20 ZOOLOGY OF INDIA. 



hundred thousand ducats as the price of its redemption,— 

 but in vain ; for it was burnt by the viceroy, with a view to 

 stop the progress of idolatry. There are hospitals for apes 

 in Ahmedabad ; and in many parts of India they are so 

 familiarized by indulgence as to breed in numbers among 

 the bamboo-copses by the wayside. 



The gibbon, or long-armed ape {Hylobahs lar), has been 

 brought from Pondicherry. The name by which it is dis- 

 tinguished appears to be of ancient origin. According to 

 Delachamp, the animal called cephos by Pliny is designated 

 keipon bv Strabo, and from the latter term gibon or gibbon 

 may have been derived. Both terms probably originate 

 from koph or kophin, which in Hebrew and Chaldee signifies 

 ape ; but the description of the cephos given by Pliny does 

 certainly not coincide with the ascertained characters of 

 the modern cribbon, which is chiefly distinguished by the 

 enormous length of its arms. The eyes are large and 

 deeply seated, the nose is flat, and the ears resemble those 

 of the human race. A circle of gray hairs passes over the 

 eyes, cheeks, and beneath the under-jaw, ai.d, completely 

 surrounding the visage, gives a singular aspect to the 

 animal. The general colour of the hair is black, except on 

 the backs of the hands and feet, which are gray. The 

 disposition of the long-armed ape is mild and gentle. In 

 a state of domestication it receives its food without any 

 impatient greediness, and manifests a strong attachment to 

 those with whom it becomes acquainted. This long-armed 

 ape is native to the coast of Coromandel, and occurs also 

 in the peninsula of Malacca and the Molucca islands. It 

 was in one of the latter that Father de Compte had an op- 

 portunity of examining an individual of the species, which, 

 he says, walked on two feet, used its hands like a man, and 

 had a face like a Hottentot. The whole of its body was 

 covered over with a dark-gray w ja', and its voice, by which 

 it expressed a variety of passion-, exactly resembled that 

 of an infant. 



Intermediate between the gibbons and macaccas may be 

 placed the genus SemnQpithecus, of which the entellus 

 monkey offers a characteristic example. Though the tribe 

 to which this species belongs resemble the gibbons in the 

 shape of their heads, and in their physiognomical expression, 



