414 USE OF NATURAL INSTRUMENTS. 



each, other, hand in hand, when purposely intoxicated, in 

 order to their capture, by man. Baboons cuff or skelp their 

 young (Cassell). 



In many of the operations involving the use of the arms 

 and hands the employment of the fingers and thumbs is also 

 implied. But there are many operations in which, among 

 the Quadrumana, the nicely adjusted use of the fingers and 

 thumbs, and even the nails, is as much required as in many 

 of the works of man. These operations include 



1. The picking out of vermin such as pediculi from 

 the hair and skin of various parts of the body. 



2. The picking up of pins or other very small articles. 



. 3. The undoing, untying, or uncoiling of knots in cord, 

 string, rope, rings or links in chains ; including also the 

 picking out of thread in sewn articles, as well as the tying 

 of knots. 



4. The use of keys or other instruments of man's such 

 as table utensils. 



5. The picking of pockets and other forms of theft. 



6. The prizing open of lids of boxes of all kinds. 



7. Turning over the pages of books. 



8. Doing or undoing the fastenings of articles of man's 

 dress such as boots. 



9. Hairdressing. 



10. Extracting nails, staples, or holdfasts. 



As pickpockets, many monkeys may well be termed * light- 

 fingered,' and in other ways they prove themselves adroit 

 thieves, mainly by the use of their fingers. The titi monkey 

 theftuously removes cabinet specimens of insects from the 

 pins by which they are fastened (Cassell). The mona monkey 

 opens locks, unties knots, and undoes rings (Cassell). The 

 orang-utan also unties knots in a chain (Cassell). A pet 

 whitefaced (cebus) monkey of Belt's opened the links of its 

 chain and so escaped several times. 'It could loosen any 

 knot in a few minutes,' whether of cord or raw-hide 

 thong. A young female soko untied a cord that bound her, 

 'with fingers and thumbs in quite a systematic way,' ac- 

 cording to Livingstone, who also describes an older male as 

 sitting picking his nails. A tame capuchin monkey released 



