THE EXHIBITION OF 1862. 177 
to Humboldt, 4,000 are killed annually in the Spanish colonies, 
and 2,000 are yearly exported from Buenos Ayres alone. 
The peculiarities of geographical distribution were well ex- 
hibited by the monkeys of this region, several of which were 
shown in the Guiana court. The monkeys of this continent 
differ in so many important points from those of the Old 
World that they may be considered as a distinct type. Here 
we have a different dental formula, all Old-World monkeys 
having thirty-two teeth, while those of America have thirty-six. 
The latter never possess callosities nor cheek-pouches ; the 
thumb, which is so constant in the case of monkeys of the Old 
World, is often absent from the fore-feet of American monkeys, 
which are also of a generally smaller size, and possess a different 
physiognomy, arising from the very different form of the 
septum of the nose. But one of the most striking peculiari- 
ties is that the tail of American monkeys, instead of being 
sometimes absent, as in the apes and magots of Africa, is 
always present in some form, and usually is prehensile, forming 
an additional hand, which is used with wonderful facility and 
judgment, as may be seen by any one who will visit the Entel- 
lus monkeys now in the Zoological Gardens. Among the South 
American monkeys, the Bed Howler was most noticeable in the 
Exhibition, an animal with a singularly stentorian voice, calcu- 
lated to make night hideous in the gloomy and pathless forests 
of South America. 
Nor are the birds of these regions less striking. The case of 
Humming-birds well illustrated a class of fairy denizens of the 
New World, such as are not vouchsafed to any countries of the 
Old — radiant-winged gems — the souls of the warriors who had 
died in defence of the gods— as the Mexicans fabled. 
“ Exquisite ornaments are these to an Indian garden,” says 
one who has seen them in their native state, “ where they 
delight in the flowering plants and shrubs. They creep to and 
fro about the stalks and twigs, clinging by their little purple 
feet, and rifling the tubular corollas of their honied blossoms, 
where, doubtless, they gather many minute insects, licked up 
with the nectar, by the aid of their curiously-pencilled tongue.” 
The Boat-bill (Gccncroma ) , a bird of the heron tribe, attracts 
attention by his singular beak, like a boat turned upside down. 
It is a handsome bird, with a long crest hanging backward 
over the neck, inhabiting Guiana and Brazil. Perched on a 
tree over a stream, it drops down like a kingfisher upon the 
passing fish, and seldom misses its finny prey. Its name would 
indicate that it feeds on crabs, but this seems at least doubtful. 
Bitterns, horned screamers, Pompadour chatterers, and a variety 
of other birds, show the ornithological riches of these regions ; 
but few birds are more beautiful than the toucans, whose 
