36 QUADRUMANA. 



BABOONS. 



The most striking peculiarity of these animals is the resem- 

 blance of their head and face to those of a large dog. Their 

 muzzles are long and truncated. They have cheek pouches, 

 short tails and sharp claws. The malignant expression of their 

 countenances, their gigantic strength and the brutal ferocity of 

 their manners, render them decidedly the most frightful and dis- 

 gusting of all the Qtiadrumana. Their home is Africa, where 

 they frequent rocky ridges more than the forests. They live 

 mostly on scorpions, which they find under stones and deprive 

 of their stings by a skillful application of the thumb and finger. 

 In the Baboon, the facial angle is reduced to 30. The name is 

 from the Italian Babbaino, from which comes the Latin word 

 Papio, applied to these animals especially in the fifteenth and 

 sixteenth centuries. In brilliancy of color, they vie with the 

 gorgeous plumage of the tropical birds. 



" They are distinguished from the Apes, by the equality of 

 their members, their cheek pouches and ischial callosities; from 

 the Monkeys, by the short robust make of their bodies and extrem- 

 ities, their tubercular tails, too short to execute the functions usu- 

 ally assigned to that organ, and the mountain rather than silvan 

 habitat which this conformation necessarily induces." 



Cynoceplialus, (Gr. Kfav, Kuon, a dog; Keyah^ Kephale, a 

 head ;) Dog-headed. C. Mormon, (Gr. 3fooawj>, Mormon, a bogie.) 

 This is the MANDRIL, or GREAT VARIEGATED BABOON. 



The Mormon resembles the dog and bear. It is a native of 

 Guinea and West Africa, has a short, erect and stumpy tail, by 

 which, and the enormous protuberances of its cheeks, it is read- 

 ily distinguished from the other species. This is not only the 

 largest of all the Baboons, but the most brilliant in its colors. 

 When upright, its height reaches five feet. The muzzle is of a 

 bright scarlet color ; a stripe, of vermilion runs along the center 

 of the nose, and spreads over the lip ; the cheeks are also of a rich 

 violet hue, and elevated on each side by a singular development 

 of the bone, which forms a socket for the roots of the immense 

 canine teeth. The hair is of a greenish brown color, caused by 

 alternate layers of yellow and black present in each hair. On 

 the temples it is directed upwards, so as to meet in a point on the 

 crown of the head. The brilliancy of the colors is connected 

 with the skin, and disappears when the animal dies or is sick. 

 The Mandril frequents forests filled with brushwood, whence it 

 sallies forth to plunder the nearest villages. Its bulk is great in 



