Gorillas & ChimpanzeesGarner, R. L. (Richard Lynch)
Science
Gorillas & Chimpanzees
Garner, R. L. (Richard Lynch)
Chimpanzees; Gabon -- Description and travel; Garner, R. L. (Richard Lynch), 1848-1920 -- Travel; Gorilla
Much stress is laid by some writers on the bald head of one ape and the
parted hair on that of another. These features cannot be relied upon as
having any specific meaning, unless there are as many species as there
are apes. Sometimes a specimen has no hair on the summit of its head,
while another differs from it in this respect alone by having a suit of
hair more or less dense, and yet in every other respect they are the
same. Some of them have the hair growing almost down to the eyebrows,
and each hair appears to diverge from a common centre like the radii
of a sphere: another of the same species will have the hair parted in
the middle as neatly as if it had been combed, while another may have
it in wild disorder. The same thing is noticed in certain monkeys, and
it is equally true of the human being. As a factor in classifying them
it signifies nothing. It may be remarked that as a whole the _kulu_ is
inclined to have little hair upon the crown of the head.
Between the two species there is a close alliance, but the males differ
more than the females. This is especially true in the structure of
certain organs.
The face in youth is quite free from hairs, but in the adult state
there is, in both sexes, a slight tendency to grow a light down over
the cheeks.
The colour of the skin is not uniform in all parts of the body,
especially on the face. Some specimens have patches of dark colour set
in a lighter ground. Sometimes certain parts of the face will be dark,
and other parts light. I have seen one specimen quite freckled.
It is said by some that the skin is light in colour when young, and
becomes darker with age, but such is not the case. It is true that
the skin darkens a few shades as the cuticle hardens, but there is no
transition from one colour to another, and this slight change of shade
is only on the exposed parts.
The _kulu_ has a short, round face, very much like that of a human. In
early life it is quite free from hairs, but, like the other, a slight
down appears with age. He has a heavy suit of hair on the body. It is
coarser than that of the _ntyigo_, longer, and inclined to wave, giving
it a fluffy aspect. The colour is jet black, except a small tuft of
white about the base of the spine.
The skin varies in colour less than in the _ntyigo_, and the darker
shades seldom appear. The eyes are a shade darker, and in both
species the parts of the eye which are white in man are brown in the
chimpanzee, gradually shading off into a yellow near the base of the
optic nerve. As a rule, the _kulu_ has a clear, open visage, with a
kindly expression. It is confiding and affectionate to a degree beyond
any other animal. It is more intelligent than its _confrère_, and
displays the faculty of reason almost like a human being.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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