48 



The Catarhine monkeys include the Macaques, most of 

 which are Asiatic, a few are African, and one European ; the 

 Cercopitheques, most of which are African, and a few Asiatic; 

 and other genera which characterize one or other continent 

 exclusively. Thus the true Baboons (Papio) are African, 

 as are the thumbless Monkeys ( Colobus) and the Chimpanzees 

 (Troglodytes}. The Semiiopitheques, Gibbons (Hylobates) , 

 and Orangs (Pithecus} are peculiarly Asiatic. Palaeontology 

 has shown that a Macaque, a Gibbon and an Orang existed 

 during the older tertiary times in Europe ; and that a Sem- 

 nopitheque existed in miocene times in India. But all the 

 fossil remains of Quadrumana in the Old World belong to 

 the family Catarhina, which is still exclusively confined to 

 that great division of dry land. The tailless Macaque (Inuus 

 sylvanus} of Gibraltar may have existed in that part of the 

 Old World before Europe was separated by the Straits of 

 Gibraltar from Africa. Fossil remains of Quadrumana have 

 been discovered in South America ; they indicate Platyrhine 

 forms: a species, for example, allied to the Howlers (Mycetes}, 

 but larger than any now known to exist, has left its remains 

 in Brazil. 



Whilst adverting to the geographical distribution of 

 Quadrumana, I would contrast the peculiarly limited range of 

 the Orangs and Chimpanzees with the cosmopolitan powers 

 of mankind. The two species of Orang (Pithecus} are con- 

 fined to Borneo and Sumatra ; the two species of Chimpanzee 

 ( Troglodytes} are limited to an intertropical tract of the western 

 part of Africa. They appear to be inexorably bound to their 

 localities by climatal influences regulating the assemblage 

 of certain trees and the production of certain fruits. With 

 all our care, in regard to choice of food, clothing, and contri- 

 vances for artificially maintaining the chief physical condi- 

 tions of their existence, the healthiest specimens of Orang or 

 Chimpanzee, brought over in the vigour of youth, perish 

 within a period never exceeding three years, and usually 

 much shorter, in our climate. By what metamorphoses, we 



