LION-TAILED BABOON. 31 



elegantly figured in the Museum Leverianum. 

 It is a native of the East Indies, particularly of 

 the island of Ceylon, where it resides in woods ; 

 it is also said to be found in the interior parts 

 of Africa. In its manners it is savage and un- 

 tractable. It is necessary to observe, that the 

 figure given by the Count de Buffon, though very 

 good in other respects, was drawn from a mu- 

 tilated specimen, in which the tail was defective, 

 in consequence of which it does not convey a 

 true idea of the animal. I have sometimes thought 

 it not improbable that the strange figure in Ges- 

 ner, p. 859, which is also given by Aldrovandus, 

 p. 249, and copied by Dr. Tyson at fig. 17 of 

 his work on the Oran Otan, might, in reality, 

 have owed its origin to this species of Baboon ; 

 of which it may pass for a very bad representa- 

 tion, with the additional circumstance of being 

 figured with scarce any hair on the body, in order 

 to give it more of the human appearance. 



This species seems to vary in a remarkable 

 manner, being either of a light grey, or perfectly 

 white, with the beard black, so as to present an 

 appearance exactly opposite, in point of colour, 

 to the animal above-described. In this state it 

 has been considered as distinct, by some authors, 

 and is placed as such in the Gmelinian edition of 

 the System a Naturae, under the title of S. veter* 

 In this white state it is found in Ceylon. 



Mr. Pennant also seems to consider the S. Fan- 

 nus of Lin. as another variety of this species. 



