THE MONKEY FAMILY. 



3 



One order alone deemed it important to retain 

 the grotesque absurdities of former days. The 

 lawyers stood true to the powdered wig and 

 gown, and have patronised them up to the present 

 hour, in spite of their uncouth appearance. The 

 general impression was, that gowns of unmeaning 

 shape, and hoary wigs with greasy curls and 

 downward tails, added dignity and consequence 

 both to judge and council. 



I verily believe, that if an unfortunate criminal, 

 just now were defended by a sergeant -at -law, 

 without his professional wig and gown ; and then 

 condemned to death by my lord judge in plain 

 clothes, the people would exclaim, "that poor devil 

 has not had a fair trial ! " 



So it is with natural history. Divest a book, on 

 birds for example, of its unintelligible nomenclature, 

 together with its perplexing display of new divisions ; 

 and then it will soon be declared deficient in the 

 main points, and be condemned to slumber on the 

 dusty shelf. 



If, in this little treatise on monkeys, I shall 

 succeed in imparting a love for natural history 

 into the minds of my young readers ; and at the 

 same time convince them, how much is gained in 

 the field, and how little in the closet, my time and 

 labour will be well repaid. 



E 2 



