136 
NATURAL HIS TORT. 
triangular ; the forehead recedes, and is rounded, and the side-hones of the brain case are bulged out. 
Underneath, the skull looks very long ; the hinder nostril opening is small, and the palate is arched. 
As the animal eats a variety of food, and lights often, his lower jaw is very strong. It is large and 
wide behind, and compressed in front. The chin is deep, and so is the side of the jaw close to it, 
but further back it is less so ; and the joint process (condyle) is wide and very flat usually. The 
lower canines are not as large as the upper, and they fit into a space (diastema) in front of the great 
canines of the upper jaw. The back teeth are remarkable for their size, the last in the lower jaw 
having live points, and the others four. The tooth (pre-molar) next to the canine is pushed backwards 
and sharpened in a curious manner by the action of the great upper canine, which comes down in 
front of it when the jaw is closed. 
The Baboons are found widely dispersed about Africa, and those which have been best observed 
live on the west coast, on the east in Abyssinia, and extending downwards to the neighbourhood of 
the Cape of Good Hope. Frequenting mountains and woody 
places, and rather avoiding forest land, they come within 
range of the great Carnivora of the plains and uplands, and 
suffer in consequence, the Leopard especially making tlie 
young its prey whenever it has an opportunity. They 
extend into Arabia. A little black one, differing in its 
kind from its African congeners, lives in the Island of 
Celebes, in the Philippines, and in the Islet of Batehian, 
close by. Borne kinds differ but slightly from one another, 
and those of one part of the African continent appear to 
resemble those of other portions in their several shapes and. 
habits, and yet to have different coloured hair, hence much 
confusion has arisen regarding the races of the species of 
the genus. This has been increased by the fact that the 
females differ much from the males, and hence more species 
have been formed by naturalists than is correct. Probably 
there are twelve species. 
The possession of a good tail constitutes a very good 
characteristic, and by the presence cr comparative absence of this member the group or genus may be 
divided into two. 
In the di vision which possess a tail, which is never very long, often rather short, and sometimes 
tufted and sometimes not, are the most numerous species, and such kinds as the Hamadryas, Gelada, 
Sphinx, and Pig-tailed Baboons are well known. In the nearly tail-less division are the great Man- 
drill, the Drill, and the Black Baboon. 
miAix or the jiauoon. 
THE BACKED B ABO OX, THE TIIOTII OF THE EGYPTIANS.* 
During the march against Magdala and Theodore, in the Abyssinian campaign, this great Dog- 
faced Baboon was frequently seen, and its habits were noticed by Blanford, the naturalist to the 
Expedition. Like most, if not all, of its fellow Baboons, this interesting creature prefers sandy ground 
to the dense forest land. They very rarely are seen on trees, they avoid woods, and keep mainly in 
the open country, preferring rocky precipices. This was the kind of country principally traversed by 
the army, and hence the Baboons afforded some amusement during the hot marches, and they were 
met with everywhere from the plains around A lines] ey Bay, where tlie disembarkation took place, to 
the top of the Dalanta plateau, although most abundantly in the tropical and sub-tropical portions of 
the district. On rising one morning after a march of some sixteen miles from Annesley Bay, 
Blanford saw a singular spectacle. A large troop of Baboons, at least two hundred in number, were 
hunting for any corn dropped upon the ground in the place where the horses had been picketed. lliey 
were the first of the great Dog-faced Apes which had been seen, although they became familiar enough 
afterwards. There was no mistaking them, for their likenesses to the engravings of the Sacred Ape 
* Cyiijccphatus Hamadryad. 
