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A Book of Natural History - Young Folks' Library Volume XIV. by Various
page 42 of 358 (11%)
the solid framework of the surface on which the body rests in the
sitting posture, are not expanded like those of the apes which possess
callosities, but are more like those of man.

An Orang climbs so slowly and cautiously as, in this act, to resemble
a man more than an ape, taking great care of his feet, so that injury
of them seems to affect him far more than it does other apes. Unlike
the Gibbons, whose forearms do the greater part of the work as they
swing from branch to branch, the Orang never makes even the smallest
jump. In climbing, he moves alternately one hand and one foot, or,
after having laid fast hold with the hands, he draws up both feet
together. In passing from one tree to another he always seeks out a
place where the twigs of both come close together, or interlace. Even
when closely pursued, his circumspection is amazing; he shakes the
branches to see if they will bear him, and then bending an overhanging
bough down by throwing his weight gradually along it, he makes a
bridge from the tree he wishes to quit to the next.

On the ground the Orang always goes laboriously and shakily on all
fours. At starting he will run faster than a man, though he may soon
be overtaken. The very long arms which, when he runs, are but little
bent, raise the body of the Orang remarkably, so that he assumes much
the posture of a very old man bent down by age, and making his way
along by the help of a stick. In walking, the body is usually directed
straight forward, unlike the other apes, which run more or less
obliquely, except the Gibbons, who in these, as in so many other
respects, depart remarkably from their fellows.

The Orang cannot put its feet flat on the ground, but is supported
upon their outer edges, the heel resting more on the ground, while the
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