288 



THE BRITISH NATURALIST. [December 



are exclusively American, the tendency to live in troops is very pro- 

 nounced, only a few species leading solitary lives or living in families. 

 All are tree-dwellers, and only descend to drink or to traverse short 

 spaces which they cannot otherwise cross. Since their principal 

 enemies are large serpents and such cats as the jaguar, puma, and 

 ocelot, which they cannot resist, the habit of living in troops can 

 scarcely have been impressed upon them by dangers from without, but 

 is more probably an extension of family affection. 



The species of the genus Lagothrix are more courageous than any of 

 the other Platyrrhine apes, and members of a troop help one another 

 in time of danger ; but all the other species seek safety in flight. 



The Sajous resemble some of their Old World cousins in the habit 

 of occasionally descending in flocks to plunder fields or gardens in 

 concert ; these are the most active of the American apes, all of which 

 are rather gentle and peaceful animals, easily tamed, but rather dull and 

 sluggish. 



Their Old World cousins, the Catarrhine apes, are as a rule more 

 imitative, mischievous, and restless ; they usually live in troops, display 

 great affection for their young, and loyally support their comrades in the 

 hour of danger. Though all modern forms are more or less specialized, 

 it is reasonable to regard the tailed arboreal species as, on the whole, 

 the most primitive. Many of the African species, which compose the 

 genus Cercopithecus, live in troops of a hundred or more, and are 

 heartily hated by the negroes, whose fields they plunder with boldness and 

 skill. There can be no doubt that they communicate with one another 

 by various cries, and they are said to act under the leadership of an old 

 male when engaged on their plundering expeditions. The African apes 

 of the genus Colobus and the Asiatic Semnopitheci do not greatly differ 

 in habit or character from the Cercopitheci. 



Another great division of the Catarrhine apes, the Macaques, illustrate 

 the transition from arboreal to terrestrial life ; they usually live in troops 

 of 30 or more, are as a rule stronger and more courageous animals than 

 most of the tailed arboreal species, and though the old males are some- 

 what quarrelsome, they unite against a common foe. In this group, as 

 amongst the baboons, there are both tailed and tailless forms ; the 

 Barbary ape for instance, which inhabits the mountains of North Africa, 

 is a tailless form, and has received its specific name on that account. 

 In its general habits it resembles the baboons, wnich, with the excep- 

 tion of two Asiatic species, are an African group. The baboons are 

 beyond doubt the ugliest and most formidable looking of the monkeys. 

 As is the case with most Old World apes, the sexual instincts are very 

 violent, and incredible lasciviousness is the common vice of the baboons. 

 In other respects, their habits are eminently social ; they love and tend 

 their young with great care. Living in great troops, which sometimes 



