The arm, fore-arm, and fingers, as a limb, are long, and the tips of
the fingers reach just below the knee. This is consistent with the
scheme of the construction of the animal, and its adaptation for
the forest life, which requires the ability to move rapidly and also
to climb very easily. The arms are in constant movement when the
Chimpanzee is walking, and if they are not assisting in the motion they
are uplifted, the head being, moreover, carried a little forward with
regard to the body. When the hands clasp a cross-bar, the little use of
the small thumb is readily noticed, and the body is allowed to swing,
as it were, at the full length of the arms, the thumb not assisting
in holding on. But when it climbs a pole, it grasps just like a man
under the same circumstances, and the thumb partly encircles the wood.
It is very curious to feel the grasp of the hand, and the vigorous
squeeze that the foot can give, and to look at the palms and soles.
The palms seem very wrinkled across, but not to have a ball under the
thumb of any size, and they seem narrow for their length. But although
this is the case, and the thumb is short, they assist in grasping very
forcibly. All the fingers and the thumbs have flat nails on them, which
do not approach the character of a claw, and corresponding nails are
found on the feet. All the heel is naked, as if it came through a hole
in a stocking of black hair; and as a whole, the foot is shorter than
the hand, the third toe being the longest. The toe-thumb is easily
movable, and assists in climbing, for it grasps with the aid of the
other toes very readily. Like the other large Apes already mentioned,
it has no calf, and the legs seem to be too small for it, and to be
stuck on to the body by small hips. The roundness behind is wanting,
and therefore the muscles which particularly assist in the erect
position are not large, as in man.
Yet at first sight there is something very human about the Chimpanzee;
it looks like a very old child, and doubtless this is increased by its
gentle habits and amiability; and there is every apology to be made for
the early geographers and anatomists, who called it the “Pigmie.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account