THE CAPUCIN. 23 
a golden lustre when a brighter ray of light than usual plays over its surface. 
The beard which so thickly decorates the chin, throat, and neck, is of a 
deeper colour than that of the body. 
Few animals deserve the name which they bear so well as the Howling 
Monkeys. Their horrid yells are so loud, that they can be heard plainly 
although the animals which produce them are more than a mile distant ; and 
the sounds that issue from their curiously-formed throats are strangely simu- 
lative of the most discordant outcries of various other animals—the jaguar 
being one of the most favourite subjects for imitation. Throughout the 
entire night their dismal ululations resound, persecuting the ears of the 
involuntarily wakeful traveller with their oppressive pertinacity, and driving 
far from his wearied senses the slumber which he courts, but courts in vain. 
In order that an animal of so limited a size should be enabled to produce 
sounds of such intensity and volume, a peculiar structure of the vocal organs 
is necessary. 
The instrument by means of which the Howlers make night dismal with 
their funestral wailings, is found to be the “hyoid bone,” a portion of the 
THE CAPUCIN.—(Cebus Apella ) 
form which is very slightly developed in man, but very largely in these 
monkeys. In man, the bone in question gives support to the tongue and is 
attached to numerous muscles of the neck. In the Howling Monkeys it 
takes a wider range of duty, and, by a curious modification of structure, 
forms a bony drum which communicates with the windpipe and gives to the 
voice that powerful resonance which has made the Alouattes famous. 
The CAPUCIN MONKEYS, an example of which is here given, are active 
little animals, lively and playful. In habits, all the species seem to be very 
similar, so that the description of one will serve equally for any other. In 
consequence of their youth and sportive manners they are frequently kept in 
a domesticated state, both by the native Indians and by European settlers. 
Like several other small monkeys, the Capucin often strikes up a friendship 
for other animals that may happen to live in or near its home, the cat being 
one of the most favoured of their allies. Sometimes it carries its familiarity 
so far as to turn the cat into a steed for the nonce, and, seated upon her back, 
to perambulate the premises. More unpromising subjects for equestrian 
exercise have been pressed into the service by the Capucin. Humboldt 
