The hand of the orang and the gibbon is too long and narrow to be directly compared with the human hand. The chimpanzee and the gorilla, especially the latter, have hands more like those of man. In the case of an adult male gorilla the first glance at this member reminds us of the knotty fist of a black dock labourer or lighterman, like those who, at Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, or La Guayra, lift the heavy bags of coffee and place them on their heads or on their herculean shoulders. Much has been said of the enlargement of the connective skin between the bases of the fingers of a negro hand, and of the pointed extremities of the fingers. Van der Hoeven, in his well-known treatise, _De Natuurlijke Geschiedenis van den Negerstam_, has described and drawn the hand of an Ashanti boy, formed in this manner. Hence there is a disposition to recognize in this peculiarity an important characteristic of the negro race. As in the hand of the gorilla, the connective web between the bases of the fingers is also extensive, and the ungual phalanges taper at their extremities, there is also an inclination to ascribe an expressly anthropoid character to the negro hand. Yet this structure of the fingers is by no means universal among the negroes. An enlargement of the connective web is not indeed uncommon, but its extent varies considerably. Nor is it wanting in the fingers of other races. An attentive observer will be able to trace it in the labouring population of country districts in Europe. I have myself frequently observed this characteristic in Canton Wallis, and in the Lombard and Genoese provinces, through which I travelled on foot in 1869 and 1871, when I devoted special attention to this point. In Fig. 32 I give a negro hand of a type which seems to be common among the blacks in the inland districts of North-eastern Africa. It can hardly be denied that the form of this hand, which is certainly not flattered, possesses the characteristics of a thoroughly human organization. [Illustration: Fig. 32.--Hand of a Hammegh from Roseres, on the Blue Nile.] With respect to other primitive peoples besides negroes, we have not at present sufficient information, and we ought therefore to beware of premature generalization. The thin shanks, with imperfectly developed calves, found among many primitive races, and especially among the African and Australian blacks, are often and not unjustly adduced as an instance of their ape-like formation. In fact, the general uncomeliness of these parts in the races in question is one of their significant characteristics. [Illustration: Fig. 33.--Satan’s ape (_Pithecia Satanas_). Shows the formation and mode of using the feet in apes of the New World.]