170 APES AND MONKEYS. 



the eyes are very large, approaching in this respect those of the douroucolis, from 

 which these monkeys are, however, distinguished by the wide partition between 

 the nostrils, and the peculiar form of the head. The peculiarity in the shape of 

 the head consists in its great elongation from front to back ; the aperture by which 

 the spinal cord passes out from the brain to the backbone being situated far in 

 advance of the hinder occipital region of the skull, which projects backwards be- 

 hind the neck in a manner unknown in any other monkeys. Other characteristic 

 points are to be found in the relatively large size of the tusks or canine teeth, 



THE COMMON SQUIRREL-MONKEY ( liat. size). 



and also the comparatively short hair clothing the tail. The squirrel-monkeys, or 

 saimaris, as they were called by Buffon, also differ from the douroucolis by their 

 diurnal habits. 



Common The common squirrel-monkey (C. sciurea) is far the best-known 



Squirrel-Monkey. representative of the genus; it is an inhabitant of Brazil and the 

 valley of the Orinoco. It is a small animal, not much larger than a squirrel, with 

 the head grizzled grey, tending to blackish, and the hairs of the fur of the body 

 also grey, with a black mottling, but more or less tinged with gold in the region 

 of the back. The outer sides of the fore-arms are yellowish ; the paws whitish ; 

 and the long and slender tail tipped at the end with black. 



Writing of this species, the traveller Humboldt observes that no other monkey 

 has so much the physiognomy of a child ; it exhibits a similar expression of inno- 



