The monkeys which inhabit America form three very distinct groups:
1st, the Sapajous, which have prehensile or grasping tails; 2nd, the
Sagouins, which have ordinary tails, either long or short; and, 3rd, the
Marmosets, very small creatures, with sharp claws, long tails which are
not prehensile, and a smaller number of teeth than all other American
monkeys. Each of these three groups contain several sub-groups, or
_genera_, which often differ remarkably from each other, and from all
the monkeys of the Old World.
We will begin with the howling monkeys, which are the largest found in
America, and are celebrated for the loud voice of the males. Often in
the great forests of the Amazon or Oronooko a tremendous noise is heard
in the night or early morning, as if a great assemblage of wild beasts
were all roaring and screaming together. The noise may be heard for
miles, and it is louder and more piercing than that of any other
animals, yet it is all produced by a single male howler, sitting on the
branches of some lofty tree. They are enabled to make this extraordinary
noise by means of an organ that is possessed by no other animal. The
lower jaw is unusually deep, and this makes room for a hollow bony
vessel about the size of a large walnut, situated under the root of the
tongue, and having an opening into the windpipe by which the animal
can force air into it. This increases the power of its voice, acting
something like the hollow case of a violin, and producing those
marvelous rolling and reverberating sounds which caused the celebrated
traveler Waterton to declare that they were such as might have had their
origin in the infernal regions. The howlers are large and stout bodied
monkeys, with bearded faces, and very strong and powerfully grasping
tails. They inhabit the wildest forests; they are very shy, and are
seldom taken captive, though they are less active than many other
American monkeys.
Next come the spider monkeys, so called from their slender bodies and
enormously long limbs and tail. In these monkeys the tail is so long,
strong, and perfect, that it completely takes the place of a fifth hand.
By twisting the end of it round a branch the animal can swing freely in
the air with complete safety; and this gives them a wonderful power of
climbing end passing from tree to tree, because the distance they can
stretch is that of the tail, body, and arm added together, and these are
all unusually long. They can also swing themselves through the air for
great distances, and are thus able to pass rapidly from tree to tree
without ever descending to the ground, just like the gibbons in the
Malayan forests. Although capable of feats of wonderful agility, the
spider monkeys are usually slow and deliberate in their motions, and
have a timid, melancholy expression, very different from that of most
monkeys. Their hands are very long, but have only four fingers, being
adapted for hanging on to branches rather than for getting hold of small
objects. It is said that when they have to cross a river the trees on
the opposite banks of which do not approach near enough for a leap,
several of them form a chain, one hanging by its tail from a lofty
overhanging branch and seizing hold of the tail of the one below it,
then gradually swinging themselves backward and forward till the lower
one is able to seize hold of a branch on the opposite side. He then
climbs up the tree, and, when sufficiently high, the first one lets go,
and the swing either carries him across to a bough on the opposite side
or he climbs up over his companions.
Closely allied to the last are the woolly monkeys, which have an equally
well developed prehensile tail, but better proportioned limbs, and a
thick woolly fur of a uniform gray or brownish color. They have well
formed fingers and thumbs, both on the hands and feet, and are rather
deliberate in their motions, and exceedingly tame and affectionate in
captivity. They are great eaters, and are usually very fat. They are
found only in the far interior of the Amazon valley, and, having a
delicate constitution, seldom live long in Europe. These monkeys are not
so fond of swinging themselves about by their tails as are the spider
monkeys, and offer more opportunities of observing how completely this
organ takes the place of a fifth hand. When walking about a house, or on
the deck of a ship, the partially curled tail is carried in a horizontal
position on the ground, and the moment it touches anything it twists
round it and brings it forward, when, if eatable, it is at once
appropriated; and when fastened up the animal will obtain any food that
may be out of reach of its hands with the greatest facility, picking up
small bits of biscuit, nuts, etc., much as an elephant does with the tip
of his trunk.
We now come to a group of monkeys whose prehensile tail is of a less
perfect character, since it is covered with hair to the tip, and is of
no use to pick up objects. It can, however, curl round a branch, and
serves to steady the animal while sitting or feeding, but is never used
to hang and swing by in the manner so common with the spider monkeys and
their allies. These are rather small-sized animals, with round heads and
with moderately long tails. They are very active and intelligent, their
limbs are not so long as in the preceding group, and though they have
five fingers on each hand and foot, the hands have weak and hardly
opposable thumbs. Some species of these monkeys are often carried about
by itinerant organ men, and are taught to walk erect and perform many
amusing tricks. They form the genus _Cebus_ of naturalists.
The remainder of the American monkeys have non-prehensile tails, like
those of the monkeys of the Eastern hemisphere; but they consist of
several distinct groups, and differ very much in appearance and habits.
First we have the Sakis, which have a bushy tail and usually very long
and thick hair, something like that of a bear. Sometimes the tail is
very short, appearing like a rounded tuft of hair; many of the species
have fine bushy whiskers, which meet under the chin, and appear as if
they had been dressed and trimmed by a barber, and the head is often
covered with thick curly hair, looking like a wig. Others, again, have
the face quite red, and one has the head nearly bald, a most remarkable
peculiarity among monkeys. This latter species was met with by Mr. Bates
on the Upper Amazon, and he describes the face as being of a vivid
scarlet, the body clothed from neck to tail with very long, straight,
and shining white hair, while the head was nearly bald, owing to the
very short crop of thin gray hairs. As a finish to their striking
physiognomy these monkeys have bushy whiskers of a sandy color meeting
under the chin, and yellowish gray eyes. The color of the face is so
vivid that it looks as if covered with a thick coat of bright scarlet
paint. These creatures are very delicate, and have never reached Europe
alive, although several of the allied forms have lived some time in our
Zoological Gardens.
An allied group consists of the elegant squirrel monkeys, with long,
straight, hairy tails, and often adorned with pretty variegated colors.
They are usually small animals; some have the face marked with black and
white, others have curious whiskers, and their nails are rather sharp
and claw like. They have large round heads, and their fur is more glossy
and smooth than in most other American monkeys, so that they more
resemble some of the smaller monkeys of Africa. These little creatures
are very active, running about the trees like squirrels, and feeding
largely on insects as well as on fruit.
Closely allied to these are the small group of night monkeys, which have
large eyes, and a round face surrounded by a kind of ruff of whitish
fur, so as to give it an owl like appearance, whence they are sometimes
called owl-faced monkeys. They are covered with soft gray fur, like that
of a rabbit, and sleep all day long concealed in hollow trees. The
face is also marked with white patches and stripes, giving it a rather
carnivorous or cat like aspect, which, perhaps, serves as a protection,
by causing the defenseless creature to be taken for an arboreal tiger
cat or some such beast of prey.
This finishes the series of such of the American monkeys as have a
larger number of teeth than those of the Old World. But there is another
group, the Marmosets, which have the same number of teeth as Eastern
monkeys, but differently distributed in the jaws, a premolar being
substituted for a molar tooth. In other particulars they resemble the
rest of the American monkeys. They are very small and delicate creatures
some having the body only seven inches long. The thumb of the hands
is[1] not opposable, and instead of nails they have sharp compressed
claws. These diminutive monkeys have long, non-prehensile tails, and
they have a silky fur often of varied and beautiful colors. Some are
striped with gray and white, or are of rich brown or golden brown tints,
varied by having the head or shoulders white or black, while in many
there are crests, frills, manes, or long ear tufts, adding greatly to
their variety and beauty. These little animals are timid and restless;
their motions are more like those of a squirrel than a monkey. Their
sharp claws enable them to run quickly along the branches, but they
seldom leap from bough to bough like the larger monkeys. They live on
fruits and insects, but are much afraid of wasps, which they are said to
recognize even in a picture.
[Transcribers note 1: Changed from '... it not opposable', ...]
This completes our sketch of the American monkeys, and we see that,
although they possess no such remarkable forms as the gorilla or the
baboons, yet they exhibit a wonderful diversity of external characters,
considering that all seem equally adapted to a purely arboreal life.
In the howlers we have a specially developed voice organ, which is
altogether peculiar; in the spider monkeys we find the adaptation to
active motion among the topmost branches of the forest trees carried to
an extreme point of development; while the singular nocturnal monkeys,
the active squirrel monkeys, and the exquisite little marmosets, show
how distinct are the forms under which the same general type, may be
exhibited, and in how many varied ways existence may be sustained under
almost identical conditions.