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Tyson, Edward, 1650-1708

"A Philological Essay Concerning the Pygmies of the Ancients"

This that I dissected,
which was brought from _Angola_ (as I have often mentioned) wanted
something of the just stature of the _Pygmies_; but it was young, and I am
therefore uncertain to what tallness it might grow, when at full Age: And
neither _Tulpius_, nor _Gassendus_, nor any that I have hitherto met with,
have adjusted the full stature of this _Animal_ that is found in those
parts from whence ours was brought: But 'tis most certain, that there are
sorts of _Apes_ that are much less than the _Pygmies_ are described to be.
And, as other _Brutes_, so the _Ape-kind_, in different Climates, may be
of different Dimensions; and because the other _Brutes_ here are generally
small, why may not _they_ be so likewise. Or if the difference should be
but little, I see no great reason in this case, why we should be
over-nice, or scrupulous.
[Footnote A: _Strabo Geograph_. lib. 17. p.m. 565.]
As to our _Ape Pygmies_ or _Orang-Outang_ fighting the _Cranes_, this, I
think, may be easily enough made out, by what I have already observed; for
this _wild Man_ I dissected was Carnivorous, and it may be Omnivorous, at
least as much as _Man_ is; for it would eat any thing that was brought to
the Table.


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