The Macaques. MAMMALIA. The Magot. 35 
disparagement, take a lesson from these diminutive 
imitators.” 
The hhimder is one of the few species of Simiadse 
which have produced young in our menageries, and, 
under these circumstances, the female exhibits a won- 
derful degree of affection for her offspring. In a case 
recorded at great length by M. F. Cuvier, the yomig 
animal continued for the first fortnight of its existence 
firmly clinging to the hair of its mother, with its mouth 
constantly applied to her nipple, only changing its 
position occasionally in order to cross over to the other 
side, but constantl}'' turning its ejms to watch every- 
thing that occurred in its vicinity. At the end of a 
fortnight the little creature detached itself from its 
mother, and then, from the very first, exhibited an 
address and precision in its movements which could 
hardly have been anticipated. Still the mother watched 
it with anxious care, always ready to assist it in any 
difficulty into which it might fall during its gambols, 
and clasping it in her arms whenever she thought it 
was threatened with any danger. At the end of six 
weeks, however, when the young one was ready for 
more solid nutriment, this otherwise affectionate mother 
displayed a singular amount of selfish greediness, driv- 
ing her offspring away from the front of the cage when- 
ever their food was put in, so that it was only by stealth 
that the poor little beast contrived to secure a share of 
what was going. 
Several other species of macaques inhabit the con- 
tinent of Asia and its islands; but amongst these we shall 
only mention the Ursine Macaque (AT. Urshms), and 
the Red-faced Macaque {M. Speciosus), in which 
the tail is reduced to a mere tubercle, and the Black 
Macaque {Macacus Niger), in which there is no trace 
of that appendage. The second of these species is 
remarkable as being the only monkey inhabiting Japan ; 
and the third presents some peculiar characters, which 
have caused it to be raised to the rank of a distinct 
genus, under the name of Cynopithecus. 
THE MAGOT {Inutis Sylvanus), or Barbary Ape, 
as it is frequently called, is the last species of the group 
of macaques to which we shall refer; it is remarkable 
as being the only monkey found in Europe. It differs 
from the rest of the macaques in having the posterior 
tubercle of the hindmost molar in the lower jaw divided 
into three parts by two little furrows, and from nearly 
all of them by the total absence of a tail. 
The magot, when full grown, stands between three 
and four feet in height, and is of a robust form. The 
general colour of its fur is a yellowish olive-green, pale 
or greyish beneath ; the face is of a dingy flesh-colour, 
much wrinkled, and marked with irregular brown spots; 
and the hairs surrounding the face are of a dirty grey. 
It usually goes on all fours, and appears to prefer rocky 
and mountainous districts for its habitation, where this 
quadruped mode of progression is the most practicable 
one. In its character it closely resembles the other 
macaques, being lively, intelligent, and docile when 
young, but becoming morose and intractable with 
increasing years. The vivacity and playfulness of the 
young and half-grown animals, have always rendered 
them great favourites with the itinerant showmen of 
Europe, and the magot has been well known in this 
way from time immemorial. He has, however, another 
and still more important claim upon our attention ; 
during the long series of years when the dissection of 
the human body was strictly' prohibited, tbe anatomists 
of Europe derived all their notions of anatomy from 
the structure of this animal. Galen’s description of 
the anatomy of man was almost entirely drawn from 
his dissections of the magot; and many years after- 
wards, when Vesalius published his great and valuable 
work, “ De corporis human! fabiica,” the surgeons of 
the old school refused to accept the new views therein 
brought forward, and adhered resolutely to Galen in all 
points when there was a difference between the state- 
ments of the rival anatomists. Some of the most 
distinguished physicians of the sixteenth centurj^ actu- 
ally wrote treatises in support of the old notions ; and 
it was not until Camper, two centuries later, proved 
that Galen’s descriptions applied only to the magot, that 
we may consider the question to have been finally 
settled. 
The chief home of the magot is in the mountainous 
parts of Northern Africa, in Algeria, and Morocco, 
where these animals reside in the forests in laige troops, 
and are said to attack and drive away the beasts of 
prey which intrude upon their domains, although no 
doubt they often fall a prey to the leopard, and some 
of the smaller cats which abound in Northern Africa, 
and which, by the facility with which they climb 
trees, may easily steal upon them unawares during the 
night. Their food in a state of nature, according to 
M. Desfontaines, consists of “ pine-cones, chestnuts, 
figs, melons, pistachio nuts, and vegetables, which they 
carry off from the gardens of the Arabs, notwithstand- 
ing all the pains they take to exclude these mischievous 
animals. While the}' are committing their thefts, two 
or three mount to the summits of the trees and of the 
highest rocks to keep watch, and as soon as these 
sentinels see any one or hear a noise, they utter a cry 
of warning, and immediately the whole troop takes to 
flight, carrying off’ whatever they have been able to 
lay their hands on.” M. Desfontaines adds, that “ in 
the wild state, they generally bring forth only a single 
3'oung one, which, almost as soon as it is born, mounts 
on the back of its mother, embraces her neck with its 
arms, and is thus transported in safety from place to 
place ; sometimes, however, it remains firmly attached 
to the breast.” 
The origin of the colony of this species, which still 
lives upon the rock of Gibraltar under the special pro- 
tection of the English garrison, has frequently been a 
subject of discussion; some naturalists thinking that the 
species must have been imported into the south of 
Spain, as some of its Eastein allies have been into the 
Mauritius. It would appear, however, that the extreme 
southern part of the Spanish peninsula harbours a 
considerable number of terrestrial animals, which are 
otherwise peculiar to the opposite shores of Africa ; 
and, according to some authors, the magot itself occurs 
in a wild state upon other mountains of Andalusia, 
and even of Granada. Ancient writers also are silent 
with regard to the occurrence of their PitJiecus, which 
was undoubtedly the present species, in any other part 
of Europe ; although Procopius, a Greek writer of the 
