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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’ (facing page 111)
‘The Sacred Baboon’ --> ‘The Chimpanzee’ (facing page 137)
‘A Group of Lemuroids’ --> ‘Anubis Baboon’ (facing 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.
Special characters have been used to highlight the following font
styles:
italic: _underscores_
larger font: +plus signs+
Small capitals have been converted to UPPERCASE LETTERS.
######################################################################
[Illustration: ORANG-UTAN AND CHIMPANZEES IN THE BERLIN AQUARIUM.
(_From an Original Drawing._)]
[Illustration:
CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED, LITH. LONDON.
BIRDS.
1. Gould’s Humming Bird (_Ornismya gouldii_).
2. Kingfisher. (_Alcedo ispida_).
3. Arctic Tern (_Sterna hirundo_).
4. White-bellied Swift (_Cypselus melba_).
5. Smew (_Mercus albellus_).
6. Penguin (_Pygoscelis tæniata_).
7. The Amazon Parrot (_Chrysotis_).
8. Heron (_Ardea cinerea_).
9. Eared Owl (_Asio otus_).
10. White-tailed Eagle (_Haliaëtus albicilla_).
11. Black-headed Gros-beak (_Coccothraustes erythromelas_).
12. Impeyan Pheasant (_Lophophorus sclateri_).
13. Common Rhea (_Rhea americana_).
14. Crown Pigeon (_Goura scheepmakeri_).
]
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
[Illustration]
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 xiii
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 1
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 39
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 59
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 73
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 84
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-BELLIED MONKEY--THE RED
MONKEY--Observed by Bruce--THE MANGABEY--Singularity of its
Appearance--Special Structural Peculiarities 103
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 114
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 129
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 154
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 164
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 185
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 197
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 203
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 210
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 225
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 236
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 259
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--DWARF LONG-TONGUED FRUIT BAT--BLACK-CHEEKED FRUIT
BAT--FIJIAN LONG-TONGUED FRUIT BAT 266
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 279
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-EARED BAT--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 292
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--NEW ZEALAND SHORT-TAILED
BAT--Characteristics--Mr. Dobson on the Wing-membrane, Thumb,
and Foot 312
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 324
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 342
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 365
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
Orang-utan and Chimpanzees in the Berlin Aquarium
_Frontispiece._
Group of Apes and Monkeys, and a Lemur 1
American Monkey, with Prehensile Tail 2
One of the Anthropomorpha--The Chimpanzee 3
One of the Cynomorpha--The Baboon 4
Group of Lemurs 5
Foot and Hand of a Monkey--A Catarhine Monkey--A Platyrhine
Monkey--Monkey with Cheek Pouches 6
The Male Gorilla 8
Female Gorilla and Young 9
Front View of the Skull of the Gorilla 10
A Family of Gorillas 13
Face of the Gorilla 15
Palm of the Foot of Young Gorilla--Back of the Hand of Young
Gorilla 16
Side View of the Skull of Gorilla 17
The Teeth of the Gorilla 20
Skeleton of the Gorilla 21
Throat of Gorilla 22
Forest in the Gaboon Country--The Land of the Gorilla 24
Bones of the Fore-arm and Arm of the Gorilla--Side View.
Shoulder or Blade-bone 25
Hand-bones of the Gorilla 28
Hunting the Gorilla 32
Bones of the Ankle and Foot of Man--Bones of the Ankle and
Foot of Gorilla 33
Young Gorilla and Dog 38
The Nschiego Mbouvé 40
Skeleton of Nschiego 41
Skull of Nschiego 42
The Koolo-Kamba 44
Portrait of a Young Soko 47
A Soko Hunt 48
The Chimpanzee 49
A Village in the Gaboon Country 52
Sick Orang-utan 53
Brain of Chimpanzee 57
Orang-utans _To face page_ 61
Front and Side Face of the Orang 61
The Orang at Bay 64
A Family of Orang-utans 65
The Orang and its Nest 68
A Young Orang 69
The Air Pouches of Orang--The Brain of Orang 71
Wrist-bones of Orang 72
The Siamang 73
Skeleton of the Siamang 76
Group of Siamangs and Gibbons _To face page_ 77
The White-handed Gibbon 77
Skull of Hoolook 79
The Hoolook 80
The Wooyen Ape 81
The Agile Gibbon 82
Jaw of the Gibbon--Back of Jaw of the Agile Gibbon 83
Face of the Black-crested Monkey 85
The Negro Monkey 88
The Long-nosed Monkey 89
Young Long-nosed Monkey 90
Stomach of the Long-nosed Monkey 91
The Sumatra Monkey 92
The Douc 93
The Crowned Monkey 93
The Priamus Monkey 97
Colobus Verus 100
The Guereza 101
The Diana Monkey 104
Face of the Diana Monkey 105
The White-nosed Monkey 109
The Head and Shoulders of the Talapoin 110
The Gorilla _To face page_ 111
The Red-bellied Monkey 112
The Mangabey--The Foot and Hand of the Mangabey 113
The Common Macaque 116
The Toque 117
The Bhunder, and a Bonnet Monkey 120
The Moor Macaque 121
The Pig-tailed Macaque 124
The Magot 125
Wrist-bones of the Magot 126
Face of the Wanderoo 127
The Wanderoo 128
Cynocephalus 131
Judgment Scene from an Egyptian Monument 132
Baboons upon an Ant-hill 133
Brain of the Baboon 136
The Chimpanzee _To face page_ 137
View in Abyssinia 137
The Sacred Baboon 140
Young Hamadryas 141
A Village in Nubia 142
The Pig-tailed Baboon 145
Skull of the Chacma 147
Skull of the Anubis Baboon 149
The Anubis Baboon 152
The Common Baboon 153
The Mandrill 156
Young Mandrill 157
Skull of the Mandrill 158
The Drill 160
The Black Baboon 161
The Skeleton of the Mandrill 162
A Group of Howlers 165
Bones of the Tail of the Howler 167
Section of Head and of Air Sac of the Howler--Upper Part of
Breast-bone and Collar-bones of the Howler--Brain of the
Howler 168
Yellow-tailed Howler and Young 169
The Caparro 170
Group of Spider Monkeys _To face page_ 173
Brain of the Spider Monkey 173
Jaw of the Spider Monkey--Hand of the Spider Monkey 174
The Coaita 176
The Chameck 177
The Black and Variegated Spider Monkeys 179
The Hooded Spider Monkey 180
The Brown Capuchin 181
The Cai 184
The Callithrix Amictus 188
Arm-bone of Owl Monkey 189
The Red-footed Douroucouli 190
Brain of Monk 192
The Monk 193
The Couxio 194
The White-headed Saki 196
The Common Marmosets 197
Hand-bones of Marmoset--Foot-bones of Marmoset 198
Deville’s Midas 201
Skull of Marmoset 202
Head of the Black Howler 205
Young Orangs 209
Anubis Baboon _To face page_ 211
Lemuroids at Home in Madagascar 212
Head of Indris (Propithecus) Verrauxii, to show Lemuroid
Nostrils 213
Eye of Lemuroid, showing Contraction and Dilatation of
Pupil--Upper Surface Brain of Lemur Catta 214
Side View and Under Surface of the Tongue of a Lemuroid 215
Garnett’s Galago 216
Skull of Black Indris, showing Adult Dentition--Milk
Dentition of Indris 219
The Diadem Indris and the Woolly Indris 220
The Black or Short-tailed Indris 221
The Weasel Lemur 224
The Grey or Broad-nosed Lemur 225
Ring-tailed Lemurs _To face page_ 227
The Mongoose Lemur, or Woolly Macaco 229
The Ruffed Lemur 230
Skeleton of the Ruffed Lemur 231
Head of the Black Lemur 232
The Forked-crowned Cheirogale 234
The Maholi Galago and the Senegal Galago 236
Ears of Maholi Galago, contracted and open 237
The Muscles and Tendons of the Tail of Grand
Galago--Foot-bones of Grand, or Thick-tailed Galago 238
Monteiro’s Galago 239
Palm of Hand of Garnett’s Galago--Sole of Foot, with long
heel, of Garnett’s Galago 240
The Potto in its Sleeping and Waking Attitudes 241
The Angwántibo 242
Hand and Foot of Arctocebus 243
The Slow Loris 244
Rete Mirabile--Slow Loris 245
The Slender Loris, showing its Attitudes and Habits 247
The Tarsius 249
The Aye-Aye 251
Forest Scene in Madagascar 253
Bones of the Hand and Foot of Aye-Aye 256
Skull of the Aye-Aye (side and front view) 257
Marsh Bat 258
Skeleton of the Mouse-coloured Bat 260
The Sternum of Flying Fox 261
Barbastelle Walking--Head of Long-eared Bat 263
Head of the Spectacled Vampire 264
Head of the Kalong 266
Fruit Bats of Ceylon at Home _To face page_ 267
Dentition of the Egyptian Fruit Bat 267
Representation of a Fruit Bat on an Egyptian Monument 269
Collared Fruit Bat with Young 270
Kalong 272
Head of the Maned Fruit Bat--Head of the Grey
Fruit Bat 273
The Roussette 275
Head of the Margined Fruit Bat 276
The Hammer-headed Bat 277
Teeth of the Dwarf Long-tongued Fruit Bat 278
The Black-cheeked Fruit Bat 279
Hairs of Bats, Magnified 280
Head of the Greater Horseshoe Bat 281
The Greater Horseshoe Bat 282
Head of Lesser Horseshoe Bat 283
Head of the Mourning Horseshoe Bat 284
The Orange Bat 285
Head of the Male and Female Diadem Bat 286
Head of the Persian Trident Bat 287
Head of the Lyre Bat--Teeth of the Lyre Bat 288
Head of the Cordate Leaf Bat--Head of the African Megaderm 289
The African Megaderm--Head of the Desert Bat 290
The Desert Bat 291
Dentition of the Thick-legged Bat 292
British Bats at Home _To face page_ 293
Long-eared Bats in Flight 293
Long-eared Bat Sleeping 294
Head of Barbastelle 295
Ear and Head of Townsend’s Bat 296
Geoffroy’s Nyctophile 297
Pipistrelle in Flight 298
Head of Noctule 299
Head of Parti-coloured Bat 301
Head of Temminck’s Bat--Welwitsch’s Bat 303
New Zealand Bat 304
Head of Mouse-coloured Bat 305
Black and Orange Bat 307
Skull of Harpy Bat--Skull of Red Bat 309
Foot and Thumb of the Brown Pig Bat 311
Head of Straw-coloured Bat 312
Dentition of Striped Sack-winged Bat--Wing of Striped
Sack-winged Bat, from below--Arm of Striped Sack-winged Bat,
from above 313
The Mountain Bat 314
Skull of Tomb Bat--Dentition of Tomb Bat 315
Head of Male and Female Long-armed Bat--Head of Male and
Female Black-bearded Bat--Skull of Rhinopome 316
Egyptian Rhinopome--Head of Great Hare-lipped Bat 317
Skull and Front Teeth of Cestoni’s Bat 318
Head of Cestoni’s Bat 319
Head of Collared Bat 321
The Collared Bat 322
Head of New Zealand Short-tailed Bat--Teeth of New Zealand
Short-tailed Bat--Thumb and Foot of New Zealand Short-tailed
Bat 323
The New Zealand Short-tailed Bat 324
Skull of Javelin Bat 325
Mouth of Spectacled Stenoderm--Head of Blainville’s Bat 328
Skull and Dentition of Blainville’s Bat--Blainville’s Bat 329
Head of Owl-faced Bat 330
Head of Javelin Bat--Head of Vampire Bat 331
Head of Soricine Bat 333
Redman’s Bat 334
Skull of Desmodus 338
Desmodus 339
Stomach of Desmodus--Stomach of Long-eared Bat--Stomach of
Pteropus 340
Low’s Ptilocerque 342
Skeleton of Shrew--Dentition of Hedgehog 343
Hind Foot of Colugo--Bones of Hind Foot of Colugo 345
Lower Incisors of Colugo--Colugo 346
Skull of Colugo 347
Dentition of Ferruginous Bangsring--Tana, Golden-tailed
Variety 348
Sole of Right Hind Foot of Elephant Shrew--Elephant Shrew 351
Sole of Right Hind Foot of Petrodrome--The Rhynchocyon 352
The Hedgehog 354
The Bulau 358
1. Tendrac; 2. Telfair’s Tendrac; 3. Tanrec _To face page_ 359
Dentition of Tanrec 359
The Agouta 362
Upper Jaw of West African River Shrew 363
Lower Jaw of West African River Shrew--The West African River
Shrew 364
Skull of Golden Mole--Dentition of Golden Mole 365
Sternum of Golden Mole--Fore Foot of Golden Mole 366
The Common Mole 367
Dentition of Common Mole--Fore Limbs of Common Mole--Sternum
of Common Mole 368
Mole’s Fortress 370
Side View of Snout of Star-nosed Mole--Front View of Snout of
Star-nosed Mole 372
Dentition of Desman 375
1. Pigmy Shrew; 2. Common Shrew; 3 and 4. Water Shrew
_To face page_ 377
Dentition of Common Shrew 377
Rat-tailed Shrew 379
INTRODUCTION.
[Illustration]
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.
[Illustration]
CASSELL’S NATURAL HISTORY.
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: 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]
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: 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.
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.
[Illustration: 1. FOOT AND HAND OF A MONKEY. 2. A. CATARHINE MONKEY. 3.
A. PLATYRHINE MONKEY. 4. MONKEY WITH CHEEK POUCHES.]
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.”
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: 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.”
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: 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.”
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: 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.