270 



M O N K E Y. 



mals are better adapted for walking on the ground. 

 They have four fingers and a thumb on each of the 

 fore feet, the latter capable of acting against the 

 others. Still they are but rudely-formed hands, for 

 the fore finger is so short, that, when the palm is ap- 

 plied to the ground, the foot has very much the 

 resemblance of a paw, and not of a grasping instru- 

 ment. This paw-like appearance is farther increased 

 by the form of the nails, which, on the fore feet, with 

 the exception of those on the thumbs, are compressed, 

 and slightly resemble claws. The head is rounded, 

 and their fur is much softer to the touch than that of 

 any other of the American monkeys, with the ex- 

 ception, perhaps, of some of the genus Ateles. Their 

 facial angle is about fifty degrees, and their ears are 

 very small. Altogether they seem to be animals of 

 soft and quiet disposition, though very little is known 

 of their manners. Humboldt, we believe, saw but 

 one, and that one was in the hut of an Indian in the 

 valley of the Oronooko. It had not, however, been 

 obtained in the forest there, but considerably to the 

 west, on the more dry and elevated grounds, where 

 the forests are not so close. This agrees with the 

 structure cf the animal, which is better adapted for 

 walking, and less so for climbing, than that of the 

 species which have the legs longer and more slender. 

 The account given by the Indians is, that this species 

 associate together in large troops, which meet in the 

 openings of the woods, and hold a sort of council, at 

 which the elders of the band stand up on their hind 

 legs and conduct themselves with all the gravity of 

 senators. As is the case among these, however, those 

 monkey assemblies are not uniformly taciturn. They 

 do not howl in the same deep and dismal tones as 

 the howling monkeys, properly so called ; but they 

 occasionally set up a violent chattering, something 

 resembling that cheering and counter-cheering which 

 takes place among men in the sound, and very likely 

 in the sense. They are represented as being terrible 

 gourmands, or rather gourmis, for it is quantity, not 

 quality of food, of which they are said to be so fond. 

 Three species have been named, but it is probable 

 that two of these are one and the same, and possible 

 that all the three may be climatal varieties. The one 

 of these is 



HumboldCs Monkey (L. Humboldtii). This is the one 

 found by that enterprising and intelligent traveller, 

 with the Indian of the valley of the Orinoco. It was 

 an animal of considerable size, being about two feet 

 three inches in the head and body, and with the tail 

 rather longer. The head large and round, and hav- 

 ing a blunt appearance, from the smallness of the ears 

 and the shortness of the hair. The hair on the upper 

 part of the body is whitish, with black tips, producing 

 a greyish shade. The hair on the breast is much 

 longer than the rest, and of a brownish colour ; but 

 that on the head is very short, of the same colour as 

 that on the back, only rather brighter. The face is 

 of a black colour, and naked, only there are short 

 stiff bristles surrounding the mouth. A portion of 

 the tip of the tail is naked, and that organ is very 

 prehensile. So far as we know, this animal has not 

 been found in the eastern part of South America, 

 though in all probability it exists there as well as in 

 the central part, eastward of the Andes. 



The Grison Monkey (L. canus). This species is 

 rather smaller than the last mentioned, and it has 

 been found in Brazil. The upper part of the body 

 aiwi the outsides of the legs are greyish olive ; the 



head, the tail, and all the under part brown, mixed 

 with more or less of ash colour. It is supposed, how- 

 ever, to be subject to considerable varieties of colour, 

 as some specimens, doubtless of the same species, 

 have been met with with the head almost black. Spix, 

 in his splendid work on the animals of Brazil, mentions 

 another species, and also gives a figure of it under 

 the name of the "smoke-coloured monkey" (Gastro- 

 margiif inftimatm} ; gastromargus being the generic 

 name applied by Spix to these monkeys, he being 

 the first to discover their great powers in the gastro- 

 nomic way. This one is, however, so like the former 

 in every thing, except being more of a smoke-grev 

 colour, that it is highly probable they are one and 

 the same species, of which, as we have mentioned, 

 other coloured varieties have been observed. 



SAPAJOOS PROPER (Cebns]. The grand distinguish- 

 ing character of these from the whole of those for- 

 merly mentioned is the tail entirely covered with 

 short and thick-set hairs, though it retains the pre- 

 hensile property, yet not perhaps in such perfection 

 as where it is naked, and may be regarded as posess- 

 ing directly the properties of an organ of touch, as 

 well as those of an organ of prehension. This sub- 

 division or genus may be regarded as holding a sort 

 of intermediate place between the tree monkeys and 

 the ground monkeys, the spider-monkeys being taken 

 as the most typical genus of the former, or the ones 

 most exclusively adapted to a woodland life. Most 

 of those who have attempted to classify these singular 

 and interesting, but obscurely-known animals, have 

 put the howling monkeys foremost among the tree 

 ones, as if they were the most typical genus. In 

 respect of size and numbers, and especially of the 

 noise which they make in the world, they unques- 

 tionably stand foremost ; but these are not sufficient 

 grounds of precedence among monkeys any more 

 than among men ; and Cuvier, though he perhaps 

 knew less of the details of the individuals, especially 

 in their colouring and other external appearances, 

 than other naturalists of far less philosophic and 

 generalising minds, was yet faithful to the structure 

 in taking, as typical of the tree monkeys of America, 

 those which are most adroit among the branches, and 

 most helpless upon the ground. Viewing them in this 

 way, we have, in those American monkeys, a series 

 which is probably more complete than in any other 

 animals with which we are acquainted ; for the spider- 

 monkeys are the best climbers of which we have any 

 knowledge, and the structural series comes regularly 

 down till the hand makes a close approximation to a 

 digging foot ; and the four-handed race merge into 

 or pass over the still-continued series to the rodentia, 

 and these again to the toothless animals, till we come 

 to the armadilloes, clad in armour, and digging deeply 

 in the ground. 



This series, taking all the three orders in their suc- 

 cession, and carefully comparing each order and each 

 shade of generic difference with the corresponding 

 differences of haunt and habit, would be an exceed- 

 ingly interesting subject of natural study ; and would 

 probably better reward any one who should bring to 

 it the requisite degree of knowledge and talent than 

 any other that could readily be named. 



It would, however, be attended with great labour, 

 and not a little difficulty ; and much must be observed 

 before it can be attempted with any great probability 

 of success ; but still it is a mine which will reward 

 for manv ajres those who have the means and the 



