46 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



[M0NKEY8, 



Genus Hapale, Illiper (Jacchus and Midas, Geoff. ; 



Sa^inus, in part, of Lac£p<^e). The Marmozets, or 



OuisUlis, as the monkeys of this ^enus are termed, 



are distinguished from the rest of the American 



groups by some pccuUarities in their dentition. 



^ 4 1—1 



Dental formula : — incisors, t ; camnes, j^j ; 



3—3 2—2 _. 



false molars, 53^ ; true molars, ,,-3^ ■=32. (Fig. 



188.) Of tlie incisors of the upper jaw the two 

 middle are the largest ; those of the lower jaw equal 

 the lower canines in length : the tubercles of the 

 molars are acute. The muzzle is short ; the nose is 

 salient, with nostriU widely separate; the limbs arc 

 short ; the fingers slender, and all, excepting the 

 hind thumbs, which are remarkably short, are fur- 

 nished with sharp, long, compressed, hooked claws, 

 like those of a squirrel. The fur is full and soft ; 

 the tail longer than the head and body, and gene- 

 rally bushy. General contour, stature, and actions, 

 squirrel-like. The Mar.mozets, or Uuistitis (so called 

 from their sharp whistling cry), are diurnal in their 

 habits ; they are irritable in their temper, but timid, 

 and by no means remarkable for intelligence. The 

 most prominent feature in their disposition seems 

 to be extreme caution, an instinctive quality ne- 

 cessary to their preservation ; for though nimble 

 and quick, they are subject to the assaults of the 

 smaller beasts of prey, and of hawks and snakes. 

 Still they are not cowardly, and will defend them- 

 selves with great spirit against the attacks of an 

 enemy far stronger than themselves. Linnajus, in 

 his account of the Common Marmozet, states that 

 it displays great hatred towards cats, and attacks 

 them with ferocity, an observation founded most 

 probably on a single example which came under his 

 immediate notice. 



None of the American monkeys are more sen- 

 sitive of cold than the Marmozets, and nature has 

 well provided for their comfort ; not only is the fur 

 deep, soft, and warm, but the long, full tail is twisted, 

 as m the Saimiri, round the body, which, during 

 their noctural repose in some hollow tree, is gathered 

 up into as small a space as possible, and in this 

 crouching attitude they resemble a ball of fur with 

 a, little face projecting from it. 



These animals are easily rendered tame ; and 

 their elegant figure — their soft silky fur coloured 

 withblendingtints — theirnirableness and diminutive 

 size, have contributed to render them favourites in 

 their native climate as well as in other parts of the 

 world. From observations made upon the Marmo- 

 zets in captivity, it appears that they are more 

 prolific than other monkeys, producing two or even 

 three young ones at a birth. In their native regions, 

 viz., the deep forests of Para, Guiana, and Brazil, 

 they associate in small families, and feed upon 

 various fruits and insects, devouring the latter with 

 great eagerness. 



189, 190, 191. — The Common Makmoet 

 (Hapale Jacchus). Ouistiti, BufTon ; Sanglin, Ed- 

 wards ; Jacchus vulgaris, Geoffr. ; Simia Jacchus, 

 Linn. Fur long and soft, variegated black, white, 

 and rusty yellow, the black and white forming 

 alternate undulations. Ears surrounded by a large 

 plume of erect hairs, white, sometimes tipped with 

 dusky black, and sometimes perhaps largely washed 

 with black, if not quite black. Head and throat 

 dusky black : a white frontal mark above the root 

 of the nose. Tail annulated, dusky black and white. 

 Native country, Brazil, Guiana. 



Little has been recorded respecting the natural 

 habits of this beautiful animal, beyond the facts of 

 it congregating in small families, of being active 

 and shy, and of its subsisting upon insects and eggs, 

 together with fruits, such as bananas and mangoes, 

 of which it is very fond. 



It is frequently brought to Europe, and has not 

 only lived several years, but produced young in the 

 menageries of France and England. Distrustful, 

 especially towards those whom it is not accustomed 

 to see, it retires from observation, and on being 

 touched utters its peculiar whistling cry, or becomes 

 angry and resists the unwelcome attempt to court 

 its confidence. When undisturbed it displays much 

 liveliness, and exerts its activity, leaping from perch 

 to perch, with squirrel-like address, and in all its 

 actions justifying the expression of "nimble mar- 

 mozet," used by Shakspere. 



Extremely sensitive to cold, no little of the Mar- 

 mozet's time is passed in protecting itself against 

 the changes of temperature to which our atmosphere 

 is subject. All the wool, cotton, or other soft 

 materials with which it is furnished, it will carry to 

 some convenient comer of its cage, or to an inner 

 dormitory, and there completely bury itself in the 

 downy mass, from which it will peep out on a per- 

 son's approach, but from which, unless induced by 

 the offer of tempting food, it can seldom be induced 

 to emerge altogether. When two or three are con- 

 fined in the same cage, they huddle themselves 

 together, and lie nestled in their bed. 



The Marmozet eats bread, fruits, and finely- 

 minced meat : it feeds in a crouching attitude, and 

 usually holds everything between its two fore-paws, 

 the long hooked nails assisting it. Edwards, in his 

 ' Gleanings,' speaking of one of these animals which 

 came under his own observation, informs us that 

 it fed upon various articles of diet, as biscuits, 

 fruits, pulse, insects, and snails; and that, being 

 one day at liberty, it darted upon a small gold-fish 

 which was in a bowl, killed it, and greedily de- 

 voured it. After this occurrence, some small eels 

 were offered to it, which at first frightened it by 

 twisting round its neck, but it soon overcame and 

 eat them. 



In the first number of the ' Magazine of Natural 

 History' (1822), an interesting account is given, by 

 Mr. Neill, of the manners of one of these monkeys, 

 which he purchased at Bahia, the capital of the 

 province of St. Salvador, Brazil. At first, as he 

 states, it displayed great wildness and even fierce- 

 ness, screeching most vehemently when any one 

 offered to approach it, and it was a long lime before 

 it was so reconciled even to those who fed it as to 

 allow the slightest liberty in the way of touching or 

 patting its body ; it was impossible to do this by 

 surprise, or by the most stealthy and cautious ap- 

 proach, as the creature was not still for a moment, 

 out was continually.tuining its head from side to 

 side, eyeing every pei-son with the most suspicious 

 and angry look ; and its sense of hearing was so 

 exceedingly acute, that the slightest noise, or even 

 a whisper, was sure to rouse it. Its diet consisted 

 of I'ruits, such as bananas, mangoes, and Indian 

 corn, but when during the voyage these failed, it 

 eagerly fell upon the cockroaches, of which it 

 effectually cleared the vessel. It would frequently 

 eat a score of the larger kind, which are two inches 

 and a half long, and a great number of the smaller 

 ones, three or four times in the course of the day. 

 It was quite amusing to see the Marmozet at its 

 meal. When it got hold of one of the large cock- 

 roaches, it held the insect in its fore-paws, and then 

 invariably nipped the head off first : it then pulled 

 out the viscera and cast them aside, and devoured 

 the rest of the body, rejecting the dry elytra (wing- 

 cases) and wings, and also the legs of the insect, 

 which are covered with short, stiff bristles. The 

 small cockroaches it ate without such fastidious 

 nicety. In addition to these insects, milk, sugar, 

 raisins, and crumbs of bread were given to it. From 

 London it was conveyed to Edinburgh, where it was 

 living, when Mr. Neill wrote his account, in perfect 

 health : there, contrary to the statement of Linnaeus, 

 who says that it is an enemy to cats, it made ac- 

 quaintance with one, with which it fed and slept, 

 and lived on the best terms imaginable. Though 

 it became gradually tamer, it nevef lost its original 

 wildness and distrust. 



The first account of the Marmozet having bred 

 in Europe is given by Edwards (' Gleanings '), who 

 received it from a lady living at Lisbon, a pair of 

 these animals, during her residence there, having 

 produced young. They were at first ugly, and 

 almost destitute of fur, and clung to the breasts of 

 the mother; but as they grew larger, they mounted 

 her shoulders and back : when tired with carrying 

 them, she would detach them from her by rubbing 

 them against a wall or anything in her way : the 

 male would then take charge of them, till she was 

 inclined to resume her duties. 



In the year 1819, three young ones, a male and 

 two females, were produced in the Menagerie of 

 Paris. Their colour was of a uniform deep grey ; 

 the tail was almost destitute of hair; and they were 

 born with their eyes open. M. F. Cuvier, in de- 

 scribing their domestic economy, confirms the 

 account given by Edwards; but conlinement, in 

 this instance, so far destroyed the admirable instinct, 

 common even to the most savage animals, that one 

 of the little ones was killed by its piother before it 

 had an opportunity of asserlinsr the strongest claim 

 to her affection ; and the other two, which she 

 eagerly cherished the moment they commenced 

 deriving their nutriment from the natural fountain 

 of lif^, were deserted by both parents when the 

 supply from that source, probably from improper 

 nourishment, prematurely ceased. During the short 

 time they existed, the task of nursing them almost 

 wholly devolved upon the male parent, which, at 

 first, most assiduously cherished them, placing them, 

 when they claimed his protection, either under him 

 or upon his back, and thus carrying them about. 

 The female avoided, as much as possible, the trou- 

 blesome charge, receiving them unwillingly from 

 her partner ; and the moment she ha{> supplied 

 them with nourishment, again forcing them upon 

 his attention, at the same time uttering a peculiar 

 cry, as if asking him to ease her of a burthen with 

 which she was intolerably fatigued. 



In 1832 a pair bred in the Gardens of the Zoolo- 

 gical Society, at the Regent's Park, London, and 

 produced twins, which, liowevcr, died. Other ex- 

 amples are also upon record. 



192. — ^The Marikina, or Silky Tauarin 

 {Hapale rosalia). Midas rosalia, Geoffr. The 

 Marikina is one of the species of the present group, 

 which M. Geoffrey has separated, upon not very 

 tangible grounds, into a genus termed Midas. Fur 

 long, silky, and of a glossy golden yellow ; hairs of 

 the head long and falling, parted down the middle 

 of the crown by a line of short rust-brown hairs ; 

 ears concealed by the long hair of the head ; tail 

 almost tutted at the ajjex. Native country, Guiana, 

 Brazil. 



This species is subject to considerable variation ' 

 in the richness of its colouring: we have seen spe- 

 cimens of a straw-yellow, with a silvery lustre. 



Two or three opportunities have been afforded us 

 of observing this beautiful species in captivity. 

 Judging from these individuals, this animal is more 

 confiding and less irritable than the common mar- 

 mozet, which, however, it resembles in its actions. 

 When alarmed or angry, it utters a shrill cry, and 

 slightly raises the long hairs around the sides of its 

 face, displaying its teeth, as if threatening to bite. 

 Contrary to Buffon's opinion, who considers it to be 

 more hardy than most of its congeners, it appears 

 to be full as susceptible of the changes of our 

 climate, and indeed dies immediately if exposed to 

 damp or wet. 



In this opinion Fred. Cuvier fully coincides. 

 These animals, he observes, are natives of Brazil, 

 and from the delicacy of their constitution they 

 cannot be kept alive in France without the greatest 

 care to preserve them from the influence of atmo- 

 spheric changes, and especially from the cold and 

 humidity of the winter season : under the depressing 

 effects of wet and chilly weather, they lose all their 

 sprightliness, droop, and die. Speaking of the indi- 

 vidual figured in his splendid work, and which was 

 brought, in 1818, from Brazil to Paris, where it lived 

 for a .short time in the Menagerie of the Jardin de 

 Plantes, he slates that it was very active and lively, 

 and, like a bird, preferred the topmost perches of 

 the cage. On the least alarm it always concealed 

 itself; and though it appeared gratified with the 

 notice and caresses of those whom it knew, and 

 came to them when called, it never returned any 

 expressions or signs of attachment as other monkeys 

 do when noticed by persons to whom they are 

 attached. It disliked strangers and retired from 

 them, regarding them with looks of defiance, and 

 menacing with its feeble teeth. Fear or anger it 

 expressed by a short, sharp, whistling cry, but some- 

 times, as if from ennui, it raised its voice into a 

 louder or more prolonged note. In these details 

 the individuals described by Fred. Cuvier resembled 

 the specimens which have lived in the vivarium of 

 the Zool. Soc. Lond. The interest which attached 

 to thera resulted only from the lustre of their silky 

 fur and from the elegance of their actions, for it was 

 evident that their intelligence was very circum- 

 scribed. That prying curiosity, always amusing, 

 sometimes troublesome, which monkeys in general 

 exhibit, appeared to form no part of their character, 

 and the confidence they manifested towards those 

 accustomed to feed them was unmixed with tokens 

 of attachment or gratitude. Still it is difficult to 

 form a correct idea of the character of animals from 

 individuals in confinement ; and it cannot be 

 doubted that in its native forests, of which it is one 

 of the ornaments, the Marikina, like the squirrel of 

 our woods, displays habits and manners calculated 

 to excite the interest of the observer. Of these, 

 however, nothing is definitely known. According 

 to Prince Maximilian, ihe Alarikina is more rarely 

 found in Brazil than in Guiana. 



LEMURS 

 (Lemurida:). The Lemurs (Les Makis of the French) 

 differ from the monkeys of both worlds in dental 

 characters, but in quadrumanous structure they 

 approach those of the old, having opposable thumbs 

 on the fore-hands as well as on the hinder pair. 

 The contour of their body is very peculiar: the 

 general form is slender and elongated, the head is 

 pointed and somewhat fox-like ; the nostrils have a 

 sinuous opening, terminating a sharp, naked, and 

 somewhat prominent muzzle ; the eyes are large 

 and of a nocturnal chaiacter ; the limbs are long, 

 especially the hinder pair, which in some species 

 greatly exceed the anterior; the fore-hands have a 

 true thumb, but in some species the index-finger is 

 abbreviated ; the thumb of the hinder-hands is 

 large, and greatly expanded at the tip; the index- 

 finger of these hinder pair (and in the Tarsicr, the 

 next also) is armed witli a long, subulate, slightly 

 curved claw; the other nails are flat; the fur is 

 full and woolly ; the tail varies, it is never prehen- 

 sile, and is sometimes wanting: habits pre-eminently 

 arboreal. If we compare the skull of the monkey 

 (193) with that of the ordinary Lemurs (194), we 

 shall observe many distinctions. The volume of 

 the Lemur's skull, taken in relationship to that of 

 the face, is greatly diminished ; no trace of a lore- 

 head remains, but the frontal bone falls so com- 



