April, 1906. 
The Irish Naturalist . 
85 
OPEN AIR TRHx\TMENT OF MONKEYS IN THE 
DUBLIN ZOOEOGICAE GARDENS. 
BY R. F. SCHARFF, PH.D., B.SC 
[Pr,ATE 3.] 
Ix reviewing the Report for 1905 of the Ro3'al Zoological 
Societ}' of Ireland, the Editors of the Irish Naturalist have 
alread}^ referred to the fact that during the past year a 
group of Rhesus Monkeys has been turned out into an 
open-air enclosure. As this experiment is a somewhat novel 
one and has been attended with considerable success, the 
Editors have kindly invited me to contribute a few further 
remarks on the subject, which I am very willing to do. I 
have also ventured to accompan}^ this article by a coloured 
illustration from the Society's Report, which demonstrates 
at a glance one of the principal features of the experiment 
which the Council of the Society have carried out. 
The picture shows a number of Monke3^s sitting in the 
snow, and eating their meal apparently in perfect comfort. 
Until quite recently it was thought that the onl}^ way to keep 
Monkeys successfully in confinement was to cuddle them up 
in hot houses, so as to imitate as closely as possible the 
climatic conditions of their tropical homes. But our know- 
ledge of the geographical range of Monkeys has increased 
considerably within the last few years. Travellers who have 
visited the inclement regions of Tibet have reported the 
occurrence of Monkeys. The snow-clad mountains of 
Northern China and the Dupleix Mountains of Western China 
up to a height of 13,000 feet are said also to be inhabited by 
Monkeys, while it has been known for some time that they 
live in the neighbourhood of Pekin, where the thermometer 
often registers a temperature of 10 degrees below zero in 
winter. Now all these cold regions are inhabited by Monkeys 
belonging to the genus Macacus, a tribe which also formerly 
lived in Central Europe, and which is still represented on the 
Continent by the Barbary Macaque on the Rock of Gibraltar. 
In an}^ experiment of open air treatment, the Council of the 
Society acted clearly with forethought in choosing a species 
of this widely distributed genus. 
A 
