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
In man, this bone in maturity is usually found in two segments, while
in the ape it varies. In some specimens it is the same as in man, while
in others it is found to be in four or five segments. But the _sternum_
in each is always regarded as one bone, and is developed from one
continuous cartilage. The separate parts are never considered distinct
bones. The reason that it is found in separate sections in the ape is
doubtless due to the stooping habit of the animal, by which the bone is
constantly flexed and alternately straightened. In man this bone varies
to a great extent.
With these trifling exceptions in point of structures alone, the
skeletons of man and ape may be truly said to be exact counterparts
of each other, having the same number of bones, of the same general
type arranged in the same order and articulated in the same manner.
The corresponding bone in each is the same in design and purpose. The
frame of the ape is much more massive in its proportions than that of
man, but while this is true of some kinds of ape the reverse is true of
others. The average height of the adult chimpanzee is about 63 inches.
In man the _sacrum_ is more curved in the plane of the hips than it is
in the ape, while the bones of the digits in man are straighter. The
arms of man are shorter than the legs, while in the ape these features
are reversed.
In the cranial types, it is readily seen that the skull of man is
nearly round and the face is vertical, while the skull of the ape is
elongated and the face receding. These facts deserve more notice than
the mere mention of their being so.
In the whole scheme of nature certain laws obtain in the projection of
skulls. The angle between the plane of the face and the spinal axis is
co-ordinate to the angle between the spinal axis and the perpendicular.
To be more exact, the spine of a snake is in a horizontal line, and the
face occupies a plane of the same kind. At the other end of the scale
is man, whose spine is in a vertical line, and his face occupies a
like plane. Between these two extremes are types which tend in various
degrees, from the lower to the higher form, and just in proportion as
the spinal axis approaches a vertical line from one side, the plane of
the face approaches it from the other.
In accord with this fact it will be observed that the foramen or
hole in the base of the skull through which the spinal cord passes is
adjusted closer and closer to the centre of the base of the skull as
the spine becomes erect. In man, whose spinal column is erect, the
hole is in the centre of the base; in the reptile, whose spine is
horizontal, the hole is at the extreme end of the base. In the ape the
spinal axis is at an angle with the vertical line, and the plane of the
face conforms to a similar one. In keeping with this law it will be
seen in all animals that just in the same degree as the angles widen,
the foramen is removed from the centre of the base towards the occiput.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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