452 QUADRUMANA. 



lorsque 1'espece sera moins imparfaitement connue, on soit oblige de 

 retablir le genre Nasalis, dans lequel on 1'isolait autrefois, mais que n'est 

 pas ete admis par la plupart des auteurs modernes." 



While adverting to the genera which have merged into Semnopithecus, 

 notice of the genus termed Pygathrix by Geoffroy, and Lasiopyga, byllliger, 

 cannot be omitted. The apparent want of callosities in the Douc Monkey, 

 induced both Geoffrey and Illiger respectively to found a genus for its recep- 

 tion : but it happened, unfortunately, that the specimen from which both took 

 their characters, was mutilated ; the callosities having been cut away. Perfect 

 skins, of which several now exist in the Paris Museum, and others in Eng- 

 land (one in the museum of the Zoological Society, London, No. 12, Cata- 

 logue, 1838), have enabled naturalists to correct the error thus occasioned, 

 and the genus Pygathrix, or Lasiopyga, becomes annihilated. The genus 

 Presbytis of Eschscholtz, of which the only species (Presbytis mitrata) 

 appears to be the Croo, has, also, no foundation ; whether it was for the 

 Croo, or an allied species, that the genus was proposed, is of little import ; 

 there is no hesitation in merging it into Semnopithecus. 



F. Cuvier calls the Semnopitheci, Slow Monkeys ; but it is only to 

 a certain extent that they merit the title. The length and slenderness of 

 the limbs and body, detract, if not from their agility, at least from the 

 energetic abruptness of their movements, which have a more sweeping 

 character than we see in any of the Cercopitheci. Nevertheless, they 

 leap and bound among the branches of their native forests with great 

 ease, and to vast distances, their long tail acting as a director, or balancer, 

 in their motions. Less lively, less petulant, and, at the same time, less 

 inquisitive, than the Cercopitheci, they appear, at times, as if even 

 oppressed with melancholy, and sit in listless apathy. While young, they 

 are very gentle ; but when adult, they are sullen, morose, and vindictive ; 

 and their long canines render them truly formidable. In their native 

 regions they associate in troops ; several species, but more particularly the 

 Entellus, are held in veneration by the worshippers of Brama, and are 

 not only tolerated, but protected as sacred. This blind superstition is 

 not, however, universal. 



Many species attain to considerable dimensions ; most, if not all, are 

 distinguished by the length, softness, and glossiness of their fur ; and 

 some by the richness and beauty of their colouring. In all, the eyebrows 

 are well marked, consisting of long, stiff hairs, directed nearly forward, 

 and giving a peculiar and distinguishing character to their physiognomy. 



