|
|
Galleporto Bavicarius Directory 03
Page 04
Such being well-established facts respecting the Asiatic anthropoids, analogy alone might justify us in expecting the African species to offer similar peculiarities, separately or combined; or, at any rate, would destroy the force of any attempted _a priori_ argument against such direct testimony as might be adduced in favor of their existence. And if the organization of any of the African apes could be demonstrated to fit it better than either of its Asiatic allies for the erect position and for efficient attack, there would be still less reason for doubting its occasional adoption of the upright attitude, or of aggressive proceedings.
To be an officer in the French Academy is an honor surpassed in France by that of the Legion of Honor only. Within a twelvemonth two hundred and seventy-five women have been thus distinguished, twenty-eight of them being painters and designers. From this famous Academy down, through the International Expositions, the Salons, and the numberless exhibitions in various countries, a large proportion of medals and other honors are conferred on women, who, having now been accorded all privileges necessary for the pursuit of art and for its recompense, will surely prove that they richly merit every good that can be shared with them.
Mr. Wallace observed two male adult Orangs (Mias Kassu of the Dyaks), however, so very different from any of these that he concludes them to be specially distinct; they were respectively 3 feet 81/2 inches and 3 feet 91/2 inches high, and possessed no sign of the cheek excrescences, but otherwise resembled the larger kinds. The skull has no crest, but two bony ridges, 13/4 to 2 inches apart, as in the _Simia morio_ of Professor Owen. The teeth, however, are immense, equalling or surpassing those of the other species. The females of both these kinds, according to Mr. Wallace, are devoid of excrescences, and resemble the smaller males, but are shorter by 11/2 to 3 inches, and their canine teeth are comparatively small, subtruncated and dilated at the base, as in the so-called _Simia morio_, which is, in all probability, the skull of a female of the same species as the smaller males. Both males and females of this smaller species are distinguishable, according to Mr. Wallace, by the comparatively large size of the middle incisors of the upper jaw.
|
