WILD ANIMALS IN CAPTIVITY 
cold, and they will bear excessive heat. I have sometimes 
allowed some of the weakly and delicate members of this 
family to have free run of my house, and it is a perfect 
pleasure to find them basking before a large kitchen fire, 
lying on the hearth within the fender in such a position 
as would lead any one to expect that they would be 
roasted alive. Out of this they would run into the open air 
during the coldest weather in winter, to search the dust- 
bin for some anticipated toothsome delicacy; this they 
frequently repeated without in any way receiving the 
slightest injury ; in fact, I have always found them thrive 
better when allowed to have this freedom. 
It has sometimes happened that the marmosets have 
bred in captivity, producing one and sometimes two at a 
birth. The young one clings so tightly to the body of its 
mother that, being hidden in her long fur, it is very 
difficult to see. The young are suckled for five or six 
months, but remain with the mother long after ■ this 
period, and become very amusing, darting off after some 
insects or other food which it has discovered, returning 
to the mother and hiding itself on her breast. 
My son Edward states that while in Peru he found a 
very handsome species of marmoset {Midas dcvilli). '' This 
species is extremely delicate, and will not bear the least 
cold. I have had several alive for two or three weeks, 
but they appear to suffer from cold and die. They are 
ke|Dt, however, by the Indian women, who make pets of 
them and put them into the long hair on their heads ; 
with this protection they are able to live for a long time. 
Having become tame, they frequently hop out to feed, 
and, having captured a spider or two, scamper back again, 
and hide under the luxuriant crop of hair of their owners, 
who are generally unwilling to part with them.” 
152 
