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on the relations of man to the lower animals-第4部分
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column; while the arm is not more than 11/18 of its length; the hand
having rather less and the foot rather more; than one…third the length
of the spinal column。
These examples might be greatly multiplied; but they suffice to show
that; in whatever proportion of its limbs the Gorilla differs from Man;
the other Apes depart still more widely from the Gorilla and that;
consequently; such differences of proportion can have no ordinal value。
We may next consider the differences presented by the trunk; consisting
of the vertebral column; or backbone; and the ribs and pelvis; or bony
hip…basin; which are connected with it; in Man and in the Gorilla
respectively。
In Man; in consequence partly of the disposition of the articular
surfaces of the vertebrae; and largely of the elastic tension of some
of the fibrous bands; or ligaments; which connect these vertebrae
together; the spinal column; as a whole; has an elegant S…like
curvature; being convex forwards in the neck; concave in the back;
convex in the loins; or lumbar region; and concave again in the sacral
region; an arrangement which gives much elasticity to the whole
backbone; and diminishes the jar communicated to the spine; and through
it to the head; by locomotion in the erect position。
Furthermore; under ordinary circumstances; Man has seven vertebrae in
his neck; which are called 'cervical'; twelve succeed these; bearing
ribs and forming the upper part of the back; whence they are termed
'dorsal'; five lie in the loins; bearing no distinct; or free; ribs; and
are called 'lumbar'; five; united together into a great bone; excavated
in front; solidly wedged in between the hip bones; to form the back of
the pelvis; and known by the name of the 'sacrum'; succeed these; and
finally; three or four little more or less movable bones; so small as to
be insignificant; constitute the 'coccyx' or rudimentary tail。
In the Gorilla; the vertebral column is similarly divided into cervical;
dorsal; lumbar; sacral; and coccygeal vertebrae; and the total number
of cervical and dorsal vertebrae; taken together; is the same as in
Man; but the development of a pair of ribs to the first lumbar vertebra;
which is an exceptional occurrence in Man; is the rule in the Gorilla;
and hence; as lumbar are distinguished from dorsal vertebrae only by
the presence or absence of free ribs; the seventeen 〃dorso…lumbar〃
vertebrae of the Gorilla are divided into thirteen dorsal and four
lumbar; while in Man they are twelve dorsal and five lumbar。
FIG。 15。Front and side views of the bony pelvis of Man; the Gorilla
and Gibbon: reduced from drawings made from nature; of the same
absolute length; by Mr。 Waterhouse Hawkins。
Not only; however; does Man occasionally possess thirteen pair of ribs;*
but the Gorilla sometimes has fourteen pairs; while an Orang…Utan
skeleton in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons has twelve
dorsal and five lumbar vertebrae; as in Man。 Cuvier notes the same
number in a 'Hylobates'。 On the other hand; among the lower Apes; many
possess twelve dorsal and six or seven lumbar vertebrae; the
Douroucouli has fourteen dorsal and eight lumbar; and a Lemur ('Stenops
tardigradus') has fifteen dorsal and nine lumbar vertebrae。
'Footnote'* 〃More than once;〃 says Peter Camper; 〃have I met
with more than six lumbar vertebrae in man。。。。 Once I
found thirteen ribs and four lumbar vertebrae。〃 Fallopius
noted thirteen pair of ribs and only four lumbar vertebrae;
and Eustachius once found eleven dorsal vertebrae and six
lumbar vertebrae。'Oeuvres de Pierre Camper'; T。 1; p。
42。 As Tyson states; his 'Pygmie' had thirteen pair of ribs
and five lumbar vertebrae。 The question of the curves of
the spinal column in the Apes requires further
investigation。
The vertebral column of the Gorilla; as a whole; differs from that of
Man in the less marked character of its curves; especially in the
slighter convexity of the lumbar region。 Nevertheless; the curves are
present; and are quite obvious in young skeletons of the Gorilla and
Chimpanzee which have been prepared without removal of the ligaments。
In young Orangs similarly preserved; on the other hand; the spinal
column is either straight; or even concave forwards; throughout the
lumbar region。
Whether we take these characters then; or such minor ones as those which
are derivable from the proportional length of the spines of the
cervical vertebrae; and the like; there is no doubt whatsoever as to
the marked difference between Man and the Gorilla; but there is as
little; that equally marked differences; of the very same order; obtain
between the Gorilla and the lower Apes。
The Pelvis; or bony girdle of the hips; of Man is a strikingly human
part of his organization; the expanded haunch bones affording support
for his viscera during his habitually erect posture; and giving space
for the attachment of the great muscles which enable him to assume and
to preserve that attitude。 In these respects the pelvis of the Gorilla
differs very considerably from his (Fig。 15)。 But go no lower than the
Gibbon; and see how vastly more he differs from the Gorilla than the
latter does from Man; even in this structure。 Look at the flat; narrow
haunch bonesthe long and narrow passagethe coarse; outwardly curved;
ischiatic prominences on which the Gibbon habitually rests; and which
are coated by the so…called 〃callosities;〃 dense patches of skin;
wholly absent in the Gorilla; in the Chimpanzee; and in the Orang; as
in Man!
In the lower Monkeys and in the Lemurs the difference becomes more
striking still; the pelvis acquiring an altogether quadrupedal
character。
But now let us turn to a nobler and more characteristic organthat by
which the human frame seems to be; and indeed is; so strongly
distinguished from all others;I mean the skull。 The differences
between a Gorilla's skull and a Man's are truly immense (Fig。 16)。 In
the former; the face; formed largely by the massive jaw…bones;
predominates over the brain case; or cranium proper: in the latter; the
proportions of the two are reversed。 In the Man; the occipital
foramen; through which passes the great nervous cord connecting the
brain with the nerves of the body; is placed just behind the centre of
the base of the skull; which thus becomes evenly balanced in the erect
posture; in the Gorilla; it lies in the posterior third of that base。
In the Man; the surface of the skull is comparatively smooth; and the
supraciliary ridges or brow prominences usually project but
littlewhile; in the Gorilla; vast crests are developed upon the
skull; and the brow ridges overhang; the cavernous orbits; like great
penthouses。
Sections of the skulls; however; show that some of the apparent defects
of the Gorilla's cranium arise; in fact; not so much from deficiency of
brain case as from excessive development of the parts of the face。 The
cranial cavity is not ill…shaped; and the forehead is not truly
flattened or very retreating; its really well…formed curve being simply
disguised by the mass of bone which is built up against it (Fig。 16)。
But the roofs of the orbits rise more obliquely into the cranial cavity;
thus diminishing the space for the lower part of the anterior lobes of
the brain; and the absolute capacity of the cranium is far less than
that of Man。 So far as I am aware; no human cranium belonging to an
adult man has yet been observed with a less cubical capacity than 62
cubic inches; the smallest cranium observed in any race of men by
Morton; measuring 63 cubic inches; while; on the other hand; the most
capacious Gorilla skull yet measured has a content of not more than
34…1/2 cubic inches。 Let us assume; for simplicity's sake; that the
lowest Man's skull has twice the capacity of that of the highest
Gorilla。*
'Footnote' *It has been affirmed that Hindoo crania
sometimes contain as little as 27 ounces of water; which
would give a capacity of about 46cubic inches。 The minimum
capacity which I have assumed above; however; is based upon
the valuable tables published by Professor R。 Wagner in
his 〃Vorstudien zu einer wissenschaftlichen Morphologie und
Physiologie des menschlichen Gehirns。〃 As the result of the
careful weighing of more than 900 human brains; Professor
Wagner states that one…half weighed between 1200 and 1400
grammes; and that about two…ninths; consisting for the most
part of male brains; exceed 1400 grammes。 The lightest
brain of an adult male; with sound mental faculties;
recorded by Wagner; weighed 1020 grammes。 As a gramme
equals 15。4 grains; and a cubic inch of water contains 252。4
grains; this is equivalent to 62 cubic inches of water; so
that as brain is heavier than water; we are perfectly safe
against erring on the side of diminution in taking this as
the smallest capacity of any adult male human brain。 The
only adult male brain; weighing as little as 970 grammes;
is that of an idiot; but the brain of an adult woman;
against the soundness of whose faculties nothing appears;
weighed as little as 907 grammes (55。3 cubic inches of
water); and Reid gives an adult female brain of still
smaller capacity。 The heaviest brain (1872 grammes; or
about 115 cubic inches) was; however; that of a woman; next
to it comes the brain of Cuvier (1861 grammes); then Byron
(1807 grammes); and then an insane person (1783 grammes)。
The lightest adult brain recorded (720 grammes) was that of
an idiotic female。 The brains of five children; four years
old; weighed between 1275 and 992 grammes。 So that it may
be safely said; that an average European child of four
years old has a brain twice as large as that of an adult
Gorilla。
No doubt; this is a very striking difference; but it loses much of its
apparent systematic value; when viewed by the light of certain other
equally indubitable facts respecting cranial capacities。
The first of these is; that the difference in the volume of the cranial
cavity of different races of mankind is far greater; absolutely; than
that between the
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