36 QUADRUMANA. 



eyebrows, cheeks and chin are white in the males, but dark-gray in 

 the females. 



The Wauwau or Agile Gibbon, Hylobatcs agilcs, has a bare, blue- 

 black face, inclining in the female to brown, long hair of a dark-brown 

 color on the head, stomach, and inside the arms; on the shoulders and 

 behind the neck the hair becomes lighter, and in the females is light- 

 brown, while on the hinder parts down to the knees, it is of mixed white 

 and reddish hues. The hands and feet are dark-brown. The female is 

 lighter colored than the male ; the hair on the cheeks is shorter, but still 

 long enough to make the face seem broader than it is long. The young 

 are of a yellowish-white color. 



Doctor Franklin, speaking of the Agile Gibbon, says : " Some years 

 ago a female of this species was exhibited in London. The cries it 

 emitted when going through its performances, naturalists decided to be 

 most musical. This individual was timid and gentle. It preferred the 

 society of women to that of men. It was thought that this circumstance 

 was due to the bad treatment it had received at the hands of the stronger 

 sex. It was intelligent and observant : its piercing eyes seemed to be 

 always on the qjii vivc, scrutinizing every one, and missing nothing of 

 what passed around. When any one gained its confidence, it consented 

 after several invitations to descend from its perch and shake hands." 



The Gibbons, as we have observed, are admirably adapted for 

 climbing. The round chest gives room to the lungs, the strong hind 

 legs give great propelling power, the long fore arms enable them to 

 grasp securely the branch which is to be their next starting-point. An 

 easy comparison will show how disproportionately long their limbs are. 

 A man can barely touch his knee when standing erect, the GlfiBONS can 

 touch their ankles. Nothing can present a greater contrast than a 

 Gibbon in a forest, and a Gibbon on the ground. In the former they 

 fly like birds from bough to bough, their agility is boundless and grace- 

 ful ; on the ground they seem out of their element, they move slowly, 

 they totter on their hind feet, and can only maintain their equilibrium 

 by the aid of their long ai'ms. If the Gorilla is the Hercules, the Gibbon 

 is the Mercury of the ape world. The name Z(?r of one species is derived 

 from a naiad Lara whom Mercury loved. 



The HULOCK can only balance itself upright by raising its hands 

 above its head, and then it waddles rather than walks. If urged to 

 greater speed, it uses its long fore-arms. They hop rather than leap, 



