Monkeys are animals whose four feet are hand-like, and hence their
scientific name, Quadrumana, which means four-handed. They are
distinguished from the other animals by their docility, and, more
especially, by their power of imitation. It is evident at the first
glance that they are nearer related to man than any other animal.
The monkeys have long, loosely hanging arms, with elongated,
claw-like fingers; their feet resemble hands. They swing themselves
with ease from branch to branch and from tree to tree; they are good
climbers, and bring down fruit from the topmost branches. But
notwithstanding the aptitude of their hands for climbing, the latter
cannot equal the dexterity of the human hand, which is justly
described as the tool of all tools.
Monkeys differ outwardly from man in many respects: their foreheads
are low, and almost disappear under the overhanging hair; their ears
are directed upwards; their nose is exceedingly flat and scarcely
projects; their teeth resemble those of the animals of prey; their
chin is receding; their entire skin is hairy, except in a few
places; and their movements are, in most instances, only possible
with the assistance of their long arms.
The intellectual qualities of monkeys are not of very high order. In
this attribute, they are surpassed by the dog, the horse, and the
elephant. There is especially no trace of those qualities of
fidelity and gratitude which we so highly value in the animals last
mentioned.
All of the American monkeys are true monkeys, but in the old world
there is no line between ape, baboon, gibbon, macaque and monkey.
Most of the American species (the marmosets excepted) have one more
molar tooth on each side of each jaw than does man, but the forms of
the eastern continent are like man in that respect, as they are in
having nails rather than claws on at least some of the fingers and
toes. Many of the new world species have prehensile tails, but this
never occurs in the others, the tail exhibiting a tendency to be
reduced, at last disappearing in the man-like apes.
The American apes have the nostrils widely separated and opening
sidewise, while in the others they open in front and downward as in
man.
Monkeys are extremely interesting because of their caricature of
man. Some make most interesting pets, and others are disagreeable,
in looks, temper, and habits. Most of them are vegetarians for most
of their diet, but they are fond of eggs and young birds, as well as
insects. None stray far out of the tropics and only one enters
Europe at Gibraltar.
There are over one hundred various kinds of monkeys, only a few of
which it will be necessary to describe with more detail.
=Baboon= (_Cynocephalus babuin_).--The Greek name, signifying
“dog’s-head,” is very appropriate to the baboons, for they resemble a
dog both in the shape of the head and in the hairy covering of the skin,
and even in the tone of the voice.
They are very powerful animals, with protruding jaws like those of a
bull-dog. Their jaws, supplied with immense incisor teeth, would do
honor to any beast of prey, and their whole expression is fierce and
malicious. Their limbs are strikingly short in comparison with those of
the monkeys mentioned above. The baboons are found in Africa and the
East Indies, and live chiefly in rocky and hilly regions, avoiding the
woods as far as possible.
Their food consists of all kinds of plants, fruits, herbs, grasses,
bulbs, etc., and also of small animals, especially snails, insects, and
spiders. The structure of their body prevents them from walking upright,
and their whole behavior, whether at rest or when running and jumping,
exhibits a malicious disposition. Notwithstanding the fierceness of
their nature, they may be tamed and made obedient when young; but their
innate malicious nature reappears in old age. They are then no longer
obedient, but again grin, scratch and bite.
=Chimpanzee= (_Simia troglodytes_) attains to the same height as the
orang-outan; its body is covered with dark hair, and its hairless face
is of a leathery yellow. It lives in forests, and is social and much
livelier than the orang-outan, but it is also extraordinarily fierce. It
builds hut-like constructions in the trees. The chimpanzee cannot live
longer than a few years in our climate.
=Douc= (_Semnopithecus nemæus_).--The douc, or variegated monkey, is a
native of Cochin-China. Its tail is almost as long as its body. From its
variegated external appearance this monkey might be called a clown; its
jacket is grey; its breeches, head-band, and gloves are black, its
stockings brownish red; its sleeves, beard, loins, and tail white; its
face yellow; and its necktie brownish red.
It is timid and shy, and at the sight of man quickly makes off into the
recesses of the forest. It does not live long in captivity.
=Galago= (_G. senegalensis_).--They vary from the size of a rabbit to
that of a rat, are covered with thick, soft, wooly fur, have somewhat
bushy tails longer than the body, and hind-legs longer and stronger than
the arms. The head is round like a cat’s; the eyes are large with oval
pupils contracting in daylight to vertical slits; the ears are naked
and very big, expanded during activity, but rolled together when the
animal rests. The digits are strong and well adapted for grasping the
branches; all bear nails except the second on the hind-foot, which is
clawed. The galago proper is a pretty animal with wooly fur, grayish
fawn above, whitish beneath. It seems to be distributed throughout
tropical Africa, and is known in Senegal as “the gum animal” from its
frequent habitat in mimosa or gum-acacia forests.
=Gorilla= (_Simia gorilla_) is the largest of the monkeys, growing to a
height of six feet. Its grey, sparkling eyes are deeply sunk, and the
powerful bony forehead gives the face an expression of wild ferocity.
The mouth is wide, and the lips are sharply cut, without any red at the
edges; the jaws are extremely powerful, and are armed with strong
incisor teeth. The eyes stand wide apart, and the nose is more prominent
and the head better formed than is the case with the other monkeys.
=Howling Monkey= (_Mycetes niger_).--The coat of the male is black, that
of the female rather brown. Their tails are what are known as prehensile
tails, and are of great service to them when climbing. The howling
monkeys are found in South America. They live chiefly in the dense, damp
woods, and along the banks of rivers. Every morning and evening their
dismal howling fills the hearer with horror. They sit or lie about in
the trees, and sometimes hang from the boughs by means of their
prehensile tails. Their faces have a serious expression, and are
surrounded by long beards. Their dismal chorus is begun by one of the
old monkeys, and the whole company afterwards join in, the concert often
lasting several hours.
The Indians hunt the howling monkey and eat its flesh; but it very often
escapes the hunter, even after having been mortally wounded; for while
in the act of falling down from the tree it will twist its tail around a
bough, and remain there suspended long after death.
=Mandrill= (_C. mormon_).--This monkey has a repulsive appearance. The
high puffed-up cheeks are blue with red lines, the nose a fiery red, the
hair of the head greyish green, and the whiskers lemon yellow. It is as
malicious and violent as it is rapacious, and is found on the west coast
of Africa. It is much feared on account of its strength. As it feeds
chiefly on plants, it frequently does a great deal of damage; troops of
these animals are said to have invaded the inhabited districts on the
coast.
The mandrill does not fear man, and is never to be frightened by a
gun-shot; the smallest trifle suffices to put it in a most violent rage.
The natives very rarely dare to enter the forests in which the mandrills
are known to live.
=Marmoset= (_Hápale Jacchus_).--One of the few monkeys that can with
truthfulness be termed pretty is the Marmoset. There are several
species, and all are beautiful, with the gentle, engaging manners. Only
seven or eight inches long, or about as big as a full-grown rat, the
thick, soft fur and the long, bushy tail, a foot in length, give it the
aspect of a considerably larger animal. The color of the coat is a
peculiarly rich brown, which appears quite ruddy when the hairs are
blown aside. The tail, which is not prehensile, is light grey, ringed
with black, and there is a prominent tuft of white hair on either side
of the head, standing out before the ears. The Marmoset has claws
instead of nails except on its great toe. Its voice is a low, gentle
whistle, quickly repeated when alarmed. It is common in many parts of
South America. Its chief food consists of fruit, but it is very fond of
insects.
=ANIMALS THAT INTEREST US AT THE ZOO=
[Illustration: =MARKHOR= (Page 202)]
[Illustration: =WHITE MONKEY= (Page 191)]
[Illustration: =SAMBUR= (Page 202)]
[Illustration: =PRAIRIE WOLF= (Page 197)]
[Illustration: =TAHR= (Page 202)]
[Illustration: =OPOSSUM= (Page 205)]
[Illustration: =KOALA AND CUB= (Page 204)]
[Illustration: =WHITE WOLF= (Page 197)]
[Illustration: =PORCUPINE= (Page 199)]
[Illustration: =GALAGO= (Page 192)]
[Illustration: =HEDGEHOG= (Page 195)]
=Orang-Outan= (_Simia satyrus_).--The orang-outan is found in the
islands of Borneo and Sumatra. It attains to a height of four and a half
feet. The face and the inside of its hands are hairless, and are of a
bluish-grey tint; but the other parts of its body are covered more or
less thickly with hair, generally of a rusty-brown color. Its hands
reach almost to the ground.
When at liberty it feeds on plants only, and especially on tree-fruits.
Hard shelled-fruit, as big as a human head, which a man could only open
with an axe, the orang-outan tears asunder with its hands. It is by no
means so lively as the monkeys, and sits for hours at a time in a
melancholy mood on the bough of a tree, exhibiting only the natural
fierceness of its class when attacked.
In youth it is sociable, and lives with others of its kind, but when old
it leads a more solitary life; the old males are especially fond of
solitude. With increasing age the orang-outans scarcely ever climb the
trees. On the ground, however, they move with difficulty, and their gait
is awkward and clumsy. They build a kind of nest in the thick branches
nineteen or twenty feet above the ground. Their attachment to their
young is very touching.
=Wanderoo= (_Macacus silenus_).--A remarkable species which the
Ceylonese call Black Monkey, on account of the color of its long fur. On
the top of its head the hair is particularly long, falling on either
side of its face like the full-dress wig of a judge. It also possesses a
long grey beard, so that it has quite a venerable aspect. Unlike the
other macaques, it has a tuft of hair on the end of its tail, much like
that of a lion. The wanderoo is furnished with cheek pouches of
considerable size; and probably the rapidity with which it feeds is due
to the fact that it is storing away a portion of its food for future
use. The animal stands about thirty inches high, weighs as much as
eighty pounds, and is possessed of considerable muscular power.