_Homo lar_, Linn., Mantiss. Plant., App., p. 521 (1771).
_Simia longimana_, Wagner in Schreb. Säugeth. i., p. 66, pl. iii., figs.
1, 2 (1775); Erxl., Syst. Reg. An., p. 9 (1777).
_Simia lar_, Bodd., Elench. An., p. 55 (1785); Fischer, Syn. Mamm., p. 12
(1829; in part).
_Pithecus lar_, Latr., Hist. Nat. Buff., xxxvi., p. 276 (1809).
_Pithecus varius_, Latr., _op. et loc. cit._
_Pithecus variegatus_, Geoffr., Ann. Mus., xix., p. 88 (1812).
_Hylobates lar_, Illig., Abhandl. Akad. Berl., p. 88 (1815); Martin,
Mammif. Anim., pp. 416, 433 (1841); Blyth, J. A. S. Beng., x., p. 838
(1841); Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 10 (1870); Scl., P. Z. S.,
1870, p. 86, pl. v.; Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 15 (1876);
Anders., Zool. Res. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 5 (1878; with full synonymy);
Blanford, Faun. Brit. Ind., Mamm., p. 7 (1891).
{160}_Hylobates variegatus_, Kuhl, Beitr. Zool., p. 5 (1820; young);
Desmar., Mamm., p. 51 (1820); Is. Geoffr., Zool. Bélang. Voy., p. 27
(1834).
_Simia albimana_, Vig. et Horsf., Zool. Journ., iv., p. 107 (1828).
_Simia variegatus_, Fischer, Syn. Mamm., p. 11 (1829).
_Hylobates albimanus_, Is. Geoffr., Zool. Bélang. Voy., p. 29 (1834).
_Hylobates entelloides_, Is. Geoffr., C. R., xv., p. 717 (1842).
_Hylobates leuciscus_, Cantor, Ann. and Mag. N. H., xvii., p. 338 (1846).
CHARACTERS.--MALE.--Everywhere deep black, except the face, which is
reddish-brown, with the thick hair round it light grey or white, and the
hands and feet, which are pale yellow or white; superciliary ridges,
whiskers and beard, white. The hair on the fore-arm is nearly erect, with
only a very slight forward inclination. The species is subject to great
variation, and may be of all shades, from deep black to entirely
whitish-yellow (_H. entelloides_).
Head round; the eyes large; the cheeks flat and depressed; the nose
slightly projecting, its tip furrowed, and its nostrils small and
converging; the upper lip is divided in the centre by a vertical furrow. In
very young individuals the top of the ear is markedly pointed.
Skull with the orbital ridges larger, the muzzle shorter, and the teeth
smaller than in _H. hoolock_; the second and third toes sometimes united by
a membrane.
FEMALE.--Generally similar to the male, but more frequently entirely pale
yellow, with the hands and feet paler.
DISTRIBUTION.--Aracan, Lower Pegu, Tenasserim, and the Malay Peninsula.
HABITS.--The White-handed Gibbon inhabits the upland {161}forests as high
as 3,500 feet above the sea; living in troops numbering from ten to
twenty-five. Its habits are very similar to those of other Gibbons,
although Tickell observed that they were less light and active than the
Hoolock, and had a different voice. It is said to drink, as the Siamang
does, by dipping its hands into the water, and not to put its mouth down to
it like the Hoolock. "So entirely does it depend on its hands for
locomotion amongst trees," remarks Dr. Blanford, "that it carries
everything in its feet. Tickell, from whom I take these details, says that
he has seen a party of _H. lar_ escape thus with their plunder from a Karen
garden in the forest." "The young are born in the early part of the cold
season," continues Dr. Blanford, "and each sticks to the body of its mother
for about seven months, after which it begins gradually to shift for
itself."