animal food. Dr. Muller never met with the
Orang-outan in Java or Sumatra; in the latter of
which islands, however, he had heard of its existence, though it is seldom seen, and appears to be
altogether of rarer occurrence than in Borneo.”[1]
Genus Hyzozares. (Illiger.)
The Gibbons much resemble the Orangs, but are of smaller size and more elegant proportions: the hands reach to the heel; the thumb, separated to the wrist, is slightly opposible to the fingers; throat-sacs are found in some species only; very small callosities; no cheek-pouches; and no tail.
The Indian Islands and the Malayan Peninsula are the localities of the Gibbons. ‘They are eminently adapted to an arboreal existence. "Free and unembarrassed, they appear almost to fly from bough to bough, and assume in their gambols every imaginable attitude: hanging by their long arms, they swing themselves forward with admirable facility, seizing, in their rapid launch, the branch at which they aimed; they throw themselves from a higher to a lower perch with consummate address, and again ascend to the loftiest with bird-like rapidity." In these rapid evolutions the great length and power of their arms are of the utmost advantage; and of these they make a far greater use In progression than of their feet.
They live in troops in the dense forests; and some of the species make the air resound with the most piercing and terrific cries. In captivity, they
- ↑ Menageries. 1. 120.
