CLASS MAMMALIA. 



260 



FIG. 470. 



after death. Large numbers of this species are captured 

 by the natives of South America and used for food. 



The Cebus (se'bus) Monkeys are those most often 

 met with in menageries and seen with organ-grinders. 

 Many of them are of a most 

 affectionate but jealous dispo- 

 sition. Closely related are the 

 Spider Monkeys, which have 

 the thumbs rudimentary or 

 absent. They receive their 

 name from their long slender 

 limbs. They abound in the 

 tropical forests, seldom leav- 

 ing the trees, where they 

 gambol among the branches 

 with the greatest agility. In- 

 dividuals have been observed 

 to jump from a tall tree down 

 to a lower one fifty feet dis- 

 tant.* Their tails are not only used to assist them in 

 climbing, but, not unfrequently, to carry their food to 

 their mouths. 



The Old World Monkeys have the nostrils but little 

 separated from each other, the teeth, thirty-two in num- 

 ber, and the tail, which is never prehensile, extremely 

 variable even in a single genus. Though the thumb 

 may be absent, when present, it is opposable to the fin- 

 gers, having free movement, and the digits are always 

 armed with nails, never with claws. Cheek-pouches, 



* When these animals wish to cross a river, the strongest ascend a high tree 

 overlooking the stream. The leader securing his tail firmly to a limb drops 

 downward, while the next attaches himself to his predecessor, and so on, form- 

 ing at last a long chain of monkeys. This swings to and fro until the end mon- 

 key grasps a limb upon the opposite bank. Along this living suspension bridge 



At' e ks .pen fa dac'tij lus. 

 Spider Monkey. (f 3 .) 



