ORDER QUADRUMANA. 305 



length along." His limbs seem to quit their position with 

 pain and difficulty, and he appears to need a new impulse 

 of the will for every new movement. One would almost 

 imagine that the intellectual principle which acts with so 

 much slowness, was something peculiar, something different 

 from that which animates other well-organized material 

 forms, and impels them into exertion and activity. Yet 

 this animal is far from being devoid of intelligence. He 

 possesses it in as high a degree as any other of the qua- 

 drumana, and in a higher than those which are most distin- 

 guished for the restless petulance of their motions. He 

 also unites to this very considerable degree of penetration, 

 the mildest and most affectionate disposition. 



The prehensile tail is a very extraordinary provision of na- 

 ture. In the Coaita it is upwards of two feet in length, 

 nearly a foot longer than the body of the animal. It nearly 

 answers all the purposes of a hand. This monkey employs 

 it for the purpose of handling and grasping objects, of 

 drawing things towards him that are too remote to be 

 reached by his hands, and of suspending himself from the 

 branches of trees. The prehensile part of the tail is naked, 

 and has a second covering of very delicate skin, which 

 forms an organ of touch as perfect and discriminating as 

 the hands. In all its movements the animal entwines this 

 tail round the objects near it, as if to guard against a fall, 

 in case the bodies on which it leans should escape from 

 beneath its feet. 



The Coaita is found in large troops in Guiana and 

 Brazil, in the forests, suspended to the branches of the trees. 



Another species of the Ateles described by Humboldt is 

 the Marimonda (Simia Beelzebuth, Humboldt^) This spe- 

 cies is nearly allied to the Coaita (Simia paniscus) but is 

 certainly not the same or a mere variety. The fur is of a 

 blackish brown colour, very shining on the upper parts. 

 The direction of the hair on the head is very remarkable, 



