most intelligent of the Quadrumana and as much superior to them in his construction. Then comes the world of Monkeys, the “man-shaped” at the head, and the little marmosets, with furry tails, at the bottom of the array, and linked on to these are the Half Apes or Lemurs. They all form a great order of the animal kingdom which stands first and at the head of all other orders of the animal world.
But what would the old Monkeys whose bones have been dug out of strata which are older than the Himalayan mountains and the Alps say could they visit such a collection as that suggested? They would recognise their fellow-monkeys, but would look upon them as pigmies in size. They would be few in number, for though Monkeys go the way of all flesh very rapidly, skeletons of them are very rarely found, so rarely indeed that many Indians believe that the other Monkeys bury them. The fact is, that there are plenty of Jackals, to say nothing of birds of prey, ready to snap up a dead, dying, or invalid Ape, and to turn its protoplasm into their own. Some few tumble into holes, and may be preserved there, and probably that was how the old bones were hidden up. The old kinds resembled the new more or less, but for the most part those which have been carefully examined were larger than the corresponding modern species. They were as great Apes in their nature as are the present, and had this advantage, that their roaming ground was wider, for they lived in Europe as well as in the countries where their modern representatives are found. Nevertheless, even in those old days the Catarhines were kept to the Old World, and the Platyrhines enlivened the American forests alone.
1. FOOT AND HAND OF A MONKEY. 2. A. CATARHINE MONKEY. 3. A. PLATYRHINE MONKEY. 4. MONKEY WITH CHEEK POUCHES.
In the great order of the Primates, after man, stand the man-shaped or anthropomorphous[3] Apes, the Great Tail-less. They are inhabitants of equatorial Africa, and of the large Asiatic islands and the adjacent mainland, and first and foremost amongst them is
THE GORILLA.
Africa, to the south of the Great Desert, has always been a country of wonders, and highly attractive to imaginative and restless men; and its dark population, so ignorant and superstitious, has, from its love of the marvellous, shadowed the truth with much mystery. Hence, travellers in those tropical regions, which are so fatal to Europeans, have from the earliest times told of the man-like creatures they had heard of and sometimes seen; and they have associated them in the equatorial part of the continent with human dwarfs, pigmies, and monsters. For centuries these degraded human races have been sought after, and now whilst it is admitted that dwarfed men exist, it has come to light that most of the stories which led to the belief in their hideous associates were derived from the existence of large man-like Apes—creatures of dread to the natives—whose traditions are full of credulous anecdotes about them. Hidden in the recesses of vast forests, where the silence of nature is intense, and moving with great activity, where men can hardly follow, these animals acquired most doubtful reputations, and their ugly personal appearance, so suggestive of violence, was magnified in every way in the eyes of the timid natives.
So dreaded were the Apes, and so environed were they with a superstitious mystery, that Europeans had travelled and traded close to their haunts for centuries before one of them was seen by any other eyes than those of the timid negroes. Many stories about them had long been told, and indeed some of them are as old as the days of the Carthaginians. For instance, Hanno, a Carthaginian, was ordered to sail on a voyage of discovery round Africa some centuries before Christ, the exact date not being fixed; and he sailed and rowed in his galleys out of the present Strait of Gibraltar, and coasted southwards until he came to the great bay, probably somewhere about the Gaboon River, near the equator, in Western Africa. It is stated in the history of his voyage:—
“On the third day, having sailed from thence, passing the streams of fire, we came to a bay called the Horn of the South. In the recess there was an island like the first, having a lake, and in this there was another island full of wild men. But much the greater part of them were women with hairy bodies, whom the interpreters called Gorillas. But, pursuing them, we were not able to take the men; they all escaped, being able to climb the precipices, and defended themselves with pieces of rock. But these women (female Gorillas), who bit and scratched those who led them, were not willing to follow. However, having killed them, we flayed them, and conveyed the skins to Carthage, for we did not sail any further, as provisions began to fail.”
Probably the streams of fire were a part of a volcanic eruption. Written in the Periplus or voyage of Hanno this story is thoroughly African, and might have been the model upon which hundreds of later ones have been formed, for it is a combination of the novel in nature, and of what is true and false. It is curious that a commander of so civilised an expedition, and a man whose eyes had been accustomed to the grace of Grecian statuary and to the beauty of his own countrywomen, should have mistaken a Gorilla for one of the fair sex; and, moreover, it is possible that from the mounting of the rocks, and the flinging of stones by the males, the whole were Baboons. Nevertheless this is the oldest record of the name which is associated with the most interesting of modern discoveries, and it accounts for many stories which were kept floating in the thoughts of successive generations of travellers.
Gradually the truth came forth, but not until many Europeans had wandered in Gorilla Land. One Andrew Bartlett was an English sailor, who got caught by the Portuguese for some reason or other, and was kept a prisoner in Angola, which is situated nearly ten degrees south of the line, and near the great virgin forests, which are the haunts of the Gorilla and Chimpanzee, and his “strange adventures” were published in 1625, by Purchas, in “His Pilgrimages.”
Battel speaks of two monsters which excited the fears of the natives. “The greatest is called Pongo, in their language, and the lesser is called Engeco. This Pongo is in all proportion like a man, but that he is more like a giant in stature than a man: for he is very tall and hath a man’s face, hollow eyed, with long haire upon his brows. His bodie is full of haire, but not very thick, and it is of a brownish colour. He differeth not from man but in his legs, for they have no calfe. He goeth always upon his legs, and carrieth his hands clasped on the nape of his necke, when he goeth upon the ground. They sleepe in the trees, and build shelter for the raine. They feed upon the fruit that they find in the woods, and upon nuts, for they eat no kind of flesh. They cannot speak, and have no understanding more than a beast. The people of the countrie, when they travaile in the woods, make fires when they sleepe in the night: and in the morning when they are gone, Pongo will come and sit about the fire till it goeth out, for they have no understanding to lay the wood together. They goe many together and kill many negroes that travaile in the woods. Many times they fall upon elephants which come to feed where they may be, and so beat them with their clubbed fists and pieces of wood that they will runne roaring away from them. These Pongos are never taken alive, because they are so strong ten men cannot hold one of them; but they take many of their young ones with poisoned arrows. The young Pongo hangeth on its mother’s belly with its hands clasped about her, so that when any of the country people kill the females, they take the young which hangs fast upon his mother. When they die amongst themselves, they cover the dead with great heaps of boughs and wood, which are commonly found in the forests.”
The Pongo appears to be the Gorilla, and Battel tells much truth about it, mixed up with absurd fiction, whilst the Engeco, or as it is called by the natives of the Gaboon, the enche-eko, is the Chimpanzee.
Early in this century, in 1819, Bowdich says, in a description of a mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee, “that the favourite and most extraordinary subject of conversation when in the Gaboon River was the Ingena. This is an animal like the Orang-Utan, but much exceeding it in size, being five feet high and four feet across the shoulders. Its paw was said to be even more disproportioned in its breadth, and one blow of it is said to be fatal. It is commonly seen by the natives when they travel to Kaybe, lurking in the bush to destroy passengers, not to eat them, for it feeds principally on wild honey which abounds.”
MALE GORILLA.
Sometimes, the natives assert, when a company of villagers are moving rapidly through the shades of the forest, they become aware of the presence of the formidable Ape by the sudden disappearance of one of their companions, who is hoisted up into a tree, uttering, perhaps, only a short choking sob. In a few minutes he falls to the ground a strangled corpse, for the animal, watching his opportunity, has let down his huge hind-hand and seized the passing negro by the neck with a vice-like grip, and has drawn him up into the branches, dropping him when life and struggling have ceased.
FEMALE GORILLA AND YOUNG. (From the Transactions of the Zoological Society of London.)
The missionaries, when they were established in the Gaboon region, found that all along the coast the Gorillas were believed by the natives to be human beings, members of their own race degenerated. Some natives who had been a little civilised, and who thought a little more than the rest, did not acknowledge this relationship, but considered them as embodied spirits, the belief in the transmigration of souls being prevalent. They said that the enche-eko, or Chimpanzee, has the spirit of a coastman, being less fierce and more intelligent than the enge-ena, or Gorilla, which has that of a bushman. The majority, however, fully believed them to be men, and seemed to be unaffected by the arguments offered to disprove this fancy; and this was especially true of the tribes in the immediate vicinity of the locality. They believed them to be literally wild men of the woods. Nevertheless, they were eaten when they could be got, and their flesh, with that of the Chimpanzee and other Monkeys, formed and still forms a prominent place in the bill of fare.
Impressed thus with a belief in their kinship and of their ferocity, it was not surprising that live Gorillas could not be obtained by European travellers. Even a bold and skilful hunter of the elephant, when pressed to bring in one, declared he would not do it for a mountain of gold.
In 1847 the first sight of a part of a Gorilla was obtained by an American missionary; it was a skull, and its shape struck him as being so extraordinary that he believed the natives were correct in attributing it to the much-talked-of Ape of whose ferocity and strength he had heard so much. Collecting others, he at last handed them over to a fellow labourer, Dr. Savage, who possessed much anatomical knowledge. Every attempt was made to obtain even a dead Gorilla, but without satisfactory results. Savage lived for years in the neighbourhood of the Gaboon river, and not only gradually accumulated a fine collection of the bones of the great Ape, which he at first thought was the Orang-Utan, and which he subsequently described as the Gorilla, but also put together a history of its habits and aspect as gleaned from the natives. He was in the heart of Gorilla Land, which may be said to extend from ten to fifteen degrees of latitude on each side of the equator. It is bounded by the sea on the west, and extends to an unknown distance to the east, being watered by the Gaboon, Danger, and Fernandez Vas rivers. Mountainous far from the coast, and very undulating everywhere, it consists of dense forest, wild jungle, and open places. Traversed as this country is by navigable rivers which are visited by traders, it struck this observer that it was indeed remarkable that the Gorilla should have been so unknown to civilised men; but he was soon impressed with the dread the natives had of it, and also with the fact that it sought the remoter parts of the neighbouring woods. From the descriptions of the natives, who never attempted to interfere with the Gorilla except in self-defence, its height is above five feet, and it is disproportionately broad across the shoulders. It is covered with coarse black hair, which greatly resembles that of the Chimpanzee; with age it becomes grey, and this fact has given rise to the report that there are more kinds than one. Resembling a huge Ape in shape, with a great body, comparatively short legs with large hind-thumbs, its bulk is considerable, and its arms, reaching further down than in man, enable it to grasp and climb well. It does not possess a tail, and the head has a wide and long black face, a very deep cheek, great brows over the deeply-seated hazel eyes, a flat nose, and a wide mouth with very strong teeth. The top of the head has a crest of longish hair, and elsewhere it is exceedingly thick and short. The belly is very large. From inquiry he ascertained that when walking, their gait is shuffling, and the body, which is never upright like that of man, moves from side to side in going along. Usually it walks by resting the hands on the ground and then bringing the legs between them, and swinging the body forward. They live in bands, and the females generally exceed the males in number. They are exceedingly ferocious, never running away from man, and the few that have been captured were killed by elephant hunters and native traders as they came suddenly upon them whilst passing through the woods.
FRONT VIEW OF THE SKULL OF
THE GORILLA.
It was said, at this time, by the natives, that the Gorilla makes a sleeping-place like a hammock, by connecting the branches of a sheltered and thickly-leaved part of a tree by means of the long, tough, slender stems of parasitic plants, and lining it with the dried broad fronds of fern, or with long grass. This hammock-like abode may be seen at different heights, from ten to forty feet from the ground, but there is never more than one such nest in a tree. They avoid the abodes of man, but are most commonly seen in the months of September, October, and November, after the negroes have gathered in their outlying rice-crops, and have returned from the “bush” to their valleys. So observed, they are described to be usually in pairs, or if more, the addition consists of a few young ones of different ages and apparently of one family. The Gorilla is not gregarious. The parents may be seen sitting on a branch resting their backs against the tree trunk munching fruit, whilst the young Gorillas are at play, leaping and swinging from branch to branch with hoots or harsh cries of boisterous mirth. This rural felicity, however, has its objectionable sides, for occasionally, if not invariably, the old male, if he be seen in quest of food, is usually armed with a short stick, which the negroes aver to be the weapon with which he attacks his chief enemy the elephant. Not that the elephant directly or intentionally injures the Gorilla, but deriving its subsistence from the same source, the Ape regards the great proboscidian as a hostile intruder. When, therefore, he sees the elephant pulling down and wrenching off the branches of a favourite tree, the Gorilla, stealing along the bough, strikes the sensitive proboscis of the elephant with a violent blow of his club, and drives off the startled giant trumpeting shrilly with pain. In passing from one tree to another the Gorilla is said to walk semi-erect with the aid of his club, but with a waddling and awkward gait; when without a stick, he has been seen to walk as a man, with his hands clasped across the back of his head, instinctively balancing its forward position. If the Gorilla be surprised and approached, whatever the ground may be, he betakes himself on all-fours, dropping the stick, and makes his way very rapidly, with a kind of sidelong gallop, resting on the front knuckles, to the nearest tree. There he meets his pursuer, especially if his family is near and requiring his defence. No negro willingly approaches the tree in which the male Gorilla keeps guard, even with a gun. The experienced negro does not make the attack, but reserves his fire in self-defence. The enmity of the Gorilla to the whole negro race, male and female, is uniformly attested. Thus, when young men of the Gaboon tribe make excursions into the forests in quest of ivory, the enemy they most dread to meet is the Gorilla. If they have come unawares too near him with his family, he does not, like the lion, sulkily retreat, but comes rapidly to the attack, swinging down to the lower branches, and clutching at the nearest foe. The hideous aspect of the animal, with his green eyes flashing with rage, is heightened by the skin over the orbits and eyebrows being drawn rapidly backwards and forwards, with the hair erected, producing a horrible and fiendish scowl. If fired at, and not mortally hit, the Gorilla closes at once upon his assailant, and inflicts most dangerous if not deadly wounds, with his sharp and powerful tusks. The commander of a Bristol trader once saw a negro at the Gaboon frightfully mutilated from the bite of a Gorilla, from which he had recovered. Another negro exhibited to the same voyager a gun barrel bent and partly flattened by a wounded Gorilla in its death struggle.
The strength of the Gorilla is such as to make him a match for a lion, whose strength his own nearly rivals. Over the Leopard, invading the lower branches of his dwelling-place, he will gain an easier victory; and the huge canine teeth, with which only the male Gorilla is furnished, doubtless have been given to him for defending his mate and offspring.
As the appearance and some of the movements of the Gorilla are very man-like, some of the natives consider that the souls of men have entered into their bodies, and hence many apologies are made for some of their tricks and reported doings. Moreover, from this belief some of their skulls are made objects of fetish worship, and are marked with broad stripes of red paint, crossed by a white one. These were the stories told to Savage.
On returning to America, Savage investigated the parts of the skeletons he had obtained, and compared them with those of the Chimpanzee. Owen, in England, having received some corresponding specimens, continued the investigation, and all were agreed in deciding that the Gorilla was a species in itself, differing from the Chimpanzee, but sufficiently like it to be connected with it in a genus. The Gorilla was termed Troglodytes Gorilla, and the Chimpanzee, which will be noticed in the next chapter, kept its name of Troglodytes niger. The word Troglodytes was very ill chosen, and it does not refer in any way to the nature or habits of the animals. It was taken from τρωγλοδύται, the name of an Ethiopian tribe who dwell in holes or caves. The native name is Ngina.
The descriptions of the habits and anatomy of the Gorilla, fragmentary as they were, excited great interest in the minds of many travellers, and especially in that of Du Chaillu, who left America in 1855, determined to explore Gorilla Land, and to obtain some of the great Apes, dead or alive.
He first met with the Gorilla amongst some beautiful scenery, near the Sierra del Crystal, at the head waters of the Ntambounay, a stream which runs into the Muni or Danger River. Close to some rapids down which the torrent was rushing with great velocity amongst huge boulders, and sending its spray up to the tops of the highest trees of the banks, was a deserted village, and amongst its ruins were some broken-down sugar-canes. Here and there the canes had been taken down, and torn up by the roots, and they were lying about in fragments, which had evidently been chewed. He writes:—“I knew that there were fresh tracks of the Gorilla, and joy filled my heart; they (the native hunters) now looked at each other in silence, and muttered, Nguyla, which is as much as to say in Nepongwe, Ngina, or as we say, Gorilla. We followed these traces, and presently came to the footprints of the so-long desired animal. It was the first time I had ever seen these footprints, and my sensations were indescribable. Here was I now, it seemed, on the point of meeting face to face that monster of whose ferocity, strength, and cunning, the natives had told me so much; an animal scarce known to the civilised world, and which no white man before had hunted. My heart beat till I feared its loud pulsations would alarm the Gorilla, and my feelings were excited to a painful degree. By the tracks it was easy to know that there must have been several Gorillas in company. We prepared at once to follow them. The women were terrified, poor things, and we left them a good escort of two or three men to take care of them, and reassure them. Then the rest of us looked once more carefully at our guns, for the Gorilla gives you no time to re-load, and woe to him whom he attacks. We were armed to the teeth. My men were remarkably silent, as if they were going on an expedition of more than usual risk; for the male Gorilla is literally king of the African forest. He and the crested lion of Mount Atlas are the two fiercest and strongest beasts of the continent. The lion of South Africa cannot compare with either for strength or courage. I knew that we were about to pit ourselves against an animal which even the leopard of these mountains fears, and which perhaps has driven the lion out of his territory; for the king of beasts so numerous elsewhere in Africa is never met in the land of the Gorilla. We descended a hill, crossed a stream on a fallen log, and presently approached some huge boulders of granite. Alongside of one lay an immense dead tree, and about this we saw many evidences of the very recent presence of the Gorillas. Our approach was very cautious: we were divided into parties. We were to surround the granite block, behind which the animals were supposed to be hiding, and suddenly I was startled by a strange discordant, half-human, devilish cry, and beheld four young Gorillas running toward the deep forests. We fired, but hit nothing. Then we rushed on in pursuit, but they knew the woods better than we. Once I caught a glimpse of one of the animals again, but an intervening tree spoiled my mark, and I did not fire, but ran till we were exhausted, but in vain, and the alert beasts made their escape.” As the hunters sat round their fire in the evening, before going to sleep, the adventure of the day was talked over, and of course some very tough yarns and stories were told about the Gorillas, most of which ought to have put this traveller on his guard, and impressed him that the greater part of the ferocity and the lion-like courage of the new animal were derived from the imaginations of a very superstitious and not over-courageous race of men. They were great believers in witchcraft, and they believed that many men whose names they mentioned, and who are dead, had their spirits now dwelling in Gorillas. However, Du Chaillu, a few days afterwards, started on a hunt which had a more satisfactory termination than the last. He and the rest got on the track of an old male, and suddenly as they were creeping along in silence, which made a heavy breath seem loud and distinct, the woods were at once filled with the tremendous barking roar of the Gorilla. Then the underbush swayed rapidly just a-head, and presently before them stood an immense male. He had gone through the jungle on all-fours, but when he saw the party he raised himself and looked them boldly in the face. “It stood about a dozen yards from us, and was a sight I think I never shall forget. Nearly six feet high (he proved four inches shorter), with immense body, huge chest, and great muscular arms, with fiercely glaring large deep gray eyes, and a hellish expression of face, which seemed to me like some nightmare vision; there stood before us the king of the African forest. He was not afraid of us. He stood there and beat his breast with his huge fists till it resounded like an immense bass drum, which is their mode of offering defiance; sometimes giving vent to roar after roar. The roar of the Gorilla is the most singular and awful noise heard in these African woods. It begins with a sharp bark like an angry dog, then glides into a deep bass roll, which literally and closely resembles the roll of distant thunder along the sky, for which I have sometimes been tempted to take it when I did not see the animal. His eyes began to flash fiercely, for we stood motionless on the defensive, and the crest of short hair which stands on his forehead began to twitch rapidly up and down, while his powerful fangs were shown as he again sent forth a tremendous roar. He advanced a few steps, then stopped to utter that hideous roar again; advanced again, and finally stopped when at the distance of about six yards from us, and then, just as he began another of his roars, beating his breast with rage, we fired and killed him. With a groan which had something terribly human in it, and yet was full of brutishness, he fell forward on his face. The body shook convulsively for a few minutes, the limbs moved about in a struggling way, and then all was quiet; death had done its work, and I had leisure to examine the huge body. It proved to be five feet eight inches high, and the muscular development of the arms and breast showed the immense strength it had possessed.”
Du Chaillu once had a capital view of some Gorillas at their meal. News having come that Gorillas had been recently seen in the neighbourhood of a plantation on the Fernandez Vas river, just south of the equator and not far from the West African coast, he got up early and went into it. He writes: “The plantation was a large one, and situated on very broken ground, surrounded by the virgin forest. It was a lovely morning; the sky was almost cloudless, and all around was as still as death, except the slight rustling of the tree tops moved by the gentle land breeze. When I reached the place, I had just to pick my way through the maze of tree-stumps and half-burned logs by the side of a field of cassada.
FAMILY OF GORILLAS.
“I was going quietly along the borders of this when I heard in the grove of plantation trees towards which I was walking a great crushing noise like the breaking of trees. I immediately hid myself behind a bush, and was soon gratified with the sight of a female Gorilla; but before I had time to notice its movements, a second and third emerged from the masses of colossal foliage; at length, no less than four came in view. They were all busily engaged in tearing down the larger trees. One of the females had a young one following her. I had an excellent opportunity of watching the movements of the impish-looking band. The shaggy hides, the protuberant abdomens, the hideous features of these strange creatures, whose forms so nearly resemble man, made up a picture like a vision in a morbid dream. In destroying a tree, they first grasped the base of the stem with one of their feet, and then with their powerful arms pulled it down, a matter of not much difficulty with so loosely-formed a stem as that of the plantain. They then set upon the juicy fruit of the tree at the bases of the leaves, and devoured it with great voracity. While eating, they made a kind of chuckling noise, expressive of contentment. Many trees they destroyed, apparently out of pure mischief. Now and then they stood still and looked around. Once or twice they seemed on the point of starting off in haste, but recovered themselves, and continued their work. Gradually they got nearer to the edge of the dark forest, and finally disappeared.” On the next day he was carrying a light gun, having given his heavy double-barrelled rifle to a boy to carry, when in a deep hollow, flanked with sugar-cane, he saw on the slope opposite to him a gigantic Gorilla standing erect, and walking directly towards him. Pointing his rifle, he turned to look for the boy, but he had seen the Gorilla and bolted forthwith. The huge beast stared at Du Chaillu for about two minutes, and then without uttering any noise moved off to the shade of the forest, running nimbly on his hands and feet.
This running movement is performed principally by the arms, for the animal places the backs of its knuckles on the ground, straightens its elbows, and swings the huge body and short legs so that they come in front. Then the feet support the weight of the body until the knuckles are put on the ground in advance.
Anxious to possess some adult Gorillas, Du Chaillu offered rewards to the native hunters, and on one occasion they brought in three live ones, one being full-grown. This was a large adult female, who was bound hand and foot, and with it was her female child, screaming terribly, and the third was a vigorous young male, who was also tightly bound. The female had been ingeniously secured by the negroes to a strong stick, the wrists being bound to the upper part, and the ankles to the lower, so that she could not reach to tear the cords with her teeth. It was dark when they were brought in, and the scene was wild and strange in the extreme. “The fiendish countenances of the Calibanish trio, one of them distorted by pain, for the mother Gorilla was severely wounded, were lit up by the ruddy glare of native torches.” The young male was secured by a chain, and Du Chaillu gave him the name of Tom. His feet and hands were untied, and he immediately showed his want of gratitude by rushing at his possessor, screaming with all his might; but the chain was happily made fast, and he did no harm. The old mother Gorilla was in an unfortunate plight. She had an arm broken, and a wound in the chest, besides being dreadfully beaten about the head; she groaned and roared many times during the night, probably from pain. She lived until the next day, her moanings were more frequent in the morning, and they gradually became weaker as her life ebbed out. Her death was like that of a human being, and her child clung to her to the last, and tried to obtain milk from her breast after she was dead. The young one was kept alive for three days on goat’s milk, but it died on the fourth day. The young male would not be photographed, for pointing the camera at him made the irascible little thing a small demon, but after some attempts his likeness was taken. These Gorillas were caught on a promontory which runs into the sea like a spit. A woman had seen “two sets of Gorillas on it with young ones, and the natives assembled, and armed themselves with great spears and axes, forming a line across the spit, advancing towards its extremity. They made a good deal of noise, and bewildered the Gorillas, who were shot down or beaten in their endeavours to escape. There were eight females together, but no large male.” Du Chaillu, on hearing this, modified his opinion respecting the solitary habit of the animal, and he subsequently obtained proofs that they roam in bands of from five to ten. It is true, however, that when Gorillas become aged, they seem to be more solitary, and live in pairs, or as in the case of old males, quite alone. He was assured by the negroes that solitary and aged Gorillas are sometimes seen almost white, for the hair becomes grizzled with age. Evidently the animal migrates here and there in his restricted district during certain seasons, and they search for a little yellow berry called “rubino,” which grows on a tree resembling the African teak; and also two other fruits, one like the nectarine in size, and of the colour of the peach, but not having the rich bloom, and the other like a plum. The same traveller came suddenly on a band of Gorillas in a forest; “a whole group was on a tree hidden by the dense foliage. They bolted off, making the thinner boughs bend with their weight, and an old male, apparently the guardian of the flock, made a bold stand, and stared at him through an opening. As soon as voices were heard, the shaggy Ape roared a cry of alarm, scrambled to the ground through the entangled lianas that were around the tree trunk, and soon disappeared into the jungle.”
FACE OF THE GORILLA.
Having had, then, so many opportunities of seeing Gorillas alive and dead, Du Chaillu, of course, added largely to the knowledge of their general shape and habits, and obtained skins for stuffing, and bones for the anatomists. Five specimens were sent over by him to England, and great discussions took place; some naturalists asserting that the ferocity and courage of the great Ape were imaginary, and others believing in the truth of Du Chaillu, whose only fault was over-sensational writing, and who strenuously denied many of the native stories. Then the anatomists had a great quarrel about the brain of the creature, and handled each other very severely. Of the nature of the outside of the Gorilla there could be no doubt, fortunately, for there are the stuffed skins and bones to be seen, and an examination of those in the national collection will prove how closely Savage must have questioned the natives who gave him reliable information, and how little can be added to his description. Du Chaillu says that in length the adult Gorillas vary as much as men, and believes that the tallest are six feet two inches in height, but that the average is from five feet two inches to five feet eight inches. The females are smaller, or have a lighter frame, their height averaging about four feet six inches. The colour of the skin in the Gorilla, young as well as adult, is intense black, so far as the face, breast, and palms of the hands are concerned. The fur of a grown, but not aged specimen, is iron-gray, and the individual hairs are ringed with alternate stripes of black and gray. It is long on the arms, and slopes downwards from the shoulder to the elbow, and upwards from the wrist to it. The head is covered with reddish-brown hair, which is short, and reaches the short neck. The chest is bare in the adults, and thinly covered with hair in young males. In the female the breast is bare, and the hair elsewhere is black with a red tinge, but it is not ringed as in the male; moreover, the reddish crown which covers the scalp of the male is not apparent in the female till she has almost become full grown. The eyes are deeply sunken: the immense overhanging long ridge giving the face the expression of a constant savage scowl. The mouth is wide, and the lips are sharply cut, exhibiting no red on the edges, as in the human face. The jaws are of tremendous weight and power. The huge eye-teeth or canines, of the male, which are fully exhibited when, in his rage, he draws back his lips and shows the red colour of the inside of his mouth, lend additional ferocity to his aspect. In the female these teeth are smaller. The almost total absence of neck, which gives the head the appearance of being set into the shoulders, is due to the backward position of the joints which fix the head to the spine, and this allows the chin to hang over the top of the front of the chest. The brain-case is low and compressed, and its lofty top ridge causes the profile of the skull to describe an almost straight line from the back part, or occiput, to the ridge over the brow. The immense development of the muscles, which arise from this ridge, and the corresponding size of the jaw, are evidences of the great strength of the animal. The eyebrows are thin, but not well-defined, and are almost lost in the hair of the scalp. The eyelashes are thin also. The eyes are wide apart; and the ears, which are on a line with them, are smaller than those of man, but very much like his. In a front view of the face the nose is flat, but somewhat prominent—more so than in any other Ape; this is on account of a slightly projecting nose-bone, very unusual in Apes. The chest is of great capacity; the shoulders being exceedingly broad. The abdomen is of immense size, very prominent, and rounded at the sides. The front limbs have a prodigious muscular development, and are very long, extending nearly as low as the knees. The forearm is nearly of uniform size from the wrist to the elbow, and, indeed, the great length of the arms, and the shortness of the legs, form one of the chief differences between it and man. The arms are not long when compared with the trunk, but they are so in comparison with the legs. These are short, and decrease in size from below the knee to the ankle, having no calf. The hands, especially in the male, are of immense size, strong-boned, and thick; the fingers are short and large, the circumference of the middle finger at the first joint being five and a half inches in some Gorillas. The skin on the back of the fingers, near the middle, is callous, and very thick, which shows that the most usual mode of progression of the animal is on all-fours, and resting on the knuckles. The thumb is short, and not half so thick as the forefinger; and the hand is hairy as far as the division of the fingers, which are covered with short thin hairs. The palm of the hand is naked, callous, and intensely black. The nails are black, and shaped like those of man, but are smaller in proportion, and project very slightly beyond the ends of the fingers. They are thick and strong, and always seem much worn. The hand of the Gorilla is almost as wide as it is long, and in this it approaches nearer to that of man than any of the other Apes. The foot is proportionally wider than in man; the sole is callous, and intensely black, and looks somewhat like a giant hand of immense power and grasp. The transverse wrinkles show the frequency and freedom of movement of the two joints of the great toe-thumb, proving that they have a power of grasp. The middle toe, or third, is longer than the second and fourth, and this is unlike the foot in man. The toes are divided into three groups, so to speak; inside the great toe, outside the little toe, and the three others partly united by a web. Du Chaillu thinks that in no other animal is the foot so well adapted for the maintenance of the erect position, and he erroneously believed that the Gorilla is much less of a tree-climber than any other Ape. The foot in the Gorilla is certainly longer than the hand, as in man. These descriptions are fairly correct, but it is necessary to examine the results of the later writers on the subject, from whom we may glean the following facts.
PALM OF THE FOOT OF YOUNG GORILLA. BACK OF THE HAND OF YOUNG GORILLA.
(From the Transactions of the Zoological Society of London.)
The Gorilla has a large head, and on looking at a stuffed specimen one is at once struck with the width and length of the face, and the great prominent brows immediately over the eyes. There appears to be no forehead, for the head recedes rapidly backwards, and then comes a high ridge of hair, in old males, running from before backwards on the top of the scalp, and meeting another which is less prominent, and placed across the back of the skull, from the back of one ear to that of the other. The animal has the power of moving the flesh and skin which constitute the scalp freely forwards and backwards, so that when it is in a rage its scowl is made all the more threatening and ugly by its frowning and bringing down the hairy ridge close to above the eyes. The hazel eyes are large, and they are separated by a small prominent bridge belonging to the nose, the rest of which is broad and flattened out. The jaws project forwards, and are long and wide, the teeth being large and strong, and visible when uncovered by the fleshy and rather hairy lips. The ears are small for the size of the head, when they are compared with those of other Apes, and they as well as the skin of the face are naked and dark.
Nature has been kinder to the females so far as beauty is concerned, for they have less marked crests of hair, smaller brows, and shorter side teeth, and therefore more amiable faces under all circumstances.
Of course the outside appearance of the head has much to do with the skull beneath, and this has been very carefully studied by anatomists. As a whole, the skull of a full-grown male Gorilla is larger than that of a man, but it is lighter, although it appears to be more massive on account of its being marked by great bony ridges or crests, which correspond with the lines of hair on the top and back of the head, one being on the top like the crest of a helmet, and the other crossing the back and reaching the other so as to form a rude T shape. Careful measurement proves the great size of the Gorilla’s skull as a whole, and that this is dependent mainly on the dimensions of the bones of the face, the cavity for the brain being smaller than that of man. But it does not appear at first very easy to explain how it is that this massive-looking skull should be lighter than that of man. A careful examination of the bones of the Gorilla’s skull explains the difficulty, and in a very interesting manner.
SIDE VIEW OF THE SKULL
OF GORILLA.
The massive and solid look is given to it by the crests or ridges beneath the hair already mentioned; they are of great use, for they give attachment to very powerful muscles, especially to those which move the lower jaw, and enable the teeth to bite forcibly. The surface of the bones of the head for a certain depth is solid enough, but below this solid layer there is a cellular arrangement consisting of a network of bone, with cavities communicating with each other with the internal parts of the ears and nose. Below this is solid bone again. So that there are three layers, and the central one gives lightness and strength to the whole; moreover, it protects the brain under the skull from receiving shocks during falls or blows by boughs.
When the skull receives a sharp blow, for instance, in front or behind, or low down at the sides, the outer layer of solid bone is often cracked, and even forced in. If there were no cellular layer, the tender brain would be injured directly, but the network of bone and the large spaces amongst it take off the jar from that important organ, and suffer the outer layer to be pressed in without affecting the deeper structures. It must be a very hard blow that can press the cellular layer in sufficiently to break through the third layer, which is solid but thin. Very possibly the larger air spaces of the cellular layer assist the senses of hearing and of smelling also.
There is another very strong bone connected with the skull, which feels like a ridge, passing backward from the eye to the ear; and it has something to do with the other ridges, for the muscles which are attached to them, and which pass down to the lower jaw to give it great power of mastication, are covered on the cheek by it. This cheek-bone forms a kind of arch, and gives the great breadth to the upper part of the face of the animal.
In a front view of the skull of the male Gorilla the ridge or crest on the top of the head stands up like a little peak; then over the eyes is the great brow ridge, which seems to press the upper part of the cavity for the eye (the orbit) flat, so that it is not round as in most animals, but rather square in outline. These three sets of ridges, those of the upper and back part of the brain case, that of the brow and those of the cheeks, so large and important, are distinctive of the adult male animal, and a skull possessing them belongs to the Gorilla and to no other animal.
The females and the young of both sexes have not the top ridges, and the others are small in comparison with those of the male adults.
Clearly the ridges give strength to the head, muscular power to the jaws, and what is of great importance to a large active animal, do not interfere with the lightness of the strong skull.
The skull is hollow beneath the top and back ridges, and this space is occupied by the brain and its investing membranes, and the nerves coming from it, to supply the muscles of the face and head, the skin over them, and the organs of special sense, such as the eye, the ear, and the nose. The space is considerable, and for an Ape the Gorilla has a large brain. He has a large body, very many muscles capable of complicated movement, and he can see, hear, and smell admirably; and as the nerves which supply the necessary energy for all this come from the great nervous centre, as the brain is called, it must be of considerable size and complexity. Moreover, as many of the motions and sensations of the Ape resemble those of man, the brains of both will resemble each other to a certain extent. But all that part of the brain which serves in a manner, as yet past our comprehension, to assist the production of the high intelligence and moral powers of man, we should expect not to find in the purely sensual animal, and the expectation is realised. Again, although bone for bone, muscle for muscle, and blood-vessel for blood-vessel, those of the great Ape and man may be compared with wonderful exactitude; still man in relation to the Gorilla has a greater power of elegance of movement, and of producing complicated muscular efforts, and of employing many different muscles to produce a common end, and therefore his nervous system must be all the more perfect. Thus, the Ape cannot imitate the graceful actions which sway the body as when a well-made man walks leisurely, and it cannot get all the muscles of the mouth, tongue, and larynx (or organ of voice) to act simultaneously and orderly, so as to produce the sound of articulate voice. Yet these actions are performed by man without any special effort; they may be done without thinking, and are mechanical, as it were, or more properly, “automatic,” done as if by a machine; they require a very perfect arrangement of the nervous system, and an unusual amount of nervous matter.
No amount of schooling, could it be given, would ever make a Gorilla entertain the notion of insuring its life; arithmetic is impossible; the fine arts and poetry are unattainable, and therefore by so much is its brain the smaller and simpler.
The brain case, or the space enclosed by the crested skull bones, is compactly filled with the nervous material in all animals, so it is only necessary to ascertain the relative dimensions of the spaces in different animals to get a notion of the difference in the sizes of their brains. The space can be measured by filling it with sand, and then measuring its bulk in a proper measure.
Some Gorillas have larger spaces for the brain than others, and in this they resemble man, for there is a considerable difference between the capacity or the size of the space in a well-educated European and a savage Australian. And, doubtless, some Gorillas are cleverer than others, or are more active, generally speaking, so have larger brains; but an average may be taken of the different sizes in them as in man, and the results come out as follows:—
The average or mean size or capacity of the brain case in the Gorilla is about 31 cubic inches, a cubic inch being a six-sided space of one inch long, broad, and high. In man, the European may have a brain case holding 114 cubic inches, and the Australian only 63 cubic inches; the mean of the European size is 93 cubic inches, that of the Australian being 75. Hence the brain case, and therefore the mass of the substance of the brain of the Gorilla, is not one-half that of the lowest race of man.
Only the brains of young Gorillas have been examined, and these have not been in a very satisfactory state; but enough has been gleaned from their study to determine that they are not so high, wide, or long, relatively, as those of mankind. The brain of man is a wonderfully complex structure, and the nervous matter is folded and packed in many ways or “convolutions,” and the nerves arise from special parts which are connected by cross and long fibres or “commissures.” All these structures exist, but not in perfection, in the Gorilla’s brain; and although the nerves are large, that portion of the brain which originates their energy and action is much smaller than in man.
Apparently the brain grows to a certain age in the Gorilla, and then the skull increases in outward size, and the creature has a huge body, with mental capacities far below those of a child or man.
The ridges and crests on the top and back of the Gorilla’s skull are larger than those of any of the great flesh-eating animals of the cat tribe, and it has therefore been thought that they were a proof of the occasional bad habits of the great Ape, and of his indulging now and then in negro flesh. Large as are the crests in the old males, they are barely present in the females and young, and they must be regarded partly as of use to the larger animals, and partly as ornamental; for in animal nature, as a rule, the gentlemen are more beautiful than the ladies, the idea of beauty being, of course, very much a matter of taste. They are evidently protections against falls, and they also give origin to muscles. The back crest, when looked at from behind, is almost fan-shaped, the bone being broad, and the great muscles of the neck and back are attached to it. They pull the head backwards, and the single, long crest on the top gives origin to the muscles, which pass downwards on the temples to the lower jaw. Indeed, the energy of the muscles of the side of the head is principally devoted to the lower jaw, to its crushing, crunching, and masticating offices, for the food, although often soft enough, is occasionally inside the sugar-cane, and several harder woods. The powerful upper jaw is, of course, attached to an equally strong lower one, which forms the front and lower part of the face. The upper jaw reaches out far in front of the eyes and nostrils, and is straight rather than bulged, and appears narrow, from side to side, in comparison with the great, wide cheek-bones, but it looks formidable with four strong front teeth, projecting only slightly, and a large, long, eye tooth on each side, sticking out rather far below the others.
On looking at the under surface of the roof of the mouth and palate, the cause of the length of the front of the face is seen. Instead of the back teeth forming an open curve around the roof of the mouth, as in men, they are placed in a long, and almost parallel straight row. Five great teeth on each side thus form with the bone, into which their fangs are planted, a long side to the face. In front of these is the large eye, or dog tooth (canine tooth), mentioned above.
The palate and roof of the mouth are long and comparatively narrow, and hence no Gorilla could speak distinctly, or use his tongue glibly enough to talk as a child. Howling and a kind of bark may, on the contrary, be done to perfection.
But although of no use as regards speech, the long roof of the mouth, with its wide ranges of teeth, is of great importance to a vegetable-eating creature, which does not want the sugary juices of its food to run out of the corners of its mouth, and which spends the greater part of its time in filling its capacious stomach.[4] The lower jaw fits the upper one, and when its teeth clench with those above, the cavity of the mouth is nearly shut, and it is quite closed by the lips and cheeks outside.
As might be expected from the great muscles which unite the lower jaw to the skull, it is large and strong, but it has no projecting chin, and this slopes in a retiring manner. The side of the jaw which supports the teeth is, as in man, curved upwards behind at what is called the angle. The jaw is very movable, and can act sideways in munching, or up and down, as in biting; and having these powers—thanks to the action of different sets of muscles—it has teeth fashioned to bite, and to crunch, and to chew. They greatly resemble those of the upper jaw, on which they work, and a superficial view of them all leads to the opinion that they greatly resemble those of man; there are, however, many differences. As in the upper jaw, the front and eye teeth are nearly straight in front, the last-mentioned projecting outwards, and the front teeth biting inside the upper ones; and the back teeth are in straight rows also.
The following story is told by Du Chaillu to illustrate the cause of the wearing of the front teeth of the Gorillas. He had gone into the interior, and was suffering from hunger, so went out into the forest for game. Not finding any, he was about to retrace his steps, when he heard the unmistakable roar of a Gorilla. He writes, “I plunged forward into the thick of the forest, breaking, as I went along, small boughs to enable me to find my way back, and tearing my clothes in the thorny underwood. The roar became nearer, and seemed to shake the ground under me. I heard the rustling of the branches, and fancied there must be more than one. The excitement of the moment was great, and was increased by the prospect of obtaining food for all our party. Suddenly the roaring ceased. I stopped, thinking that it was a male, which was preparing to advance on me. But I listened in vain—the beast had fled. When I reached the spot I saw nothing but broken branches of trees. I measured some of them with my thumb, and found boughs of five inches’ diameter broken in two by the powerful grip of this monster of the forest. Although disappointed in my chase, I was glad to find a corroboration of the explanation I had given of the wearing down of the animal’s front teeth, for some of the branches plainly bore the toothmarks.”
UPPER JAW. PALATE. UNDER JAW.
THE TEETH OF THE GORILLA.
As the teeth of the Gorilla are admirably adapted for their duties of masticating and biting vegetable food, sometimes soft and sometimes hard, and as they resemble in number and general arrangement those of man, it is necessary to notice them briefly. They are of three kinds, the front ones, which bite when the jaw is moved up and down, the large eye teeth (or dog teeth), which pierce, and the back teeth, which crush and grind. The first-mentioned are called incisor teeth or cutters, and there are four in the upper and four in the lower jaw, as in man; the inner two in each jaw being larger than the outer two. They project slightly, and those of the upper jaw cut on the lower ones, and are, when the jaws are clenched, in front or “over-hung.” In shape they are adapted for biting a piece out of anything, and they have one fang each, which fits into a socket in the jaw. In the upper jaw there is a space between the incisor teeth and the great eye or dog teeth. This is one of the matters which distinguish the jaw of the Gorilla from that of man, whose teeth are continued in a row without any spaces where the gum is visible between them. The cause of the space is that the lower eye tooth is so large and long that when the mouth is closed it fits in there. This space is called a “diastema,” and, as it is a term which will often be mentioned, it is necessary to notice that it is taken from the Greek word διάστημα, “an interval.” In the lower jaw the incisor teeth are succeeded by the eye teeth without any diastema. The eye or dog teeth are usually called canines, from Canis, a dog, they being very distinct in that animal. They are four in number, two being in each jaw, one on each side, and those of the upper jaw are long and pointed, being rounded, moreover, outside, and marked by grooves inside. The lower canines are nearly as large as the upper ones, and, as already noticed, fit in the diastema in front of those of the upper jaw.
Behind the canine teeth are, on each side in both jaws, five crushing teeth, that is to say, ten in each jaw, and twenty in all. In the upper jaw there is a continuous row of teeth from the canines in front to the last of the crushers, which occupy the position of the upper wisdom teeth of man, but in the lower jaw there is not this serried row of teeth, for, between the crushing ones and the canine, there is another space or diastema into which the upper canine tooth fits when the mouth is closed.
SKELETON OF THE GORILLA.
All these hind teeth are made to endure constant grinding, one over the other, in masticating, besides frequent shocks—as when nuts are cracked—and to last for years. Covered with a beautiful enamel, which gives them strength and smoothness, they are safely fixed by fangs in sockets in the bone, in such a manner that the nerves and blood-vessels supplying them do not suffer from pressure. They are not quite flat at the top, for then they could not grind, and they are not acutely sharp-pointed, for then the points would prevent the side-to-side movement of the jaw, and would be broken off; but they have rounded projections, or cusps, on them, separated by grooves, so that those of the teeth of one jaw can fit into those of the other. All these teeth are not quite alike, and they are divisible into two kinds, the three hinder ones being the molar teeth, from Mola, a mill-stone, and the two in front of them being called false molars or pre-molars (front molars). Every one who has had a back tooth (a molar) taken out, will remember its three fangs, and in a Gorilla there would be the same terrible wrench in extracting a molar for the same reasons as with us. But, fortunately for it, tooth decay is unknown, and the molars, with their three fangs, last as long as life. The pre-molars have two fangs only in man, but it appears that sometimes there are three to those teeth in the upper jaw of the Gorilla, and two only in the lower. They are smaller than the true molars or three back teeth, and in front of them; and that nearest the canine tooth is often tall, and almost like a four-sided pyramid in shape. The size of the crushing or molar teeth is very distinctive of the Gorilla when it is compared with the other great man-like Apes, for the upper ones are equal in size, and in the lower jaw the hindmost tooth is larger than the others. Moreover, these lower teeth have five cusps or projections. There is a ridge extending obliquely across the crowns of the lower molars from an inner to an outer cusp; and the cross-like grooves of the upper surface of the corresponding teeth in man are not seen. The manner in which the teeth of the Gorilla differ from those of other Apes will be mentioned in the several descriptions. Milk teeth, or those of the first set, are found in baby and young Gorillas, and when they fall out the permanent set come out of the jaw and replace them, adding also to their numbers. The long canine teeth are characteristic of the old males, and those of the females and young are much smaller. The thirty-two teeth of the Gorilla, eminently adapted for a mixed vegetable diet, are therefore arranged as follows:—Upper jaw—four incisors, two canines, four pre-molars, and six true molars, and there is the same number in the lower jaw.
It is a very remarkable fact, and one which will be of some interest in comparing one of the other great Apes with the Gorilla, that the skull of the young Gorilla (of both sexes) and that of the full-grown female differs materially from that of the male in the absence of the prominent ridges of the top and back of the head. This gives a roundness to their skulls which would at first sight lead to the belief that they could not belong to the same species.
Living upon such nice things as sugar-canes and pine-apples, the Gorilla has a long and well-formed tongue to taste them with,[5] and a good nose to enjoy their scent and fragrance. The nostrils are open, and look downwards, being separated by a moderately wide piece of flesh covering, gristle, or cartilage, and they are protected above by very dense bones, which form the slight ridges called the nasal bones. Up the nose a passage leads to the air spaces in the bone of the front of the head, and they and some curiously curled bones not very far from the nostrils are covered with a delicate membrane well supplied with the nerves in which the function of smell exists.
Both the natives and Du Chaillu allude to the roaring and yelling of the old male Gorillas, and it will be noticed further on that the young ones can make noise enough. Dr. Savage was told that when the male is first seen he gives a terrific yell that resounds far and near through the forest, something like Kh—ah! Kh—ah, prolonged and shrill, and others have compared the noise to distant thunder. They have an organ of voice on the top of the windpipe, made on the plan of that of man, but deficient in many respects, and especially in those fine adaptations of structure which produce the human voice. But there is a very remarkable arrangement in their larynx, as it is called, which, although it has nothing to do with the formation of sound, may possibly make it more resonant and growling, and this is one of the things which separate the great Ape from man in matters of mere construction.
THROAT OF GORILLA.
At the back of our tongues, and also of those of the Gorilla, is a little flap, rather hard and gristly in us, and only membranous and soft in the Ape, which covers over the top of the air-passage into the windpipe when any food is swallowed. The food or drink would otherwise get into the air-passage, and would be constantly going “the wrong way.” Immediately under this flap, or, as it is called, the epiglottis, is a space limited in front by the hard substance we call in our throat the “Adam’s apple,” and at the bottom of it are the movable structures by whose action voice is produced. Now, in the this space is not shut in front as it is in us, but there are two openings in it, one on either side, which lead to a complicated sac or pouch. This pouch is made of thin membrane, and covers, when blown out like a bag—for the air coming out of the windpipe can be forced in—the front of the windpipe, and projects sideways under the muscles of the throat, and even amidst those of the armpits. The Gorilla can thus blow his neck out, as it were, and when he is yelling, the air in the bag or pouch must resound. Possibly this great bag of air may have something to do with making the body lighter when the animal is climbing and using all the force it can with its arms. These so-called “laryngeal” pouches are found in many Apes and Monkeys, but their double opening into the space below the little flap is peculiar to the great Apes, which are sufficiently man-like as to be called by the term Anthropoid—the Gorillas, their allies the Chimpanzees, the Orangs, and the Siamangs.[6] All the other Monkeys of the Old World with sacs have but one opening into a space, or, as it is termed, the ventricle of the organ of voice, or larynx. The Monkeys of the New World have a different arrangement of air pouches, which will be noticed in the proper place.
The Gorilla has one little peculiarity which distinguishes it from all other Apes and Monkeys, and which causes it to be more like man, and insignificant as it may seem, it is of some interest. In man there is a decided projection of bone behind, or rather below the ear, and this is called the teat-shaped process of the ear-bone (Mastoid process), and is of importance to the organ of hearing and also to the muscles which steady and keep the head erect, and allow of its being moved in particular directions. This process exists to a certain extent in the Gorilla but not in the Chimpanzee, Orang-Utan, or in any other of the Quadrumana. It is smaller in the Gorilla than in man, but it is made up, as in us, of a number of spaces enclosed by bones which have to do with the organ of hearing in some way or other, and which are lined with membrane. On the outside a muscle is attached, which passes downwards and inwards to the top of the breast-bone, covering the great blood-vessels and nerves of the neck.
In examining this process of bone, attention is of course drawn to the ear itself, and there is no doubt of the remarkable resemblance of those of man and of the Gorilla. The great Ape has evidently a very quick sense of hearing, for it gets out of the way of men as quickly as is possible, when it can only hear them in the forest and jungle, but that it should have the outside ear fashioned nearly after the resemblance of that beautiful structure in man is very remarkable. The ear of the Gorilla is smaller in proportion to the size of the head than those of other Apes, and is about the same length, but broader than that of man; the lobe, which is perforated by us for earrings, is perhaps less perfect in the Gorilla, but all the curves and folds, which are so complicated yet so graceful in the human ear exist in it, modified more or less, and not so harmonious in their general symmetry, as in man.
With all its great strength, the head of the great Ape cannot move as readily on the neck as that of weaker man, for the skull is not placed on the neck end of the back-bone quite in the same manner, and its position is not that which is admirably (as in us) adapted for carrying the head erect. One of the greatest marvels in the structure of man is the manner in which the tender mass of nerves called the spinal cord or marrow passes out of the hard skull into a bony canal down the spine, and yet does not suffer injury as head and back move and roll about.
The spinal cord or marrow passes out of the skull through a special opening, on the outside of which is a joint on either side. These joints fit on to corresponding ones on a ring-shaped bone (atlas bone), and this bone rests on one equally hollow, and which has an upward projection which enters the ring (axis bone), and is clasped to it by a strong ligament. It is this projection which prevents the spinal marrow from being injured by the head moving too freely, and yet life hangs almost on a thread, for were this strong ligament to break the soft nerve would be pressed in by the bony projection, and death would ensue. All the motions of the head are connected with these bones and their joints, and the way in which it is carried is in relation with the position of the opening in the skull for the spinal marrow. If the head is to be carried erect, as in man and in many birds, the opening is far from the back part of the head. If the face is to look upwards, as it does in a pig or dog, the opening is very far backwards. In the Gorilla it is not quite at the back, but further in that direction than in man, and hence the face of this Ape is more liable to be looking upwards than forwards. This is really the case, for the natural position of the animal is not erect, but on all-fours, and then it wants to look, not on the ground, but upwards and forwards, by tilting the head. Many of the great muscles of the back crest have to do with this. It is noticed also that the joint which permits the head to move on the ring-shaped bone (the atlas bone) is not so long or curved as in man, and therefore the movements of the Gorilla’s head are restricted.
All accounts of the life of a Gorilla tell of its moving rapidly amongst trees, climbing readily and noiselessly, and gathering its food constantly. It is therefore necessary to examine into the manner in which this is done, and how it relates to the shape and anatomy of the creature.
In climbing trees, the Gorilla, like a man under the same circumstances, lifts up the arms over the head, and clasps or holds on with one hand, but the position of the hand is not the same. Apes seize instinctively with the knuckles towards them, and not with the ends of the fingers and palm as man: and this makes a great difference, for the muscles of the back are therefore more important to the Ape than those of the chest in climbing. Then with some muscular effort the body is lifted or rather drawn up, so that the unemployed hand can reach and clasp higher than the other; and having thus two hands holding on to a bough or a tree, the muscles of both arms are used to draw up the ponderous trunk, head, and limbs until the face comes more or less on a level with the wrists. When this is accomplished, one of the arms is suddenly forced upwards to enable the huge grasp of the fingers to tighten upon a higher fixed point, and the “hand-over-hand” process is continued as long as is necessary. Doubtless the clasping feet assist in this movement, which is only rarely performed by man, but which is one of the commonest with the great Ape. A sailor or an acrobat may often use the muscles which are required to perform this feat of carrying upwards the body with the aid of the arms, but ordinary people rarely employ their energies in this manner; the Gorilla, on the contrary, must climb often and for some distance every day of its life, both for food, amusement, and for shelter. It becomes, therefore, an interesting question whether the Gorilla has any special muscles or bones which enable it to climb easily and rapidly, and for a considerable time, or whether there are the same kinds of bones and muscles in its hands, arms, and shoulders, which are to be found in man modified more or less. The results of careful inspection have proved that, although there are no peculiar structures given to the great Ape wherewith it may climb, still the bones of the arms and shoulders, and the muscles which are attached to them, greatly as they resemble those of man, are larger and stronger. Bone for bone, and almost muscle for muscle, the climbing limbs of the man and the Gorilla may be compared with extraordinary exactness; the structures of the last-mentioned being, as it were, simple exaggerations of the former, and the increased size bearing a distinct relation to the agility and energy displayed. It must be remembered, however, that whilst in man the muscles of the chest assist principally in climbing, in the Ape those of the back and shoulders are the most important.
FOREST IN THE GABOON COUNTRY—THE LAND OF THE GORILLA.
It is hardly necessary to notice the relation which bones and muscles have to movement, and the most unlearned in anatomy need only be reminded that muscles are adherent to certain parts of bones. The bone, by itself, is motionless, and the force which can move it, and with it, the surrounding flesh and skin, acts through the muscles, and these consist of vast numbers of long microscopic fibrils, placed side by side, and adherent, at both ends, to different bones. The fibrils have a vast amount of energy in them, and they can contract, or, in other words, shorten; the diminution in length being accompanied by a display of force. As the fibrils shorten, they tend to bring the motionless bones closer together, and to impart motion, which may be rapid, and more or less forcible. If one bone is stationary, the other may be brought towards it by the muscular contraction, or if both are not fixed, both may move. The nervous force produces the muscular contraction, whose vigour and lasting power depend a great deal upon the supply of blood sent to the fibrils through the blood vessels (arteries), and removed through the veins.
BONES OF THE FORE-ARM AND ARM OF THE GORILLA—SIDE VIEW.
SHOULDER OR BLADE-BONE.
In the principal act of climbing hand-over-hand, a bough or some stationary object is grasped by the fingers, the arm being straight, and the body hanging, as it were, to it. The first motion is the lifting up of the arm; the second is the grasping with the hand; and the third is the bending of the straight elbow, and bringing the shoulder up nearer the fixed point, or the part grasped. Whilst this is being done the body is not limp, but more or less stiffened by the spine, which runs down the back, and consists of many bones, being made rigid by the contraction of many small muscles. Now the bones and muscles of all the parts of the body engaged in climbing are so arranged that the spine shall not suffer any jarring, but shall be lifted up safely. Were all the muscles which pull upon the arms attached to it, every unusual effort would drag it almost to pieces, so there is a wide flat bone placed between the spine and the arm. This so-called blade-bone is jointed by a ball and socket joint to the arm-bone, but is only united to the spine and back part of the head by muscles. Muscles start from the spine to the blade-bone, from the blade-bone to the bones of the arm and fore-arm, and from these last to the bones of the fingers, and by their shortening or contraction, the fingers being stationary, the body is at last brought closer to them.
In order to explain the first motions of climbing, it is necessary to remark that on looking at the skeleton of the Gorilla the shoulder-blades are seen to be of the same general shape as those of man; they are much larger, however, and there are some anatomical points about them, which clearly have to do with the ability of the great Ape to keep its arms up for a long time, and to pull up its heavy body when the hands and fore-arms are fixed and immovable by clasping. One muscle, which in ourselves forms the cushion on the shoulder, and reaches down the outside of the arm for a little distance, is called the deltoid or Δ-shaped muscle, and its especial duty is, when the shoulder-blade is fixed, to lift up the arm by its contraction. The movement is permitted because between the spots where the muscles are adherent to the blade-bone on the one hand, and to the outside of the arm-bone on the other, a distance of several inches, there is a joint like a ball and socket. The muscle is not attached to a flat surface on the blade-bone, but to a raised edge, which runs rather obliquely, and is called the spine of the bone. Now this muscle is of immense importance to the Gorilla, as may be imagined from the nature of its function or office: it is placed in the same position as in man, and between the same kind of bones, but the spine of the blade-bone is longer, broader, and more slantingly set in the Ape, so that extra strength and greater power are attained.
This spine, or rather raised ridge, can be felt when we place the right hand over the left shoulder as far as possible, keeping the fingers between the neck and the end of the shoulder, and its slanting position can be traced best in the Gorilla; and it may be mentioned, that in the Chimpanzee the direction is much more oblique. Above this spine of the blade-bone there is the upper part of the blade, and it is covered with muscle, the space thus occupied being much larger in the Gorilla than in man. This muscle starts from this bone, to which it is attached, and is united to the arm-bone, close to its joint with the blade-bone; it is larger in the Gorilla than in us, and one of its uses is to assist the deltoid just mentioned.
There is rather an interesting arrangement in the old Gorillas, which is not found in the young or in man, and which appears to have to do with the power of this muscle and its prolonged action. The muscle is well supplied with blood, and the nerve which endows it with energy is particularly well prevented from being compressed during the movements of the muscles amongst which it runs, any compression being very injurious. The upper edge of the blade-bone is notched, and a dense tissue or ligament stretches from one point of the notch to the opposite one, enclosing a small open space; now the nerve runs through this space, and is protected by the hard tissues of bone and ligament from the contraction of the soft muscles. In the old Gorilla a further protection is found in the presence of a little projection of bone in this space, which acts as a greater preventer of pressure.
After passing through this space the nerve enters the very substance of the muscle, and is distributed to its fibrils.
The upper arm reaches down from the shoulder to the hips in the Gorilla, and its bone (os humerus, from the Latin) is strongly marked on its surface by roughnesses and ridges, to which the great muscles are attached. In man the shape of the upper arm varies with the strength of the individual, but in the strongest man and in the most beautifully-shaped woman it has a swelling on the front, and tapers more or less towards the elbow. This is caused by the two-headed or biceps muscle, and by other muscles ending in tendons. But the Gorilla has a very shapeless upper arm; it is, as it were, fat and round throughout, and very large above the elbow, and this is because of the size of the bone within, and on account of the muscles not tapering as they do in man, but being well developed right down to their ends. Hence, elegance of shape is sacrificed to extra muscular strength and size of bone.
On looking at the arm-bone, which, being connected to the shoulder by a joint, has much to do with the act of climbing and striking, it will be noticed that it greatly resembles that of man in shape, but is longer, stouter, and clumsier. The joint is nearly in the shape of a rounded knob, and the corresponding depression or cup on the blade or shoulder-bone into which it fits, is an oval and concave surface, and they are kept close together by a kind of capsule which stretches from one bone to the other and encloses the joint. Perfect freedom of movement is insured by the bones being covered with glistening cartilages, and a delicate and moist membrane, and the motion from the shape of the apparatus is almost equal to that of a chandelier where there is what is called a cup-and-ball joint at the ceiling. It has already been noticed that muscles are attached to the blade-bone and to the arm-bone below the joint, and that, this being movable, when they contract they move the arm, and the instance was given of the action of the deltoid muscle in raising the arm. In the Gorilla, this great muscle reaches lower down than in man, and there is a very strong mark in the shaft of the bone for its insertion. This gives the muscle greater play than in us, and enables it to lift, more slowly perhaps, but more efficiently, for the arm-bone between the joint and the place where the muscle is attached, is the long arm of a lever which is shorter in man. Below the globular head of the arm-bone is the shaft or cylindrical part of the bone which gives origin to the three-headed muscle called triceps, and is covered by the two-headed one (biceps) already mentioned, besides the deltoid. A deep groove allows one of the ends or heads of the biceps to pass along and slide over the joint and to reach the shoulder-blade. The shaft as a whole is more or less cylindrical, with a slight angular outline, the angles being projections of bone which strengthen the whole, besides giving attachment to muscles; the cylindrical shape is the best for strength and lightness, and these properties are increased by the adoption of a plan which engineers have long since unwittingly copied. The shaft is hollow, and is cellular at both ends, solid bone covering the outside, conditions which oppose fracture, and produce increased strength, indeed greater strength and lightness than a solid bone would have. Below the shaft is an expansion, on which are placed the surfaces for the jointing on of the two bones of the fore-arm, and the bone is especially in old Gorillas perforated there, a condition seen in some very old human bones. There is an important point in the relative length of the upper arm-bone, and the bones of the fore-arm in the Gorilla, in other Apes, and in man, for in this great Ape and in us the humerus is longer than the others, and in the Chimpanzee they are almost equal, whilst in the rest of the Monkeys they are very unequal, the bones of the fore-arm being much the longest.
Although they have such strong arms, covered with a stout skin and with hairs sloping downwards, the Gorillas sometimes manage to break them, and then Nature endeavours to repair the injury. In the skeleton of the old male Gorilla in the British Museum there are proofs of a former fracture of the humerus or upper arm-bone. The arm was broken across, and as it could not be kept quiet, Dame Nature has not done her work as well as a modern surgeon could on a patient whose arm he could put in splints, for it is thickened, shortened, and twisted.
The fore-arm of the Gorilla has its long hairs pointing upwards to the elbow, and the limb does not slope gracefully towards, and become slightly smaller above the wrist, as in man, but remains thick and fleshy as far as the hand. There are two bones in the forearm which are jointed above with the lower end of the arm-bone (humerus), and which are also connected by joints at their lower ends with the small bones forming part of the wrist. The bones of the fore-arm are called the radius and the ulna in the Gorilla as in man. They are larger, stouter, and wider apart in the great Ape than in ordinary Europeans, but they greatly resemble those of the Australian aborigines. As these bones are covered with muscles, some going to the fingers, and others coming from the upper arm, there are many ridges or surfaces on them, for their origin and attachment, and these greatly resemble those of man; moreover, the muscles perform the same functions and movements.
When compared with that of a strong man, the wrist of the Gorilla is broader, and the bones, of the same number, are larger from side to side, and this extra breadth makes this part of the hand very wide. As the Gorilla’s hand often has to support the weight of the body, on the back of the fingers and knuckles, it is long, broad, and very strong, surpassing in these respects those of man; but the thumb is peculiar. It does not look a well-formed one; it is evidently short, and out of proportion to the long fingers. The human thumb reaches not far from the second joint of the fore-finger; but the top of that of the Gorilla is on a level with the first joint, or at the end of the long bones of the hand, and which are called metacarpal bones.
Remarkable then for its breadth and thickness, the Gorilla’s hand has also a long palm, which is not only due to the length of the bones, just mentioned, but also to the fact that the web or undivided skin between the fingers, where they join the hand, is not slight as in man, but long and very decidedly visible. The web extends half way up the first joint of the fingers. The fingers are therefore made to appear short[7] (although their bones are long), and they look dumpy and swollen, and this appearance is increased by there being callous pads of skin on the back of the middle and end joints. Finally, the fingers slope to the nails, which are not much larger or longer than those of man. The back of the hand is hairy as far as the divisions of the fingers; and the callous pads, just noticed, almost do away with the appearance of some of the joints. The short thumb, not so big as the forefinger, has a nail which does not reach the end of it, and the under-parts of the thumb, fingers, and palm have a bare skin. Professor Owen, in summing up the difference between the structure of the hands of the Gorilla and of man, remarks that in the great Ape the hands are instruments for great power of grasp, and for sustaining great weight, and the length and strength of the whole upper limb accord with their mechanical powers and requirements. In man, the framework of the hand bespeaks an organ of varied and delicate prehension, and the form and proportion of the rest of the arm-limb relate to the free motions and complex functions of the instrument.
Having raised the arm by its muscles, the fingers and thumbs grasp an object, or, in other words, certain muscles which are placed between the bones of the fingers and between the fingers and the bones of the fore-arm, contract and move the bones, which are jointed. The tops of the fingers are bent on the palm, and the thumb is closed on them, and this continues as long as the contraction permits. All the apparatus for long-continued clasping is present in the Gorilla, and there are nearly the same kinds of muscles employed as in man. There are, however, some differences, to one of which it is necessary now to allude. The thumb, for instance, of the Gorilla is of great importance in grasping, but it has not to perform such complicated movements in other things as that of man. In man its movements are most wonderful, and by using one muscle after the other which belongs to it, it can be moved so as to describe a circle with its tip. This is done in the action of “twiddling,” but also in many others where the will hardly influences the muscle, and where the thumb may be said to be moved unconsciously. Gorillas in their quietest and most reflective moods cannot indulge in the sober practice of twiddling, for an important twiddling muscle is absent in them. But it is no great loss, and perhaps it is a real gain, for this muscle would be in the way of rapid clasping, as it rather tends to keep the thumb from the fingers. Whilst the great Ape is thus deficient it has a muscle on the other side of the hand which is not possessed by man, and whose office appears to be to separate as far as is possible the fourth and fifth fingers (their first joints), and by so doing to enlarge the grasp of the whole hand. As the hand of the Gorilla is at least a third larger than that of the averaged-sized man, there is of course a corresponding increase in the space which can be grasped. The muscles are stronger and stouter than in us, and therefore the hand is a more powerful one. Nevertheless it is incompetent of performing many actions which are readily done by a child.
HAND BONES OF THE GORILLA.
Having lifted up the arm in the act of climbing, and having grasped something, the third motion commences, the object being to draw up the body to the wrist and fingers, which of course remain as fixed points. All the muscles which intervene between the fore-arm bones and the spines of the back have to contract and shorten, so as to bring the last-named bones towards the fixed point, and they may be divided into three groups—those which reach from the arm-bones to the blade-bone, those which connect the blade-bone and the back-bone, and those which unite the arm and the back-bone. All contract at once and shorten the distance between the body and the arm; some fix as it were the blade-bone, and twist it slightly, placing it in a straight line for the pulling of others; and the most important bend and pull down the elbow. Two muscles may be noticed in particular. One which has already been noticed forms the lump on the front of the arm when the wrist is brought close to the shoulder, and is called “biceps,” because it has two heads or points of adhesion to the blade-bone, not far from the joint of the arm-bone. The fibres pass over the arm from the blade-bone down to one of the bones of the fore-arm, in front of the bend of the elbow, and when they contract they tend to bend the elbow and bring the wrist near the shoulder, or the shoulder near the wrist when the fingers are fixed or clasping. The biceps of the Gorilla is a vast muscle, but it wants the symmetry of that of man, and it does not taper downwards so as to make the arm narrower above the elbow. Another muscle is at the back part of the arm, and from having three upper heads or attachments is called the “triceps.” Two of the heads are attached to the arm-bone, and one to the blade-bone, and the lower one is fixed on to the piece of bone of one of the fore-arm bones, on which the arm rests when “elbows are on the table.” Its action is to drag the blade-bone towards that bone, and it is assisted in this by a muscle which passes from the spine to the arm-bone, and whose office in climbing is to drag the spine towards the arm. Finally, there are numerous muscles which pass from the long spines of the pieces of the back-bone (vertebræ) to the blade-bone, and which in climbing tend to drag the first towards the last-mentioned bones, and to move the body generally upwards. The huge size of the blade-bone assists in this in the Gorilla, as its large surface can give adhesion to larger muscles than a smaller one; and as the arm-bones are large, there is all the more room for muscular play.
Considering the bulk of the body of a Gorilla, and the nature of the movements of climbing, it is to be expected that those muscles and bones which are connected, as just stated, with the blade-bone, should be large and strong. This is remarkably the case. On examining the back of a Gorilla one is struck with the great projection of the back-bones in the neck. In man each back-bone or vertebra has a projection or spine which sticks out backwards more or less. These are small in the region of the neck, but in the Gorilla these spines are very long there, and give a peculiar hump-necked appearance. Their size, however, is in exact relation with the size and strength of the muscles attached to them, and some of these go to the blade-bone to assist in the act of climbing.
It is this hump-necked appearance and the round-backed look produced by the great size of the blade-bones which make a Gorilla so ugly about the chest and head, but beauty is of much less use in an African forest than good stout bones and active muscles.
The hind part of the neck does not form a graceful curve as in a well-made man, but a projection which gradually slopes into the line of the back. Moreover, the shoulders of the Gorilla do not slope from the neck—on the contrary, their direction is that which renders the hand-over-hand movement of climbing the readiest of commencement. They are “high,” as the term is, the head and neck being as it were sunken between them, so that the chin, instead of being on a much higher level than the top of the breast-bone, is naturally lower than it. The front of the neck is thus hidden by the huge lower jaw.
Gorillas have collar-bones which are in the same position as those in man, but they are straighter, stouter, and stronger: they are not placed almost horizontally between the front of the blade-bone and the breast-bone, as in us, but as the shoulders are “high” they slant downwards to the breast-bone. By placing the hand on the upper part of the opposite side of the chest the collar-bone may be felt with the tips of the fingers like a ridge, and it is one which many know to their cost is very readily broken by a fall on the end of the shoulders. The bone is something like the letter f in outline, without the cross-bar, and it is fixed at both ends: so when a force acts on one end in the direction of the length of the bone it tends to bend, and often cracks and breaks across.
Now a fractured collar-bone would be a serious thing to a Gorilla; he could no longer lift up his arm, and he would be in constant peril and difficulty; hence, Nature has given him not only a very strong and straight bone, but has by the “high” shoulder posture rendered a fall on the top of it almost impossible. A fall would probably injure the upper part of the arm, which is well protected by the thick cushion of muscle, flesh, and hairy skin which covers the bone.
Travellers and hunters have noticed the rapidity and ease with which the Gorilla moves when off the ground, and when the size and the weight of the animal are considered it becomes evident that not only must it have great muscular power but a stout heart, good circulation, and capital “wind.”
It must be remembered also that it is a great eater of vegetable food, and that it has to consume a large quantity to obtain a supply of nourishment: in other words, it has a very capacious stomach, which has to be carried about and kept very well filled.
In order to meet these requirements there is a very capacious chest (much more so than in man), which contains the large lungs and heart, and the belly is flaccid and large, so that the stomach need not press upwards and interfere with the breathing, or with the action of the circulation. Man has twelve ribs on either side, but the Gorilla has thirteen, each of which is longer, stouter, and broader than ours, the result being to make the cavity enclosed by them the greater, but apparently less readily influenced by the muscles of respiration.
When we breathe deeply and endeavour to inspire more than is usual we employ certain muscles which act on the ribs, enlarging the cavity of the chest, and then diminishing it as the expiration occurs. The larger the spaces between the ribs, and the more elastic the ribs themselves, the greater is their possible amount of movement. In us it is very great in the child, great in man, but much less in old age, when the elasticity of the ribs diminishes. In the Gorilla, the breadth and strength of the ribs keep the cavity of the chest always vast, and certainly from their solidity and from the small space which exists between the successive ribs, great and unusual efforts of respiration are not very possible. So large is the cavity of the chest in the Gorilla, and so capacious are the lungs, that it is possibly not necessary for it to put itself out of breath, and to call extraordinary muscular exertion into play, during its uneventful life.
Having thirteen ribs on either side, and each rib being attached to a separate bone of the spine, the Gorilla has therefore one more spine bone (vertebra) than man, and is all the more long-backed. Moreover, the breast-bone, which is on the front of the chest, is broader in the Gorilla than in man, and at least one-third longer, thus adding to the capacity of the cavity of the chest, making it of about 500 cubic inches; that of man being 330 cubic inches.
The lungs and heart of the great Ape resemble those of man, and the great arteries are given off from the main blood-vessel in the same manner in both.
The Gorillas appear to be great eaters, and to roam about, either in small bands or alone, seeking for their favourite food in the forest, and the plantations close by. Sometimes they seek the high plains and rough ground of the hills, especially where certain trees are found, and they invariably cling to the forests about water. They eat the cabbage of the palm nut tree, and partake of the papau, banana, and amomum fruits. Wild sugar-canes attract them, and they are especially fond of the succulent white parts of the pine-apple and its leaves. Some hard kinds of nuts are readily cracked with their huge teeth, which are also brought into use in tearing open the stems of juicy plants.
All the examinations of the dead bodies of the Gorillas prove their diet to consist of such things, and the remains of berries, pine-apple leaves, and other vegetable matters were found, but not flesh or anything like it. This food is, however, not very nourishing, and it must be taken in large quantities and frequently. Hence the animal must not only have good climbing powers to get his food, but a large stomach and intestines to digest it rapidly. There is no doubt that the figure of the Gorilla testifies to its kind of food. The abdomen is very large, and sticks out when the animal is in the erect position; its paunch is vast, and therefore the bones which support it below, or the haunch bones, are very wide.
These haunch-bones form part of a girdle of bones which, in a skeleton, unites the legs to the spine, and which contains, in living animals, the bladder, part of the reproductive organs, and the unborn young.
It is called the pelvis, or basin-shaped bone (being very unlike one); its upper edge is formed by the expanded haunch, or ilium bones (ilium, or gut, alluding to the support given by the bone to the bowels), and its lower one by the bones on which men and Gorillas sit, or the hip (the ischium, or hip-bone). In the Gorilla the pelvis is enormous, and the edge of the haunches is long, so as to give attachment to the muscles which enclose the vast digestive apparatus behind and at the side, but it does not form a graceful curve behind and below, for certain muscles which are of great use to man in maintaining the erect posture, and which straighten the thigh in the body, are weak in the great Ape. These muscles originate outside and below the top of the haunch, and when large and strong, require a peculiar shape of bone: they form in man what does not exist in the Gorilla, and that in which the Hottentot Venus glories. But the Gorilla can sit just as well upon a pair of short and expanded hip-bones (ischial tuberosities, in the language of anatomists), and as he has no tail (the bones forming it in other Monkeys being diminished in number and united in a short process), he can do so for a considerable time with comfort. The sitting in the upright position is moderately easy to the Gorilla, and the older ones evidently often do so. They squat and rest their broad backs against a tree, and as this is a very constant and favourite position, they wear a good deal of their back hair off.
The fate of a hunter is thus given by Du Chaillu, who pledges himself to three very debatable points: that the Gorilla meets its enemy erect; stands and fights; and kills by a blow across the abdomen:—“We set off towards a dark valley where Gambo said we should find our prey. The Gorilla chooses the darkest, gloomiest forests, for its home is found on the edges of the clearings only when in search of plantains, sugar-canes, or pine-apples. Often they choose for their peculiar haunt a wood, so dark that even at midday one can scarce see ten yards. This makes it the more necessary to wait till the monstrous beast approaches near before shooting, in order that the first shot may be fatal. It does not often let the hunter reload. Our little party separated, as is the custom, to stalk the wood in various directions. Gambo and I kept together. One brave fellow went alone, in a direction where he thought he could find a Gorilla. The other three took another course. We had been about an hour separated, when Gambo and I heard a gun fired, but a little way from us, and presently another. We were already on our way to the spot, where we hoped to see a Gorilla slain, when the forest began to resound with the most terrific roars. Gambo seized my arm in great agitation, and we hurried on, both filled with a dreadful and sickening alarm. We had not gone far when our worst fears were realised. The poor brave fellow, who had gone off alone, was lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood, and I thought, at first, quite dead. His bowels were protruding through the lacerated abdomen. Beside him lay his gun. The stock was broken, and the barrel was bent and flattened. It bore plainly the marks of the Gorilla’s teeth. We picked him up, and I dressed his wounds as well as I could with rags torn from my clothes. When I had given him a little brandy to drink he came to himself, and was able, but with great difficulty, to speak. He said he had met the Gorilla suddenly, and face to face, and that it had not attempted to escape. It was, he said, a large male, and seemed very savage. It was in a gloomy part of the wood, and the darkness I suppose made him miss. He said he took good aim, and fired when the beast was only about eight yards off. The ball merely wounded it in the side, and it at once began beating its breasts, and with the greatest rage advanced upon him. To run away was impossible, for he would have been caught in the jungle before he had gone a dozen steps. He stood his ground, and, as quickly as he could, reloaded his gun. Just as he raised it to fire, the Gorilla dashed it out of his hand, the gun going off in the fall; and then in an instant, and with a terrible roar, the animal gave him a tremendous blow with its immense open paw, frightfully lacerating the abdomen, and with this single blow laying bare part of the intestines. As he sank bleeding to the ground, the monster seized the gun, and the poor hunter thought he would have his brains dashed out with it. But the Gorilla seemed to have looked upon this also as an enemy, and in his rage almost flattened the barrel between his strong jaws.”
In spite of this anecdote, and some drawings by Du Chaillu, which represent the Gorilla standing erect, it is very doubtful, from anatomical reasons, whether this is possible. The comparative smallness of some of the most important muscles in the Gorilla, which in man produce the erect position, has already been noticed, and it is now necessary, for the same reasons, to examine into the nature of the lower limbs.
The thigh-bone (called from the Latin, femur) of the Gorilla is shorter than the arm-bone, the reverse being the case in man; and hence the Ape appears to be too short in the legs for its long body and arms. It is stout and rather straight, and has not the forward bend of the same bone in man: moreover, some well-marked ridges which run down the back of it, and which were exceedingly well developed in the oldest races of men, are deficient in the Gorilla. The same may be said for the markings on the bone, which indicate the presence of powerful muscles whose action is to keep the thigh straight with the back—or in other words, to keep the body erect. Below the knee are the two bones of the leg: the inner one, or shin-bone (the tibia), is very short for the height of the animal, and the joint on its lower part, on which moves the ankle-bone, is not so deep and perfect as in man, whose weight is constantly to be borne on it whilst it is being moved in walking. The little outside bone, called fibula, or the clasp-bone, in the Gorilla is so made that it adds singularly to the inability to maintain the erect posture whilst walking, and even in standing still. The lower end of this bone in man forms the prominence outside the ankle, and covers and protects the outside of the topmost bone of the ankle, to which the foot is attached. It strengthens it and prevents that turning in of the foot, which is antagonistic to the placing the sole flat on the surface of the earth, so that it can receive the weight of the body on its broad space and allow of the position so characteristic of man. In the Gorilla this bone does not come down as far as the ankle, and all the safeguards against intwisting are not present. Why, is clear enough, because the Gorilla treads on the outside of its foot-like hand, and always has the sole turned in. There are some other points which require to be noticed, however, about the leg. It is short and evidently wanting in “calf.” It is therefore deficient in that symmetry of which many mortals are most proud. Nevertheless, it has a high instep, also a human desideratum; but in spite of this the ankles are thick and shapeless-looking. The tendon which reaches from the calf to the back heel-bone (os calcis) gives a slender appearance to the lower limb of man, but there is no myth about a Gorilla having been held by that slim spot and dipped in Styx, to be for ever invulnerable elsewhere. This tendon (tendo Achillis) so characteristic of man, is supplied with muscular fibres close to its insertion into the heel-bone in the Gorilla, which thus gains in strength what it loses in elegance. A snapping of the tendon would be indeed a grave matter in the huge Ape, and Nature has thus provided against this accident.
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.
BONES OF THE ANKLE
AND FOOT OF THE GORILLA.
Behind them are the seven bones of the “tarsus,” or ankle, all connected together in a strong arch, and jointed in front to the five bones just mentioned, and above to the two bones of the leg. The hindmost part of the ankle or heel is formed by the heel-bone, os calcis (3), which forms the back part of the arch of the sole. The Achilles tendon is united to it behind, and above it is jointed with a bone, on which rest the bones of the leg, the astragalus bone (4), so called from the Greek word, which means a “die,” for the boys and men in the olden time tossed these bones, and played with those of the sheep as modern boys do.
There are two bones of the ankle just in front of these; one in contact with the heel-bone is called, from its shape, the cuboid or cube-shaped bone (5), and the other, jointed to the astragalus, is, from its faint resemblance to a boat or hull of a ship (navis), termed the navicular bone (6). In front of these two are three others placed side by side, and jointed in front to some of the metatarsal bones. They are called, from their wedge-shaped outlines (wedges for the arch of the foot), cuneiform bones (7), and there are the inner, middle, and outer of them. The inner is curved on its front surface, and has a joint there for the end of the slender (metatarsal) bone of the great toe. It is longer than the next wedge-shaped bone, so that just a little spot of the second slender bone of the second toe touches it close to the corresponding one of the great toe. This inner wedge-shaped bone, the metatarsal bone of the great toe, and the joints of the toe itself, are all on a line, which is parallel to the bones of the next and other toes. The middle and the outer wedge-shaped bones have each a slender metatarsal bone attached to them, and the two remaining slender metatarsals are jointed on to the cube-shaped bone which projects in front of the heel-bone (os calcis). It is the length in front, and the solidity and arched form of the ankle, together with the parallel direction of all the slender metatarsal bones, which give the human foot its beauty of form, strength, and ability to sustain the weight of the body flat on the sole. Compare the hinder grasping (so-called) hand of the Gorilla with this.
At first sight there is a great difference, for the great toe and its metatarsal bone form an angle with the bones of the other toes and their metatarsals. Instead of the toes and their slender bones being parallel and fixed in this position, the great toe of the Gorilla has a power of moving so as to cross the foot more or less below, as the human thumb can cross the palm. It has also the capacity of being stretched out from the foot, so that its movements greatly resemble those of a thumb. In fact, we want a word to express a toe-thumb.
On examining the foot carefully, it will be found that each of its bones may be compared and identified in position and office with the same in man. There is a heel-bone with a great projection behind, for the fixing on of the Achilles tendon, and this is jointed on to a bone above, like the human die-bone or astragalus, and to one in front, like the cuboid. The astragalus resembles that of man, but the upper and outer surfaces on which the lower ends of the leg-bones move, are slightly different, so as to admit of greater turning in of the ankle. The wedge-shaped bones are there, and the inner one, with its joint for the slender bone of the great toe, is shorter and broader than in man, so as to allow of great movement of the toe-thumb in front of it. The slender bones, or metatarsals, are larger and longer, but their shape and direction, with the exception of the first, are singularly like those of man. As a whole the foot of the Gorilla, for thus it must be called, is broader in front of the ankle-bones and longer everywhere than in us, but it has a sideway and almost club-foot look about it; its position is “turned in,” like the foot of a young child before it walks. This is owing to the conformation and easy jointing of the bones of the ankle and foot, and also to the action of a front muscle of the leg which pulls the very movable bones inwards. The structures allow of a very ready turning in of the ankle and foot, and such as would render climbing easy with the aid of the toe-thumb; but they evidently interfere with the steadiness in walking. It is a huge foot, and it is only half an inch or so shorter than the leg below the knee; it is unwieldy as a foot, but is a capital foot-hand, which cannot readily have its toes stretched out straight, for their usual position is that of being slightly bent in the direction of the sole.
Mr. Walker purchased from a native a fine healthy male Gorilla, apparently about two years of age, and shipped it for England. Being under the impression that he had taken too much care of all the other living ones which he had obtained at different times, he determined to let the new acquisition have its own way, and only take care that it did no mischief. When purchased, the animal was by no means strange or spiteful, but rather what may be termed shy, and suspicious of strangers. At the expiration of about a week, however, it became sufficiently tame and confiding to admit of its being allowed to run about loose, and to do as it liked. At the same time its food, instead of being confined to the fruits on which it is supposed to feed in its wild state, consisted in general of fragments from the table, and beside these it had anything edible it could lay its hands on, and occasionally a basin of condensed milk and a raw egg beaten up in it was given. It liked amomum fruit, but this produced diarrhœa which had to be treated with chlorodyne and raw egg. Finding that the animal became restive, it was left entirely to its own devices, and especially as every one in the ship was at the same time so very busy as not to be able to pay much attention to it. It soon became quite at home, alternately eating, sleeping, and playing with a large bull-terrier (of by no means the most amiable disposition), which had a most decided dislike to negroes, but nevertheless took very kindly to the Gorilla, so that the two animals became constant playfellows. By allowing the Gorilla to rough it, instead of watching it, and appointing someone to take care of it, in which case these animals become so much attached to their keeper or attendant, that a separation from him almost invariably causes these affectionate Apes to pine away and die, and by habituating it to such food as is generally to be found on shipboard, it was hoped that it might be brought to England. But accidents will happen, even to Gorillas. It came down to dinner one day, and ate scraps with the dog, and went to sleep. When looked for, some hours afterwards, it was missing, and must have fallen off the taffrail into the sea. Strangely enough, this young one was not given to climbing. It will be noticed that these remarks are totally at variance with those of M. Du Chaillu, who was impressed with the untamable character of the Gorilla; so we must wait until further evidence is produced, and probably until a little Gorilla is safely lodged in the Regent’s Park.
Many attempts have been made to obtain a live Gorilla for exhibition in Europe, and some years since a showman really had one which he called a Chimpanzee, but the fact was not known to scientific men until a photograph of the creature was exhibited after its death. In June, 1876, Mr. Moore, the learned curator of the Free Public Museum, wrote to the Times after seeing a young Gorilla in Liverpool. He stated—“A veritable young living Gorilla was yesterday brought into Liverpool by the German African Society’s Expedition, which arrived by the steamship Loanda, from the West Coast. The animal is a young male, in the most perfect health and condition, and measures nearly three feet in height. Its beetling brows, flattened podgy nose, black muzzle, small ears, and thick fingers, cleft only to the second joint, distinguish it unmistakably from the Chimpanzee.
“Could it have graced our own Zoological Gardens it would have been the lion of the day; for, in addition to the great scientific interest of the species, the abounding life, energy, and joyous spirits of this example would have made it a universal favourite. Courteously received at Eberle’s Alexandra Hotel by the members of the Exhibition, I found the creature romping and rolling in full liberty about the private drawing-room, now looking out of the window with all becoming gravity and sedateness, as though interested, but not disconcerted, by the busy multitude and novelty without, then bounding rapidly along on knuckles and feet to examine and poke fun at some new comer, playfully mumbling at his calves, pulling at his beard (a special delight), clinging to his arms, examining his hat (not at all to its improvement), curiously inquisitive as to his umbrella, and so on with visitor after visitor. If he becomes over excited by the fun, a gentle box on the ear would bring him to order like a child, like a child only to be on the romp again immediately. He points with the index finger, claps with his hands, pouts out his tongue, feeds on a mixed diet, decidedly prefers roast meats to boiled, eats strawberries, as I saw, with delicate appreciativeness, is exquisitely clean and mannerly. The palms of his hands and feet are beautifully plump, soft, and black as jet. He has been eight months and a half in the possession of the Expedition, has grown some six inches in that time, and is supposed to be between two and three years of age.” Nearly every other attempt to rear them in Europe has failed. The Zoological Society has, at rare intervals, possessed specimens of young Gorillas, but the climate of England would appear to be quite unsuited to them, for, despite Mr. Bartlett’s every care and attention, none of these interesting creatures survived for any length of time.
Du Chaillu insists on the ill-temper, ferocity, and untamable nature of the young Gorilla, as the results of his experience. One was brought to him about three years of age, with its neck put in the cleft of a stick to keep it quiet, and after much trouble they got it into a bamboo cage. It was a little black thing of two feet six inches in height, and its habits, escapes, and death are amusingly told. “As soon as I had the little fellow safely locked in his cage, I ventured to approach to say a few encouraging words to him. He stood in the furthest corner, but, as I approached, he bellowed and made a precipitate rush at me; and though I retreated as quickly as I could he succeeded in catching my trouser leg, which he grasped with one of his feet, and tore, retreating immediately to the corner furthest away. This taught me caution for the present, though I had a hope still to be able to tame him. He sat in his corner looking wickedly out of his grey eyes, and I never saw a more morose or more ill-tempered face than had this little beast. The first thing was, of course, to attend to the wants of my captive. I sent for some of the forest-berries which these animals are known to prefer, and placed these and a cup of water within his reach. He was exceedingly shy, and would neither eat nor drink till I had removed to a considerable distance. The second day found Joe, as I had named him, fiercer than the first. He rushed savagely at any one who stood even for a moment near his cage, and seemed ready to tear us all to pieces. I threw him some pine-apple leaves, of which I noticed he ate only the white parts. There seemed no difficulty about his food, though he refused now, and continued during his short life to refuse, all food except such wild leaves and fruits as were gathered from his native woods for him. The third day he was still morose and savage, bellowing when any person approached, and either retiring to a distant corner or rushing to attack. On the fourth day, while no one was near, the little rascal succeeded in forcing apart two of the bamboo rails which composed his cage, and made his escape. I came up just as his flight was discovered, and immediately got all the negroes together for pursuit, determining to surround the wood and recapture my captive. I was startled by an angry growl issuing from under my low bedstead. It was Master Joe, who lay there hid, but anxiously watching my movements. I instantly shut the windows, and called to my people to guard the door. When Joe saw the crowd of black faces he became furious, and, with his eyes glaring, and every sign of rage in his little face and body, got out from beneath the bed. We shut the door at the same time and left him master of the premises, preferring to devise some plan for his easy capture rather than to expose ourselves to his terrible teeth. How to take him was now a puzzling question. He had shown such strength and such rage already, that not even I cared to run the chance of being badly bitten in a hand-to-hand struggle. Meantime Joe stood in the middle of the room looking about for his enemies, and examining, with some surprise, the furniture. I watched with fear, lest the ticking of my clock should strike his ear, and perhaps lead him to an assault upon that precious article. Indeed, I should have left Joe in possession, but for a fear that he would destroy the many articles of value or curiosity I had hung about the walls. Finally, seeing him quite quiet, I dispatched some fellows for a net, and opening the door quickly, threw this over his head. Fortunately we succeeded at the first throw in perfectly entangling the young monster, who roared frightfully, and struck and kicked in every direction. I took hold of the back of his neck, two men seized his arms, and another the legs, and thus held by four men this extraordinary little creature still proved most troublesome. We carried him as quickly as we could to the cage, which had been repaired, and there once more locked him in. I never saw so furious a beast in my life as he was. He darted at every one who came near, bit the bamboos of the house, glared at us with venomous and sullen eyes, and in every motion showed a temper thoroughly wicked and malicious. As there was no change in this for two days thereafter, but continual moroseness, I tried what starvation would do towards breaking his spirit; also, it began to be troublesome to procure his food from the woods, and I wanted him to become accustomed to civilised food, which was placed before him. But he would touch nothing of the kind; and as for temper, after starving him twenty-four hours, all I gained was that he came slowly up and took some berries from the forest out of my hand, immediately retreating to his corner to eat them. Daily attentions from me for a fortnight more did not bring me any further confidence from him than this. He always snarled at me, and only when very hungry would he take even his choicest food from my hands. At the end of this fortnight I came to feed him, and found that he had gnawed a bamboo to pieces slyly, and again made his escape. Luckily he had but just gone; for, as I looked around, I caught sight of Master Joe making off on all-fours, and with great speed, across the little prairie, for a clump of trees. I called the men up, and we gave chase. He saw us, and before we could head him off made for another clump. This we surrounded. He did not ascend a tree, but stood defiantly at the border of the wood. About one hundred and fifty of us surrounded him. As we moved up he began to yell, and made a sudden dash upon a poor fellow who was in advance, who ran, tumbled down in affright, and, by his fall, escaped, but also detained Joe sufficiently long for the nets to be brought to bear upon him. Four of us again bore him, struggling, into the village. This time I could not trust him to the cage, but had a little light chain fastened around his neck. This operation he resisted with all his might, and it took us quite an hour to securely chain the little fellow, whose strength was something marvellous. Ten days after he was thus chained he died suddenly. He was in good health, and ate plentifully of his natural food, which was brought every day for him; did not seem to sicken until two days before his death, and died in some pain. To the last he continued entirely untamable; and, after his chains were on, added the vice of treachery to his others.”
In one of his hunting excursions Du Chaillu obtained a younger Gorilla than the last, but its end was sad enough.
“I was accessory to its capture,” writes Du Chaillu, “and we were walking along in silence, when I heard a cry, and presently saw before me a female Gorilla, with a tiny baby Gorilla hanging to her breast and sucking. The mother was stroking the little one, and looking fondly down at it; and the scene was so pretty and touching that I held my fire, and considered—like a soft-hearted fellow—whether I had not better leave them in peace. Before I could make up my mind, however, my hunter fired and killed the mother, who fell without a struggle. The mother fell, but the baby clung to her, and, with pitiful cries, endeavoured to attract her attention. I came up, and when it saw me it hid its poor little head in its mother’s breast. It could neither walk nor bite, so we could easily manage it; and I carried it, while the men bore the mother on a pole. When we got to the village another scene ensued. The men put the body down, and I set the little fellow near. As soon as he saw his mother he crawled to her, and threw himself on her breast. He did not find his accustomed nourishment, and I saw that he perceived something was the matter with the old one. He crawled over her body, smelt at it, and gave utterance, from time to time, to a plaintive cry—‘Hoo, hoo, hoo!’ which touched my heart. I could get no milk for this poor little fellow, who could not eat, and consequently died on the third day after he was caught. He seemed more docile than the other I had, for he already recognised my voice, and would try to hurry towards me when he saw me. I put the little body in alcohol, and sent it to Dr. Wyman, of Boston, for dissection.”
Of course all the stories about the Gorilla are not believed, and those of all writers, from Hanno downwards, have been severely criticised.
A distinguished African traveller, Winwood Reade, stated that the name, leaving alone the stories, of Hanno, was a blunder, and that the word Gorilla was misapplied, because the habits of the creature do not tally with the story. The Gorillæ of Hanno were found, it is supposed, on Sherboro Island; they scaled rocks and defended themselves with stones. They could neither have been Gorillas nor Chimpanzees, but a species of Cynocephalus, or Dog-faced Monkey or Baboon. “These animals,” writes this author, “which I have seen often enough, go in troops, which Gorillas do not, and actually defend themselves with stones, a fact which I assert not only on the evidence of natives, but on the evidence of white men who have kept them in a state of captivity. They are also very ferocious, and will always defend themselves when attacked either by man or beast. I spent five months,” he continues, “in the Gorilla country, and did not leave that part of Africa till I had completely satisfied myself respecting the habits of this animal. The evidence which I now lay before you is composed of statements made to me by men who had killed Gorillas. It is collected from three distinct parts of Equatorial Africa, namely, from the Balengi of the Muni River, from the Shekani and Fans, of the Gaboon, and from the Commi, Bakeli, &c., of the Fernando Vaz. But from the last river, where Gorillas are plentiful, I obtained the most information.”
“The Gorilla is found in those thick and solitary places of the forest where animal life is scarce. His food is strictly vegetable. He moves along the ground on all-fours, sometimes he goes up into trees to feed on fruit, and at night he sleeps in a large tree. When the female is pregnant, the male builds a nest, where she is confined, and which she abandons as soon as her young one is born. The Gorilla does not beat its breast like a drum. It utters a kind of short sharp bark when enraged, and its ordinary cry is of a plaintive nature. With respect to its ferocity, the hunters have a proverb, ‘Leave a Ngina alone, and it will leave you alone.’ When it is at bay, and wounded, it will attack man like the stag, the elephant, and other animals which are naturally timid. But it makes its attack on all-fours, and the hunters, who are themselves as nimble as Apes, often escape from it as men escape from the charge of an elephant. I have seen a man who was wounded by a Gorilla; his wrist was crippled, and the marks of the teeth were visible. He told me that the Gorilla seized his wrist, and dragged it into his mouth; it was contented with having done this, and then made off. The nearest approach to an erect posture which the Gorilla attains is by supporting itself by hanging on to the branches. When I asked the people of Ngumbi whether a man had ever been killed by a Gorilla, they said that their fathers had spoken of such a thing, but that nothing of the kind had happened within the memory of anybody living. Such is the evidence of the native hunters upon the habits of the Gorilla. I could not find that it differed in any important respect from the Chimpanzee, except in its superior size and strength, and in its certainly being more formidable when wounded. But when I asked the hunters which was the most dangerous, the Leopard or the Gorilla, they replied the ‘Leopard.’
“I can make one or two positive assertions from my own experience. Although I never succeeded in viewing a Gorilla in its wild state, I can assert that it travels on all-fours, for I have seen the tracks of its four feet over and over again. I can assert that it runs away from man, for I have been near enough to hear one running away from me; and I can assert that the young Gorilla is as docile as the young Chimpanzee in captivity, for I have seen them both in a state of captivity. I have also seen the lying-in nests both of Chimpanzees and Gorillas, the latter being the larger of the two. The Chimpanzee has the character of being more intelligent than his big brother.” This careful traveller doubted some of the stories told by M. Du Chaillu about Gorilla killing, so he went to the neighbourhood where this slaying was said to have taken place. On arriving at the town of Ngumbi pretending to be trading, he writes, “I was asked whether I would buy Gorillas as M. Du Chaillu did. I refused to buy them, but said that I would give a large reward to any hunter who would get me a shot at one, and also a present to the King. They seemed astonished at this, and asked me why I wished to do a thing that other white men had never wished to do. Now, I had taken with me two interpreters, and managed to make them quarrel, so that there might be no collusion in the matter. I examined Etia, a hunter, in whose company M. Du Chaillu professes to have killed Gorillas, by each interpreter separately. I examined in the same manner the five guides who had escorted him in the Opingi country; and though they spoke of M. Du Chaillu in high terms, and appeared to have a great affection for him, all replied that he had never shot a Gorilla.”
YOUNG GORILLA AND DOG.
Still later accounts from able naturalists confirm Winwood Reade’s views, and insist upon the truth of the fact that no European has ever seen a Gorilla in its adult age alive, and in its native forests. They start off at the slightest noise, and are only hunted by natives for the sake of their bones and skins, which are valuable enough in Europe. Moreover, exception has been taken to the tales about the intractable and violent nature of the Gorilla, and more than one well-known African naturalist sides with those who disbelieve in the ferocity of the young Gorilla.
The reason why the Gorilla flourishes in Western Equatorial Africa is probably because the great Carnivora, or beasts of prey, are not found in the dense forests and open prairies which cover the country. The jungle begins where the sea ceases, and then comes the virgin forest, extending some degrees north and south of the equator, and reaching unknown distances inland. There are no Lions, and but few Leopards, Hyenas, and Jackals to be met with; the great African beasts—the Rhinoceroses, Giraffes, Zebras, &c.—are absent. Snakes, Lizards, and a vast insect world abound, and there are birds of prey. The Elephant is scarce, and, indeed, miles and miles may be traversed without hearing or seeing any signs of large animal life. But of all the mammals the Monkeys are the most numerous, and the Gorilla reigns supreme. He has the forest to himself, and but few enemies. He has companions, however, nearly of his own size, and whose description we owe to Du Chaillu, and they are so constructed, anatomically, that they link on, as it were, this greatest of all Apes with the well-known Chimpanzee, which is also indigenous to the Gorilla land. The new Apes are the Nschiego Mbouvé, or Tschiégo, and the Koolo-Kamba.
CHAPTER II.
THE MAN-SHAPED APES (continued)—THE NSCHIEGO MBOUVÉ—THE KOOLO-KAMBA—THE SOKO—THE CHIMPANZEE.
[THE NSCHIEGO MBOUVÉ]—Its Nests and Habits—A Specimen Shot—Differences between it and the Gorilla—Structural Peculiarities—[THE KOOLO-KAMBA]—Meaning of the Name—Discovered by Du Chaillu—Its Outward Appearance and Anatomy—[THE SOKO]—Discovered by Livingstone—Hunting the Soko—[THE CHIMPANZEE]—In Captivity—On Board Ship—A Young Chimpanzee—The Brain and Nerves—Anatomical Peculiarities—General Remarks upon the Group
THE NSCHIEGO MBOUVÉ.[8]
THIS great Ape, which attains the height of four feet, and has a spread of arms of seven feet, was discovered by Du Chaillu in the Gaboon district. It is remarkable for building very comfortable shelters, and this led to its being found; for Du Chaillu, in one of his excursions, was trudging along, rather tired of sport, when he saw a most singular-looking shelter built on the branches of a tree. He thought it had been made by the natives, and asked whether the hunters had the habit of sleeping in the woods, but was told, to his great surprise, that it was a nest built by the Nschiego Mbouvé, an Ape. Moreover, one of the natives told him that it was a curious creature, which had a bald head.
Many of the nests were seen subsequently, and it was noticed that they were generally built about fifteen or twenty feet from the ground, and invariably on a tree which stands slightly apart from others, and which had no lower bough beneath the shelter. Occasionally they are to be seen at the height of fifty feet; and it would appear that the altitude has something to do with the dread of the few flesh-eating and destructive beasts, such as the Leopard. The loneliest parts of the forest are chosen, for the animal is shy, and is very rarely seen, even by the negroes. The materials for the nest consist of leafy branches, and are collected by the male and the female also, who tie them together, and to the tree, very neatly with twigs of the vine. The roof is so well constructed that it closely resembles human work, and it throws off the rain admirably, for it is neatly rounded at the top. During its construction, the female gathers the branches and vines, whilst the male builds; but afterwards they do not occupy the same shelter, the male making another close by in a neighbouring tree. The roof, which is usually some six or eight feet in diameter, is more or less dome-shaped, or something like an extended umbrella; and the Nschiego gets under it and clasps the tree, or squats on a bough, so that its head is just beneath the under surface. The nests are not occupied permanently, and usually for not more than eight or ten days, for the Apes, living upon wild berries of a certain kind, select spots where they are plentiful, and leave them when the store is exhausted. Du Chaillu never saw many nests together, and he does not think the animals live in troops, but only in pairs. Sometimes a solitary nest is seen, inhabited by a Nschiego, whose silvery hair denotes its age, and probably its desire for solitude after a long and troublous life.
Being desirous of obtaining one of these shelter makers, as they were evidently new to science, Du Chaillu took every precaution to surprise his prey; but it is best to tell the story in his own words:—
“We travelled with great caution, not to alarm our prey, and had a hope that, by singling out a shelter, and waiting till dark, we should find it occupied. In this hope we were not disappointed. Lying quite still in our concealment (which tried my patience sorely), we at last, just at dusk, heard the peculiar ‘Hew, hew, hew,’ which is the call of the male to his mate. We waited till it was quite dark, and then I saw what I had so longed all the weary afternoon to see. A Nschiego was sitting in his nest. His feet rested on the lower branch, his head reached quite into the little dome of the roof, and his arm was clasped firmly round the tree-trunk. This is their way of sleeping. After gazing till I was tired through the gloom at my sleeping victim, two of us fired, and the unfortunate beast fell at our feet without a struggle, or even a groan. We built a fire at once, and made our camp in this place, that when daylight came I might first of all examine and skin my prize. The poor Ape was hung up to be out of the way of insects, and I fell asleep on my bed of leaves and grass, as pleased a man as the world could well hold. Next morning I had leisure to examine the Nschiego.
NSCHIEGO MBOUVÉ. (From a Stuffed Specimen.)
“I was at once struck with points of difference between it and the Chimpanzee. It was smaller, and had a bald black head. This is its distinctive character. This specimen was three feet eleven inches high, or long. It was an adult. Its skin, where there is no hair, is black, and the thick breast and abdomen are covered with short and rather thin blackish hairs. On the lower part of the abdomen the hair is thinnest, but this is not perceived unless looked at carefully, as the skin is the colour of the hair. On the legs the hair is of a dirty grey, mixed with black. The shoulders and back have black hair between two and three inches long, mixed with a little grey. The arms down to the wrist have also long black hair, but shorter than in the Gorilla. The hair is blacker, longer, glossier, and thinner in general than that on the Gorilla, and the skin is not so tough. I noticed that the bare places, where the hair is worn off by contact with hard substances in sleeping, were different from the bare places which are so conspicuous on the common Chimpanzee.
“It is not as powerful an animal as the Gorilla, its chest is not so large, but the arms and fingers are a little longer, and this is the case with the toes also. The nose is not so prominent, but the mouth is wider and the ears are larger. Its chin is rounder, and has more small hairs, and the side of the face is thinly covered with hair, commencing about the middle of the ear, and these would seem to be signs of an incipient beard and whiskers. The lower parts of the body are bare, and the skin is white there.”
Apparently the disposition and temper of the Nschiego are better than those of the Gorilla; it is less ferocious, and is even docile in captivity. It has not the hideous expression of the great Ape, for there is something of a forehead above the ridge of the eyebrow, and there are no great crests on the head, which is rounder than that of the Gorilla. The teeth are rather smaller, but are of the same number. The height is less than that of the female Gorilla, as a rule; and the male of this bald kind is larger than its female; whilst the little young ones differ in their colour from both, being white. Finally, it would appear that there are hard callous pads on the back of the fingers, that the hand is larger than the feet, and that the tips of the fingers reach a little below the knee. Associated with the Gorilla and with the Chimpanzee in the forests of Equatorial Western Africa, the Bald-headed Troglodyte appears to have a restricted geographical range, and not to be found over so large a district as its companions, for it was only met with on the table-lands of the interior, and in the densest forests.
Subsequently Du Chaillu had a good opportunity of substantiating his statements about the nests.
“On our way down, at sunset of the third day, we heard the call of a Nschiego Mbouvé (Troglodytes calvus). I immediately caused my men to lie down, and was just getting into a hiding-place myself, when I saw, in the branches of a tree at a little distance, the curious nest or bower of this Ape; hard by, on another tree, was another shelter. We crept up within shot of this nest, and then waited, for I was determined to see once more the precise manner in which this animal goes to rest. We lay flat on the ground, and covered ourselves with leaves and bush, scarcely daring to breathe, lest the approaching animal should hear us. From time to time I heard the calls. There were evidently two, probably male and female. Just as the sun was setting, I saw an animal approach the tree. It ascended by a hand-over-hand movement, with great rapidity, crept carefully under the shelter, seated itself on the crotch made by a projecting bough, its feet and haunches resting on this bough; then it put one arm about the trunk of the tree for security.
SKELETON OF NSCHIEGO.
“Thus, I suppose, they rest all night; and this posture accounts for some singular abrasions of hair on the side of the Nschiego Mbouvé. At a little distance off I saw another shelter made for the mate. No sooner was it seated than it began again to utter its call. It was answered; and I began to have the hope that I should shoot both animals, when an unlucky motion of one of my men roused the suspicions of the Ape in the tree. It began to prepare for descent, and, unwilling to risk the loss of this one, I fired. It fell to the ground dead. It proved to be a male, with the face and hands entirely black. As we were not in haste, I made my men cut down the trees which contained the nests of these Apes. I found them made precisely as I have before described, and as I have always found them, of long branches and leaves, laid one over the other very carefully and thickly, so as to render the structure capable of shedding off water. The branches were fastened to the tree in the middle of the structure by means of wild vines and creepers, which are so abundant in these forests. The projecting limb on which the Ape perched was about four feet long. There remains no doubt in my mind that these nests are made by the animal to protect it from the nightly rains. When the leaves begin to dry to that degree that the structure no longer throws off water, the owner builds a new shelter, and this happens generally once in ten or fifteen days. At this rate the Nschiego Mbouvé is an animal of no little industry.”
The differences between the outside appearance and the intelligence and temper of this Bald-headed Ape and those of the Gorilla are accompanied by certain internal ones. A careful examination of the skull of the Tschiégo, as its clever French describer, Duvernay, calls it, shows that it has smaller ridges, a less prominent muzzle, and a wider and shorter roof of the mouth than the Gorilla. The last of the upper crushing, or back teeth, is the smallest. In the Gorilla they are nearly equal in size. The lower jaw in the Nschiego has three nearly equal-sized molar or back teeth, and the first and the second have five projections or cusps, but the last has only four. In the Gorilla it has five cusps. These minute differences are probably constant, and therefore must not be passed over, although they may seem to be of no importance to the creatures. But the classification of animals can only depend upon the presence or absence of structural peculiarities; and when such and such a structure exists in one, and not in another, they cannot both be of the same kind. According to the relation of the structure to the life, and according to its being constantly found, so is it important in deciding whether the “kind” is a species, or a mere variety or race.
SKULL OF NSCHIEGO.
The great distinction between the two animals is that the Nschiego’s forehead, formed by the frontal bone, rises up from the great brow ridge, and is visible from the front. This is not the case with the Gorilla, whose forehead recedes greatly. Both animals have the same number of ribs (thirteen), but those of the Nschiego are more man-shaped and are not so broad and close together; and their chests differ in breadth, for the breast-bone of the new Ape is narrower, but it is long and thick. The blade-bone, so important to the Gorilla, is equally so to the Nschiego, but it is longer and narrower on the back, and its spine is very oblique. Possibly this conformation of the bone may have to do with the constant climbing of the Bald-headed Ape, but nevertheless the spines on the neck-bones, which give origin to such exceedingly strong muscles in the Gorilla, are much smaller in the Nschiego. The first neck-bone, or atlas, has no spine in this Ape, in which it is like man, and the axis, or second, has a forked spine, and is crested at the end, but otherwise is like that in man.
Finally, the rudiment of a tail is like that end of the back-bone found in the Gorilla and in man.
These are the principal points and the most important distinctions; they show that the Nschiego cannot be of the same kind or species as the Gorilla, but is a Troglodyte, resembling the Gorilla somewhat in its skeleton, and although smaller than the male, still quite, if not more, man-shaped.
The London Zoological Society own a fine example of the Bald-headed Chimpanzee (Anthropopithecus calvus), which, under the name of “Sally,” is known to every frequenter of their famous Gardens, where it has resided since October, 1883.
THE KOOLO-KAMBA.[9]
This kind of Troglodyte is celebrated for saying koola-koolo over and over again as its favourite cry, for having a very extraordinary frog-like figure, and for being one of those creatures which are exceedingly interesting to zoologists, because they are, as it were, half one thing and half another.
A neighbour of the great Apes already noticed, it associates also with the common Chimpanzee, in the quiet forests of Western Equatorial Africa. In one of these Du Chaillu first saw it, and he describes his discovery as follows:—
“We had hardly got clear of the Bashikoway ants and their bites when my ears were saluted by the singular cry of the Ape I was after. ‘Koola-koolo! koola-koolo!’[10] it said several times. Gambo and I raised our eyes, and saw, high up on a tree-branch, a large Ape. We both fired at once, and the next moment the poor beast fell to the ground with a heavy crash. I rushed up, anxious to see if, indeed, I had a new animal. I saw in a moment that it was neither a Nschiego Mbouvé, nor a Chimpanzee, nor a Gorilla. Again I had a happy day—marked for ever with red ink in my calendar. We at once disembowelled the animal, which was a male. I found in its intestines only vegetable matter and remains. The skin and skeleton were taken into camp, where I cured the former with arsenic sufficiently to take it into Obindji. The animal was a full-grown male, four feet three inches high, and was less powerfully built than the male Gorilla, but as powerful as either the Chimpanzee or Nschiego Mbouvé. When it was brought into Obindji, all the people, and even Quenqueza, at once exclaimed, ‘That is a Koolo-Kamba.’ Then I asked them about the other Apes I already knew, but for these they had other names, and did not at all confound the species. For all these reasons I was assured that my prize was indeed a new animal; a variety, at least, of those before known. The Koolo-Kamba has several distinctive marks: a very round head, whiskers running quite round the face and below the chin; the face is round, the cheek-bones prominent, the eyes sunken, and the jaws not very prominent, less so than in any of the Apes. The hair is black and long on the arm, which was, however, partly bare. The Koolo is the Ape, of all the great Apes now known, which most nearly approaches man in the structure of its head; for the capacity of the cranium is somewhat greater, in proportion to the animal’s size, than in either the Gorilla or the Nschiego Mbouvé. Of its habits these people could tell me nothing, except that farther in the interior it was found more frequently, and that it was like the Gorilla, very shy and hard of approach.” They are rare animals, and Du Chaillu met with this one only; it was as large as a female Gorilla, and from its structure was evidently a great climber.
One was killed and sent over to Paris several years since, and its anatomy forms a great treatise by the distinguished men whose names are appended to its title, Troglodytes Aubryi.
They agree with Du Chaillu in his slight notice of its shape and peculiarities to a certain extent, and in his notice that the arms reach below the knee, that the shoulders are broad, and that the ears are large, but they give some very interesting descriptions of its strange characteristics. It has many points of resemblance with the Gorilla and many with the Nschiego, but it has others which cause it to be like the common Chimpanzee, and which show some likeness to the great Baboon. It fills up the gap in the animal scale between the Nschiego and Gorilla on the one hand, and the true Chimpanzee (Troglodytes niger) on the other; and were it not in existence, it would be necessary to divide these Apes into two groups or genera, to make, in fact, a genus Gorilla and a genus Troglodytes, the first to contain the Gorilla and Nschiego, and the last the Chimpanzee. They are all therefore linked together in one genus by it, that of Troglodytes.
The shape and the peculiar anatomy of the Koolo-Kamba are not simply curious and only interesting to those who study dry bones, for they have to do with its habits and mode of life, and their examination is full of instruction to those who like to understand causes and effects, and design in Nature. Much has been explained in the chapter on the Gorilla regarding the different parts of the body, and if that information is considered there will be no difficulty in comprehending all about the Ape now under consideration.
The shape of the body as a whole is admirably adapted for great powers of climbing and of exertion of the limbs, and these last are adapted for the same end in a manner surpassing the great Apes already described. But, moreover, the body is peculiarly suited, not for maintaining or often using the upright position or the legs, but for going on all-fours, like a Baboon or Dog. Doubtless the Gorilla and the Nschiego do often stand up for a short time, and their construction points at this being very possible, as their frame has a combination of structures for doing this and for climbing. Now the Koolo-Kamba must differ from them in its structure, for it requires those which enable it to invariably go on all-fours, and yet to climb better than the others.
It never wants to sit down, except with its knees drawn up to its nose, and it squats on its haunch bones (the tuberosities of the haunch—of the “ischium” bone).
The body is very ball-like, and there is no visible division between the chest, the stomach, and the hips; it is not troubled with a waist, and anything like one is positively below the hips, just over where the thighs join the body. In fact, as before noticed, the shape is that of a frog. There are no graceful curves to the back, and there is no “small” to it. On looking at the chest, it will be noticed that it is long behind and short in front; the ribs go down close to the edge of the hips; and in order that this extra stoutness and strength of loin shall be there, there are fourteen ribs, instead of thirteen, as in the other great Apes. The breast-bone in front sticks out, so that were the animal to lie on its stomach its point would lean on the ground, and not its front, as in us. This last peculiarity is an adaptation for going on all-fours. The absence of waist and the shape of the loins relate to the small size of one of the muscles of the back (sacro lumbalis), large and important in man.
KOOLO-KAMBA.