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.
THE ORANG-UTAN.[14]
The Malays call their chiefs Orangs, and the word relates to the
intelligence of those called by it, meaning “a rational being.” They
apply it also to their Elephants, and to the great Ape of Sumatra
and Borneo. Utan, or as some spell it, Oetan (utang being wrong),
means wild, or “of the woods;” and hence the conjoined words may be
translated by what the natives really mean, “the wild man of the wood.”
There are two kinds of Orang-utan, and both are, to a certain extent,
man-like, the resemblance being greatest in the females and in the
young, and diminishing as the males grow older.
All have long ruddy-brown hair, the tinge being decidedly red, a dark
face, with small eyes, small nose, and great projecting jaws. The hair
comes over the forehead and backwards over the neck; it is long on the
limbs, and points downwards on the upper and upwards on the lower arm.
It covers the back, and seat, and legs, standing out often, and gives
a very wiry look to the fur. What strikes one directly on looking at a
well-stuffed specimen of an old male, for instance, is the great length
of the fore-limbs, which reach far towards the ankle, the length of
the muzzle, and the extraordinary breadth of the face under the eyes,
where the flatness resembles a mask more than a natural growth. In the
females and young this growth of the cheek-bone and its covering of fat
and skin are not seen; and it appears to be a mark of male beauty, as
are also two sets of ridges on the skull, which greatly resemble those
of the Gorilla.
Rajah Brooke, whose name will always be associated with Borneo, took
great interest in Orang-utan hunting, principally with a view to
decide how many kinds there were; and his first impressions on killing
his first large one were excited by the prominent peculiarities just
noticed. The first male he killed was seated lazily on a tree, and
when the people approached he only took the trouble to hide behind the
trunk, peeping first on one side and then on the other, and “dodging,”
as the Rajah did the same. He was wounded in the wrist, and afterwards
was despatched. The Rajah wrote to the Zoological Society of London as
follows:--“Great was our triumph as we gazed on the huge animal dead
at our feet, and proud were we of having shot the first Orang we had
seen, and shot him in his native woods, in a Borneo forest hitherto
untrodden by European feet. We were struck with the length of his arms,
the enormous neck, the expanse of face, which altogether gave the
impression of great height, whereas it was only great power. The hair
was long, reddish, and thin; the face remarkably broad and fleshy, and
on each side, in the place of a man’s whiskers, were the callosities,
or rather fleshy protuberances, which I was so desirous to see, and
which were nearly two inches in thickness. The ears were small and well
shaped, the nose quite flat, the mouth prominent, the lips thick, the
eyes small and roundish, the teeth large and discoloured, the face and
hands black--these last being very powerful. This animal was four feet
one inch in height, and its fore limb was three feet five inches and
three-quarters in length; the width of the face, moreover, being as
much as one foot one inch.”
“Whilst the fore limb was so long, the lower limb, from the hip to the
heel, only measured one foot nine inches; and hence there is great
disproportion between the limbs, the legs and feet appearing dwarfed in
comparison.”
The Rajah considered the Orangs to be as dull and slothful as one
could conceive, and on no occasion, when pursuing them, did they
move so fast as to preclude his keeping pace with them easily through
a moderately clear forest, and even when obstructions below (such as
wading up to the neck) enabled them to get away some distance, they
were sure to stop and allow the hunters to come up. He never observed
any attempt at defiance; and the wood which sometimes rattled about his
ears was broken by their weight, and not thrown down, as some people
imagine to be the case.
If pushed to extremity, the large male with crests on its head (which
is called “Pappan”), could be formidable; and one unfortunate man, who,
with a party, was trying to catch a large one alive, lost two of his
fingers, besides being severely bitten in the face, whilst the animal
finally beat off its pursuers. When the natives wish to catch an adult,
they cut down a circle of trees round the one on which he is seated,
and then fell that also, and close before he can recover himself, and
try to bind him. The Rajah also notices the little dread the natives
have of them, and that they form seats rather than nests in the trees.
These observations regarding their habits have been slightly opposed
by Mr. Wallace, whose descriptions of Orang--or, as he prefers to call
it, from the Dyak language, Mias--hunting and of their habits are
undoubtedly the most reliable.
Wallace spent a long time in the islands of Borneo, Java, and Sumatra;
and one of his principal objects in visiting the first especially was
to obtain an insight as to the nature and life of the great man-like
Apes of the country. After some time spent in hunting, he succeeded in
shooting a full-grown male Orang-utan, and he describes the scene as
follows:--
[Illustration: ORANG-UTANS.]
“I had just come home from an entomologising excursion, when Charles
rushed in, out of breath with running and excitement, and exclaimed,
interrupted by gasps, ‘Get the gun, sir--be quick--such a large Mias!’
‘Where is it?’ I asked, taking hold of my gun as I spoke, which
happened luckily to have one barrel loaded with ball. ‘Close by,
sir--on the path to the mines; he can’t get away.’ Two Dyaks chanced
to be in the house at the time, so I called them to accompany me, and
started off, telling Charley to bring all the ammunition after me as
soon as possible. The path from our clearing to the mines led along
the side of the hill, a little way up its slope, and parallel with it
at the foot a wide opening had been made for a road, in which several
Chinamen were working, so that the animal could not escape into the
swampy forest below without descending to cross the road, or ascending
to get round the clearing. We walked cautiously along, not making
the least noise, and listening attentively for any sound which might
betray the presence of the Mias, stopping at intervals to gaze upwards.
Charley soon joined us at the place where he had seen the creature,
and having taken the ammunition, and put a bullet in the other barrel,
we dispersed a little, feeling sure that it must be somewhere near,
as it had probably descended the hill, and would not be likely to
return again. After a short time I heard a very slight rustling sound
overhead, but on gazing up could see nothing. I moved about in every
direction, to get a full view into every part of the tree under which
I had been standing, when I again heard the same noise, but louder,
and saw the leaves shaking, as if caused by the motion of some heavy
animal, which moved off to an adjoining tree. I immediately shouted for
all of them to come up and try and get a view, so as to allow me to
have a shot. This was not an easy matter, as the Mias had a knack of
selecting places with dense foliage beneath. Very soon, however, one of
the Dyaks called me and pointed upwards, and on looking I saw a great
red hairy body and a huge black face gazing down from a great height,
as if wanting to know what was making such a disturbance below. I
instantly fired, and he made off at once, so that I could not then tell
whether I had hit him. He now moved very rapidly and very noiselessly
for so large an animal, so I told the Dyaks to follow and keep him
in sight while I loaded. The jungle was here full of large angular
fragments of rock from the mountain above, and thick with hanging and
twisting creepers. Running, climbing, and creeping among these, we came
up with the creature on the top of a high tree near the road, where
the Chinamen had discovered him, and were shouting their astonishment
with open mouth: ‘Ya, ya, Tuan! Orang-utan, Tuan!’ Seeing that he
could not pass here without descending, he turned up again towards the
hill, and I got two shots, and following quickly had two more by the
time he had again reached the path; but he was almost more or less
concealed by foliage, and protected by the large branch on which he
was walking. Once while loading I had a splendid view of him, moving
along a large limb of a tree in a semi-erect posture, and showing him
to be an animal of the largest size. At the path he got on to one of
the loftiest trees in the forest, and we could see one leg hanging
down useless, having been broken by a ball. He now fixed himself in a
fork, where he was hidden by thick foliage, and seemed disinclined to
move. I was afraid he would remain and die in this position, and as it
was nearly evening I could not have got the tree cut down that day. I
therefore fired again, and he then moved off, and going up the hill was
obliged to get on to some lower trees, on the branches of one of which
he fixed himself in such a position that he could not fall, and lay all
in a heap, as if dead or dying. I now wanted the Dyaks to go up and cut
off the branch he was resting on, but they were afraid, saying he was
not dead, and would come and attack them. We then shook the adjoining
tree, pulled the hanging creepers, and did all we could to disturb him,
but without effect; so I thought it best to send for two Chinamen with
axes to cut down the tree. While the messenger was gone, however, one
of the Dyaks took courage and climbed towards him, but the Mias did
not wait for him to get near, moving off to another tree, where he got
on to a dense mass of branches and creepers, which almost completely
hid him from our view. The tree was luckily a small one, so when the
axes came we soon had it cut through; but it was so held up by jungle
ropes and climbers to adjoining trees that it only fell into a sloping
position. The Mias did not move, and I began to fear that, after all,
we should not get him, as it was near evening, and half-a-dozen more
trees would have to be cut down before the one he was on would fall.
As a last resource we all began pulling at the creepers, which shook
the tree very much; and, after a few minutes, when we had almost given
up all hopes, down he came with a crash and a thud like the fall of a
giant. And he was a giant, his head and body being full as large as
a man’s. He was of the kind called by the Dyaks ‘Mias Chapyian,’ or
‘Mias Pappan,’ which has the skin of the face broadened out to a ridge
or fold at each side. His outstretched arms measured seven feet three
inches across, and his height, measuring fairly from the top of the
head to the heel, was four feet two inches. The body just below the
arms was three feet two inches round, and was quite as long as a man’s,
the legs being exceedingly short in proportion. On examination we found
he had been dreadfully wounded. Both legs were broken, one hip-joint
and the root of the spine completely shattered, and two bullets were
found flattened in his neck and jaws; yet he was still alive when he
fell. The two Chinamen carried him home tied to a pole; and I was
occupied with Charley the whole of the next day, preparing the skin and
boiling the bones, to make a perfect skeleton, which are now preserved
in the museum at Derby.”
[Illustration: FRONT AND SIDE FACE OF THE ORANG.]
The following description from the same author gives an excellent idea
of the nature of the country inhabited by another Orang, and of its
Monkey companions:--
“After a few miles, the stream became very narrow and winding, and the
whole country on each side was flooded. On the banks were abundance
of Monkeys--the common _Macacus cynomolgus_, a black _Semnopithecus_,
and the extraordinary Long-nosed Monkey (_Nasalis larvatus_), which
is as large as a three-year-old child, has a very long tail, and a
fleshy nose, longer than that of the biggest-nosed man. The further we
went on the narrower and more winding the stream became; fallen trees
sometimes blocked up our passage, and sometimes tangled branches and
creepers met completely across it, and had to be cut away before we
could get on. It took us two days to reach Semábanga, and we hardly
saw a bit of dry land all the way. In the latter part of the journey
I could touch the bushes on each side for miles; and we were often
delayed by the screw-pines (_Pandanus_) which grew abundantly in the
water, falling across the stream. In other places dense rafts of
floating grass completely filled up the channel, making our journey a
constant succession of difficulties. The mountain or hill was close
by, covered with a complete forest of fruit-trees, among which the
Durion and Mangosteen were very abundant; but the fruit was not yet
quite ripe, except a little here and there. I spent a week at this
place, going out every day in various directions about the mountain,
accompanied by a Malay, who had stayed with me while the other boatmen
returned. For three days we found no Orangs, but shot a Deer and
several Monkeys. On the fourth day, however, we found a Mias feeding
on a very lofty Durion tree, and succeeded in killing it, after eight
shots. Unfortunately it remained in the tree, hanging by its hands, and
we were obliged to leave it and return home, as it was several miles
off. As I felt pretty sure it would fall during the night, I returned
to the place early the next morning, and found it on the ground
beneath the tree. To my astonishment and pleasure, it appeared to be a
different kind from any I had yet seen; for although a full-grown male,
by its fully-developed teeth and very large canines, it had no sign of
the lateral protuberance on the face, and was about one-tenth smaller
than the other adult males. The upper incisors, however, appeared to
be broader than in the larger species, a character distinguishing the
_Simia morio_ of Professor Owen, which he has described from the skull
of a female specimen. As it was too far to carry the animal home, I
set to work and skinned the body on the spot, leaving the head, hands,
and feet attached, to be finished at home. This specimen is now in the
British Museum.”
The Mias, as stated by Rajah Brooke, will turn upon an antagonist when
hard pressed, and with no small bravery and ferocity; and this was
satisfactorily proved by Mr. Wallace, who tells the following story:--
“About ten days after this, on June 4th, some Dyaks came to tell me
that the day before a Mias had nearly killed one of their companions.
A few miles down the river there is a Dyak house, and the inhabitants
saw a large Orang feeding on the young shoots of a palm by the river
side. On being alarmed he retreated towards the jungle, which was
close by, and a number of the men, armed with spears and choppers,
ran out to intercept him. The man who was in front tried to run his
spear through the animal’s body, but the Mias seized it in his hands,
and in an instant got hold of the man’s arm, which he seized in his
mouth, making his teeth meet in the flesh above the elbow, which he
tore and lacerated in a dreadful manner. Had not the others been close
behind, the man would have been more seriously injured, if not killed,
as he was quite powerless; but they soon destroyed the creature with
their spears and choppers. The man remained ill for a long time,
and never fully recovered the use of his arm. They told me the dead
Mias was still lying where it had been killed, so I offered them a
reward to bring it up to our landing-place immediately, which they
promised to do. They did not come, however, till the next day, and then
decomposition had commenced, and great patches of the hair came off, so
that it was useless to skin it. This I regretted much, as it was a very
fine, full-grown male. I cut off the head and took it home to clean,
while I got my men to make a close fence, about five feet high, round
the rest of the body, which would soon be devoured by maggots, small
lizards, and ants, leaving me the skeleton.”
On another occasion Mr. Wallace had an opportunity of observing the
nest, or rather nest-making, which is performed by these animals when
severely wounded. “He was called by a Chinaman working in Borneo to
shoot a Mias which, he said, was on a tree close by his house at the
coal-mines. Arriving at the place, we had some difficulty in finding
the animal, as he had gone off into the jungle, which was very rocky
and difficult to traverse. At last we found him up a very high tree,
and could see that he was a male of the largest size. As soon as I had
fired, he moved higher up the tree, and while he was doing so I fired
again; and we then saw that one arm was broken. He had now reached the
very highest part of an immense tree, and immediately began breaking
off boughs all around, and laying them across and across to make a
nest. It was very interesting to see how well he had chosen his place,
and how rapidly he stretched out his unwounded arm in every direction,
breaking off good-sized boughs with the greatest ease, and laying
them back across each other, so that in a few minutes he had formed a
compact mass of foliage, which entirely concealed him from our sight.
He was evidently going to pass the night here, and would probably get
away early the next morning, if not wounded too severely. I therefore
fired again several times, in hopes of making him leave his nest; but,
though I felt sure I had hit him, as at each shot he moved a little,
he would not go away. At length he raised himself up, so that half
his body was visible, and then gradually sank down, his head alone
remaining on the edge of the nest. I now felt sure he was dead, and
tried to persuade the Chinaman and his companion to cut down the tree;
but it was a very large one, and they had been at work all day, and
nothing would induce them to attempt it. The next morning, at daybreak,
I came to the place, and found that the Mias was evidently dead, as his
head was visible in exactly the same position as before.”
There is every reason to believe that the Mias, or Orang-utan, is
confined to the two great islands of Sumatra and Borneo, in the former
of which, however, it seems to be much more rare. In Borneo it has a
wide range, inhabiting many districts on the south-west, south-east,
north-east, and north-west coasts, but appears to be chiefly confined
to the low and swampy forests. It seems, at first sight, very
inexplicable that the Mias should be quite unknown in the Saráwak
valley, while it is abundant in Sambas, on the west, and Sádong, on
the east; but when we know the habits and mode of life of the animal,
we see a sufficient reason for this apparent anomaly in the physical
features of the Saráwak district. Where Mr. Wallace observed the Mias
it was where the country is low, level, and swampy, and at the same
time covered with a lofty virgin forest. Many isolated mountains, on
some of which the Dyaks have settled, are close by, and are covered
with plantations of fruit-trees. These are a great attraction to the
Mias, which comes to feed on the fruits, but always retires to the
swamp at night. When the country becomes slightly elevated, and the
soil dry, the Mias is no longer to be found. For example, in all the
lower parts of the Sádong valley it abounds, but as soon as we ascend
above the limits of the tides, where the country, though still flat,
is high enough to be dry, it disappears. Now, the Saráwak valley has
this peculiarity: the lower portion, though swampy, is not covered
with continuous lofty forests, but is principally occupied by the Nipa
palm; and near the town of Saráwak, where the country becomes dry, it
is greatly undulated in many parts, and covered with small patches
of virgin forest and much second-growth jungle, on ground which has
once been cultivated by the Malays or Dyaks. “Now it seems to me,”
writes the same author, “that a wide extent of unbroken and equally
lofty virgin forest is necessary to the comfortable existence of these
animals. Such forests form their open country, where they can roam in
every direction, with as much facility as the Indian on the prairie
or the Arab on the desert; passing from tree-top to tree-top without
ever being obliged to descend upon the earth. The elevated and the
drier districts are more frequented by man, and are more cut up by
clearings and low second-growth jungle. They are not adapted to its
peculiar mode of progression, and they would be more exposed to danger,
and more frequently obliged to descend upon the earth in such places.
There is probably also a greater variety of fruit in the Mias district,
the small mountains which rise like islands out of it serving as a
sort of gardens or plantations. It is a singular and very interesting
sight to watch a Mias making his way leisurely through the forest. He
walks deliberately along some of the larger branches in the semi-erect
attitude, which the great length of his arms and the shortness of his
legs cause him naturally to assume; and the disproportion between these
limbs is increased by his walking on his knuckles, not on the palm of
the hand, as we should do. He seems always to choose those branches
which intermingle with an adjoining tree, on approaching which he
stretches out his long arms, and seizing the opposing boughs, grasps
them together with both hands, seems to try their strength, and then
deliberately swings himself across to the next branch on which he walks
along as before. He never jumps or springs, or even appears to hurry
himself, and yet manages to get along almost as quickly as a person can
run through the forest beneath. The long and powerful arms are of the
greatest use to the animal, enabling it to climb easily up the loftiest
trees, to seize fruits and young leaves from slender boughs which will
not bear its weight, and to gather leaves and branches with which to
form its nest.”
[Illustration: ORANG AT BAY.]
[Illustration: FAMILY OF ORANG-UTANS.]
Mr. Wallace, who described how it forms a nest when wounded, states
“that it uses a similar one to sleep in almost every night. This is
placed low down, however, on a small tree, not more than from twenty
to fifty feet from the ground, probably because it is warmer and less
exposed to wind than higher up. Each Mias is said to make a fresh one
for himself every night; but I should think that is hardly probable,
or their remains would be much more abundant; for though I saw several
about the coal-mines, there must have been many Orangs about every
day, and in a year their deserted nests would become very numerous.
The Dyaks say that when it is very wet the Mias covers himself over
with leaves of Pandanus, or large ferns, which has, perhaps, led to
the story of his making a hut in the trees. The Orang does not leave
his bed till the sun has well risen and has dried up the dew upon the
leaves. He feeds all through the middle of the day, but seldom returns
to the same tree two days running. They do not seem much alarmed at
man, as they often stared down upon me for several minutes, and they
only moved away slowly to an adjacent tree. After seeing one, I have
often had to go half a mile or more to fetch my gun, and in nearly
every case have found it on the same tree, or within a hundred yards,
when I returned. I never saw two full-grown animals together, but both
males and females are sometimes accompanied by half-grown young ones,
while, at other times, three or four young ones were seen in company.
Their food consists almost exclusively of fruit, with occasional
leaves, buds, and young shoots. They seem to prefer unripe fruits,
some of which were very sour, others intensely bitter, particularly
the large red fleshy arillus, or rind of one, which seemed an especial
favourite. In other cases they eat only the small seed of a large
fruit, and they almost always waste and destroy more than they eat,
so that there is a continual rain of rejected portions below the
tree they are feeding on. The Durion is an especial favourite, and
quantities of this delicious fruit are destroyed wherever it grows
surrounded by forest, but they will not cross clearings to get at them.
It seems wonderful how the animal can tear open this fruit, the outer
covering of which is so thick and tough, and closely covered with
strong conical spines. It probably bites off a few of these first,
and then, making a small hole, tears open the fruit with its powerful
fingers. The Mias rarely descends to the ground, except when, pressed
by hunger, it seeks for succulent shoots by the river side; or, in very
dry weather, has to search after water, of which it generally finds
sufficient in the hollows of leaves. Once only I saw two half-grown
Orangs on the ground, in a dry hollow at the foot of the Simunjou Hill.
They were playing together, standing erect, and grasping each other
by the arms. It may be safely stated, however, that the Orang never
walks erect, unless when using its hands to support itself by branches
overhead, or when attacked. Representations of its walking with a
stick are entirely imaginary. The Dyaks all declare that the Mias is
never attacked by any animal in the forest, with two rare exceptions;
and the accounts I received of these are so curious, that I give them
nearly in the words of my informants, old Dyak chiefs, who had lived
all their lives in the places where the animal is most abundant. The
first of whom I inquired said:--‘No animal is strong enough to hurt the
Mias, and the only creature he ever fights with is the Crocodile. When
there is no fruit in the jungle, he goes to seek food on the banks of
the river, where there are plenty of young shoots that he likes, and
fruits that grow close to the water. Then the Crocodile sometimes tries
to seize him, but the Mias gets upon him, and beats him with his hands
and feet, and tears him, and kills him.’ He added that he had once seen
such a fight, and that he believes that the Mias is always the victor.
My next informant was the Orang Kaya, or chief of the Balow Dyaks,
on the Simunjou River. He said: ‘The Mias has no enemies; no animals
dare attack it but the Crocodile and the Python. He always kills the
Crocodile by main strength, standing upon it, pulling open its jaws,
and ripping up its throat. If a Python attacks a Mias, he seizes it
with his hands, and then bites it, and soon kills it. The Mias is very
strong; there is no animal in the jungle so strong as he.’”
It is very remarkable that an animal so large, so peculiar, and of such
a high type of form as the Orang-utan, should be confined to so limited
a district--to two islands, and those almost the last inhabited by the
higher Mammalia; but in the Mid-Tertiary Period, and just before the
formation of the Himalayan Mountains, Orangs lived on the continent of
India, and their remains have been found fossilised. With what interest
must every naturalist look forward to the time when the caves and
Tertiary deposits of the tropics may be thoroughly examined, and the
past history and earliest appearance of the great man-like Apes be at
length made known!
The Orang-utans appear, from what has been written by all competent
observers, to be of two kinds, the one larger, and the other smaller
in stature; the first is called _Simia satyrus_, and the other _Simia
morio_. Simia is translated in old Latin dictionaries as an Ape, or
Jackanapes, and the term was used to designate the tribe or genus which
should include all the species or kinds of man-shaped Apes. But after
a while there was thought to be sufficient reasons for separating the
Troglodytes from the genus Simia, and therefore this last-named one,
instead of comprising the Gorilla, the Nschiego, the Koolo, the Soko,
and the Chimpanzee, has but the Orang-utan.
Why this separation should have taken place is of course a very natural
question, and the answer is that there are sufficient differences in
the construction of the Orangs and the Chimpanzees and the others to
warrant it. There is a greater structural difference between the Orang
and the Chimpanzee than between this last and any of its congeners,
that is to say, species included in the genus Troglodytes.
Moreover, on examining several skulls and skeletons of all these kinds,
it seems as if, whilst the African Troglodytes may have descended from
a common ancestor, probably a Baboon, the Orang-utan could not have
come from the same stock.
There are some important distinctions in the anatomy of the Orang, some
of which are evidently produced by adaptation to a particular habit
or mode of life, and others in which the results of cause and effect
cannot be traced.
In making its way through the forest, and in climbing so constantly
that any position on the ground is rare, the great length of the fore
limbs is of immense use to them. They nearly touch the ground, so long
are they, when the creature is erect, and this peculiarity separates
them from the Chimpanzees. In climbing, the blade-bone is of great
importance; and in the Orang it is broader, and more like that of man
than in the Chimpanzee and Gorilla, and its spine is inclined upwards;
and one of the processes of the blade-bone which has to do with the
muscles which pass from the shoulder to the arm, and which is called
the coracoid, is more inclined downwards than in the Apes already
described. Now, the blade-bone of the Chimpanzee and its coracoid are
admirably adapted for climbing; why are they not, therefore, exactly
like those of the Orang, and _vice versâ_? This is not a difference
produced by adaptation of means to ends, but one which relates to the
origin of the two animals, and to those which preceded them. The same
is the case in respect of the wrist of the Orang. It has one bone more
than the Chimpanzee, which has the same number as in other Troglodytes,
and in man also. This bone is fixed in between the two rows of the
bones of the wrist, and is called the “intermediate,” and is found in
the Monkeys which are below the Orang in the animal scale. It is an
offshoot of the scaphoid bone.
Oddly enough, although the number of the ribs of the Troglodytes is
thirteen, and probably in one of them there are fourteen, there are
only twelve in the Orang; and the breast-bone, which consists of a
large upper bone and several smaller ones (united above and below to
each other, in the Troglodytes), has these bones separate and halved,
as it were, sideways in the Orang, resembling in it the condition of
the bones of the immature man. In the Troglodytes the round top of
the thigh-bone, where it fits into its socket, the hip, has a kind of
rope-like ligament attaching the one bone to the other, but this does
not exist in the Orang. The knee-cap is very small, and the heel-bone
hardly projects backwards in the Orang, and the “toe-thumb” sticks
out at right angles from the foot, being about one-quarter of its
length. The Orang is a great climber, and rarely, if ever, walks on
its sole, which the Chimpanzee can do slightly. The general appearance
and the nature of the movements of the foot of the Orang is that of a
thin “club foot.” All the turning-in of the bones of the foot in the
Chimpanzee is exaggerated in the Orang, whose toe-thumbs are capable of
great activity. Tame Orangs may be noticed to use the foot, which is
longer than the lower leg, in climbing, as perfectly as the hand; and
it appears that the frequency of their movements of grasping, rather
than of delicate prehension, tends to the last joint of the “toe-thumb”
becoming small and losing its nail.
A huge air-pouch is packed away in front of the windpipe and amongst
the muscles of the neck, as in the Apes already noticed, and it
commences in the so-called ventricles of the larynx. Its extension
amongst the upper muscles of the chest is most remarkable, for when
full of air, these being relaxed, it must blow out the upper part of
the body and neck in a singular manner.
One of the muscles of the chest, common to man and Apes, the great
pectoral (_pectoralis major_)--which has already been noticed as
springing from the ribs, the breast and collar-bone, and to be attached
in front of the groove in the upper arm-bone--is not a continuous sheet
of muscular fibre as in man, but is divided into a number of bundles,
there being at least three great ones. Now, it is between these and
in their intervals that the vast laryngeal air-pouch is found on the
chest. Great as it is, however, it does not appear to have anything
to do with the voice, except, perhaps, to produce resonance during
distension.
The muscles of the hips, thigh, and leg-bones of the Orang cannot be
distinguished generally from those of the Chimpanzee; but it is evident
that the position of some is such as to make straightening of the knee
very difficult, and on the contrary, they assist jumping and climbing,
or any movement in which it can be kept permanently bent. As it is
most convenient for the foot of the Orang to be well expanded during
climbing or holding on, and not for its bones to be too much forced
together sideways, the animal is deficient in a muscle which exists
in man,[15] and which stretches transversely across, between the ends
of the metatarsal bones. In like manner the inability of the thumb to
perform many separate actions is produced by the absence of the flexor
muscle; but there is a slip of a muscle whose tendon reaches the first
joint, and its office is to oppose the thumb, not to the palm of the
hand, but to the first joint of the second finger. This is a monkeyish
peculiarity.
The animal, using as it does its short toe-thumb for grasping forcibly,
requires all the power possible to be exercised between its bones and
those of the ankle. Hence it has a muscle which exists in the hand but
not in the foot of man, and which, from its drawing the bones together,
is called the _opponens_ (of the great toe). This does not appear to
exist in the Troglodytes.
The other most important peculiarities of the muscles which relate to
the greater but less independent movement of the toes and fingers, are
the connection of the long flexor of the “toe-thumb” with the lower and
outer part of the thigh-bone, and the possession of a complete set of
deep extensor muscles for the four outer fingers. The extensor of the
first, and the corresponding muscle of the little finger, subdivide to
supply the third and fourth. This is the case in the next group of Apes
also, but in the Troglodytes each of these muscles has but a single
tendon.[16]
[Illustration: ORANG AND NEST.]
Before considering the anatomy of the brain, skull, and the inside of
the Orang, it is as well to become aware of some of its peculiarities
when young, and in a state of captivity.
[Illustration: YOUNG ORANG.
(_From Wallace, by permission of the Publishers._)]
Several young Orang-utans have been brought to Europe and exhibited, to
the delight of every one who saw them, but Mr. Wallace was fortunate
enough to obtain one in its native haunts, and to observe it in its
own climate. After shooting a female Mias, he found a little tiny one,
lying face downwards, in the swamp where they were. “It was only about
a foot long,” writes Mr. Wallace, “and had evidently been hanging to
its mother when she first fell. Luckily, it did not appear to have
been wounded, and after we had cleaned the mud out of its mouth it
began to cry out, and seemed quite strong and active. While carrying
it home it got its hands in my beard, and grasped so tightly, that I
had great difficulty in getting free, for the fingers are habitually
bent inwards at the last joint, so as to form complete hooks. At this
time it had not a single tooth, but a few days afterwards it cut its
two lower front teeth. Unfortunately, I had no milk to give it, as
neither Malays, Chinese, nor Dyaks ever use the article, and I in vain
inquired for any female animal that could suckle my little infant. I
was therefore obliged to give it rice-water from a bottle, with a quill
in the cork, which after a few trials it learned to suck very well.
This was very meagre diet, and the little creature did not thrive well
on it, although I added sugar and cocoa-nut milk occasionally, to make
it more nourishing. When I put my finger in its mouth it sucked with
great vigour, drawing in its cheeks with all its might in the vain
effort to extract some milk, and only after persevering a long time
would it give up in disgust, and set up a scream very like that of a
baby in similar circumstances. When handled or nursed, it was very
quiet and contented, but when laid down by itself would invariably cry;
and for the first few nights was very restless and noisy. I fitted up
a little box for a cradle, with a soft mat for it to lie upon, which
was changed and washed every day; and I soon found it necessary to wash
the little Mias as well. After I had done so a few times, it came to
like the operation, and as soon as it was dirty would begin crying,
and not leave off till I took it out and carried it to the spout, when
it immediately became quiet, although it would wince a little at the
first rush of the cold water, and make ridiculously wry faces while the
stream was running over its head. It enjoyed the wiping and rubbing
dry amazingly, and when I brushed its hair seemed to be perfectly
happy, lying quite still, with its arms and legs stretched out, while
I thoroughly brushed the long hair of its back and arms. For the first
few days it clung desperately with all four hands to whatever it could
lay hold of, and I had to be careful to keep my beard out of its way,
as its fingers clutched hold of hair more tenaciously than anything
else, and it was impossible to free myself without assistance. When
restless, it would struggle about, with its hands up in the air, trying
to find something to take hold of, and, when it had got a bit of stick
or rag in two or three of its hands, seemed quite happy. For want of
something else, it would often seize its own feet, and after a time
it would constantly cross its arms, and grasp with each hand the long
hair that grew just below the opposite shoulder. The great tenacity
of its grasp soon diminished, and I was obliged to invent some means
to give it exercise and strengthen its limbs. For this purpose I made
a short ladder of three or four rounds, on which I put it to hang for
a quarter of an hour at a time. At first it seemed much pleased, but
it could not get all four hands in a comfortable position, and, after
changing about several times, would leave hold of one hand after the
other, and drop on the floor. Sometimes when hanging only by two hands,
it would loose one, and cross it to the opposite shoulder, grasping
its own hair; and, as this seemed much more agreeable than the stick,
it would then loose the other and tumble down, when it would cross
both, and lie on its back quite contentedly, never seeming to be hurt
by its numerous tumbles. Finding it so fond of hair, I endeavoured
to make an artificial mother, by wrapping up a piece of buffalo-skin
into a bundle, and suspending it about a foot from the floor. At
first this seemed to suit it admirably, as it could sprawl its legs
about and always find some hair, which it grasped with the greatest
tenacity. I was now in hopes that I had made the little orphan quite
happy; and so it seemed for some time, till it began to remember its
lost parent, and try to suck. It would pull itself up close to the
skin, and try about everywhere for a likely place; but, as it only
succeeded in getting mouthfuls of hair and wool, it would be greatly
disgusted, and scream violently, and after two or three attempts, let
go altogether. One day it got some wool into its throat, and I thought
it would have choked, but after much gasping it recovered, and I was
obliged to take the imitation mother to pieces again, and give up this
last attempt to exercise the little creature. After the first week I
found I could feed it better with a spoon, and give it a little more
varied and more solid food. Well-soaked biscuit, mixed with a little
egg and sugar, and sometimes sweet potatoes, were readily eaten; and
it was a never-failing amusement to observe the curious changes of
countenance by which it would express its approval or dislike of what
was given to it. The poor little thing would lick its lips, draw in its
cheeks, and turn up its eyes with an expression of the most supreme
satisfaction when it had a mouthful particularly to its taste. On the
other hand, when its food was not sufficiently sweet or palatable,
it would turn the mouthful about with its tongue for a moment, as if
trying to extract what flavour there was, and then push it all out
between its lips. If the same food was continued, it would set up a
scream, and kick about violently, exactly like a baby in a passion.
After I had had the little Mias about three weeks, I fortunately
obtained a young Macaque Monkey (_Macacus cynomolgus_), which, though
small, was very active, and could feed itself. I placed it in the same
box with the Mias, and they immediately became excellent friends,
neither exhibiting the least fear of the other. The little Monkey
would sit upon the other’s stomach, or even on its face, without the
least regard to its feelings. While I was feeding the Mias, the Monkey
would sit by, picking up all that was spilt, and occasionally putting
out its hands to intercept the spoon, and as soon as I had finished
would pick off what was left sticking to the Mias’ lips, and then pull
open its mouth to see if any still remained inside, afterwards lying
down on the poor creature’s stomach as on a comfortable cushion. The
little helpless Mias would submit to all these insults with the most
exemplary patience, only too glad to have something warm near it which
it could clasp affectionately in its arms. It sometimes, however, had
its revenge; for when the Monkey wanted to go away, the Mias would hold
on as long as it could by the loose skin of its back or head, or by its
tail, and it was only after many vigorous jumps that the Monkey could
make its escape. It was curious to observe the different actions of
these two animals, which could not have differed much in age. The Mias,
like a very young baby, lying on its back, quite helpless, rolling
lazily from side to side, stretching out all four hands into the air,
wishing to grasp something, but hardly able to guide its fingers to
any definite object, and when dissatisfied opening wide its almost
toothless mouth, and expressing its wants by a most infantine scream;
the little Monkey, on the other hand, in constant motion, running and
jumping about wherever it pleased, examining everything around it,
seizing hold of the smallest objects with the greatest precision,
balancing itself on the edge of the box, or running up a post, and
helping itself to anything eatable that came in its way. There could
hardly be a greater contrast; and the baby Mias looked more baby-like
by the comparison. When I had had it about a month, it began to exhibit
some signs of learning to run alone. When laid upon the floor it would
push itself along by its legs, or roll itself over, and thus make an
unwieldy progression. When lying in the box it would lift itself up to
the edge into almost an erect position, and once or twice succeeded in
tumbling out. When left dirty, or hungry, or otherwise neglected, it
would scream violently till attended to, varied by a kind of coughing
or pumping noise, very similar to that which is made by the adult
animal. If no one was in the house, or its cries were not attended
to, it would be quiet after a little while, but the moment it heard
a footstep would begin again harder than ever. After five weeks it
cut its two upper front teeth, but in all this time it had not grown
the least bit, remaining, both in size and weight, the same as when I
first procured it. This was, no doubt, owing to the want of milk or
other equally nourishing food. Rice-water, rice, and biscuits were
but a poor substitute, and the expressed milk of the cocoa-nut, which
I sometimes gave it, did not quite agree with its stomach. To this I
imputed an attack of diarrhœa, from which the poor little creature
suffered greatly, but a small dose of castor-oil operated well, and
cured it. A week or two afterwards it was again taken ill, and this
time more seriously. The symptoms were exactly those of intermittent
fever, accompanied by watery swellings on the feet and head. It lost
all appetite for its food, and after lingering for a week, a most
pitiable object, died, after being in my possession nearly three
months. I much regretted the loss of my little pet, which I had at one
time looked forward to bringing up to years of maturity, and taking
home to England. For several months it had afforded me daily amusement
by its curious ways and the inimitably ludicrous expression of its
little countenance. Its weight was three pounds nine ounces, its height
fourteen inches, and the spread of its arms twenty-three inches. I
preserved its skin and skeleton, and in doing so found that, when it
fell from the tree, it must have broken an arm and a leg, which had,
however, united so rapidly, that I only noticed the hard swellings on
the limbs where the irregular junction of the bones had taken place.”
There is evidently much intelligence in the young Orang, when brought
in contact with man, but probably in its native woods it leads a very
quiet and almost mechanical life, there being nothing to develop extra
instincts, thought, or unusual intelligence. Of course, some are more
active than others, and many have to use greater exertion than others
to obtain food. Hence, whilst there is no increased growth of the
mental organ after Orang childhood, there may be great increase of
the muscular structures. In the first instance, the brain case does
not enlarge internally, and the old ones have no more brains than the
young; and in the second, the ridges on the skull, the spines of the
neck, and the markings on the bones generally do grow immensely, so as
to give attachment to extra-muscular fibres.
[Illustration: AIR POUCHES OF ORANG.
(_After Temminck._)]
[Illustration: BRAIN OF ORANG.
(_From Royal College of Surgeons._)]
Moreover, besides these causes of growth there are those hidden ones
which refer to sex, the old males acquiring a hideous aspect in our
eyes, but lovely in those of the more comely female Miases, from the
growth of long head ridges and the curious face pads. The bulk of the
brain of an Orang is about one-half of that of a man of ordinary mind;
and the brain itself, whilst it is higher in measurement than that of
any of the Apes already mentioned, is long and flat in comparison with
that of man. In front it tapers off slightly, and is not flat in front
and below, for there the eye-cases or orbits, by projecting upwards,
render the brain in their neighbourhood, as it were, excavated. As
in the other Apes, the back of the brain is well developed, and the
several parts distinguishable in man exist. One of the furrows so
visible in the Troglodytes, which marks the side of the brain towards
the back (the occipito-temporal), is scarcely in existence in the Orang.
There is something very human in the appearance of the brain case
in the young of both species of Orang. The back and sides have the
peculiar “bumpy” look of those of the child; there are then no crests,
and the brow ridges, extremely small, merge into a straightish
forehead. The face looks long in front of the eyes, or orbits, and
these are elliptical or oval, and approaching the circular in outline.
The cheeks look wide even in the young ones; and it will be noticed
that the bone of the upper jaw (superior maxillary bone) has a short
projection, which joins the molar or cheek-bone at some distance
from the jaw. There is a hole or holes under the orbit in man and in
the Troglodytes which transmits a nerve to the face, and people who
have tic-douloureux know where it is very well; this is close to the
junction of the molar and jaw-bones in the Troglodytes, but in the
Orang this junction is much further off the middle of the face. This
causes the extra width to the cheeks. The bone there forms the surface
upon which the curious pad of fat and skin rests, which gives such an
ugly look to the face in the old ones, when all these parts have grown
to excess. The young have milk teeth, and in the upper jaw the last
crushing or molar tooth has large cusps behind and projecting inwards,
and the incisor teeth are equal in size. In the lower jaw the incisors
are grooved in front in a curious manner; and the great molar teeth
with five cusps have a curiously wrinkled-looking surface. Underneath
the skull looks long, and the hole for the spinal cord is much longer
than broad, and the joints or condyles are distant from the front of
it. The palate is broad and the nose cavity also, and there is a bony
styloid process connected with the ear-bone.
In the female of the _Simia morio_, which is the smallest Orang, all
the structures just mentioned as characterising the young _Simia
satyrus_ and the young male _Morio_ are exaggerated. There are faint
frontal ridges also, and the back ridge or crest is shown, but there is
hardly any difference in the size of the brain case. The front bone of
the upper jaw is very distinct; and the creature whose skull is in the
British Museum had its permanent teeth, the milk ones having fallen.
There was the same number of teeth as in the Troglodytes and in man.
But it is in the old males that the juvenile structures are greatly
altered; and it is indeed hard to believe their skulls ever could have
belonged to the same species. In the old males the brain case has not
increased in its capacity, but it is furnished with huge ridges along
the front and crossing behind. The ridges commence on the brow ridges
and the outside of the orbits, which are no longer nearly circular, but
flattened above; they pass on to the forehead, and curve to join in
the middle line of the skull, forming a crest. This meets at the back
a crest coming from the tip of each ear-bone. The cheek-bones are huge
and wide apart; the upper canine teeth are great, and their sockets
mark the face. The palate is huge, wide, and not arched; and the upper
middle incisors project, and are very large, cutting indeed upon three
of the lower ones.
[Illustration: WRIST BONES OF ORANG.[17]]
All the roughnesses for the attachment of muscles are great, and the
lower jaw is immense, and the tooth next to the lower canine--the first
false molar--is pointed and cutting behind. Finally, the opening for
the spinal cord (the foramen magnum) is round in front, and the condyle
joints are close to its anterior margin. These are changes during the
growth which are worth considering, especially as they cause the animal
to depart from many of its man-like characters, which are so well seen
in the young and in the females.
The Orang has no uvula, and the papillæ of the back of the tongue are
in the shape of the letter V. Its stomach differs somewhat in shape
from that of man and the Troglodytes, but its vegetable diet determines
the existence of a large intestine which has a little ending or
appendix (vermiformis) as in man.
[Illustration: SIAMANG.]