258 



M O N Iv E Y. 



the facial angle about fifty degrees ; the head rounded ; 

 no projecting ridges at the eyebrows, but the mar- 

 gins of the orbits smooth ; the nose flat, with the 

 nostrils opening in nasal grooves ; the ears of moderate 

 dimensions ; the mouth furnished with cheek-pouches, 

 external of the teeth ; the buttocks with naked callo- 

 sities, and the tail longer than the body. The red 

 monkey is an African, found in Senegal, where it 

 inhabits the woods, and is a very active little animal. 

 Its body is about sixteen or seventeen inches long, 

 and its tail nearly the same. The upper parts are 

 not red, but of a reddish-fawn colour, very bright. 

 This colour passes into greyish on the limbs, and the 

 face, the cheeks, and all the middle of the under part 

 are pure white. The face is peculiarly marked, there 

 being a black band over the eyes, which has the 

 appearance of eyebrows, and two black bands on the 

 lips, which resemble mustaches. The hair of these 

 is not, however, more produced than the differently 

 coloured hair by which it is surrounded. This is one 

 of the species which has been longest known, and it 

 is mentioned by the earliest of modern naturalists. 

 It is an active species, and very lively, dancing about 

 in a very peculiar manner when in a state of confine- 

 ment ; but it is exceedingly irritable, and liable to do 

 mischief if tampered with. It has been frequently 

 brought to this country, and, like the rest of the 

 genus, its form, though by no means symmetrical for 

 a walking animal, is rather more handsome than some 

 of the other monkeys. The nature of the country 

 which it inhabits, in which there are detached trees 

 rather than close forests, requires that it should be 

 better able to walk than many of the others ; but still 

 its walk, although tolerably rapid, is leaping and 

 inelegant. Contrary to the structure of the apes, its 

 liind legs are longer than its fore ones; and its hind 

 feet are particularly long, and so articulated, that it 

 can either apply the whole tarsus to the ground, or 

 only the metatarsus ; and when it does the latter, it 

 possesses the same number of joints in the leg as 

 those animals which are properly digitigrade. The 

 fore feet are always plantigrade in the monkey tribes, 

 the carpus being very short as compared with the 

 tarsus. 



The Varied Monkey (Cercopilhecus mona). In a 

 race of animals not very remarkable for their beauty, 

 this has often been described as surpassing all the 

 others in that respect ; and the markings of its colours 

 are certainly very striking. The native country of 

 this monkey has not been very satisfactorily made 

 out, or at all events there are some disputes about it. 

 It is African, and is understood to be a mountaineer, 

 and to inhabit the mountains of Atlas, though we are 

 not aware that any European has hitherto observed 

 it in those mountains. Its manners in a state of 

 nature, and the fact as to whether it is more a tree 

 or a ground animal, have not been satisfactorily ascer- 

 tained. From the specimens which have been kept 

 in confinement, it appears, however, to be more hardy 

 than almost any other of the monkeys ; and it is also 

 susceptible of a good deal of education. It is an 

 animal of great cunning and resource, and is perhaps 

 the most expert pickpocket of all the four-handed 

 race. It can open locks by turning the key ; empty 

 a pocket so gently as that the owner cannot perceive 

 it. It can also play a number of other tricks, and it 

 is more sensible to kindness than any other monkey. 

 There is also nothing particularly offensive in its 

 habits ; and, as its colours are singularly contrasted, 



it is one of the very few which can be kept in cap- 

 tivity without exciting any repulsive feeling. The 

 following is a description, by Mr. Bennct, of a speci- 

 men in the gardens of the Zoological Society of 

 London : " The top of the head is of a greenish- 

 yellow, mingled with a slight tinge of black ; and the 

 neck, back, and sides, are of a deep chestnut-brown, 

 passing downwards as far as the shoulders and 

 haunches, where it changes into a dusky slate colour, 

 which is continued on the limbs and tail. The latter 

 organ is considerably longer than the body, and has, 

 on each side of its base, a very remarkable white 

 spot. The under surface of the body and the inside 

 of the limbs are of a pure and delicate white, sepa- 

 rated from the neighbouring colours by an abrupt 

 line of demarcation. 



" The naked upper part of the face, comprehending 

 the orbits and the cheeks, is of a bluish purple ; the 

 lips, and so much of the chin as is without hair, flesh- 

 coloured ; on the sides of the face, large bushy whis- 

 kers of a light straw colour, mixed with a few blackish 

 rings, advance forwards and cover a considerable 

 portion of the cheeks. Above the eyebrows is a 

 transverse black band, extending on each side as far 

 as the ears, and surmounted by a narrow crescent- 

 shaped stripe of grey, which is sometimes scarcely 

 visible. The ears and the hands are of a livid flesh 

 colour." 



TheDiana or Palatine Monkey (CcrcopitJiecits Diana]. 

 This species was named Diana by Linnseus in conse- 

 quence of the slight resemblance which a white spot 

 on its forehead has to a crescent which was the em- 

 blem of the fabulous divinity, whom the ancients 

 made the patroness of hunters. This species re- 

 sembles the two former in its shape, and, like them, it is 

 an African ; but it inhabits nearer the equator, and 

 is chiefly found in the woods. The length of its 

 head and body is about a foot and a half, and that of 

 its tail about two feet. Its general colour is a mix- 

 ture of black and white on the upper part, passing 

 gradually into ash colour on the heaa, neck, and 

 lower part of the body. On the middle of the back 

 the black predominates, and so it does also in the 

 tail, the tip of which is entirely black. The crescent 

 of white above the eyes, the points of which extend 

 nearly as far as the ears, is its most remarkable 

 feature, and the one by which it can be distinguished 

 from every other monkey. This species has been 

 frequently brought to Europe ; and though, from 

 being a native of very tropical countries, it feels a 

 great uneasiness during our winter months ; yet if it 

 is kept warm enough it will live in our climate. It 

 feeds chiefly upon vegetables, of which it prefers nuts 

 and sweet fruits ; but it also eats bread, and even 

 eggs, though it does not eat flesh, or attempt to kill 

 any warm-blooded animal for the purpose of eating 

 it. It is, however, an ill-natured and snarling animal, 

 always showing its teeth when a stranger approaches 

 it, and biting severely if it can get within reach. It 

 seems that, in a state of nature, it procures great part 

 of its food by the scent ; for, when confined, it 

 smells very carefully at every object, and at the same 

 time turns it round to examine it ; so that, if food is 

 given to it in a dish, the first thing that it does is to 

 turn the dish upside down. It drinks a great deal ; 

 and, for its size, its appetite may be said to be vora- 

 cious. The fact of this monkey eating eggs when in 

 a state of confinement would lead one to suppose 

 that the eggs of tree birds form at least a part of the 



