54 



ZOOLOGICAL SKETCHES. 



they like to consort with one mate, one favorite com- 

 panion, but dislike a crowd. Their larger assemblies 

 have always a special purpose, — a combined attack upon 

 some beast of prey, a foray upon an orchard where out- 

 posts are needed ; but that purpose attained, the troop 

 separates pair-wise, even in captivity, unless a low 

 temperature should oblige them to huddle together. 

 Wolves, too, as well as many species of migratory birds, 

 congregate only in particular emergencies, while hogs 

 and horned cattle always prefer to herd in the largest 

 possible numbers. The gastronomic predilections of 

 the four-handed freebooters are more uniform than 

 might be supposed from the dissimilarity of their habi- 

 tats. Sweet or sub-acid tree-fruits always form the 

 staple of their diet ; fantc de mieitx, they manage to 

 rough it on roots, nuts, mollusks, and even insects, 

 which, besides a few berries, constitute the only suste- 

 nance of the Gibraltar macaques ; but meat — i.e., the 

 flesh of mammals and birds — seems as repulsive as 

 poison to all daylight monkeys, as well as to the 

 plurality of the African lemurs. But even the Simiadce 

 proper, the Asiatic monos and anthropoids, whom no 

 starvation can drive to carnivorous shifts, are ravenously 

 fond of milk and eggs, thus justifying the theory of the 

 " Liberal Vegetarians," who distinguish between animal 

 and semi-animal articles of food. 



Most monkeys are gourmands, and their alleged fond- 

 ness for stimulants is a favorite argument with the op- 



