Читать книгу The Circle of Knowledge: A Classified, Simplified, Visualized Book of Answers - Various - Страница 250

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

MARKHOR (Page 202)	WHITE MONKEY (Page 191)	SAMBUR (Page 202)

PRAIRIE WOLF (Page 197)	TAHR (Page 202)	OPOSSUM (Page 205)

KOALA AND CUB (Page 204)	WHITE WOLF (Page 197)

PORCUPINE (Page 199)	GALAGO (Page 192)	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.