Henry Ogg Forbes

“ It makes a nest of leaves in the fork of a tree, and during its diurnal rest it either retreats thither, or composes itself on a branch, unwilling to move, and staring at passers-by, with its tail invariably folded across its body and round its neck. ”

“ As a rule two to six year old males lead with grave strides a herd of twenty to thirty females and young, the latter now playing with each other, and scampering about the troop, now carried by their mothers, and sometimes pinched and boxed on the ears by them. As soon as, but not before, the leader has assured himself of any danger, he utters a gentle bark, to which the whole troop responds and retreats back into safety among the rocks. The old males then stand on their hind-feet barking and displaying to the intruder their long white teeth. ”

“ Unbridged as is the chasm between the Ape and Man, "the structural differences which separate Man from the Gorilla and the Chimpanzee, are not so great as those which separate the greater from the lower Apes." ”

“ Notwithstanding the numerous varieties and races of mankind distributed over every region of the globe, each exhibiting differences in habits, customs and superficial complexion, Man forms but one species, Homo sapiens, the sole representative of the unique genus of his family. Though the genus Homo is thus far apparently zoologically isolated, there is a remarkable group of animals, which we designate "Apes," and which, possessing many of the same structural characters more or less modified, stand apart from all the other Mammalia, and make a distinct approach to Man. ”

“ In captivity it is remarkable for the gravity of its demeanour, and for an air of melancholy in its expression and movements which are completely in character with its snowy beard and venerable aspect. ”

“ Habits.—This Monkey has been known to science for many centuries. It is now certain, as M. Frederick Cuvier remarks in his "History of Mammals," thanks to the researches of M. de Blainville upon the Monkey dissected by Galen, that the Pithecus of Aristotle was our Magot, as we know of no other species of Macaque without a tail. The Barbary Macaques, when on the ground, invariably walk on their four legs, but in an uneasy and clumsy manner compared with their motions when climbing; they are far more at home in trees or rocks, where they climb with amazing rapidity. ”

“ The leg-bone of the reptile differs from the bird's in having a well-developed fibula lying parallel to it throughout its whole length; it does not present a strongly-marked crest at its upper end, nor is the articular surface of the narrow lower extremity formed by the coalescence with the shaft of a separate bone into a pulley-shaped termination. The coalescence never takes place at all; but each retains a separate existence throughout life. In the situation of the hock in the bird the reptile has at least four distinct bones to which are articulated as many toes ”

“ They have no particular cry, even when in their native woods; in captivity they are quite silent. In the course of a few days or weeks, if not carefully attended to, they fall into a listless condition, refuse food, and die.... The bright scarlet of its face is, in health, spread over the features up to the roots of the hair on the forehead and temples, and down to the neck, including the flabby cheeks, which hang down below the jaws. ”

“ In external characters the Monkeys and Apes have in general a shorter and less Dog-like nose than the Lemurs, thin lips and a more distinct face; while their eyes, situated on the face, are invariably directed forwards, and never outwards, or to the side. The opening of their nostrils is either outward (as in those inhabiting the New World) , or downwards (as in the bulk of the Old World species) . All of them are covered with hair; the tail may be long, short, or wanting. The proportions of the fore-limbs to the hind- vary much in the different groups. ”

“ Sometimes on seizing a branch in her progress, she will throw herself, by one arm only, completely round it, making a revolution with such rapidity as almost to deceive the eye, and continue her progress with undiminished velocity. ”

“ The skull is truncated behind in the male (less so in the female) for the reception of the vocal apparatus. Their incisor teeth are small and equal, the canines are prominent and have an oblique ridge across the crown from the outer front, to the inner hind, cusp, and the upper molars are large. The tail is powerful and prehensile, naked towards the tip, where it is tactile and very sensitive. The thumb is movable, the face is naked, and the chin bearded. Some have short, and some have long, fur over their bodies, but it is generally more plentiful about the head. ”

“ The Slow-Loris varies greatly in size and colour in the different regions it inhabits, and its varieties have been recognised by many naturalists as distinct species.
Every shade of colour occurs among specimens from different habitats. The colour varies between rufescent grey, or greyish-rufous, or white (with a brown tinge showing through from below) and silvery grey. The dorsal stripe varies from rufous to dull grey or even black, expanding out, or not, on the crown of the head, arms, and cheeks, bifurcating to the orbital rings and ear-patches, or to one or other only. ”

“ The Singhalese have the impression that the remains of a Monkey are never to be found in the forest; a belief which they have embodied in the proverb that "he who has seen a white Crow, the nest of a paddi bird, a straight coco-nut tree, or a dead Monkey, is certain to live for ever." This piece of folk-lore has evidently reached Ceylon from India, where it is believed that persons dwelling on the spot where a Hanuman Monkey, Semnopithecus entellus, has been killed, will die, and that even its bones are unlucky, and that no house erected where they are hid underground can prosper ”

“ Monkeys, is their pure white upper eyelids, the white streak being more distinct on the inner half of the eyelid than on the outer. These Monkeys want the laryngeal air-sacs seen in the Macaques; but they have large cheek-pouches and a simple stomach, as in the latter. Their tail is always long, quite equalling the length of the body. The hands have a web between each of the fingers, that between the thumb and index finger being very short; in their feet, the great-toe, which is widespread, has a short web uniting it with its neighbour ”

“ As these fossil human remains are now admitted to be of the Palæolithic age of the Pleistocene period, they give some idea of "the rate of evolution of the human species, and indicate that it has not taken place at a much faster or slower pace than that of other Mammalia. And if that is so, we are warranted in the supposition that the genus Homo, if not the species which the courtesy or the irony of naturalists has dubbed sapiens, was represented in Pliocene or even Miocene times.... There is no reason to suppose that the genus Homo was confined to Europe in the Pleistocene age ”

“ Every one who has handled a living bird knows that it is warm-blooded; and whoever, while not neglecting the "main chance," when dining on partridge or fowl, has nevertheless not been too absorbed to mark the prominent points that distinguished the skeletal remains of his feast from those of a hare, for instance, is aware that along the centre of the breastbone there runs a high crest for the attachment of the wing-muscles; that the collar-bones unite to form the bone of destiny with which he has been familiar from his youth as the "merry-thought;" ”

“ Its actions are like those of a wayward child; it does not seem happy even when it has plenty of its favourite food, bananas; but will leave its own meal to snatch the morsels out of the hands of its companions. ”

“ It lives in the most retired parts of the forest, where the ground below it is not inundated by the river, and feeds on fruits.
It is said that this animal—unlike the next species—drinks freely, always bending down on its hands and putting its mouth to the surface of the water, heedless of wetting its beard and indifferent to the observation of onlookers. Sir Robert Porter says that he never saw it take up water in the hollow of its hand, and convey it to its mouth to drink. Its voice is a weak and chirping whistle, which becomes shrill and loud when the animal is angry. ”

“ The great toe, as well as the thumb, is (except in a few species) fully opposable, so that in the majority of members of the Sub-order, the foot is as good a prehensile organ as the hand. From this circumstance comes the designation, Quadrumana, or "four-handed," so often applied to these animals. In a few species the thumb is rudimentary or absent, but the fore-finger, the absence of which characterised some of the Lemurs, is always present and well developed, and the corresponding digit in the foot (except in the Marmosets) has a flat nail instead of a claw. ”

“ The animals wander about in companies, inhabiting chiefly the dry, rocky, mountainous regions in the interior of West Africa, feeding on the peculiar vegetation that they find there; digging up the roots of grasses, and gnawing with their strong jaws the roots and stems of an extraordinary short, woody, top-shaped plant, known as Welwitschia, which produces in its youth two leaves, and never more in its lifetime, though attaining to a great age. ”

“ Professor Boyd-Dawkins believes that notwithstanding the favourable climate and the existence of so highly-developed an Ape as Dryopithecus, "were any Man-like animal living in the Miocene age, he might reasonably be expected to be not Man, but intermediate between Man and something else."
The Pliocene, i.e., that portion of the Tertiary period in which the genera of mammals are mostly the same as those now living—only one species is known to be identical,—is the next horizon in which human remains have been asserted to have been found. ”

“ The colour of the hair of the Orang is a brick- or yellowish-red all over, but in old males it is sometimes darker on the limbs. Its length (twelve to sixteen inches) is greatest, and its character coarsest, on the arms, thighs, and shoulders; the face, ears, and throat are bare, and the skin of a reddish- or yellowish-brown colour; but there is a thin beard on the chin. The back of the hand and fingers are also thickly haired; on the arms the hair grows towards the elbow, as on the fore-arm, both meeting in a point at the elbow. ”

“ Face, ears, and hands black; the top of the head rich reddish-brown; whole of upper side of the body, hinder part of the shoulders, back, external surface of both pairs of limbs, feet, and tail, greyish slate-colour; throat, breast, whole under side of the body and inside of the limbs white, as are the nape of the neck, sides of the face, the fore part of the shoulder, and the front aspect of the arms, as far as the top of the fore-arm; in many species a somewhat broad wash of slate-grey crosses the side of the face from the cheeks to below the ear. ”

“ Thighs along a narrow strip on their outer aspect, ashy grey, darkening distally into the black of the lower legs, but their posterior aspect, continuous with their inner sides, is perfectly white, giving a very peculiar and characteristic appearance to the animal, and one which is quite unlike any species known to us, with the one exception that M. siamensis has whitish patches in somewhat the same position. Whole of under surface, with the sides of the neck, the hairs on the inside of the ears, and lines down the inner sides of the arms and legs, pure creamy white. ”

“ In form and massiveness of body and in length of tail they vary very much. Their fore- and hind-limbs are nearly equal in length, and consequently they progress on all fours, with the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet flat to the ground. Their "fore-paws" are, however, very efficient hands, which some species use very dexterously in turning over stones in their search for food. Their feet are long. Their hair is grizzled or ringed with various colours.
The facial region of the skull is more developed in this genus relatively to the flattened brain-case, than in other Monkeys. ”

“ In the evening, just about sundown, and more especially in the early morning commencing before sunrise and finally ceasing when the sun is above the tops of the trees, he will be surprised by a sudden outbreak of what appears to be now the loud plaintive wailings of a crowd of women, now the united howling of a band of castigated children. ”