2052 Quadrupeds. 



and its tail, which is hairy, but not prehensile, is about fourteen ; the head is large 

 and round ; the muzzle short ; the eyes very large ; but there is no apparent external 

 ear. Three dark stripes are drawn on the head, and come down in front, the centre 

 stripe on the forehead and the two lateral ones reaching to the rounded corners of the 

 eyebrows. 



" The Dourocoulis are captured during the day by the natives when they are fast 

 asleep in some hollow tree. The male and female are often taken in the same hole, 

 for they live in pairs. In a state of* nature they pursue small birds and insects, not 

 neglecting vegetables, almost every kind of which they will eat. Humboldt's speci- 

 men was very fond of flies, which it caught dexterously, and would even sometimes 

 rouse itself for this chase on a gloomy day. Its night cry resembled that of the Ja- 

 guar, and it is thence called Tili-tigre. The mewing notes which it occasionally 

 sends forth remind the hearer of a cat, and this resemblance is heightened when the 

 head of a Dourocouli in a state of irritation swells, and the animal hisses or spits, 

 throws itself into the position of a cat when attacked by a dog, and strikes quick and 

 cat-like with its paw. Its voice is very powerful for its size. In the Leoncito, whose 

 body does not exceed seven or eight inches in length, we have much of the appearance 

 of a tiny lion. 



"But it is in the genus Pithecia that we have the nearest approach to human 

 likeness. There are some strong resemblances in the Couxio ; but, as Humboldt well 

 observes, of all the monkeys of America, the Capuchin of the Orinoco bears the great- 

 est similitude in its features to man. There are the eyes with the mingled expression 

 of melancholy and fierceness ; there is the long thick beard ; and, as this last conceals 

 the chin, the facial angle appears much less than it really is. Strong, active, fierce, 

 the Capuchin is tamed with the greatest difficulty, and, when angered, he raises him- 

 self on his hinder extremities, grinds his teeth in his wrath, and leaps around his an- 

 tagonist with threatening gestures. If any malicious person wishes to see this Homun- 

 culus in a most devouring rage, let him wet the Capuchin's beard, and he will find 

 that such an act is the unforgiveable sin. There is one point, indeed, wherein our 

 monkey differs from civilized man — he very seldom drinks ; but, when he does, the 

 similarity returns. Unlike the other American monkeys, which bring their lips to the 

 liquid, the Capuchin lifts the water in the hollow of his hand, inclines his head upon 

 his shoulder, and, carrying the draught to his mouth in the cup of Diogenes, drains it 

 with great deliberation. This appears to be his mode of drinking in a state of nature ; 

 and Humboldt thinks that it is adopted to prevent the wetting of the beard, which 

 renders the animal furious, and which could not be avoided if the lips were applied in 

 the usual Simian mode. Our friend the Capuchin is about two feet nine, bushy tail 

 and all, of a brownish red colour, the hair of the body being long, and that on the 

 forehead having a direction forwards. The beard, which arises below the ears, is 

 brown, inclining to black, and covers the upper part of the breast. His large sunken 

 eyes are overarched with well-marked brows, and his nails are bent, with the exception 

 of those on his thumbs. He is not gregarious, and is seldom found in company with 

 his female."—/?. 227. 



