lxxxiv REPORT—1858. 
peculiarities of the species of South American animals *. The most import- 
aut extension of this branch of zoology has been due to recent researches 
and discoveries of extinct species of the class Mammalia; and it is chiefly 
in relation to the modifications of zoological ideas produced by paleontology 
that a few brief remarks will here be made. 
The Quadrumana, or order of Apes, Monkeys, and Lemurs, consist of 
three chief divisions—Catarhines, Platyrhines, and Strepsirhines. The first 
family is peculiar to the ‘ Old World ;’ the second to South America ; the 
third has the majority of its species, and its chief genus (Lemur), exclusively 
in Madagascar. Out of 26 known species of Lemuride, only 6 are Asiatic 
and 3 are African. 
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 ( Z’roglo- 
dytes). The Semnopitheques, Gibbons, and Orangs are peculiarly Asiatic. 
Paleontology has shown that a Macaque, a Gibbon, and an Orang existed 
during the older tertiary times in Europe ; and that a Semnopithecus 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 tail-less Macaque (Inwus silvanus) 
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 confined to Borneo and Sumatra ; the two species of Chimpanzee ( 77o- 
glodytes) are limited to an intertropical tract of the western part of Africa. 
They appear to be inexorably bound 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 contrivances for artifi- 
cially maintaining the chief physical conditions 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 may ask, has the 
* The first enunciation of the principle of Geographical Distribution merits reproduction. 
Buffon was treating of the carnivorous animal which travellers in South America had called 
the ‘ Lion’ :—Le puma n’est point un lion, tirant son origine des lions de l’ancien conti- 
nent; c’est un animal particulier 4 Amérique, comme le sont aussi la plupart des. animaux 
de ce nouveau continent.”—Tom. ix. p. 13, 1758. 
