humerus of a quadrumanous animal (Dryopithecus), equalling the size of those bones in man, have been discovered by M. Fontan, of Saint-Gaudens, in a marly bed of upper miocene age, forming the base of the plateau on which that town is built. The molar teeth present the type of grinding surface of those of the gibbons (Hylobates), and as in that genus the second true molar is larger than the first, not of equal size, as in the human subject and chimpanzee. The premolars have a greater antero-posterior extent, relatively, than in the chimpanzee; and in this respect agree more with those in the siamang. The first premolar has the outer cusp raised to double the height of that of the second; its inner lobe appears from M. Lartet's figure to be less developed than in the gorilla, certainly less than in the chimpanzee. The posterior talon of the second premolar is more developed, and consequently the fore and aft extent of the tooth is greater than in the chimpanzee; thereby the second premolar of Dryopithecus more resembles that in Hylobates, and departs further from the human type.

orang.

The canine, judging from the figures published by M. Lartet', seems to be less developed than in the male chimpanzee, gorilla, or In which character the fossil, if it belonged to a male, makes a nearer approach to the human type; but it is one which many of the inferior monkeys also exhibit, and is by no means to be trusted as significant of true affinity, supposing even the sex of the fossil to be known as being male.

The shaft of the humerus, found with the jaw, is peculiarly rounded, as it is in the gibbons and sloths, and offers none of those angularities and ridges which make the same bone in the chimpanzee and orang come so much nearer in shape to the humerus of the human subject. The fore part of the jaw, as in the siamang, is more nearly vertical than in the gorilla or chimpanzee, but whether the back part of the jaw may not have departed in a greater degree from the human type than the fore part approaches it, as is the case in the siamang, the state of the fossil does not allow of determining. One significant character is, however, present,-the shape of the fore part of the coronoid process. It is slightly convex forwards, which causes the angle it forms with the alveolar border to be less open. The same character is present in the gibbons. The fore part of the lower half of the coronoid process in man is concave, as it is likewise in the gorilla and chimpanzee. I am acquainted with this interesting fossil, referred to a genus 1 Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Paris, Vol. XLIII.

called Dryopithecus, only by the figures published in the 43rd volume of the Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences. From these it appears that the canine, two premolars, and first and second true molars are in place. The socket of the third molar is empty, but widely open above; from which I conclude that the third molar had also cut the gum, the crown being completed, but not the fangs. If the last molar had existed as a mere germ, it would have been preserved in the substance of the jaw.

In a young siamang, with the points of the permanent canines just protruding from the socket, the crown of the last molar is complete, and on a level with the base of that of the penultimate molar, whence I infer that the last molar would have cut the gum as soon as, if not before, the crown of the canine had been completely extricated. This dental character, the conformation and relative size of the grinding teeth, especially the fore-and-aft extent of the premolars, all indicate the close affinity of the Dryopithecus with the Pliopithecus and existing gibbons; and this, the sole legitimate deduction from the maxillary and dental fossils, is corroborated by the fossil humerus, fig. 9, in the abovecited plate.

There is no law of correlation by which, from the portion of jaw with teeth of the Dryopithecus, can be deduced the shape of the nasal bones and orbits, the position and plane of the occipital foramen, the presence of mastoid and vaginal processes, or other cranial characters determinative of affinity to man; much less any ground for inferring the proportions of the upper to the lower limbs, of the humerus to the ulna, of the pollex to the manus, or the shape and development of the iliac bones. All those characters which do determine the closer resemblance and affinity of the genus Troglodytes to man, and of the genus Hylobates to the tailed monkeys, are at present unknown in respect of the Dryopithecus. A glance at fig. 5 (Gorilla), and fig. 7 (Dryopithecus), of the plate of M. Lartet's memoir, would suffice to teach their difference of bulk, the gorilla being fully one-third larger. The statement that the parts of the skeleton of the Dryopithecus as yet known, viz., the two branches of the lower jaw and the humerus, 'are sufficient to shew that in anatomical structure, as well as stature, it came nearer to man than any quadrumanous species, living or fossil, before known to zoologists',' is without the support of any ade

1 Sir Chas. Lyell, Supplement to the Fifth Edition of a Manual of Elementary Geology, 8vo., 1859, p. 14.

quate fact, and in contravention of most of those to be deduced from M. Lartet's figures of the fossils. Those parts of the Dryopithecus merely shew-and the humerus in a striking manner-its nearer approach to the gibbons. The most probable conjecture being that it bore to them, in regard to size, the like relations which Dr Lund's Protopithecus bore to the existing Mycetes. Whether, therefore, strata of such high antiquity as the miocene may reveal to us 'forms in any degree intermediate between the chimpanzee and man' awaits an answer from discoveries yet to be made; and the anticipation that the fossil world 'may hereafter supply new osteological links between man and the highest known quadrumana' may be kept in abeyance until that world has furnished us with the proofs that a species did formerly exist which came as near to man as does the orang, the chimpanzee, or the gorilla.

Of the nature and habits of the last-named species, which really offers the nearest approach to man of any known ape, recent or fossil, the lecturer had received many statements from individuals resident at or visitors to the Gaboon, from which he selected the following as most probable, or least questionable.

Gorilla-land is a richly wooded extent of the western part of Africa, traversed by the rivers Danger and Gaboon, and extending from the equator to the 10th or 15th degree of south latitude. The part where the gorilla has been most frequently met with presents a succession of hill and dale, the heights crowned with lofty trees, the valleys covered by coarse grass, with partial scrub or scattered shrubs. Fruit trees of various kinds abound both on the hills and in the valleys; some that are crude and uncared for by the negroes are sought out and greedily eaten by the gorillas, and as different kinds come to maturity at different seasons, they afford the great denizen of the woods a successive and unfailing supply of these indigenous fruit trees. I am able through the contributions of kind and zealous correspondents to specify the following:

The palm-nut (Elais guiniensis) of which the gorillas greatly affect the fruit and upper part of the stipe, called the 'cabbage.' The negroes of the Gaboon have a tradition that their forefathers first learnt to eat the 'cabbage,' from seeing the gorilla eat it, concluding that what was good for him must be good for man.

The 'ginger-bread tree' (Parinarium excelsum), which bears a plum-like fruit.

The papau tree (Carica papaya).

The banana (Musa sapientium), and another species (Musa paradisiaca).

The Amomum Afzelii and Am. grandiflorum.

A tree, with a shelled fruit, like a walnut, which the gorilla breaks open with the blow of a stone.

A tree, also botanically unknown, with a fruit like a cherry. Such fruits and other rich and nutritious productions of the vegetable kingdom, constitute the staple food of the gorilla, as they do of the chimpanzee. The molar teeth, which alone truly indicate the diet of an animal, accord with the statements as to the frugivorous character of the gorilla: but they also sufficiently answer to an omnivorous habit to suggest that the eggs and callow brood of nests discovered in the trees frequented by the gorilla might not be unacceptable.

The gorilla makes a sleeping place like a hammock, connecting the branches of a sheltered and thickly leaved part of a tree by means of the long tough slender stems of parasitic plants, and lining it with the broad dried fronds of palms, or with long grass. This hammock-like abode may be seen at different heights, from 10 feet to 40 feet from the ground, but there is never more than one such nest in a tree.

They avoid the abodes of man, but are most commonly seen in the months of September, October, and November, after the negroes have gathered their outlying rice crops, and have returned from the 'bush' to the village. So observed, they are described to be usually in pairs; or, if more, the addition consists of a few young ones, of different ages, and apparently of one family. The gorilla is not gregarious. The parents may be seen sitting on a branch, resting the back against the tree-trunk-the hair being generally rubbed off the back of the old gorilla from that habit-perhaps munching their fruits, whilst the young gorillas are at play, leaping and swinging from branch to branch, with hoots or harsh cries of boisterous mirth.

If the old male be seen alone, or when in quest of food, he is usually armed with a stout stick, which the negroes aver to be the weapon with which he attacks his chief enemy the elephant. Not that the elephant directly or intentionally injures the gorilla, but, deriving its subsistence from the same substances, the ape regards the great proboscidian as a hostile intruder. When therefore he discerns the elephant pulling down and wrenching off the branches

of a favourite tree, the gorilla, stealing along the bough, strikes the sensitive proboscis of the elephant with a violent blow of his club, and drives off the startled giant trumpeting shrilly with rage and pain.

tree.

In passing along the ground from one detached tree to another the gorilla is said to walk semi-erect, with the aid of his club, but with a waddling awkward gait; when without a stick, he has been seen to walk as a biped, with his hands clasped across the back of his head, instinctively so counterpoising its forward projection. If the gorilla be surprised and approached while on the ground, he drops his stick, betakes himself to all-fours, applying the back part of the bent knuckles of his fore-hands to the ground, and makes his way rapidly, with an oblique swinging kind of gallop, to the nearest There he awaits his pursuer, especially if his family be near, and requiring his defence. No negro willingly approaches the tree in which the male gorilla keeps guard. Even with a gun the negro does not rashly make the attack, but reserves his fire in self-defence. The enmity of the gorilla to the whole negro race, male and female, is uniformly testified to. The young men of the Gaboon tribe make armed excursions into the forests, in quest of ivory. The enemy they most dread on these occasions is the gorilla. If they have come unawares too near him with his family, he does not, like the lion, sulkily retreat, but comes rapidly to the attack, swinging down to the lower branches, and clutching at the nearest foe. The hideous aspect of the animal, with his green eyes flashing with rage, is heightened by the skin over the prominent roof of the orbits being drawn rapidly backward and forward, the hair erected, and causing a horrible and fiendish scowl. If fired at and not mortally hit, the gorilla closes at once upon his assailant and inflicts most dangerous, if not deadly, wounds with his sharp and powerful tusks. The commander of a Bristol trader informed me that he had seen a negro at the Gaboon frightfully mutilated by the bite of the gorilla, from which he had recovered. Another negro exhibited to the same voyager a gun-barrel bent and partly flattened by the bite of a wounded gorilla, in its death-struggle.

Negroes when stealing through the gloomy shades of the tropical forest become sometimes aware of the proximity of one of these frightfully formidable apes by the sudden disappearance of one of their companions, who is hoisted up into the tree, uttering, perhaps, a short choking cry. In a few minutes he falls to the ground a strangled corpse. The gorilla, watching his opportunity, has let