NOCTURNAL HOWLINGS 
forests by night. So far-carrying is the howl, that the 
late Mr. Salvin found, by calculating the time that it 
took him to traverse a patch of forest from where the 
note first broke upon his ears to the base of the tree 
whereon the Mycetes howled, i.e. one hour, that the 
voice. must have travelled about two miles. The 
howling is largely assisted by the modification of the 
throat bone, the hyoid of anatomists, into a deep cup 
which is a resonator; in other characters the howler 
is quite a typical Platyrrhine ; its distinctive marks are 
that it has a naked face and usually a beard and a 
well developed thumb. The beard and face produce a 
repulsive look, and for some reason or other, when a 
beast is ill-looking, which is not infrequent, naturalists 
often dwell in an almost malignant way upon its ugli- 
ness. The howler justifies the uncomeliness of its 
features by a bad and sinful disposition, and, further- 
more, by a low intelligence which is stereotyped in the 
simple and not complexly folded brain. The howling 
seems to be a means of intimidation ; and it is a moot 
point whether like cats they howl in concert, or whether 
it is merely a big male who gives vent in this way to 
defiance of neighbouring males. In any case, those who 
have heard it compare the note to the tempest howling 
through rocky caverns, and in this case justly add that 
“it is a noise so unearthly that, heard unexpectedly for 
the first time, it would fill the mind with the most 
melancholy and fearful foreboding.” The American 
forest is apt to harbour or to produce such gloomy 
noises. There is, however, another and a brighter side 
to the howler; it appears to be good for food above 
all monkeys. 
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