90 
VERTEBRATA. 
THE MAGOT, OR BAKBART APE. — (See p. 92.') 
monkeys on the coast of Malabar ; the first is quite black, witli glossy hair and a white beard 
round the chin, measuring rather more than a palm in length. The other monkeys pay to this 
so profound a respect, that they are humble in his presence, as though they appreciated his supe- 
riority. The princes and mighty lords hold him in much estimation for his endowments of gravity, 
capacit)^, and the appearance of Avisdora above every other monkey. He is readily trained to 
enact a variety of ceremonies and aiFected courtesies, which he goes through with so grave a face 
and so perfectly, that it is a most wonderful thing to see them so exactly performed by an irra- 
tional creature." 
The general posture of the species is on all-fours or seated, in which positions it generally takes 
its food, either by the hands or by bringing the mouth to it. Its first operation in feeding is gen- 
erally to fill the cheek-pouches. It sleeps either on its side or sitting, bent forward, and with the 
head on the breast. In captivity they have exhibited varied temperaments. One in England was 
all life, spirit, and mischief, Avhile another was melancholy and staid in its deportment ; and yet 
the health of both these animals appeared to be equally good, nor was there much difference in 
their ages. Its usual length is eighteen inches. 
The wanderoo was known to the ancients, and is supposed to have been first made known to 
Europe by the conquests of Alexander. Ctesias had previously spoken of "a race of men inhabit- 
ing the mountains of India, having heads like dogs, but with larger teeth. They also have nails, but 
larger and more rounded. They bark, but do not talk : they have tails like dogs, but more hairy." 
These are supposed to have been wanderoo monkeys, it not being difficult in an ignorant age, 
when every thing remote and strange is exaggerated, for the common rumor to convert these crea- 
tures into men. 
Buffon's Macacus, M. ctjnomolgiis^ is also the Egret Monkey of Buffon and Daubenton, and 
is a native of India, Borneo, Java, Sumatra, and some of the adjacent isles. The hair of this 
animal is short, of a brown olive, spotted with black on the body, and gray on the lower parts. 
It is about eighteen inches in length, and is strong and robust, bearing the winter of a temperate 
climate better than most monkeys. Nevertheless, in the museums of Europe, like nearly all the 
species of this great four-handed family, it often dies eai'ly from pulmonary consumption. In con- 
finement it is usually discontented, and of filthy moral and physical habits. Though not deficient in 
intelligence, such are the force and brutality of its passions that little education can be bestowed 
upon it. Nevertheless, some of the females have produced in captivity, though frequently they 
have taken no care of their offspring. In other cases, the young ones have remained attached to 
the breast of the mother for several weeks, she leaping and climbing about as if not thus encum- 
bered. When the infant is a little older, it is permitted to try walking, yet the parent always 
