An introduction to the study of the anthropoid apes / by Arthur Keith.

  • Arthur Keith
Date:
1897
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An introduction to the study of the anthropoid apes / by Arthur Keith. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    18/52 (page 14)
    (25°) II. The Chimpanzee. The Chimpanzee in Europe.—However desirable, it is almost impossible to give an approximately accurate statement of the amount of material, the live animals studied in confinement, the skeletons and carcases studied in museums and dissecting rooms, upon which is based our knowledge of the chimpanzee species. There is to be found in literature the description of parts belonging to over two hundred chimpanzees, but of that great number the anatomy of only one animal has been described with an approximation to completeness, that of Gratiolet (131), and even it lacks much. Small parts of many speci- mens have been studied and recorded with great accuracy, and by piecing these together one may obtain a rough mental picture of the structure of the species. The partial character of our knowledge results not from lack of material, but rather from its abundance. In the Gardens of the Zoological Society of London alone, during the last fifty years, there have been about fifty chimpanzees, and that number probably only represents about one-third of the live visitors to Europe. The chimpanzee, if its health could stand it, would take very kindly to confinement, for, when young at any rate, it is of a lively, playful, and contented disposition. As a rule, it does not keep its health in confinement in Europe. Of eight chimpanzees that came to the Gardens at Rotterdam, four lived between 1-27 days, four between 100-380 days. In the Gardens at London it appears to fare better, Sally, for instance, living eight years. Although a few instances might be collected of animals that have passed from three to five years in confinement, I do not think that, on an average, one could insure the chimpanzee for a six months of life in Europe. Of the animals in confinement, males and females occur in about equal numbers, but adults are unknown. [See Schmidt 274a.] The Nervous System—There are partial records of forty-eight chimpanzee brains, but, almost without exception, they deal with the surface anatomy only. A great deal of the work on this part of the subject is very excellent. Of treatises dealing with the fissures of the brain, Cunningham’s best repays consultation (115, 116), and Riidin- ger’s (188) is of great worth. Very good descriptions and figures are given by Giacomini (130), Moeller (165), Beddard (93), Benham (94), Chapman (hi), Dwight (123), Embleton (126), Barkow (90), Marshall