19

Crass MAMMALIA.

—_

Oxzper QUADRUMANA.

Smrap#.—Apes, Baboons, and Monkeys.

Apes chiefly inhabit the forests of Asia and Africa; they
also abound in Malacca and the islands of the Indian Ocean,
congregating on trees and feeding on fruit, leaves, and
insects. They generally live in troops, sometimes construct-
ing a kind of hut as a defence against the weather: their
disposition is often fierce and intractable, though some
species are, on the contrary, grave and gentle; their arms
are so long as nearly to touch the ground when the animal
stands upright ; the fingers and toes are very flexible, being
thus adapted for clinging to the branches of trees, and even
when carrying their young they spring from tree to tree
with wonderful facility. As no particular species is alluded
to in the Scriptures, an example of each division will be