gorilla (gorila)

[NL., E., etc.; a name recently applied to this ape, being taken from an African word mentioned (in the Gr. form Γορίλλα) in the Periplus (i. e., 'Circumnavigation'), an account of a voyage made along the northwestern coasts of Africa in the 5th or 6th century B. c. by Hanno, a Cart hag in i an navigator, as the native name of a wild creature Milton, P. L., ii. 611. found on those coasts. The account, written orig. in the Punic language and translated into Greek, says that the voyagers found an island, in a lake near a bay called the "Southern Horn," "full of wild people ( ἀνθρώπων αγρίων), the greater part of whom were females ( γυναῖ κες, women), hairy on their bodies, whom our interpreters called Gorillas (Γορίλλας). We pursued them, but could not capture the males ( άνδρας, men); they all escaped, climbing the cliffs and hiding among the rocks; but we captured three females ( γυναῖκας ), who, biting and scratching their captors, refused to go along with them. We killed and skinned them and brought the skins to Carthage." (Periplus, xviii., in Geo graph i Græci Minores, ed. C. Müller, I. 13, 14.) These creatures, apparently not regarded by the Cart hag in i ans as human beings, though spoken of in such terms, are supposed to have been apes, probably chimpanzees.] 1. The largest known anthropoid ape, Troglodytes Undo the visor's barred band, Unfix the gorget's iron clasp, And give him room for life to gasp! Scott, L. of L. M., v. 22. The gorgets [worn by North American Indians) consist of plates of shell having holes bored for suspension, being also elaborately carved and ornamented. A. W. Buck land , Jour. of Anthrop. Inst., XVI. 156. 2. A variety of wimple in use in the fourteenth century. It was worn very tight and close.-3. An ornamental neck-band having a considerable breadth, especially in front. Breeches and black gaiters, with coats open from the top button and showing a waistcoat, were worn [in 1788]; also a gorget, an indication of an officer being on duty. Fortnightly Rev. , N. S., XLIII. 375. 4. In ornith., a throat-patch in any way distinguished by the color or texture of the feathers. Also gorgelet. Both races also po e brilliant plumage, with metallic crests or gorgets. G. Allen, Colin Clout's Calendar, p. 53. 5. In surg., a grooved instrument used in operations for anal fistula and in lithotomy. It serves as a guide, and in some instances is furnished with a blade for IMG:content-2527.jpg:[blocks in formation] [NL., On the ægis of Athena in the west pediment had been a gorgoneion of metal. A. S. Murray , Greek Sculpture, I. 153. The godde appeared with the gorgoneion on her chiton. B. V. Head , Hist or i a Numorum, p. 292. gorgonesque (gôr-gon-esk'), a. [ -esque .] Gorgon-like; repulsive; terrifying. We are le ready to believe in his quailing before a mother-in-law so Gorgonesque even as the ex-coryphée. Athenœum, Sept. 29, 1888, p. 426. IMG:content-2528.jpg:[graphic] nean.] Gorgon i a (gôr-gō'ni-ä), a. [L., coral, al, so called in allusion to its hardening in the air, fem. of gorgon i us, pertaining to the Gorgon: see gor go nean.] 1. A Linnean genus of polyps, typical of the family Gorgoniida; a; the sea-fans with arborescent sclerobase. See cut under coral. -2. A genus of noctuid moths. Hübner, 1816. -3. A genus of gnus. See gnu. Also Gorgon. J. E. Gray. Gorgon i aceæ (gôr-gō-ni-ā'sē-ē), n. pl. [NL., gorgon i ace an (gôr-gō-ni-a'sē-an), a. and n. I. a. Of or pertaining to the Gorgon i aceæ; gorgonian. II. n. Any member of the Gorgon i aceæ , as a IMG:content-2529.jpg:[graphic] gorgoniid. gorgon i a ceo us (gôr-gō-ni-ā'shius), a. Pertain gorg ing to or having the characters of the Gorgoni ace a. Gorilla ( Troglodytes gorilla or Gorilla savage i). gorilla, of the family Simiida, suborder Anthro poidea, and order Primates, most closely resembling man, especially in the form of the pelvis gorilla and in the proportion of the molar teeth to the incisors. It has 13 ribs. The tail is even more rudimentary than in man, having but 3 coccygeal bones instead of 4. The gorilla is also called the great chimpanzee, and is a near relative of the chimpanzee, Troglodytes niger or Anthropopithecus niger. It attains a height of about 5 feet, is found in the woody equatorial regions of Africa, is po e ed of great strength, has a barking voice, rising when the animal is enraged to a terrific roar, lives mostly in trees, and feeds on vegetable substances. Gorillas make a sleeping-place like a hammock, connecting the branches of the sheltered and thickly leafed part of a tree by means of the long, tough, slender stems of para sitic plants, and lining it with the broad dried fronds of palms or with long gra . This hammock-like abode is constructed at different heights from 10 to 40 feet from the ground, but there is never more than one such nest in a tree. The animal was unknown to Europe ans, except from vague report, until it was described in 1847 by Dr. T. 8. Savage, an American mi ionary in western Africa. The first skeletons of the gorilla seen in Europe were brought by the American traveler Du Chaillu in 1859. The living specimens since brought to Europe and America have soon died. 2. [ cap.] A genus of Simiida, having the gorilla, Gorilla gin a or G. savage i, as type and only species. Isid. Geoffroy St. Hilaire.