THE DRILL BABOON. 



".Dril, a stone-cutter's tool wherewith he bores holes in 

 marble, &c. Also a large overgrown Ape and Baboon, 

 so-called*" 



Blounfs Glossographia, $th Edition^ i68x~ 



The study of the living mammalia of the world, 

 as contrasted with the allied pursuits of ornithology 

 and entomology, may well be reckoned the 

 Cinderella of the sciences. Comparatively few 

 workers busy themselves with the mammals, which 

 are vertebrates of the highest importance, presenting 

 a thousand problems yet unsolved and an endless 

 variety of external form and psychological interest. 

 Structure, coloration, variation, distribution, habits, 

 and historical associations all these concern this 

 class of animal as much as any other : perhaps, how- 

 ever, the comparative difficulty of obtaining many of 

 them has militated against the popular study of the 

 group. The mammals of West Africa until very 

 recent times have been practically unknown ; and 

 these remarks apply with particular emphasis to that 

 hideous satyr of the Guinea forests the drill baboon. 



The drill (Papio leucophceus) sek of the Bulu 

 natives is a burly powerful beast, about as big as 

 a moderate-sized dog. The ugly head is relatively 

 large, and is united to the body by a very short heck :: 

 the limbs are somewhat slender, and terminate in 

 powerful hands. The shoulders are enormous, being- 



