Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 28.djvu/771

Rh region resembles the projecting rump of a fowl, and this may also be observed in the young gorilla and chimpanzee. The long, muscular arms reach to the ankles when the animal is in an erect position, and are altogether out of proportion with the rest of the body. The powerful



upper arm is shorter than the lean forearm. The hand is long and narrow. The thumb, which reaches as far as the metacarpo-phalangeal joint, has a displeasing and almost rudimentary effect. A web unites the fingers, sometimes extending along a third of the first phalanx, sometimes along half. The middle finger is somewhat longer than the first and third fingers, and the third is next to it in length. The fourth finger is comparatively long. The palm of the hand is flat, only marked by a few deep furrows. The long, slender fingers are laterally compressed, and the nails on their tapering ends are arched. The thighs, somewhat compressed on the inner side, are, however, very muscular, but become much smaller on their back side. The calf of the leg is less developed than in the gorilla, or even than in the chimpanzee. The feet are, like the hands, long and slender. The narrow, flat heels, project very slightly behind. The great-toes are short, with wide extremities, rounded above, and provided on the sole with thick, fatty skin. In old age these animals not only often lose the nails of their great-toes, but sometimes even the last phalanges themselves. This is not merely a disease produced by confinement, as is the case with sea-cat monkeys, hyenas, etc., which in this