180 ORDER QUADRUMANA. 



SUB-TRISE 11.— CHALANURA.'— SAGOINS. 



SYNONYMS. 



Geopitheci (Geopitheques). — Geoff. Ann. Mus. XIX. 112. 

 Les Sagouins' (in part). — Buff'. Hist. Nat. 



Les Saimiris, Les Sakis, et Les Nocthohes Cuv. Reg; Anim. L 103, 104. 



Callithuix (in part). — Erxl. p. 55. 



CHARACTERS OF THE SUB-TRIBE. 

 The Tail not preliensile, or imperfectly so, generally bushy and long. 

 The Habits diurnal or nocturnal. Hands always pentadactylous. 



The remainder of the American Apes either have the tail depressed, and imperfectly prehensile, or it is not at all prehensile, and hangs 

 loosely downwards. The latter are known in general by the name of Sakis. 



GENUS VL CALLITHRIX.— SQUIRREL-MONKEYS. 



Syn. Callithrix. — GeofF. Ann. Mus. XIX. — Kuhl Beitr Desm. Mam. 



Callithrix (in part). — Erxl. 

 Saguinus. — Less. Mam. 



generic characters. 



The Head round. The Muzzle short. The Facial Angle about 

 60°. The Eyes and Ears large. 



The Body and Limbs medium size. Habits diurnal. 



The Tail longer than the body, and covered with short hairs. 



The Nails short and flat on the thumbs ; long and narrow ou the 

 fingers. 



Inhabit South America. 



The prettily coloured hair observed in some of the animals belonging 

 to this Genus has occasioned tlie term Callithrix, or beautiful hair, to be 

 applied to them, although it is not by any means applicable to all the 

 species. The manners of the greater part of them are but little known. 

 It has been ascertained, however, that they are in general very intelligent; 

 that they hve on fruits, insects, and sometimes on small birds, or other 

 animal food, and that they occur abundantly in troops or small families, 

 in the equatorial parts of the New World. Some of the species seem to 

 be delicately sensible to slight alterations of temperature and moisture, 

 and they soon languish and die under the influence of the heats of the 

 low-grounds near the coast. 



Some authors, among whom is the Baron Cuvier, have separated the 

 Varied Squirrel- Monkey (C. sciurea) from the remainder, on acconiit of 

 the superior development of its cranium ; but this circumstance does not 

 appear, in our opinion, to be sufl!icient to justify a generic distinction. 

 The eyes in all of them are of considerable size, and the orbits are com- 

 pletely circular ; the internal ear is supplied with large auditory chambers. 

 But in all the species, excepting the first, the cerebral cavity is not very 

 capacious ; the occipital hole is placed more in arrear, and the interorbi- 

 tal partition is wholly osseous. 



The dentition of the whole of this genus is very uniform. In the 

 upper-jaw the incisor nearest the medial line is double the size of the ex- 

 ternal one, their shape being alike, the lower margin is roundish, the 

 outer side sloping, and the inner aspect much curved. The canine is of 

 moderate size. The first false molar is smaller than the other two, and 

 they are all shaped alike. The last of the true grinders is smaller than the 

 other two, and of a peculiar form, exhibiting two circular crests within 

 its inner margin, and one on the outer. The teeth of the lower jaw 

 correspond with the description above supphed of the Howlers, with the 

 exception of the last molar. 



We are acquainted with eight species ; some of them, however, are but 

 imperfectly known. Many imaginary species have to be expunged from 

 the lists of our predecessors. 



In the first species (Les Saimiris of the Baron Cuvier), the tail 

 is depressed, and scarcely ceases to be prehensile ; the head is very- 

 flat ; and there is a membraneous expansion at the interorbital par- 

 tition of the skeleton. 



L CALLITHRIX SCIUREA VARIED SQUIRREL-MONKEY. 



Syn. Le Saimiri Cuv. Reg. Anim. I. 103. 



Callithrix sciurehs Geoff. Ann. Mus. XIX. — Desm. Mam. 



SiMIA SCIUREA. — Linn. Gmel. I. 



Le Titi de L'Orbnouue (S. sciurea). — Humb. Obs. Zool. p. 332 and 

 357. 



Sagcinus sciureus. — Less. Mam. 



Orange- Monkey. — Penn. Quadr. I. No. 1.37. 



Squirrel-Monkey. — Shaw, Gen. Zool. 1. 77. 



Icon. Saimiri 1. Cuv. et Geoff Hist. Mam. 



Le Saimiri. — A udeb. Sing Buff. Hist. Nat. XV. pi. 10. 



Calitrix entomophagus. — D'Orb. Voy. pi. 4 (.Mammiferes). 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



The Hair greenish-yellow above; white beneath; the upper-arms and 

 thighs grey; the lower-arms and legs bright orange. 



The Face and Hands flesh-coloured. The Muzzle black. 

 Inhabits the Banks of the Orinoco. 



The Varied Squirrel-Monkeys are very common in the regions to the 

 south of the Cataracts of the Orinoco ; but the smallest and handsomest 

 are those of the Cassiquiare. Their bodies exhale a slight odour of musk. 

 The expression of their countenance resembles that of a child ; they have 

 the same innocence of aspect, the same malicious smile, and they pass 

 with equal rapidity from the extremity of delight to that of sadness. 

 The Indians assert that they shed tears like a human being; and M. 

 Humboldt remarked in one specimen that its eyes became moistened 

 when it was uneasy or under the influence of fear. The Titi, as it is termed 

 by the natives, is in continual motion, and all its movements are light and 

 graceful. It seldom becomes irritated, like the Marmimsets, but seems 

 continually occupied in playing, leaping, and catching Insects or Spiders, 

 the latter of which it prefers to all other food. It has the singular habit 

 of looking attentively at the mouth of the person who speaks ; and if it 

 happen to sit on his shoulder, attempts to play with his teeth or tongue. 

 It is a formidable enemy of all collectors of Insects, and however carefully 

 they may conceal their specimens, the Varied Squirrel- Monkey is sure to 

 devour them, without even wounding itself with the pins by wliich the 

 spoils are fixed. As an instance of its sagacity, M. Humboldt informs 

 us that one of these little animals could distinguish uncoloured plates of 

 Insects from those which represented Quadrupeds or any other subject. 

 Whenever it saw the engraving of a Grasshopper or a Wasp, its hand 

 was instantly extended to grasp that object. Being accustomed to live 

 in a moister and cooler climate than that of the coast, the Varied Squir- 

 rel-Monkey soon loses its liveliness when removed from the forests of the 

 Orinoco to Gumana or Guayra, and it seldom survives this change of 

 locality above a few months. 



The upper parts of its body are of a greenish-yellow, which assumes a 

 greyish tint upon the upper-arms and thighs, and changes into a bright 

 orange on the fore-arms and legs. The tail has the same greenish tint 

 as the back, but becomes black towards the point ; the abdomen, breast, 

 neck, cheeks, and a circle round the ears, are white ; there is, however, a 

 spot of greenish-yellow in the middle of the white hairs of the cheeks. The 

 tip of the muzzle, the nostrils at the corners of the mouth, and the under 

 part of the chin, are black, the remainder of the face and the other naked 

 parts of the body are flesh-coloured ; likewise the nails, which are black 

 only at the points. The eyes are brown ; the hands perfectly formed, 

 but the thumbs are opposable only ou the hinder ; the nails of the thumbs 

 are flat and broad, those of the fingers long and narrow. The scrotum 

 is very voluminous, and the remainder of these parts very similar to the 

 corresponding arrangements in the human species. 



This animal never uses the tail for prehensile purposes, yet it often rolls 

 up the point, and, when any thing is conveniently placed, encircles the ex- 

 tremitv of the tail round that object, but it is unable to do so with any 

 considerable force. When seated, its hinder limbs are extended forwards, 

 and the fore-hands rest upon them. It sleeps in this sitting posture. 



1 Chaljinura, from %0LKa.vju, to let loose, and ov^x, a tail. 



2 All the Ameriiian Monkeys, havinp; the tail not prehensile, are included by BufFon, aions; with the Ouistilis, under the common name of Sagomns (Callithrix, Erxl.) 

 This name of Sagouin, or 9agui, is applied in Brazil to all the smaller Quadrumanous animals having the tail not prehensile. M. Geoffroy assigns to his genus Callithrix 

 (which forms only a subdivision of the Callithrix of Ersleben), and to his genera Actus and Pithecia, the common appellation of Geopitheci, or Ground-Monkeys. — Note of 

 the Baron Cuvier. 



