1 9 o APES AND MONKEYS. 



although frequently requiring a considerable amount of trouble and patience before 

 they can be tamed. Whereas other monkeys usually give birth to but a single 

 young one at a time, marmosets normally have litters of two or three ; and in this 

 respect, therefore, show decided signs of their affinity with animals of inferior rank 

 in the zoological scheme. They retain, however, the expressive and mobile faces 

 characteristic of the higher monkeys. 



There are a large number of kinds of marmosets, although there is still some 

 uncertainty as to how many are entitled to rank as valid species. The whole of 

 them are very similar in general appearance, but they may be conveniently divided 

 into two genera, according as to whether the lower tusks or canine teeth are or not 

 longer than the front teeth or incisors. 



THE SHORT-TUSKED MARMOSETS. 

 Genus Hapale. 



The marmosets of this group are characterised by the tusks not being longer 

 than the incisors in the lower jaw, so that all the teeth present an even series. It 

 is only in this genus that we meet with species in which the hair of the tail is 

 marked by darker and lighter rings. 



Common The common marmoset, or ouistiti (H. jacchus), is one of the 



Marmoset. k es t anc [ longest known members of the family, having been first 

 described by Linnaeus. It is an inhabitant of Brazil, more especially the south- 

 eastern regions of that country, and belongs to a group in which the ears are large 

 and bald over the greater part of their expanse, but furnished with a pencil of 

 long hairs, which forms an expanded tuft on the front edge of their aperture ; 

 the hair on the sides of the crown of the head being likewise elongated. The tail 

 is alternately ringed with bands of black and white, and the back has likewise 

 darker and lighter cross-bands. 



The common marmoset, which is represented in the left figure of the woodcut 

 on p. 189, is of a generally blackish colour, the back and outer surfaces of the 

 thighs being marked with transverse bands of grey, and the head having a white 

 spot on the upper part of the nose. The especial point of distinction is, however, 

 that while the head is black and white, the tufts of hair on the ears are pure white. 



The contrast between the black face and the white ear-tufts gives a very 

 peculiar expression to this animal, reminding us somewhat of a white-haired negro. 

 It is frequently brought to this country as a pet, and its behaviour in captivity 

 has been many times described. 



The following account of the habits of a favourite ouistiti is given by a writer 

 in Loudon's Magazine of Natural History for the year 1829. This specimen was 

 procured at Bahia, and at first it is described as being " exceedingly bold and 

 fierce, screeching most vehemently when anyone dared to approach it. ... It was 

 long 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 ; and it was almost impossible 

 to do this by surprise, or by the most quiet and cautious approach, as the monkey 



