It may perhaps seem to require some apology that we have ventured so far to depart from the ordinary system of arrangement as to remove the Monkeys from the station which they have hitherto usually been permitted to occupy at the head of the class, and to transfer them to their present position. We will not attempt to conceal1 that in so doing we were chiefly actuated by the desire of placing at the commencement of our series the largest and most attractive of the animals of which it was composed; and those which, in a Menagerie like that which we have undertaken to illustrate2, always constitute the most imposing3 feature. But while we[138] acknowledge the influence of this feeling to the fullest extent, we cannot refrain from expressing at the same time our firm conviction that the carnivorous quadrupeds possess in reality a better title to the place which we have assigned them, than the Monkeys which we have displaced to make room for them. The supposed transition from man, on which the received arrangement is founded, has little to do with the question; and it would surely require no great subtilty of argument to prove that the Carnivora are more highly typical of the great class, of which they form so important a part, than any other tribe whatever. But this is not the proper place for entering into so abstract a question; to which we have only referred en passant, for the sake of justifying4 ourselves upon broader principles for a deviation5 from established custom, which we should not have hesitated to adopt, in the present instance, on the narrow ground of expedience6 alone. Before, however, we take leave of it altogether, we cannot avoid asking, why, if the Monkeys are to take precedence of the Carnivora among Mammalia, the analogous7 tribe of Birds, the Pies and the Parrots, should not also rank above the ornithological8 representatives of the beasts of prey9, the towering Eagle and the rapacious10 Vulture?
To return, however, to our Monkeys; to which, be it observed, we do not pretend to assign this as a definite position. They form by far the largest portion of the Quadrumana; all the other animals of that order being comprehended, or rather confounded, in a distinct family, under the name of Lemurs, from the rightful owners of which appellation11 many of them differ most essentially12. In addition to the hands on the posterior as well as[139] anterior13 members, with long and flexible fingers and opposable thumbs, which constitute the primary characters of the order, the Monkey tribe in general is distinguished14 by the following peculiarities15. Their incisor teeth are invariably four in each jaw17, and their molars, like those of man, are flat and surmounted18 by blunted tubercles. The latter are five in number on each side of either jaw in all the Monkeys of the Old Continent, and in one very distinct tribe belonging to the New; but most of the American species are furnished with a sixth. Their canines19 vary considerably20 in size, from a trifling21 projection22 beyond the remaining teeth to a long and powerful tusk23, almost equalling those of the most formidable Carnivora; and from this structure it necessarily follows that a vacant space is left between the incisors and the canines of the upper jaw, and between the canines and the molars of the lower, for the reception and lodgment of those organs when the mouth is closed. The nails of all their fingers, as well as those of the thumbs, are invariably flat and expanded.
In almost every other point they are subject to infinite variations of form and structure. The shape of the head, which, in one or two species, offers a close approximation to the human form, passes through numerous intermediate gradations, until it reaches a point at which it can only be compared with that of the hound. The body, which is in general slight and well made, is in some few instances remarkably24 short and thickset, and in others drawn25 out to a surprising degree of tenuity. Their limbs vary greatly in their proportions; but in most of them the anterior are longer than the posterior: in all they are admirably adapted to the purposes to which they[140] are applied26, in climbing and leaping, by the slenderness of their form, the flexibility27 of their joints28, and the muscular activity with which these qualities are so strikingly combined. But of all their organs there is perhaps none which exhibits so remarkable29 a discrepancy30 in every particular as the tail; which is entirely31 wanting in some, forms a mere32 tubercle in others, in a third group is short and tapering33, in a fourth of moderate length and cylindrical34, in a fifth extremely long but uniformly covered with hair; in others, again, of equal length, divested35 of hair beneath and near the tip, and capable of being twisted round the branch of a tree or any other similar substance in such a manner as to support the whole weight of the animal, even without the assistance of his hands.
In none of them, it may be observed, are the hands formed for swimming, or the nails constructed for digging the earth; and in none of them is the naked callous36 portion, which corresponds to the sole or the palm, capable of being applied, like the feet of man or of the bear, to the flat surfaces on which they may occasionally tread. Even in those which have the greatest propensity37 to assume an upright posture38, the body is, under such circumstances, wholly supported by the outer margins39 of the posterior hands. The earth, in fact, is not their proper place of abode40; they are essentially inhabitants of trees, and every part of their organization is admirably fitted for the mode of life to which they were destined41 by the hand of nature herself. Throughout the vast forests of Asia, Africa, and South America, and more especially in those portions of the three continents which are comprehended within the[141] tropics, they congregate42 in numerous troops, bounding rapidly from branch to branch, and from tree to tree, in search of the fruits and eggs which constitute their principal means of subsistence. In the course of these peregrinations, which are frequently executed with a velocity43 scarcely to be followed by the eye, they seem to give a momentary44, and but a momentary, attention to every remarkable object that falls in their way, but never appear to remember it again; for they will examine the same object with the same rapidity as often as it recurs45, and apparently46 without in the least recognising it as that which they had seen before. They pass on a sudden from a state of seeming tranquillity47 to the most violent demonstrations48 of passion and sensuality; and in the course of a few minutes run through all the various phases of gesture and action of which they are capable, and for which their peculiar16 conformation affords ample scope. The females treat their young with the greatest tenderness until they become capable of shifting for themselves; when they turn them loose upon the world, and conduct themselves towards them from that time forwards in the same manner as towards the most perfect strangers.
The degrees of their so much vaunted intelligence, which is in general very limited, and rarely capable of being made subservient49 to the purposes of man, vary almost as much as the ever-changing outline of their form. From the grave and reflective Oran-Otang, whose docility50 and powers of imitation in his young state have been the theme of so much ridiculous exaggeration and sophistical argumentation, to the stupid and savage51 Baboon52, whose gross brutality53 is scarcely relieved by a[142] single spark of intelligence, the gradations are regular and easy. A remarkable circumstance connected with the developement of this faculty54, or perhaps we should rather say, with its gradual extinction55, consists in the fact that it is only in young animals which have not yet attained56 their full growth, that it is capable of being brought into play; the older individuals, even of the most tractable57 races, entirely losing the gaiety, and with it the docility, of their youth, and becoming at length as stupid and as savage as the most barbarous of the tribe.
The Monkeys of the Old and of the New World differ from each other in several remarkable points, some of which are universally characteristic of all the species of each, while others, although affording good and tangible58 means of discrimination, are but partially59 applicable. Thus the nostrils60 of all the species inhabiting the Old World are anterior like those of man, and divided only by a narrow septum. In those of the New World, on the contrary, they are invariably separated by a broad division, and consequently occupy a position more or less lateral61. In the former again the molar teeth are uniformly five in number, crowned with obtuse62 and flattened63 tubercles; while in the latter they are either six in number, or in the few anomalous64 cases in which they are limited to five, and which are peculiar to a group that ought to occupy an intermediate station between the Monkeys and the Insect-eating Carnivora, their crowns are surmounted by sharp and somewhat elevated points. The tails of all the American Monkeys are of great length, but they differ more or less from each other in the power of suspending themselves by means of that organ, a faculty which is nevertheless[143] common to the greater number of them, and of which those of the Old World are entirely destitute65. On the other hand the American species never exhibit any traces of the callosities or of the cheek-pouches, which are so common among the Asiatic and African races.
Each of these grand divisions has been subdivided66 into several minor67 groups or genera; but zoologists68 have hitherto been by no means unanimous with respect to the principles on which this subdivision ought to be effected. The arrangement which appears to be most generally adopted at the present day is that of M. Cuvier and M. Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire, which is essentially founded on the application of an imaginary rule, first employed by Camper for ascertaining69 the degree of intelligence, and consequently of ideal beauty, expressed by the human face in its various gradations of elevation70 or debasement, and called by him the facial angle. Unfortunately, however, the operations of nature in the animal creation can never be subjected to geometrical laws; nor can her innumerable phases be expressed with the precision of a mathematical theorem. This assumed point of comparison varies almost indefinitely, not merely in different species, but even in the same individual; and the Oran-Otang himself, who is supposed to approach most nearly to the human form, offers the most striking illustration of the truth of this observation; inasmuch as in his young and intellectual state his facial angle is equal to 65°, while in his aged71 and debased condition, in which he has actually been repeatedly described as a different animal under the name of Pongo, it sinks below 30°; degrading him even beneath the level of the most savage and stupid of the Baboons72.
[144]
In the foregoing observations we may perhaps be considered as giving too much space to the generalities of the subject; an objection to which we can only answer that nearly the whole of our knowledge of the Monkey tribes consists in generalities. Of the great number of species, upwards73 of one hundred, which are now known and characterized, very few are distinguished from their immediate74 fellows by striking and strongly-marked characters, either physical or moral. The groups too are connected by such gradual and easy transitions, that although the typical forms of each, isolated75 from the mass and placed in contrast with each other, unquestionably exhibit many broadly distinguishing peculiarities, yet the entire series offers a chain so nearly complete and unbroken as scarcely to admit of being treated of in any other way than as one homogeneous whole.
A no less striking than apposite instance of the close affinity76 between the species, and of the difficulty of distinguishing them from each other, especially in their young state, is furnished by the animals whose figures stand at the head of the present article. They are all three very evidently young individuals, and have not yet reached the period when it would be safe to pronounce with positiveness upon the species, or, were we to adopt the Cuvierian system in its full extent, upon the genera even, to which they respectively belong.
The specimen77 from which the central figure was taken is in all probability the earlier age of a species of Cercopithecus; but to which of them it should be referred, or whether it belongs to any hitherto characterized species, we may not venture to determine until its characters shall have become more fully78 developed. The distinctive[145] marks of this genus, which comprehends the smallest Monkeys of the Old Continent, consist in a depressed79 forehead, with a facial angle of 50°; a flat nose, with the nostrils directed upwards and outwards80; cheek-pouches, generally of large size; callosities behind; and a tail of considerable length. The individual before us, in addition to these characters, is remarkable for the reddish brown colour of his upper parts, which gradually disappears in a lighter81 hue82, mingled83 with a bluish tinge84 beneath; for the elevated and compressed toupet which advances considerably forwards on his forehead; for the hairs which are thinly scattered85 over his livid face; and for the spreading tufts of a somewhat lighter colour which occupy the sides of his head and face posteriorly.
The animal which occupies the right hand in the cut appears to be the young of the Macacus cynomolgus, Cuv., the Common Macaque; or rather perhaps, if the colour of the face is to be regarded as affording a sufficient specific distinction, of a new species lately described by M. F. Cuvier under the name of Macacus carbonarius. The Macaques are characterized by the greater elongation of their muzzles86, which reduces their facial angle to 40° or 45°; by the strong developement of their superciliary ridges88; by the oblique89 position of their nostrils in the upper surface of their nose; and by the presence of cheek-pouches and callosities. The young animal figured is blackish brown above, and, as is very common among the Monkeys, lighter and of a bluish cast beneath; his hands and face are nearly black; the hairs which cover his forehead form a thick tuft advancing forwards; and his face is almost naked.
We have little hesitation90 in referring the left hand[146] figure to the Cercopithecus pileatus of M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, the Guenon couronnée of Buffon, which M. Cuvier suspects, with great appearance of truth, to be nothing more than a variety of the Macacus Sinicus, the Bonnet91 Chinois of the same popular author. It differs from that in fact in little else than in a shorter muzzle87, and in a less regularly radiated and depressed disposition92 of the hair of the upper part of the head; characters which may be fairly regarded as resulting from its immature93 age. We may also observe that the Macacus radiatus, Geoff., described in the succeeding article, does not appear to be by any means clearly distinguished from the Bonnet Chinois; and that it is highly probable that these three Monkeys form in reality but a single species.
All these animals, which are at present confined in one cage along with several young individuals of the common species of Baboon and with the Bonneted94 Monkey, exhibit a mixture of playfulness and malice95, which renders them extremely amusing. Their gambols96 with each other are often truly laughable.
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1
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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illustrate
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| v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图 | |
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imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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justifying
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| 证明…有理( justify的现在分词 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护） | |
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deviation
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| n.背离，偏离；偏差，偏向；离题 | |
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expedience
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| n.方便，私利，权宜 | |
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analogous
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| adj.相似的；类似的 | |
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ornithological
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| adj.鸟类学的 | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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rapacious
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| adj.贪婪的，强夺的 | |
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appellation
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| n.名称，称呼 | |
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essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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anterior
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| adj.较早的；在前的 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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canines
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| n.犬齿( canine的名词复数 )；犬牙；犬科动物 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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projection
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| n.发射，计划，突出部分 | |
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tusk
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| n.獠牙，长牙，象牙 | |
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remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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flexibility
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| n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性 | |
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joints
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| 接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语） | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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discrepancy
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| n.不同；不符；差异；矛盾 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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tapering
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| adj.尖端细的 | |
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cylindrical
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| adj.圆筒形的 | |
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divested
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| v.剥夺( divest的过去式和过去分词 )；脱去（衣服）；2。从…取去…；1。（给某人）脱衣服 | |
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callous
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| adj.无情的，冷淡的，硬结的，起老茧的 | |
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propensity
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| n.倾向；习性 | |
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posture
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| n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势 | |
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margins
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| 边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数 | |
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abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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congregate
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| v.(使)集合，聚集 | |
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velocity
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| n.速度，速率 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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recurs
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| 再发生，复发( recur的第三人称单数 ) | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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demonstrations
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| 证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威 | |
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subservient
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| adj.卑屈的，阿谀的 | |
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docility
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| n.容易教，易驾驶，驯服 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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baboon
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| n.狒狒 | |
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brutality
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| n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮 | |
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faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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extinction
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| n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种 | |
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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tractable
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| adj.易驾驭的；温顺的 | |
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tangible
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| adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的 | |
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partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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lateral
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| adj.侧面的，旁边的 | |
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obtuse
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| adj.钝的；愚钝的 | |
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flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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anomalous
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| adj.反常的；不规则的 | |
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destitute
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| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
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subdivided
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| 再分，细分( subdivide的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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zoologists
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| 动物学家( zoologist的名词复数 ) | |
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ascertaining
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的现在分词 ) | |
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elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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baboons
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| n.狒狒( baboon的名词复数 ) | |
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73
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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affinity
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| n.亲和力，密切关系 | |
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specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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outwards
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| adj.外面的，公开的，向外的；adv.向外；n.外形 | |
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81
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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82
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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83
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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84
tinge
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| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
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85
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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86
muzzles
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| 枪口( muzzle的名词复数 )； （防止动物咬人的）口套； （四足动物的）鼻口部； （狗）等凸出的鼻子和口 | |
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87
muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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88
ridges
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| n.脊( ridge的名词复数 )；山脊；脊状突起；大气层的)高压脊 | |
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89
oblique
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| adj.斜的，倾斜的，无诚意的，不坦率的 | |
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90
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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91
bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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92
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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93
immature
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| adj.未成熟的，发育未全的，未充分发展的 | |
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94
bonneted
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| 发动机前置的 | |
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malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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gambols
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| v.蹦跳，跳跃，嬉戏( gambol的第三人称单数 ) | |
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