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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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