268 



BABOON. 



to recommend it, being flesh coloured below the 

 eyes and black toward the muzzle, which is prolonged 

 as in the former species : but the way in which the 

 visage is decked out with hair gives it a singular, if 

 not a sage appearance. The hair on the upper part 

 of the head, from a little above the eyes, is of a deep 

 black colour, which contrasts well with the flesh tint 

 of the naked part of the face there, while the lower 

 and black part of the face is surrounded by a pro- 

 duced rutf' varying in colour from ash-grey to nearly 

 white. The callosities on the hinder extremities are, 

 as in the former species, of a flesh colour, and they, as 

 well as the cheek pouches, are large for the size of the 

 animal. The hair on the upper part is black, and that 

 on the under part ash-grey or white. The body is about 

 the same length as that of the magot, the female 

 being, as in that species, of smaller size and less 

 irritable disposition than the male. The tail is a 

 regular continuation of the vertebra*, about half the 

 length of the body, and, when perfect, ending in a 

 brush or tuft of long hair, from which the animal has 

 been called the " lion-tailed monkey." The character 

 of this species, especially that of the' adult male, is, 

 like all others of the subdivision, a little suspicious ; 

 but it is said to be rather more playful than the 

 magot, and not quite so much given to mischief. 



3. The PIG-TAILED BABOON, or MAIMON (Macacus 

 ncmistrina). There is some confusion about this 

 species, arising from another of the same genus having 

 been called by the same popular name, which shows 

 the inconvenience of naming an animal from the form 

 of its tail, when that tail happens to be a useless organ. 

 The other {Rhesus) is generally styled the pig-tailed 

 monkey, this the pig-tailed baboon. Both species are 

 inhabitants of the south-east of Asia. A figure of the 

 present species in an erect posture, is given at the top 

 of the plate " Baboons." Animals of this species arc 

 apt to get apparently deformed, by accumulations of 

 pendulous fat on the throat, the abdomen, and other 

 parts of their bodies. They are not very interesting 

 animals, as they are rather untractable, but that 

 seems to arise more from dulness than from vice. 



4. The BLACK BABOON, or BLACK AFE (Maracus 

 niger). This is a species of considerably more inte- 

 rest than the former, on account of its being more 

 rare, more recent as an authenticated addition to 

 /.oology, arid a more interesting animal in its man- 

 ners, although by no means a handsome one in its 

 appearance. A figure of it as " the black baboon," 

 is given at the top of the plate " Baboons ;" but as 

 there is another " black baboon," belonging to the 

 subdivision, that has more of the baboon character, 

 it is necessary to attend to the circumstance that this 

 one is black all over, while the other is yellowish, or 

 straw-coloured on the under part. 



The native locality of this species is not perfectly 

 ascertained. The specimen from which Cuvier men- 

 tions it, but which appears to have been too imperfect 

 for enabling him to ascertain its proper place in the 

 system, he describes as having been brought from 

 the Philippine islands ; and as such it must inhabit 

 more easterly than any of the species which we have 

 already noticed. Three specimens which have suc- 

 cessively been in England in the living state, have 

 led to a more accurate knowledge and appropriate 

 classification of the animal ; but as it is not exactly 

 known whence any of those were obtained, the locality 

 remains as undetermined as ever. When there has 

 been any tradition, that has indeed implied that they 



came from " the South Sea ;" but as the South Sea is 

 a common name for the whole Pacific Ocean, the 

 expression is somewhat vague. It is known, however, 

 that no quadrumanous animal inhabits Australia, New 

 Zealand, or any of the remote groups of islands which 

 are scattered over that wide ocean, so that the pro- 

 bability is that the locality may not have been far 

 from that where the mutilated skin from which the 

 French formed their description was obtained ; ami 

 that they were from some place rather northward, 

 such as the Philippines, is probable, because they 

 appear to bear the climate better than those species 

 which come from near the equator. The first speci- . 

 men which was known in England was in the Tower 

 menagerie, from which the remains found their- way 

 to the British Museum. This specimen was de- 

 scribed and figured by Mr. Gray ; but the name and 

 place in the system, which Cuvier had founded upon 

 Desmarest's description of the mutilated skin, were 

 retained. Another live specimen was some time auo 

 exhibited at Exeter 'Change, the animals at which, 

 on their removal, formed the basis of the collection at 

 the Surrey zoological gardens ; but the native habitat 

 of this one appears to have been no better known 

 than that of the former ; and it does not appear 

 that from the inspection of it, any one attempted to 

 correct the natural history of the animal. A third 

 specimen came into the possession of the zoologk-al 

 society, though without any more information as to 

 where it was obtained than the others. In the early 

 days of that society, and while the managers were 

 attempting, most laudably no doubt, to draw toward 

 it such a share of public attention as should ensure 

 sufficient profit as a mercantile speculation, to defray 

 the current expense and pay for additions and im- 

 provements, it was of course desirable to get hold of 

 all rare animals. But ignorance of the native locality 

 of an animal, leaves a sad blank in its natural history, 

 and reduces it much to the level of a common mu- 

 seum specimen, which does very well for being won- 

 dered at when seen, but comes one knows not where, 

 and is good for one knows not what. So that, now 

 when the zoological society is fully established, and 

 enjoying high patronage, it were much to be desired 

 that no animal should now be admitted into the col- 

 lection there without an authenticated record of its 

 previous history, or, at all events, a note of " the 

 name of its parish." That would take off every ap- 

 pearance of mere raree-show-ism ; and render true- 

 to nature in all its parts, a zoological collection which 

 must very soon be by far the foremost in the world. 

 The number of British zoologists spread over the 

 face of the globe, as well as the number of corre- 

 sponding members which the society now have, 

 must give precision and geographical truth to many 

 of the additions now to be made, and thus there 

 will be less need for having recourse to animals 

 of unknown localities which may be occasionally for 

 sale. The captains of ships, too, if they found that 

 the geography of animals were a sine qua non with 

 the best customers in the purchase of them, naturally 

 would, as they in general easily could, fill Tip that 

 blank in their history. The old showmen spoiled 

 that part of the business ; for if they could find an 

 animal which was, or could be wade, novel enough in 

 its appearance, they soon gave it " a local habitation 

 and a name.," with as much poetical licence as the 

 votaries of Parnassus. It is owing to these circum- 

 stances that we are still ignorant of the native locality 



