1883.] MR. J. B. SUTTON ON THE DISEASES OF MONKEYS. 581 



2. On the Diseases of Monkeys in the Society's Gardens. 

 By J. B. Sutton, Lecturer on Comparative Anatomy, 

 Middlesex Hospital. 



[Eeceived November 15, 1883.] 



When " a generally received opinion " is made the subject of 

 careful investigation, it not unfrequently turns out to be erroneous. 

 So with regard to the diseases of Monkeys living in this country. 

 The general public hold the belief endorsed by the medical pro- 

 fession, that nearly all the Monkeys brought to England die from 

 tuberculosis. After careful examination I fail to find any reasonable 

 excuse for so widely spread an error. 



In 1845 Dr. Percy, in a paper published in this Society's ' Pro- 

 ceedings ' gave an account of his " Management of Monkeys in Con- 

 finement." At the end of the article he mentioned some diseases to 

 which these animals are liable; in one only did he ^nd phthisis pv.l- 

 monalis, and that was in a Rhesus {Macacus rhesus), bought from an 

 itinerant showman. Dr. Crisp reported upon sixty-seven inspections 

 of the Quadrumana, with three cases only of tubercle. In 1881 the 

 Pathological Society of London, on the proposal of Mr. Hutchinson, 

 appointed a Committee to report on the present state of our know- 

 ledge of the diseases of the lower animals, and on the best means 

 for its advancement, and especially to make use of the material 

 available at the Society's Gardens, which, through the kindness 

 and influence of Professor Flower, had been placed at its disposal 

 by this Society \ Since that date, as one of their Committee, I have 

 had excellent opportunities of investigating Comparative Pathology 

 in all varieties of animals dying in the Society's Gardens, whereby 

 much new matter has come to light. As the Quadrumana are so 

 near to man, they have naturally attracted a considerable share of 

 my attention. 



"From Dec. 1, 1881, to March ;:iO, 1883, an interval of sixteen 

 months, one hundred and ten Quadrumana of various species died. 

 Of this number I examined the viscera of ninety-three. 



1. Tubercle. This caused death in three instances only. Two 

 were Rhesus Monkeys, and the third a Vervet Monkey, all Old- World 

 species. The disease was unmistakable, tubercular phthisis associated 

 with cavities in the apices of the lungs, in every point resembling 

 the disease as met with in the human subject. 



2. Bronchitis. A very slight attack of this affection appears to be 

 rapidly fatal. It was met with in twenty-two cases, sometimes 

 associated with emphysema, generally vesicular, but occasionally of 

 the interlobular variety. 



3. Pneumonia in its lobar form is not so common : three deaths 

 alone could he satisfactorily traced to this cause. The lobular form 

 is frequent, seven deaths having been occasioned by it. Three of the 



1 Vide Path. See. Trans. 1882, " Eeport of Council." 



