GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS 1555 



The paca and cutia (or agouti) both of a family 

 which is peculiar to South America, take the place 

 of the hare and rabbit of the Old World, and belong, 

 like those animals, to the order of rodents. Both are 

 used as food. The capybara and the common guinea- 

 pig belong to the same order. The chinchilla, an- 

 other of the South American rodents, valued for its 

 delicate fur, is confined to the southern portions of 

 the Andes. 



The sloth, ant-eater, and armadillo (all belonging 

 to the order of Edentata), are natives of South 

 America. 



Monkeys are exceedingly numerous all over that 

 continent, especially in the forests of Brazil. These, 

 however, are different in species from the monkeys 

 of the Eastern Hemisphere ; they are of smaller size, 

 and (with the exception of one nearly tailless spe- 

 cies, found within the forests of the Upper Amazons, 

 within a very limited area) all possess tails, mostly 

 prehensile. None of the apes of the New World 

 makes the same approach to the human form which 

 is found either in the chimpanzee and gorilla of 

 Western Africa or the orang of Southeastern Asia. 

 Toward the close of the day the howling monkeys of 

 Brazil make the woods resound with the most fright- 

 ful cries; but they are neither of large size nor of 

 formidable powers. The family of lemurs, so abun- 

 dant in the eastern half of the globe, has not a single 

 representative in the New World. The marmosets, 

 a family confined to America, are numerous within 

 the regions of the lower Amazons. 



Bats are very numerous in South America more 



