7E8 



SIMIAD.E. 



SIPHONOPS. 



780 



The Pinche (/. (Edipus, Desm. ; Simla (Edipw, Linn.). Brazils. 



The following forms of Simiadce and Cebidce were existing in the 

 Gardens of the Zoological Society, Regent's Park, between the years 

 1847 and 1852 : 



Simiada. 



Simia Satyrus, Ifylobates Hoolook, Semnopithecus GtdeUus, Cercopi- 

 tjiecus nictitans, C. petamista, C. melanoyenys, C. cephus, C. albopilar'u, 

 C. Campbellii, C. Pluto, C. Mona, C. Pygerytltna, C. Sabceus, C. cyno- 

 turus, C. callithricui, C. Talaponi, C. niger, Cercocebus fuliyinosus, . 

 jEthiops, Macacus sinicus, M. pileatus, M. cynomolgus, M. erytfirceiis, 

 M. itemcestrinui, M. Silenui, M. niger, Inuus sylvanus, Cynocephalus 

 Ilamadryas, 0. Sphinx, C. Babouin, 0. Porcarius, C. leucophaus, C. 

 Mormon. 



Cebidce. 



Aides Chamei, A. paniscus, A, ater, A. Beelzebuth, A. marginatus ; 

 Pithccia, chiropotei ; Lagothrix Humboldtii ; Brachyurus Ouakari ; 

 f-'aimii-i tciureus ; Callithrix torquatus ; Nyctipithecui trivirgatus ; 

 Cebus apella, C. capucinus, C. cirrifer, C. xanthosternum, C. hypo- 

 leucus ; flapale Jacchui, H. aurita, II. pmicillata, H. (Midai) lEdipus, 

 II. (Midm) rufimanus, II. (Midai) Tamarin. 



PcatU Simiadte. Remains of Simiadce have been discovered and 

 described from the tertiary formations of India, France, England, and 

 Brazil. These fossils are illustrative of four of the existing types of 

 quadrumanous or rather Simioua forms. Thus we have Semnopithecus 

 from India ; Hylobates from the south of France ; Ufacacus from 

 Suffolk; and Callithrix, peculiar to America, found in Brazil. Nor 

 is it unworthy of remark, tbat we here have evidence that so high a 

 quadrumanous form as the Gibbon, a genus in which the skull is even 

 more approximated to that of man than it is in the Chimpanzee, was 

 living upon our globe with the Palseothere, Elephants, and 'other 

 Pachyderms. We say that the skull of the Gibbon comes nearest to 

 that of man, because, though the cranium of the young Chimpanzee 

 approaches that of the human subject, it is far removed from it when 

 the permanent teeth are developed. 



From these evidences we have also proof that Simiadce lived in our 

 island during the Eocene period ; whilst the presence of fossil vege- 

 tables, abundant in the London clay at Sheppy, and the remains of 

 serpents in the game locality, show the degree of heat that must have 

 prevailed here during that period, when Simiadte were co-exiatent with 

 tropical fruits and Boa Constrictors. 



But Or. Lund's observations relating to the extinct quadrumanous 

 form detailed in his ' View of the Fauna of Brazil,' previous to the 

 last geological revolution, require special notice. He states that it is 

 certain thut the family of iHmiada was in existence in those ancient 

 times to which the fossils described by him belong ; and he found an 

 animal of that family of gigantic size, a character belonging to the 

 organisation of the period which he illustrates. He describes it as 

 considerably exceeding the largest Orang-Utan or Chimpanzee that 

 has yet been seen. From these, as well as from the Long-Armed 

 Apes (Ilylobatee), he hoids it to have been genSrically distinct. As 

 it equally differs from the Simiadce now living iu the locality where 

 it was discovered, he proposes a generic distinction for it under the 

 name of Protopit/tecut, and the specific appellation of Protopithecut 

 Brarilientit. 



The following is Professor Owen's account of the discovery and 

 identification of the British fossil : 



" I have been so fortunate in my researches on the fossil Mammalia 

 of Great Britain as to determine not only the remains of extinct 

 Pacbydermal animals (Lophiodon and Jlyrucotlierium) in the Eocene 

 beds called the London Clay, but likewise of a quadrumane, or 

 monkey, in a sandy stratum of the same formation, the epoch of 

 which had been shown by Mr. Lyell, from the evidence of other 

 organic remains, to have had a temperature sufficiently high for 

 arboreal Mammalia of the four-handed order. The fossils manifesting 

 the quadrumanous character were discovered in 1839 by Mr. William 

 Colchester in a bed of whitish sand, beneath a stratum of tenacious 

 blue clay, situated by the side of the river Deben, about a mile from 

 Woodbridge, in the parish of Kingston, commonly called Kyson, in 

 Suffolk. 



"The first of these fossils submitted to my inspection was the 

 fragment of the right side of the lower jaw, including the anterior 

 part of the base of the coronoid process, and the last molar tooth 

 entire in its socket. This tooth is fortunately a very characteristic 

 one ; and after a comparison of it with the corresponding tubercular 

 tooth in the lower jaw of theCoati (Nasera), Racoon (Procyon), Ratel, 

 Opossum, Phalanger, and other small unguiculate quadrupeds of a 

 inixij.l or partially carnivorous diet, I proceeded to an examination of 

 the Quadrumana, and found iu that order the desired correspondence. 

 The extreme rarity of the fosail remains of such highly-organised 

 animals in any part of the world, and the previous total absence of 

 auy iu a laud so far from the equator as England, prevented my 

 examination, iu the first instance, of the skeletons of the recent 

 (iuadrumana ; and it was not until I had tried all the more probable 

 analogues of the fossil fragment in the lower forms of the Mammalia, 

 that 1 began to teat it by the side of the jaws of the apes and monkeys. 

 The grinding surface of the fos.iil tooth supports live tubercles, the 

 four anterior ones being arranged in two transverse pairs, the fifth 

 forming a posterior heel or talon. This conformation of the crown of 

 AT. HIST. civ. VOL. IV. 



the last molar in the lower jaw characterises two families of Catarrhine 

 or Old-World Monkeys, namely, the Semnopithecidce, including the 

 genera Colobus and &mnopitltecus ; and the Macacidte, including the 

 genera Macacus, Cynocephalus, and Papio. The next step was to 

 ascertain whether any special marks. of resemblance would yield a 

 further insight into the affinities of the fossil, and justify its reference 

 to any of the genera of either family. A difference iu the shape of 

 the hinder tubercle of the tooth was first noticed iu the recent 

 Quadrumana. In the Semnopithecidce it was large but simple; iu 

 most of the Macacidce it was partially subdivided into two cusps, the 

 outer one being the largest. As this character was well marked in 

 the fossil, it seemed decisive of its closer affinity to the Macacidce; 

 and as the smallest species in this family belongs to the typical genus, 

 I referred the fossil to the Macacus, and now propose to designate 

 the extinct species represented by it Macacus Eoctenus, the Eocene 

 Monkey, or Macaque. The portion of the fossil jaw is narrower 

 from side to si'le, or more compressed, than in auy of the existing 

 Macaques ; aud the internal wall of the socket of the tooth in the 

 fossil is fluted and thinner. The ridge on the outer side of the 

 alveolus, which forms the commencement of the anterior margin of 

 the coronoid process, begins closer to the tooth. These characters 

 establish the specific distinction of tbe extinct Macacque to which the 

 fossil fragment of the jaw belonged, and afford additional proof, if 

 such were wanting, that it could not have been accidentally intro- 

 duced in recent times into the stratum out of which it was disinterred." 

 (Owen.) 



Another tooth of the same species of Macacus was found in the same 

 spot iu 1838, but these teeth are the only remains of the Quadmmana 

 which have been found in this country. In other countries larger 

 remains have been found. Thug, in 1836, Lieutenants Baker and 

 Durand discovered, in the Sub-Himalayan Hills, near the Sutlej, an 

 almost entire right superior maxillary bone, containing the five molar 

 teeth and part of the cauiue. The strata in which this fossil was 

 found was tertiary, and consisted of a mixed calcareous sandstone and 

 clay. In the year following, Colonel Cautley and Dr. Falconer dis- 

 covered in the same formation a considerable portion of the lower 

 jaw, with all the molars of the right side, and a part of the teeth of 

 the left side, together with two middle incisors aud the right cauiue. 

 These remains belonged to a species of Semnopithecus, which must 

 have existed with the Sivatherium and Hippopotamus, whose remains 

 were found in the same formation. 



SINA'PIS, the name of a genus of Plants belonging to the natural 

 order Cruciferce, or Braaicacece. All the species are known by the 

 name of Mustard, a word derived from Mustum ardcns, in allusion to 

 their hot and biting character. The geuus is known by its siliquose 

 fruit, which is rather terete, with nerved valves ; small short acute 

 style; subglobose seeds disposed in one row in each cell, and spreading 

 calyx. The leaves are of various forms, lyrate or deeply toothed ; the 

 flowers yellow, arranged on terminal bractless racemes; they are 

 chiefly natives of the temperate parts of both hemispheres of the Old 

 World. Between 40 and 60 species of this genus are enumerated. 

 Of these, two species are well known and much cultivated in this 

 country, S. niyra and 5. alba, the Black and White Mustard. 



S. nigra, Black Mustard, is known by its smooth, even somewhat 

 tetragonal siliques closely pressed to the peduncle; lyrate lower 

 leaves, and lanceolate upper leaves. It is found in cultivated fields, 

 waste grounds, and roadsides throughout Europe. 



S. alba, White Mustard. Siliques hispid, spreading, rather narrower 

 than the ensiform beak ; leaves lyrate, smoothish ; stem smooth. It 

 is a native of Great Britain and most countries iu the south of 

 Europe. It is frequently cultivated, and when young is eateu as 

 a salad. 



SINEW. [TENDON.] 



SINTEK. The silica deposited by hot-springs, as those of Iceland 

 and the 4zores, is called Sinter. [Or.u,.] 



SIPHONACE/E. [ALO&] 



SIPHONA'RIA. [SEMIl'HYLLIDIANS.] 



SIPHONIA. [SPONGIADJE.] 



SIPHO'NIA, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order 

 Euphorbiacece, consisting of two species, but one may be only a variety 

 of the other. This is celebrated as being the tree which yields the 

 large quantities of caoutchouc, called ' cahuchu ' by the native 

 Americans, annually imported from Para in South America. 



S. dastica is a tree 50 to 60 feet in height, common in the forests 

 of Guiana and Brazil, and which has been introduced into the West 

 Indies. Coudamiue frequently mentions it in his voyage down the 

 Amazon. Caoutchouc is the milky juice of the plant, which exudes 

 on incisions being made, aud solidifies on exposure to the air. [INDIA 

 RUBBER.] 



SIPHONI'FERA, D'Orbigny, an order of Cephalopodous Mollusca. 



SIPHONOBHANCHIA'TA, an order of Molluaca. [SiPHONosTO- 

 MATA ; ENTOMOSTOMATA ; MALACOLOGY.] 



SIPHO'NOPS, Wagler, a genus of Pseudophidian Apodal Bratra- 

 chians. 



The first sub-order of Bratrachians, the Pcromcles of Messrs. 



IIMMTI] and Bibron, consists of but 0110 family, the Ophiosouifs 

 (Snake-Bodied Bratrachians), or Ccecilioiilians. Their round elongated 

 forln, without either tail or feet, approximates so closely to that of the 



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