283 



A T E L E S. 



and light to enable them to see and examine the 

 fruit-bearing part of the tree. Hence they are found 

 chiefly on what may be called the middle grounds of 

 the forest, the rich slopes, which lie between the 

 highly fertile but rank Hats by the waters, and the 

 dry uplands, where the forest begins to straggle into 

 the waste which bears no timber, or brushwood only. 



These places are not only the best for the peculiar 

 action of the quadrumana ; they also are their richest 

 pastures, as fruit-bearing trees grow more readily and 

 abundantly on those slopes than either in the rank 

 hollow or on the dry height. In these parts of the 

 forests there are many openings, and the trees gene- 

 rally stand more apart from each other, are lower in 

 stature, more spreading and branchy, and less loaded 

 with parasitical plants than farther down. Hence the 

 animals which live in them require to be more active 

 in their motions than the sloths. 



In the trees, the Ateles are peculiarly active, espe- 

 cially in getting from branch to branch, and from tree 

 to tree, sometimes to considerable distances. For 

 these purposes the animals are admirably formed, as 

 admirably as the long-armed apes of the Oriental 

 isles are for their upward climbings in the. spicy fo- 

 rests of those delightful regions. The four ringers, 

 seizing and holding as a hook, are better adapted for 

 motion generally oblique or lateral than hands with 

 thumbs. But the Ateles have a fifth prehensile organ, 

 and one which is perhaps more efficient in their march 

 among the trees than any of the others. That organ 

 is the tail, which in this genus is perhaps more pre- 

 hensile than in any other. It is long in all the spe- 

 cies, and in some it is twice the length of the body. 

 The under side of it, towards the tip, is naked of 

 hair, and covered with the same species of skin which 

 covers the insides of the ringers, and generally all 

 those parts of animals which are fitted for grasping. 

 This tail can take hold very quickly, and it retains its 

 hold more firmly than any hand ; so that, suspended 

 by it, the animal can swing itself fairly round a 

 branch, vibrate like a pendulum, and by putting the 

 branch into a vibratory motion along with it, com- 

 mand a space of considerable extent. 



The tail of these animals has sometimes been com- 



I tared to the proboscis of the elephant ; and they who 

 lave made that comparison have inferred, not from 

 the facts as observed, or from the structure of the or- 

 gan, but from their own hypothesis, that it is used for 

 similar purposes ; that the animal uses it like a hand in 

 lifting little detached substances, in conveying fruits 

 to its mouth, and in all purposes which it requires, 

 analogous to those performed by the trunk of the 

 elephant. But there is in truth no proper analogy 

 between the two organs, either in structure or in use. 

 The proboscis of the elephant is an organ wholly with- 

 out bones, capable of flexure in all directions, and 

 also, within certain limits, of lengthening and shorten- 

 ing. It is hollow, and at the extremity it has a grasp- 

 ing apparatus, answering some of the purposes of a 

 hand, which can act with nearly equal facility in all 

 positions of the rest of the trunk. Thus the proboscis 

 not only acts as a hand, but in some instances it can 

 be made to act as two hands. But it acts as a hand 

 only; and though the elephant often makes use 

 of it for pulling down those branches of trees which 

 it cannot otherwise reach, it never suspends its body 

 by it, or uses it in climbing. The" tail of the ateles, 

 on the other hand, is an organ having a bony verte- 

 bra for its basis, incapable of lengthening and short- 

 ening, having its powerful grasping action in one di- 



rection only, and having no substitute for a hand at 

 the extremity. It is an instrument for laying hold, and 

 in that way both a powerful and a ready one ; but it 

 is not fitted for lifting loose substances, and there is 

 no evidence that the animal ever uses it for such a pur- 

 pose, either in carrying food to the mouth, or in any 

 other way. The animal climbs by means of the tail, 

 suspends and swings itself by means of the tail, and 

 uses the tail to steady it in its most ungainly attempts 

 at walking ; but it does not use th tail in feeding, or 

 in any way in lifting or moving about loose or de- 

 tached substances. It seizes with the prehensile por- 

 tion of that only such objects as are firm, and it does 

 so in order to maintain its stability. 



None of the genus are handsome animals. They 

 have a facial angle of about 60, a large round head, 

 a large and prominent abdomen, long and slender 

 limbs, and a very long tail. The joints of their limbs 

 appear as if they were more loosely put together than 

 those of almost any other animals, and hence they are 

 very awkward when upon the ground. Their limbs 

 are, in fact, organs of suspension rather than of sup- 

 port, and therefore, when they attempt to use them 

 in supporting the body, they are awkward, because 

 applied to a purpose for which they are not formed. 

 The motion of the sloths along the ground is very 

 slow, and effected with no small difficulty and labour ; 

 but the legs of the sloths are short, their bodies being 

 near the ground in walking, and therefore their 

 march does not appear so painful and unnatural as 

 that of the ateles. 



The legs of the latter are abundantly long, but they 

 will hot come into any thing like even tolerable 

 marching order. The joints will not be firm, and 

 the palms, the points of the fingers, or any part that 

 would afford a base, will not apply to the ground. 

 The only parts that will apply to the ground are the 

 inner edges of the fore feet and the outer edges of 

 the hind ones ; so that the animal shambles away, 

 with a constant tendency in the fore legs to get too 

 wide apart, and in the hind legs to plait over each 

 other. The looseness of the joints makes the walk 

 appear more awkward than it is, and the reality is 

 awkward enough ; and the awkwardness is farther in- 

 creased, by the animal attempting to seize with its 

 prehensile tail all objects that seem capable of help- 

 ing it on, or steadying its course. Walking upon the 

 ground is not, however, the element of the genus ; 

 and though they often descend from the trees to 

 loiter and repose, their marches along the surface are 

 always as short as possible. 



But when in the trees, they are just as much in 

 their element, and at home, as they are out of their 

 element upon the ground. That flexibility which un- 

 fits them for the one situation, is a positive advan- 

 tage in the other. The plaiting legs, the wide 

 spreading arms, the flexible joints, and the long pre- 

 hensile tail, enable them to seize and maintain their 

 hold in situations where animals of more compact 

 and better knit frame could not. The distances to 

 which they can reach, and the certainty with which 

 they take hold, even when they have to appearance 

 been flung some distance through the air, and are 

 falling, are truly admirable ; and when seen in a state 

 of activity in the branches, they seem among the 

 most energetic and the most sure-footed of animals. 



Most of the species, if not all of them, are social, 

 attached to each other, and apparently mild and in- 

 offensive in their dispositions. They have none of 

 the gambolling and friskiness, and none of the mis- 



