622 MR. W. T. BLANFORD ON THE [DoC 6, 



Cynoceplialorum nigro colore, totiiis corporis, & faciei prsesertim, 

 qiiPe undequaque est csesarie magna pilorum nigrorum circumdata. 

 Hilari & eleganti faciei sunt, adniodumque cicures, mansuetae, 

 J TiWctab. sxi. beneTolae, atque fideles hse Simise observantur. J Imaginem 

 pictam quam hie damns, misit ad me Nicolaus Contrarenus Patvitius 

 Venetus maxime illustris, ad Simiam ex ^gypto Venetias deductam 

 affabre pictura delinatam." 



Tab. xxi. represents an animal with a short tail, hairy body, and 

 long hair all round the head. This figure has some resemblance to 

 the Malabar Monkey, but quite as much to Cynocephalus hamadryas 

 or Macacus (^Thtropithecus) gelada or M. ohscm-us. Indeed, taking 

 the description into consideration, the last may not improbably have 

 been the species intended. The resemblance of this figure to that 

 of Buifon's " Ouanderou " not improbably led to the two being 

 confounded. 



It will be noticed that the quotation from Prosper Alpinus in 

 Linnaeus, " Simia Callitriches magnitudine Cynocephalorum," was 

 evidently taken from the last quoted description. 



I conclude therefore that the Simia silenus of Linnaeus was dis- 

 tinguished by three characters, not one of which can possibly apply 

 to the Malabar Monkey. These three characters were: (1) the size 

 was equal to that of the largest liaboons ; (2) the beard was black ; 

 and (3) the animal was an inhabitant of Egypt or Ethiopia. 



It should, however, be noticed that in the tenth edition of 

 Linnseus, p. 26, Simia silenus was described as " S. caudata bar- 

 bata, corpore nigro, ba7-ba nivea pro/iita." The only reference is 

 again to Prosper Alpinus, but the locality is given as Asia ; Ceylon, 

 Java, &c. It is highly improbable that the Malabar Bearded Ape 

 was the animal indicated \ 



So far as I can ascertain, there is nothing to show that the Malabar 

 animal was known to Linnaeus or to any earlier naturalist. But even 

 if the (S. silenus of the 10th edition of the ' Systema' were founded 

 wholly or partly on the Malabar Monkey, I fail to see how the name 

 could be used for that animal, since the same specific term is applied 

 to a totally different species in the 12th edition. 



A second Linnaean name that has been applied to the Malabar 

 Monkey is Sitnia veter, Syst. Nat. ed. ^ii. p. 36, This was thus 

 described : — " S. caudata barbata alba, barba nigra, Brisson, Quad. 

 207. Simia alba s. incanis pilis, barba nigra promissa. Raj. Quad. 

 89. Habitat in Zeylona." Brisson's account (like Klein's, which 

 is quoted by Brisson) is taken from Ray, but the page in Ray's 

 ' Synopsis Animalium Quadrupedum ' is l.o8, not 89 (the latter is 

 the page in Klein's work, which Linnaeus does not quote). Ray's 

 description runs thus ; — "Simia alba seu incanis pilis, barba nigra 

 promissa. Ex Zeylona : Elawandum Zeylanensibus. D. Robinson 

 e Museo Leydensi." It is impossible to determine this animal. 

 It may perhaps have been a Semnopitkecus ; hut no Ceylon species 



^ It is vei-y possible that the animal which Liniiseus intended to name was 

 the Wanderu of Ray, Synopsis Animal. Quad. p. 158. " Cercopithecus niger 

 haiba incana promissa." This was doubtless Semiiopifftecus cephaloptcriis. 



