174 



ORDER QUADRUMANA— GENUS ERIODES. 



When seated, they raise the tail perpendicularly upwards, and roll the 

 point into a spiral curve. Their physiognomy bears a very striking 

 resemblance to that of a Negro. 



The Stripe-Faced Spider- Monkey is entirely covered with long, black, 

 and silky hairs, much scantier on tlie lower parts of the body than on the 

 upper. The internal surfaces of the liands and the naked portion of the 

 tail are violet-coloured. The hairs of the back, sides, thighs, legs, arms, 

 and tail, are directed in the usual manner; those of the head point from 

 the front backwards, wliile the hairs of the forehead rise almost erect up- 

 wards, and form, when opposed to the others, a kind of crest, so that the 

 yellowish or whitish ornament of the forehead is the first object which at- 

 tracts the attention of the observer. The hair of the fore-arm near the 

 elbow is directed backwards. 



5. ATELE.S BRISSONII BRISSON'S SPIDER-MONKEY. 



Syn. Le Coaita a ventbe blanc Cuv. Reg. Anim. 1. 101. 



Ateles Belzeeuih. — Geoff. Ann. Mus. VII. and XIX. 



SnnA Bei.zeeqth (MAaiMONDA) — Humb. Obs. Zool. p. 325 and 353. 



Cebqs Bmssonii Fisch. Syn. Mam. 



Le Belzebut. — Briss. Reg. Anim. p. 211. 



Icon. Belzebulh (young) Geoff, et F. Cuv. Hist. Mam Ann. Mus. VII. 



pi. 16. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



The Hair dark brown above; yellowish-white beneath; changing into 

 yellowish-red on the abdomen. 



The Face violet-black ; flesh-coloured round the eyes. The Fore- 

 hands tetradactj'lous. 



Inhabits Guiana. 



This animal is widely dispersed throughout Spanish Guiana, where it is 

 known by the name of Marimonda. Its hair is dark brown, very long and 

 shining on the upper part of the back. The hair of the occiput and vertex 

 is directed forwards, while that of the forehead points backwards, 

 thereby forming a tuft on the top of the head, and contributing towards 

 its extreme ugliness. The face is naked and black, while the tips of its 

 very extensible lips, and the point of its nose, are of a reddish-white. 

 The mouth is surrounded with stiff grey hairs ; the neck and chin are al- 

 most naked ; the eyes brown, and furnished with long black eyelashes. 

 The abdomen, the interior of the thighs, and the inferior surface of the 

 tail, are covered with yellowish-red hair, the points of which, when strongly 

 illuminated, give a slight metallic reflection. 



The Marimonda of the banks of the Orinoco is excessively slow in its 

 movements, of a melancholy, mild, and timid disposition. Through excess 

 of timidity it is very apt to bite even those who are attending to its wants; 

 and it announces its approaching passion by making a grimace and raising 

 theory oo-oh. Of all prehensile tails, that of Brisson's Spider- Monkey 

 exhibits the greatest perfection. It can raise even a straw, and fully equals 

 the trunk of the Elephant, so that, as Humboldt remarks, it seems as if 

 the very eyes of this Monkey were placed at the end of its tail. Without 

 turningits head, this little animal can introduce its tail into the smallest holes 

 for the object of its search. This organ, however, is not observed to raise 

 food to the mouth, that office being always fulfilled by the hands. When 

 collected together in large numbers, they interlace their limbs and tails in 

 the most grotesque forms. Their attitudes announce the greatest apathy 

 and indolence, while the joints of their limbs are so flexible, that they almost 

 appear dislocated. When exposed to the burning heatof the sun, theythrow 

 the head backwards, their eyes are directed upwards, and, foldino- their 

 arms on the back, they remain motionless in this extraordinary position 

 for hours together. 



In young specimens, the hair is of a dirty white beneath, and greyish- 

 black above. 



6. ATELES HYBRIDUS.— MONGREL SPIDER-MONKEY. 



Syn. L'Atele metis (Mono-zameo). — Isid. Geoff. Mem. Mus. VII. 

 Icon. Ateles hybbidus Isid. Geoff. Etud. Zool. pi. 1 (Mammiferes). 



. specific characteks. 



The Hair clear brown above ; yellowish on the thighs ; white beneath; 

 a white circular patch on the forehead. 



The Face dark brown. The Fore-hands tetradactylous. 

 Inhabits Columbia. 



The present species differs remarkably in the general colour of the hair 

 from its congeners, which are either black or dark brown. It is at once 

 known by the white patch placed in the centre of its forehead. Beneath 

 the head, the body, and along the tail, as far as its callous portion, the 

 Mongrel Spider- Monkey is of a dirty white ; the upper parts are gene- 

 rally of a clear brown, which passes into a pure brown on the head, the 

 fore-limbs, thighs, and beneath the tail, and into a well defined pure yel- 



low on the thiglis, as well as on the sides of the tail, and a part of ths 

 lower extremity. 



This animal is very common in the Valley of the Magdalena, where it 

 is known by the name of Marimonda, a name common to several other 

 Monkeys. It is likewise termed Zambo or Mono-Zambo, from the re- 

 semblance which its colour bears to that of the Zambi, or descendant of 

 the African and American Indian. The Mongrel Spider- Monkeys live 

 in troops of twelve or fifteen individuals, and the traveller through the 

 woods is informed of their presence by the noise which they make in 

 throvifing themselves from one branch to another. The females appear 

 much attached to their young, which they carry on their backs from place 

 to place. An old female, embarrassed by her young one, had a consider- 

 able leap to make ; M. Roulin saw an old male place himself on the ex- 

 tremity of the branch, and make it oscillate so as to bring it to the level 

 of the female, who took advantage of the proper moment to effect her 

 passage. Their attention to the young is shared by both sexes. 



This species rests upon several adult females and one young male in 

 the Paris Museum. M. Roulin admits its reality, and assigns it to Co- 

 lumbia. 



7. ATELES MELANOCHIR BLACK-HANDED SPIDER- 

 MONKEY. 



Syn. Ateles melanochik. — Desm. Mam. 



Icon. Atele MELANOCHIR (femelle) — Geoff, et F. Cuv. Hist. Mara. 



specific CHARACTERS. 



The Hair on the top of the head, and the outside of the arms, legs, 

 and tail, black ; whitish beneath ; elsewhere grey tinged with yellow. 

 The Face flesh-coloured round the eyes and mouth, elsewhere black. 

 The Fore-hands tetradactylous. 

 Inhabits Peru. 



Of the present animal little is known. It seems to have all the 

 characteristics of the other Spider- Monkeys ; such as being mild, affec- 

 tionate, sociable, and excessively slow in its movements. 



The head, limbs, and tail, are covered with black hairs above ; the in- 

 ner surface of the arm and fore-arm, down to the fore-hands, is white, 

 as well as the inner surfaces of the legs and thighs, the inferior surfaces 

 of the ueck, breast, and abdomen, the sides of the thighs, and the inferior 

 surface of the tail; the shoulders are of a yellowish-grey, and the remain- 

 der of the upper parts of the body, as well as the cheek-tufts, are of a 

 pure grey. All the hands, and the naked portion of the tail, are black, 

 likewise the cheeks and the lower half of the nose ; but the circles round 

 the eyes and mouth are flesh-coloured. The hair is entirely composed of 

 silky filaments ; those on the black as well as the white parts of the body 

 are of a uniform shade throughout, while those on the grey parts are an- 

 nulated with black and white, more or less mixed with yellow. 



DOUBTFUL SPECIES. 



1. The Bay Spider- Monkey (Ateles fuliginosus), is known to us only 

 by the description in Kuhl, Beitr. p. 26, taken from an individual in the 

 Paris Museum. From the silence of the French Naturalists, and the want 

 of any figure of this species, we are inclined to place it here until an op- 

 portunity occurs for examining a perfect specimen. 



2. Geoffroy's Spider-Monkey (Ateles GeofTroy), appears from Kuhl's 

 description (Beitr. p. 26) to be identical with the Ateles Melanochir of 

 Desmarest. 



GENUS III. ERIODES.'— WOOLLY-MONKEYS. 



Syn. Les Eriodes.— Isid. Geoff. Mem. Mus. XVII. 138. 



GENERIC CHARACTERS. 



The Head rounded. The Facial Angle about 60°. The Ears 

 small and hairy. 



The Nostrils separated by a very narrow partition, and almost open- 

 ing beneath the nose. 



The Tail naked beneath the point. 



The Fore-Hands tetradactylous or pentadactylous. The Hinder- 

 Hands pentadactylous. The Nails compressed, excepting those of the 

 hinder thumbs, which are large and flat. 



The Limbs long and thin. The Hair very woolly. 



Inhabit South America. 



These Monkeys bear a general resemblance to the Spider- Monkeys 

 already described, in their long and meagre limbs, but differ in several im- 

 portant points of their organization. Externally, they may be at once dis- 

 tinguished by the woolly nature of their hair, their short hairy ears, the 

 compressed form of their nails, as well as by the remarkable anomaly in 

 the disposition of their nostrils. In the last particular, they may be con- 

 sidered.as holding a medium rank between the Apes of the Old Continent 



1 Eriodes, from i^iao/is, woolly. The term WoUaffe CWooUy- Monkeys), given by Kuhl to the genus Lagothrix, seems to be more applicable to the present. 



