CHAPTER VIII. 

 THE NEW WORLD MONKEYS. 



THE AMERICAN MONKEYS OR CEBID.« — THE GENUS CEBUS OR SAPAJOU — THE GENUS LAGOTHRIX — 

 THE SPIDER MONKEYS — THE GENERA ATELES AND ERIODES — THE HOWLING MONKEYS — THE 

 SAKIS — THE NIGHT MONKEYS — THE TEE-TEES. 



THE difference between the animals of the Old and New Worlds 

 is most strikingly seen in those of the torrid zone. In America 

 the land between the tropics forms a world of its own. Soil and 

 climate, light and air, plants and animals all bear a peculiar stamp, only 

 here or there calling up reminiscences of the Eastern Hemisphere. And 

 this is to a great extent the case with reference to the animals we are 

 now about to describe. The Cebid.^ are Platyrrhini, or " flat-nosed " 

 monkeys ; they are more inoffensive, good tempered and melanchol}' 

 than the apes of the old world ; they are distinguished from their 

 brethren in the Eastern Hemisphere by the conformation of their bodies 

 and limbs, and by their teeth. The nostrils are very different from those 

 of the monkeys which have already been described, as they open at the 

 sides instead of underneath, and are separated from each other by a 

 wide piece of cartilage. The body is slender, the limbs long, the tail is 

 never absent, and in most genera is supplied ^v^^^ powerful muscles 

 which enable the creature to seize anything by it. The thumb of the 

 fore hands is not so truly "opposable" as in the feet. The nails are 

 flat. The number of molars is increased by one on each side of each jaw ; 

 that is, the " dental formula " becomes 



r2 — 2 I — I _-6 — 6 . 



1. , C. , M. ^ ^ = 36. 



2 — 2' I — i' 6 — 6 -^ 



They have no cheek pouches or callosities. One member of the family 

 alone attains any considerable size. Their colors are not so varied as 

 those of Asia and Africa. 



