MONKEYS OF THE OLD WORLD. 347 



Baboons, there is, as in the Tiger, or Hyaena, a bold, rugged, occipital crest, 

 denoting the power and extent of the muscles supporting the skull. The 

 preceding sketch of the skeleton of the Mandrill (fig. 243) will render these 

 observations at once intelligible. The shoulders are very muscular, and 

 the chest is capacious, but compressed laterally, so as to be deeper, from 

 the spine to the sternum, than from the centre of the arch of one rib to the 

 centre of its fellow. In this respect, however, there is considerable differ- 

 ence ; and in the Orang and Chimpanzee, the chest is broader than it is deep. 



The flexures of the spinal column, so decided in Man, are very slight 

 in the spine of the Simiadae generally, but not in the Orang and a few 

 others. 



Ischiatic callosities (that is, a coarse, naked, thickened, callous skin, 

 covering the tuberosity of the ischium) are universal, except in the 

 Orang : in the Gibbons, they are very small ; in the Baboons, of large 

 extent. 



The larynx, in many species, communicates, by means of an opening 

 at the base of the epiglottis, with a membranous sack, sometimes double, 

 occupying the anterior part of the neck, below the skin, and often extend- 

 ing beneath the clavicles : this sack can be filled with air at pleasure, but 

 its use is not very apparent. 



The greater number of Simiadae have cheek-pouches, carried back 

 from the inside of the cheeks, below the ears, which serve as a receptacle 

 for the conveyance of grain and fruits. 



The tongue is thick and fleshy, and three or four papillae are seated 

 on its upper surface, near the base, so as to form the points of a triangle, 

 its apex being directed forward. 



The Monkeys of the Old World have generally been accounted 

 frugivorous ; and though to a certain point this is correct, few are ex- 

 clusively so ; and jmany are truly omnivorous, animal food being received 

 with a satisfaction not to be mistaken. With respect to the Mandrill, for 

 example, this is peculiarly the case ; receding, in form, from the more typical 

 Simiadae, and approaching (with its congeners) to the Carnivora in general 

 structure, it equally approaches them in instincts and appetite. It has 

 been known to destroy and devour living prey with the avidity of a Tiger. 

 Most of the Simiadae relish insects : the Dog-faced Baboon, or Chacma, of 

 South Africa, hunts greedily in quest of Scorpions, which it devours alive 

 by multitudes ; having first, by an instantaneous action, almost too quick to 

 be perceived, broken off the latter part of the tail, which is terminated by 

 a sting. In trials made upon different species of Monkeys, with a view 

 to discover the extent and predilection of their carnivorous appetite, wide 

 differences have been observed, not only in the selection of animal food, 

 but in the manner of taking and devouring it. The quadruped, or bird, 

 which some would pounce upon, and tear to pieces with quickness and 



