ZOOLOGY OF THE BRISTOL MUSEUM. 87 



themselves over spaces of thirty or forty feet from one tree to 

 another. 



The special characters of H. agilis are '' Face, blackish -blue 

 in the male, brown in the female; in the male, a white band 

 over the eyes, which unites with the whiskers ; hair fine, except 

 about the neck, where it is longer and a little woolly; upper part 

 chocolate-brown ; back and fore part of thigh yellowish-brown, 

 but the color varies according to age and sex, the young being 

 lighter colored; height about two feet seven or eight inches; 

 no guttural sac." 



Of the two specimens exhibited, the larger lived for some time 

 in the Clifton Zoological Gardens; the smaller was brought to 

 this country from '^epal, by Captain Gimblett, now of Clyde 

 Koad, Eedland. He obtained it alive in 1845, it was then nine 

 months old. He endeavoured to bring it to England by loug sea 

 voyage in 1846, but it got pneumonia in the cold weather, and 

 died in the Channel just before reaching England. It was thus 

 four months alive in his possession. Captain Gimblett describes 

 it as very intelligent and affectionate : in the morning when he 

 went to its hut on board ship, he describes it as greeting him 

 almost with a smile. It was fed chiefly on boiled rice and milk. 

 On arriving he showed its skin at the Zoological Society in 

 London, and he was then and there offered £50 for it. 



The Spider Monkeys belong only to the American continent, 

 and are included in the family of Platyrhines or Cebidae. The 

 generic name *'Ateles," means ''imperfect," and is given on 

 account of the almost complete absence of the thumb or hallux. 

 They are long-limbed and active creatures, but unlike the 

 Gibbons, the legs are as long as the arms. But the special 

 character of the Spider Monkey is the remarkable tail which quite 

 serves as a fifth member, and is provided with a firm elastic band 

 at its under part, which enables it to hold so strongly to the 

 branches of trees, as not even to loose its hold after death. 

 Their tails are described as possessing very delicate touch, and 

 are even used for seizing small objects. The Spider Monkeys 



