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ON THE NOMENCLATURE OF THE SOUTH INDIAN LONG- 

 TAILED MACAQUEL 



BY 

 M. A. C. HlNTON AND THE LATE R. C. WrOUGHTON. 



In connection with the revision of Blanford's " Mammals, " we have had to 

 examine in detail the synonymy of the two species f omid in the Madras Presidency 

 and Ceylon, and called by Blanford sinicus and pileatns respectively. Both 

 these species have a whorl of long hairs radiating from a point on the vertex 

 which from its fancied resemblance to a cap has obtained for them the names 

 of Bonnet Monkey and Toque. Inter se, exclusive of differences in size and 

 colouring, they are readily distinguishable by the fact that, in the Madras animal 

 the circlet of long hairs, or bonnet, is anteriorly interrupted so that the whole 

 of the forehead is exposed, showing a parting down the centre from which the 

 hah' is directed laterally, right and left, while in the Ceylon form the bonnett is 

 complete, almost entirely covering the forehead, leaving however enough 

 exposed to show that there is no parting but all the hairs below the cap lie 

 directly forward. 



The earliest name is Simia sinica, L. (Mant. Plant, p. 521), 1771. It was not 

 based directly on a specimen but, confessedly, on Buffon's " Bonnet chinois " 

 (Hist. Nat., pp. 224 and 241, pi. xxx), 1766. Daubenton's description (p. 241) 

 opens as follows : — Nous avons donne a cet animal (pi. xxx) le nom de Bonnet 

 chuiois, parcequ'U a sur le dessus de la tete de longs polls diriges du centre a 

 tous les points de la circonf erence, et que ces polls formoient une sorte de coiffure 

 qui ressemble a une calotte, ou a un bonnet, qui est en usage chez les Chinois." 

 The very precise and detailed description which follows proves absolutely (and 

 we wish to particularly stress this point) that Buffon's Bonnet Chinois is based 

 on a single specimen. In his pi. xxx Buffon gives pictures of his animal in two 

 positions. The chief figure shows a front view of the specimen in a sitting pos- 

 ture. The hairs of the " bonnet " are of course shown with the anterior ones 

 iore-shortened and the shading employed to that end produces a strong though 

 quite superficial appearance of a median parting, with the result that a cursory 

 examination leaves the impression that it is a representation of the Madras 

 Macaque. Possibly the artist recognised the false impression produced, at any 

 rate, he added, a subsidiary figure, which depicted the specimen in such a way 

 that practically only the top of the head is visible. Tliis view of the bonnet 

 shows it to be quite uninterrupted and consequently to represent that of the 

 Ceylon Macaque. Buffon added nothing of importance to the details recorded 

 by his assistant, Daubenton, beyond naming the habitat as " Bengale." 



Linnaeus' own diagnosis of sinica is " Simia caudata imberbis, capillitis undique 

 torizontahter caput obumbrante " and, after giving its habitat as : " in India 

 orientaU," adds a further description of the animal " CapilUtium horizontale 

 orbiculi instar caput obumbrat.'* 



Schreber redescribes Buffon's specimen and gives a careful description of the 

 •colour (Saiigthiere, i., p. 108, 1775). The most miportant part of his description 

 may be translated as 'follows':—" The chief character lies in the length and posi- 

 tion of the hair upon the head, which radiates from the vertex, in every direc- 

 tion, over the whole crown and gives the aninial the appearance of wearing a 

 •straw hat. The crown of the head, with the middle of the back, is chestnut 

 brown. The arms as far as the elbows, light brown. The forearms and legs 

 together with the hands yeUowish. Breast and belly very thinly haired, brownish. 

 The tail surpasses the body in length, and is concolorous with the back above 

 and the belly beneath." He added that the specimen is too young to give a fair 

 idea of the size. The description is accompanied by a coloured reproduction 



