CERCOPITHECID. A 727 



of the highlands of Eastern Tibet and Kansu, is remarkable for the 

 peculiar upturned nose, in which respect, as already mentioned, 

 it recalls the young of Nasalis lan-nfii*. The genus is represented 

 in India and Burma by no less than fourteen species, of which the 

 common Indian Langur, or Hanuman Monkey (S. entellus) and 

 the larger Himalayan Langur (S. schistaceus) are two of the best 

 known. In the former the length of the head and body is about 

 24, and that of the tail 38 inches in adult males. This monkey, 

 owing to the veneration in which it is held by the Hindus, is a 

 great pest in many parts of India, frequently pilfering grain from 

 the shops in the native bazaars. According to Mr. Blanford, 

 it "is usually found in smaller or larger communities, composed 

 of individuals of both sexes and of all ages, the youngest clinging 

 to their mothers and being carried by them, especially when 

 alarmed. An old male is occasionally found solitary, as with so 

 many other mammals. . . . Apart from villages, the high trees 

 on the banks of streams or of tanks, and, in parts of Central 

 India, rocky hills are the favourite haunts of these monkeys. 

 Whether on trees, on rocks, or on the ground, they are exceedingly 

 active." The closely allied S. schistaceus attains a larger average 

 size, full grown males attaining a length of 30 inches, the tail 

 measuring 36 inches. In the spring and winter this species may 

 be observed in the Kashmir Himalaya leaping among the snow-laden 

 trees of the forest. In a fossil state Semnopithecus occurs in the 

 Pleistocene and Pliocene of India, and it has also been recorded 

 from the Pliocene of France and Italy. 



Colobus. 1 This African genus differs from Semnopithecus in that 

 the pollex is absent or reduced to a small tubercle, which may or may 

 not carry a nail. About eleven species have been described, some 

 of which are remarkable for the beautiful mantle of long silky 

 hair which hangs down from each side of the body, and for their 

 tufted tails. In ('. i/n<'ir:>(. from Abyssinia these are white, and the 

 rest of the body and limbs black. Others (as ('. .o/fnini*) are entirely 

 black. The skins of the long-haired species are largely imported 

 into Europe for the manufacture of ladies' muffs, etc. 



Extinct Genera. Certain types of Apes from the European 

 Tertiaries indicate genera referable to the Cercopithtcida, but 

 distinct from any of those now living. Of these Mesopithecus, 2 from 

 the Lower Pliocene Pikermi beds of Attica, is known by almost 

 complete skeletons, and resembles M<n-tini.< in the shortness and 

 stoutness of the limbs, but agrees with Semnopithecus in the characters 

 of the skull and teeth. An allied Monkey from the Lower Pliocene 

 of Perpignan, in France, differs from MesopiihffiUS pent ''I id by its 

 superior size, proportionately more produced muzzle, and larger 



1 Illiger, Prodi-omits Syst. Mamm. et Avium, p. 69 (1811). 

 - Wagner, GWeftrte Anzcigen, vol. viii. No. 38, p. 310 (1839). 



