150 



ORDER QUADRUMANA— GENUS HYLOBATES. 



The Chimpansee " ate readily every sort of vegetable food ; but at first 

 did not appear to relish flesh, though it seemed to take pleasure in suck- 

 iuo- the leg-bone of a fovfl. At that time it did not relish wine, but af- 

 terwards seemed to like it, though it never could endure ardent spirits. 

 It once stole a bottle of wine, which it uncorked with its teeth, and be- 

 gan to drink. It shewed a predilection for coffee, and was immoderately 

 fond of sweet articles of food. It learned to feed itself with a spoon, to 

 drink out of a glass, and shewed a general disposition to imitate the ac- 

 tions of men. It was attracted by bright metals, seemed to take pride 

 in clothing, and often put a cocked hat on its head. It was dirty in its 

 habits, and never was known to wash itself. It was afraid of fire-arms ; 

 and, on the whole, appeared a timid animal."' 



GENUS III. HYLOBATES— GIBBONS. 



Stjn. Les Gibbons. — Cuv. Reg. Anim. I. 90. 



HYLOBATES (v'An, lit/le, wood, /ians, bates, wandering). — lUig. Prodr. 

 67.— Kulil, Beitr. — Temm. Mon. Mam. — Isid. Geoff, in Belang. Voy. 



SiMiA (in part) Linn. Gmel Erxl. — Fisch. Syn. Mam. 



PiTHECUS (Orang) in part Geoff. An. Mas. XIX — Desm. Mam. 



GENERIC CHARACTERS. 



The Mctzzle short. The SapERCiLiARY Ridges prominent. The 

 Ears medium size. 



The Pectoral Limbs excessively long, reaching to the hinder-hands. 



The Hands pentadactylous. The Fingers long and narrow. 



The Nails of the thumbs flat ; the remainder convex and semi-cylin- 

 drical. 



The Cheek-pouches and Tail wanting. 



The Callosities always present, and more or less prominent. 



The Hair very dense. 



Inhabit Sumatra, Java, the Sonda, and Molucca Islands, Borneo, and 

 some parts of Hindoostan. 



The Gibbons must be distinguished from the species already 

 described. They have the long arms of the Orang-Outang, and 

 the low forehead of the Chimpansee, with the callosities of the 

 Guenons ; but they differ from the latter in being destitute of a tail 

 or cheek-pouches. They are found only in the most secluded 

 parts of India and the Eastern Archipelago. 



This genus contains five species.^ Two have long been known, but 

 specimens of the remainder have only very recently been sent to Europe 

 for the first time, by MM. Diard and Duvaucel. 



The Gibbons compose a most natural and well-defined group in the 

 order of Quadrumanous animals. They resemble the preceding genera 

 in having no tail or cheek-pouches, while they preserve the rudimentary 

 forehead of the Chimpansee; yet the existence of well-defined callosities 

 exhibits a descent in the scale of organized being, connecting them more 

 nearly with the lower genera of Apes. The most striking peculiarity in 

 the countenances of the Gibbons arises from their having the chaufrin, 

 or ridge of the nose, concave, which in the Chimpansee is convex and 

 very prominent. They are covered by a dense coat of hair, having the 

 same direction on the fore-arm as in the succeeding genera. 



The dentition of the Gibbons has been examined in three species (2, 

 4, and 6). In the upper jaw, the first incisor terminates in a straight 

 line, slanting obliquely inwards; the second, smaller than the first, slopes 

 towards the canine. The latter is very long, greater in breadth than in 

 thickness, trenchant on its external margin, having two longitudinal fur- 

 rows on its internal surface, separated by a projecting crest, the hinder 

 furrow broader and deeper than the anterior one. The second false 

 molar is larger than the first, both with two blunt tubercles, the one on 

 the internal margin being smaller than that on the external. The three 

 true molars go on increasing in size from the first to the third. Each is 

 composed of four tubercles, two of equal size on the external margin, and 

 two on the internal, the hinder tubercle being much smaller than the one 

 before it. These tubercles are formed by furrows dividing the tooth into 

 unequal portions. In the lower jaw, the first incisor is small, terminated 

 by a straight line ; the second is rounded on its internal surface, and ter- 

 minates in a point. The canine is more square than in the upper jaw, 

 and terminates behind by a heel ; its internal surface having the two fur- 

 rows and crest as in the opposite jaw. The first false molar placed ob- 

 liquely has only a single point; the second has two, one within, the 

 other without. Three real molars follow, increasing in size. Their sur- 

 faces have five tubercles, two in front, and three behind, arranged trian- 

 gularly. Here we find the first instance of this kind of molar. 



]. HYLOBATES ALBBJANUS WHITE-HANDED GIBBOHf. 



Sijn. Le Gibbon noib. — Cuv. Reg. Anim. I. 90. 



Le Gibbon aux mains blanches. — Geoff. Cours.^ Le.. 7, p. 3.3. 



SiMIA aleimana. — Vigors and Horsfield in Zool. Jour. XIIL 107. 



HYLOBATES albbianus Isid. Geoff, in Belang. Voy. p. 29. 



SiMiA Lar Linu. Gmel. I. 27 Fisch. Syn. Mam. Suppl. p. 334. 



SiMiA longimana. — Sclireb. Saiigth. . 



Long-armed Ape Penn. Quadr. 99. — Shiw, Gen. Zool. I. 12. 



Gibbon. — Ham. Smith, Syn. 



Common Gibbon and White-handed Gibbon. — Jard. Syn. 

 Icon. Le Gibbon. — Audeb. Sing. 



Le Grand Gibbon. — Buff. Hist. Nat. XIV. pi. 2. 



specific characters. 



Hair whitish on the hands ; a whitish circle round the face ; black or 

 dusky brown elsewhere. 

 Callosities small. 

 Inhabits the East Indies. 



This animal is covered with thick dark hair, and its face is sur- 

 rounded with a whitish circle. 



But its more important distinction from the other Gibbons consists in 

 the whitish patches of hair upon the backs of all the hands, from which its 

 specific name is derived. 



The arms of this Gibbon are so long, that, when seated, it can place the 

 elbows upon the ground, and, resting its head between its hands, goes 

 quiedy to sleep. It always moves in an erect posture, even when resting 

 on all the four hands, as the arm is nearly as long as the body and legs 

 taken together. Its eyes are large but sunken ; its ears naked ; its face 

 flat, of a deep tan-colour, and rather resembling that of Man. 



The manners of this Gibbon are mild and quiet. Its movements 

 are not precipitate hke those of the lower. Apes, and it eats with gentle- 

 ness its food, consisting of bread, fruits, or nuts. It seems very deli- 

 cate, avoiding cold and moisture, and does not long survive an absence 

 from its native country. The height of the adult is between three and 

 four feet. It is found more particularly on the Coromandel Coast, Ma- 

 lacca, and the Molucca Island?. 



2. HYLOBATES VARIEGATUS.— VARIED GIBBON. 



Syn. Le Gibbon brun Cuv. Reg. Anim. I. 90. 



Le Wouwo-j (Hylobates agilis) F. Cuv. Diet, des Se. Nat. XXXVI, 



288. 



Pithecus VARIEGATUS Geoff. Ann. Miis. XIX. 88. — Desm. Mam. 51. 



SiMIA variegata, — Fisch. Syn. Mam. Jl. 



Hylobates variegatus Kuhl, Beitr. 6. 



Little Gibbon and Active Gibeon.^ — Ham. Smith, Syn., and Jard, 

 Syn. 

 Icon. Vouvou. Male, fern., et petit. — Geoff, et F. Cuv. Hist. Mam. 



Petit Gibbon Buff. Hist.'Nat. XIV. pi. 3. 



SPECIFIC characters. 



the adult male. 

 Hair on the back, loins, thighs, and hinder part of the head, yellow or 

 clear brown ; round the face greyish white; elsewhere brown. 

 Callosities small. 



the adult female. 

 Hair whitish only on the eyebrows ; otherwise resembling the male. 



the young. 

 Hair of a uniform clear yellow. 



Inhabits Sumatra. 



Their agility is extreme; they live in pairs; and the Malayan 

 name Wouwou is derived from their cry. 



The height of the Varied Gibbon, when erect, is^about three feet. Its 

 hair is of the same nature throughout, dense and apparently woolly. Its 

 thighs, which are much shorter than the arms, are very much turned 

 outwards. The fingers of the hinder-hands are short, the thumbs long 

 and capable of bending backwards ; in the fore-hands, the fingers are long 

 and the thumb very short. The nose has this peculiarity, that the nos- 

 trils open upon the sides ; so as almost to form an exception to the cha- 

 racter of the tribe Catarrhina. 



The manner in which the colours of these Gibbons vary with the sex 

 and age of the individual, render a minute description of their tints use- 

 less, if not impossible. They live rather in isolated couples than in fami- 



Observations on the Anatoniy of the Orang-Outang (Chimpansee), by Dr Thonias Stewart Traill, in the Memoirs of the Wernerian Natural History Society, vol. 



HL Edinburgh, 1817-20. 



The Baron Cuviei- (Reg. An.m) admits only four species, but he confounds the Ounio of Fred. Cuvier with the Gibbon noir. Temminck (Mon. Mam.) admits four 

 '«"! "=" ™°;L"- """l "f ''^ doubtful. Desmarest (Mam. et Suppl.) describes five species, of which the H. variegatus and H. agilis are identical. Fischer (Syn. Mam.) 

 Is.d^ Geoff. (Belang, Voy.) enumerate five. Sir William Jardine (Naturalist's Library and Syn.) describes seven species, two of which are purely nominal. 

 » Geoff. Couks.— Cours de 1 Histou-e Naturelle des Mammiferes, par JI. Geoffroy-St-Hilaire. Pari« 1829 



