APES OF AMERICA. 



169 



among the fore-fingers as in Man, but the index of the hinder-hands is 

 invariably the longest of all, and the other fingers diminish gradually to 

 the fourth finger, which is the shortest. The naked parts of the hands 

 present the same arrangement of the papillae of the skin in concentric 

 curves, and as the papilte on the tips of the fingers are very fine, we 

 may infer that the organ of touch is extremely delicate in the Orang-Ou- 

 tang. 



All the naked parts of the body and head, excepting the orbits and the 

 lips, are of a blueish slate grey. The hair is uniformly throughout of a 

 deep chestnut brown, more or less glossy, but the beard and moustachios 

 are of a yellowish-red. There is no difference in the colours of the male 

 and female, even in their different periods of age. The young of the year, 

 those of five, six, or eight years, do not vary in this respect from the full- 

 grown adults ; but there is a slight difference in the quantity of hair, the 

 young being more plentifully furnished than the adult. 



None of the individuals in the possession of M. Temminck have true 

 callosities ; the epidermis being merely hardened by the frequent sitting 

 posture. The teeth of the old animals, especially the males, are much 

 used by detrition, so that their original structure and the crown have to- 

 tally disappeared. The canines of the males are much stronger than those 

 of the females, which are regularly straight and conical ; while those of 

 the males are very strong compared with the other teeth, and their direc- 

 tion outwards is strongly marked. 



On comparing the skeleton of the adult male with that of Man, several 

 modifications were noticed in its structure. The seven vertebrae of the 

 neck form a column as long as that of Man, but their spinous processes, 

 commencing with that of the axis, are vastly longer, though but slightly 

 forked at their extremity. The hole for the passage of the spinal cord is 

 much narrower than in Man. The variation in the magnitude of the fa- 

 cial angle, according to the ages of individuals, is very remarkable. 



In the skulls of two very old males, it was from . 35° to 37° 



In a female nearly adult, . . . 38° 



In a female atthe period when the last molar was appearing, 40° 

 In an individual of less size, . . . 48° 



In two individuals about 1 ft. 11 in. high, . 52° 



In a very young specimen about 1 ft. 6 in. high, . 65° 



2. PITHECUS ABELII RED ORANG. 



THE YOUNG. 



Syn. Orang Roux.— Temm. Mon. Mam. 11. 136. 



,Teune Obang-Outang — Marion de Proce in Ann. des Sc. Nat. V. (2d 

 series), p. 313. 

 Icon. Orang-Ootang. — Abel. Chin. p. 318. 



The existence of a species of Red Orang in the Islands of Sumatra and 

 Borneo is rendered extremely probable, by the discovery that the young 

 Orang-Outang is of the same dark chestnut brown colour as the adult. 

 Hitherto, Dr Abel's Orang-Outang, as well as the notice of M. Marion 

 de Proce, have been considered as referring to the young Orang-Outang ; 

 but they now appear to belong to the young of an unknown species, which 

 may be called the Red Orang. 



It differs from the young of the Orang-Outang in being covered with 

 long red hair ; that of the head extends in front upon the forehead, pro- 

 ducing the appearance of a periwig. It has long eyelashes, and its muzzle 

 is not prominent. 



ADDITION TO 



GENUS VIII. sp. 8 — Macacus Nemesteinus Pig-tailed 



MACACO. 



(See page 164.) 



Add. Syn. Simia Carpolegus. — Raffles, in Linn. Tran^. A.JLII. 243. 



The Pig-tailed Macaco, called Bruh by the Malays, is very common 

 in the neighbourhood of Bencoolen. Of the three varieties found there, 

 the Bruh-setopong is the largest, the most docile, and most intelli- 

 gent. It is much esteemed by the inhabitants, who train it to ascend 

 trees for the purpose of gathering cocoa-nuts, in which service it is very 

 expert. When sent to gather this fruit, it selects the ripe nuts with great 

 judgment, and pulls no more than it is ordered. Its height is about two 

 feet when sitting. The other varieties, called Bruh-selasi and Bruh- 

 puti, are of a darker colour, more intractible, and less intelligent. 



TRIBE II^PLATYRRHINA.— APES OF AMERICA. 



SYNONYMS. 

 Platvkrhini (t^xtu;, plains, broad, ' ^lucc, rrhina, nostrils) — Geoff. Ann. Mus. XIX. 104. 



Les Singes du Nouveau Continent Cuv. Reg. Anim. I. 99. 



Cebds Fisch. Syn. Mam. 37. 



CHARACTERS OF THE TRIBE. 



rv -r, t:- «I 2 + C -1- (3 F -t- .3) M 18 „ 



The Dental Form OLA, — J_lII_i ! — l — =: — =36 



I 2 + C + (3 F -f 3) .M 18 



The Nostrils separated by a broad partition, ^nd opening on the sides of the nose, the genus Eriodes excepted. 



The Callosities and Cheek-pocches always wanting. 



The Tail always long, sometimes prehensile. 



Inhabit America. 



The Apes of the New Continent have four molar teeth more than 

 the others, making thirty-six teeth in all; they have long tails, 

 no cheek-pouches ; the buttocks hairj', and without callosities ; the 

 nostrils [usuallj'] pierced in the sides of the nose, and not beneath. All 

 the larger Quadrumanous animals of America belong to this division ; 

 their great intestines are less inflated ; their cojcura longer and 

 thinner than in the Apes of the Old Continent. 



These Quadrumanous animals form a natural group, wholly distinct 

 from those hitherto described. Buffon was the first to notice the re- 

 markable difference in their characters, which would almost seem to 

 evince that they belonged to different creations. It will be recollected 

 that the Apes of the Old World have, with the single exception of the 

 Orangs, their buttocks destitute of hair, while natural and inherent cal- 

 losities cover those parts ; they most commonly have cheek-pouches for 

 holding their provisions ; and the partition of their nostrils is narrow, 

 and opens beneath the nose as in Man. All these characters are want- 

 ing in the Apes of America. The partition of their nostrils is, with a few 

 exceptions, very thick ; the nostrils open on the sides ofthe nose and not 

 beneath ; their buttocks are entirely covered with hair, and they have no 

 callosities. They are wholly destitute of cheek-pouches, and they differ 

 not only specifically from the Quadrumanous animals of the Old Conti- 

 nent, but generically, and these primary variations in the characters, 

 which their generality renders highly remarkable, draw along with them a 

 number of subsidiary differences, rendering the subdivision at once natural 

 and satisfactorv. 

 43 



Although in the normal and perfect state of these Apes of America, 

 we find six molar teeth on each side and in each jaw, it occasionally hap- 

 pens, as well as with those of the other Continent, that a less number 

 is found either when young individuals have not acquired their full com- 

 plement of teeth, or when individual specimens have lost some of them 

 through old age. Hence it will sometimes happen that only five molars 

 will be found, as in the Apes of America. M. Geoffroy has, however, 

 noticed on one occasion the existence of seven molars on each side of the 

 upper jaw, in a very old Cebus Apella; and the same number of molars 

 have been found by M. Isidore Geoffroy in both jaws, but only on one side, 

 of an Ateles pentadactylus. 



Buffon first proposed the subdivision of the Apes of America into two 

 sub-tribes, the Sapajoos and Sagoins, according as their tails are, or are nor, 

 prehensile. Subsequently M. Spix separated them into Gymnuhi, or Naked- 

 tails, wherein the extremity of the tail is naked and callous beneath, and 

 Trichuri, or Hairy-tails, where it is entirely covered with hair. Were it 

 not for the genus Cebus, or Weepers, whose tails are at once hairy and pre- 

 hensile, these two divisions would coincide ; the Sapajoos and Gvmnuri 

 being otherwise prehensile and naked, while the Sagoins and Trichuri are 

 not prehensile, and are covered with hair over the entire surface of the tail. 

 The prehensile nature of the tail, upon which Buffon's subdivision is 

 founded, is at once a striking and singular adaptation of an organ, which 

 in most other animals is either rudimentary, or hangs uselessly downwards. 

 It becomes among the Sapajoos in some respects a tilth hand, by which 

 the animal can seize distant objects without moving its body, or hang sus- 

 pended from the branches of a tree, even after hfe is extinct. 



