46 



THE MONKEYS OF THE OLD WORLD. 



That creatures so highly gifted and intel- 

 lectually awakened should be easily tamed 

 and trained in early years is just as little sur- 

 prising as that they should change their dis- 

 position, and become cunning, ill-tempered, ill- 

 behaved, ill-natured and ready to snap, when 

 they are placed in confinement, even though 

 they are col lected, as 

 is now customary, 

 into large m.onkey- 

 houses. This hap- 

 pens all the more 

 frequently since it 

 is the practice to 

 cage up in the 

 monkey-houses in- 

 dividuals of differ- 

 ent species, which 

 tease one another, 

 while in a state of 

 freedom only indi- 

 viduals of the same 

 species herd to- 

 gether, and individ- 

 uals which, more- 

 over, are closely 

 linked together by 

 ties of blood. Even 

 with the greatest 

 care most monkeys 

 in our climate be- 

 come ill; they suffer 

 from the want of 



the sun, the warmth, the forests of their 

 homes. How can one then draw any inference 

 from the behaviour of these sickly creatures, 

 constantly teased and plagued by their fellows, 

 as to the qualities which they display in the 

 free life of their native woods? 



Owing to the gradual nature of the transi- 

 tions between the different forms, separate 

 groups can with difficulty be distinguished. 

 From these groups we single out only a few 

 well-marked representatives. In most genera 

 there are many species but slightly different 

 from one another. 



Fig. 4. — The Proboscis Monkey or Kahau {Semnopithecus nasica). 



Semnopitheci. 



The monkeys belonging to the genus Semnopithecus are 

 arboreal creatures of slender shape, with well-developed 

 thumbs, long tails, a compound stomach of three parts, 

 and sometimes with, sometimes without, cheek-pouches. 



In the representation on p. 45 of a family 

 of the sacred monkey of the Hindus, the 



Entellus Monkey or 

 Hunuman {^Semno- 

 pithecus entellus), 

 a typical species 

 of the genus is 

 exhibited, engaged 

 in its favourite 

 occupations. The 

 mamma is search- 

 ing the fur of papa, 

 who remains pa- 

 tiently and com- 

 fortably still under 

 the operation. The 

 oldest son is teasing 

 some younger ones 

 who are playing to- 

 gether, and in the 

 background the 

 daughter-in-law is 

 nursing her off- 

 spring. 



A round head 

 with slightly pro- 

 truding muzzle, 

 slender neck and 

 body, moderately long limbs with well- 

 formed thumbs and great toes, the tail fur- 

 nished with a terminal tuft of hair, and about 

 a yard long, much longer than the body, 

 which measures only some two feet; a rather 

 rough coat of fur with hair spreading out 

 in all directions and forming a stiff hood, 

 as it were, round its warty visage ; face, 

 ears, hands and feet black, beard yellow, 

 the rest of the fur whitish,— such are the 

 principal external characters of this species 

 of monkeys, which is distributed through- 

 out the more low-lying regions of the East 



