1 MONKEYS. 



trast her brilliant colours with the sear and faded 

 leaves; the other his active and vigorous spring 

 with that bleached trunk arid branches, which, des- 

 titute of sap, and ungarnished with leaves and 

 flowers, can wave no more in the soft summer 

 breezes or autumnal wind. 



From the structure of the Monkey tribe, more 

 especially from the formation of their limbs, the 

 idea of petulance and activity is generally associated 

 with them. Were we desirous to represent an 

 animal of sluggish movements, we should invest it 

 with short limbs and a thick body; and we should 

 not expect to discover a wild creature favourably 

 organized for active exertion, yet slow and embar- 

 rassed in its movements. But in science, one fact is 

 frequently sufficient to overthrow the most plausible 

 theory, even when apparently the result of patient 

 research and actual discovery. Thus, for example, 

 the Coaita (S. paniscus), or Four-fingered Monkey, 

 a creature better constructed for active and vivacious 

 movements than almost any of his tribe, which has 

 longer limbs and a tail that answers the purpose of 

 a hand, moves slowly. It seems an effort to change 

 his position, and he acts as if he required a new 

 impulse of the will for every new movement. Yet 

 this animal is far from being devoid of intelligence. 

 He possesses it even in a higher degree than many 

 of the Monkey tribe, blended with a considerable 

 degree of penetration, and the mildest and most 

 affectionate temper. 



The tribe of which he is a member, inhabits the 

 forest parts of Guiana and Brazil. They carefully 

 avoid the equatorial regions, which are subject to 



