AMERICAN MONKEYS. 
Hi 
observed in the dried skulls. It will be remembered that in our description of the 
characters of the man-like apes, it was stated (p. 21) that in these and all the 
monkeys of the Old World, the total number of teeth was thirty-two. Of these, 
on each side of both upper and lower jaws, two were incisors, one was a canine, two 
were premolars, and three molars; the series being expressed by the formula 
i §, c j , p §, m§ ; total, 32. 
If we now examine the skull of any American monkey (always excluding the 
marmosets) and count the teeth, we shall find that their total number is thirty-six, 
or four more than in the Old World monkeys. A closer examination will show 
that the additional tooth on each side belongs to the premolar series—the so-called 
bicuspids of human dentistry. Thus whereas all Old World monkeys have but two 
bicuspids on each side of both the upper and lower jaw, the American monkeys 
have three of these teeth; and the number of teeth in the latter may accordingly 
be expressed by the formula i |, c\, p%, m|; total, 36. 
If we care to carry our examination a little further, we shall not fail to notice 
that the upper molar teeth of the American monkeys differ very decidedly in the 
form of their crowns from those of the monkeys of the Old World, so that a single 
detached specimen of one of these teeth is amply sufficient to decide to which of 
the two groups its owner belonged. Thus whereas in the Old World monkeys 
(exclusive of the man-like apes) the crowns of these teeth are tall and narrow, with 
the four tubercles arranged in pairs nearly at right angles to the long axis, and 
each tubercle nearly conical, in the monkeys of the New World the crowns of 
these teeth are much shorter and broader, with their pairs of tubercles arranged 
obliquely to the long axis; the outer tubercles being much flattened, and the inner 
crescent-shaped. Those acquainted with the details of anatomy will also find 
characters by which the skulls themselves of the Old and New World monkeys 
can be mutually distinguished. 
Having now shown the leading; characteristics by which the 
Habits ® o «/ 
American monkeys, as a whole, are distinguished from those of the 
Old World, we may refer to a few other matters before proceeding to the description 
of the various species. 
In the first place, none of the American monkeys make any approach in point 
of size to the large man-like apes, or even the baboons, of the Old World. Then, 
again, the whole of them are. essentially adapted for a purely forest-life. Indeed, 
in the great primeval forests of the Amazon, where the ground is either swampy 
or entirely under water, the monkeys, together with several other animals, pass 
the whole of their lives in the tree-tops, travelling from tree to tree, and rarely, 
if ever, descending to the ground. 
In this purely arboreal life it will be easily seen that the prehensile tail of 
those species which possess such an organ must be a great assistance to their 
owners in travelling from bough to bough, and thus from tree to tree. Considering, 
however, that the species, like the titis, in which the tail is not prehensile, are 
equally as arboreal in habits as those with prehensile tails, it is quite clear that the 
latter type of organ can only be regarded as a kind of luxury. Indeed, the whole 
question as to the reason why some monkeys have long tails, others short tails, and 
others, again, no tails at all, is involved in great obscurity. 
