on Troglodytes Niger, 365 



^' The neck exceedingly short, and hardly admitting of more 

 than the simple rotatory motion, and that, apparently with 

 difficulty. In the living subject, when at rest, the head seems 

 to be set upon the shoulders. The freest motion given to 

 this part, is backwards and forwards, projecting the chin in an 

 upward direction to a remarkable degree, as is the case 

 whenever it utters a cry. At such times the lips are con- 

 tracted, and so far protruded, as to give them the form of a 

 somewhat flattened tube, when a hoarse guttural sound is 

 emitted, by quick and short expirations, something like ^ whoo ' 

 * whoo ', not easily expressed. This sound, is induced by the 

 approach of almost any object, agreeable or disagreeable, and 

 accordingly is expressive of both joy and alarm. The cry of 

 the young is coarse and shrill, and much like that of a pettish 

 child ; at such times the mouth is widely opened, the eye- 

 brows strongly contracted, and teeth and gums strongly dis- 

 played. 



" The color of the eyes is a light brown, perhaps approach- 

 ing a pink hue, but not characterized by that redness of the 

 sclerotica which usually appears in the colored plates of this 

 animal. 



" The length of the legs was strikingly disproportioned to 

 that of the body and arms ; more however in appearance, than 

 in measurement, owing to the contraction of the legs from 

 long use in climbing. When the recent subject is placed in 

 the horizontal posture, the thighs are so flexed, as to form 

 almost a right angle with the axis of the body, and the legs 

 with that of the thighs ; the lower extremities are greatly 

 curved, and when the animal is in this position, lie more or 

 less on their tibial surfaces. This strong tendency to flexion 

 and contraction, is accounted for by the habits of the animal. 

 In a sitting posture it takes a perfect squat, the body in- 

 feriorly touching the ground, and the posterior surface of 

 the thighs resting upon that of the fore legs. The space 

 comprised between the ossa ischii, is very great and flat, 

 presenting in the horizontal posture a broad plane surface. 

 Their arrangements and relative position of parts, are a 



