124 
NATURAL HISTORY 
lie was pooh-poohed by the faculty as of no authority whatever. J ust as Oxford opposed the learning 
of Greek, so the first physician of Henry IV. of France decided against human anatomy and Vesalius; 
but Greek and Vesalius triumphed after a while. 
Nevertheless, humanity for many centuries was under a deep obligation to the Magot, inasmuoh 
as surgery, as applied to man, was founded upon observations on the construction of the Ape. 
Strabo knew that North Africa was peopled by the Tail-less Ape, or Pithecus; and he asserts 
that Posidonius, on going from Cadiz to Italy by sea, stopped in Lybia (the present Barbary), and saw 
large numbers of these Apes in the forests, which came down close to the water side. 
Tlie Magot is about the size of a middle-sized Hog, and measures from two to two and a half feet 
THE PTC.' -TAILED MACAQUE. 
in length. The upper parts of the body and outsides of the limbs are of a light yellowish-brown 
colour, which is deeper on the head and round the cheeks ; the under parts are whitish ; and the face, 
ears, and other naked and hairless parts are llesh-coloured. The bald face, rather pale in tint, is long 
and wrinkled, and it is this which gives an old look to them, even when they are young. It is a 
robust animal when full grown, and has then deeply-set eyes, which are rather close together, and a 
projecting brow. The erect posture can be maintained for a short time, but it is not natural to it ; 
on the contrary, it moves on all-fours quickly, jumps and climbs with great agility, scampering over 
broken ground or getting into the trees equally well. It squats on its haunches, and often sleeps 
with the head hanging down over the chest. Always alert and full of mischief, they assemble in 
troops, especially on the flanks of the Atlas range, place their scouts on trees, like so many Crows, 
and despoil the fruit plantations and gardens. In this they resemble the Baboons, whose marauding 
expeditions will be noticed further on. 
This is the Monkey which is tolerably common on the Bock of Gibraltar ; and they were there 
before the sea wore away the land and formed the Strait. They are essentially Bock Apes, and like 
