Henry Ogg Forbes

“ 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. ”

“ I am not aware whether closely allied species of Semnopitheci have ever inter-bred anywhere. They are rather exclusive in their ideas in respect to matrimonial relationship. Anyhow, such an event has just happened in this Garden. The Phayre's Langur, or as it is often called, Phayre's Leaf Monkey (Semnopithecus phayrii, Blyth) has given birth to a young one—a lovely little babe, of a delicate light orange colour. As there has been no other male in the same cage except the S. cristatus, there is no doubt of the young one being a hybrid between these two species. ”

“ Habits.—These Monkeys live in small companies composed of both sexes, in the highest trees in dry spots of the forest, never descending of their own accord to the ground, nor visiting the rice-fields, as their food appears to consist exclusively of fruits. They may be met with, according to Mr. Iversen, the discoverer of this species, at all seasons of the year in the same parts of the forest. They hardly ever visit the more open places, but keep to the highest tree-tops, and make most astonishing leaps from one branch to another. ”

“ Length of body, 29 inches; of tail, 31 inches. The hairs are all uniformly coloured. The thumb is often fairly well developed, and may have a nail.
This species is extremely variable in the coloration of its fur; the back in some varieties is rufous, the cheeks and throat may be sandy-yellow or white, and the under side whitish or white, and the outside of the fore-limbs may be black, or agreeing in colour with the outside of the thighs. The well-developed fœtus shows no signs of the varied coloration of later life, but is quite white. ”

“ General colour of the body everywhere black, except on the shoulders, the fore-limbs to the wrist, the joint of the legs, the back and sides of the head, and tail, which are washed with pale grey. Length of body, 191⁄2 inches; of tail, 29 inches. The adult female is similar in coloration to the male. In the skull the orbits are rounded, and the inter-orbital region elongated. ”

“ Blanford, "afford better opportunities for observation than the Hanuman Monkey of Northern and Central India. Generally protected and looked upon as sacred by many of the Hindu inhabitants, it has no fear of Man, and may be found in groves near villages, or even on the village trees, as often as in the depths of the forest. In many parts of India it is a common occurrence to see these Monkeys on the roofs of houses. They frequently pilfer food from the grain-dealers' shops, whilst the damage they inflict on gardens and fields, renders them a great nuisance to the natives. ”

“ In disposition it is gentle and confiding, sensible in the highest degree of kindness, and eager for endearing attention, uttering a low, plaintive cry when its sympathies are excited. It is particularly cleanly in its habits when domesticated, and spends much of its time in trimming its fur, and carefully divesting its hair of particles of dust. ”

“ The Langurs are, when young, good tempered and easily tamed; but when old they become sulky and ill-natured. They live chiefly in forest regions, in troops of considerable size. "This genus is spread over almost the whole of the Oriental region wherever the forests are extensive. They extend along the Himalayas to beyond Simla, where a species has been observed at an altitude of 11,000 feet, playing among fir-trees laden with snow-wreaths. On the west side of India they are not found to the north of the 14th parallel of latitude. ”

“ The Guerezas, which represent the Langurs in Asia, inhabit Tropical Africa, ranging from Abyssinia and Zanzibar in the east, to Senegambia, Angola, and perhaps the island of Fernando Po on the west—between about 15° N. lat. on the eastern and 12° on the western side, to 10° S. lat. They live in small troops in the forest, both on the plains and on the mountains, their food consisting of fruits, but principally of leaves, which they eat in large quantities, as the peculiar and capacious form of their storehouse-like stomach, in lieu of cheek-pouches, would indicate. ”

“ The thumb, although shorter than that digit among the Guenons and Macaques, is present in all the species, and forms a good prehensile finger with a flat nail. The hands and feet are long and narrow, and the finger-nails convex; the great-toe is thick and well-developed. The callosities are small as compared with the Guenons; the fur is abundant, and generally long, soft, and often glossy; and over the eyes they have usually a ridge of stiff hairs projecting in front. The members of this genus, as already observed, have no cheek-pouches ”

“ Pliny was aware of the fact that White Monkeys are occasionally found in India.
"When observed in their native wilds, a party of twenty or thirty of these creatures is generally busily engaged in the search for berries and buds. They are seldom to be seen on the ground, except when they may have descended to recover seeds or fruit which have fallen at the foot of their favourite trees. When disturbed, their leaps are prodigious ”

“ The presence of a Dog, however, excites such an irrepressible curiosity that, in order to watch his movements, they never fail to betray themselves. They may be frequently seen congregated on the roof of a native hut. ”

“ The ascending portion of the hinder part of each half of the lower jaw is high, and its hindmost molar on each side has five cusps to its crown. Their breast-bone is very narrow. The vertebræ forming the tail are much elongated. All have the central (os centrale) bone in the carpus (or wrist) .
The posterior lobes of the cerebrum project beyond the cerebellum and conceal it; they are very short among the Langurs. ”

“ Anderson, "there is no evidence that any species of Monkey in the Himalaya is naturally resident at those heights at which snow annually lies, as was supposed by Hodgson, and it is the rarity of their occurrence at these high elevations, and during winter, that has directed so much attention to their hibernal wanderings. In the summer, they are much more widely distributed than in the winter, when, as a rule, they are driven to lower heights and into the warmer valleys."
V. THE MADRAS LANGUR. SEMNOPITHECUS PRIAMUS.
Semnopithecus priam, Elliot, MSS. ”

“ From this Monkey the Bezoar stones are obtained, being found either in the gall bladder or the intestines. The noise that the animal makes is loud and distinct—Gagah, gagah. The young resemble the colour of the adult, and are exceedingly pretty little things, but they do not live long in confinement, and would never bear a voyage to England, as they suffer severely from sea-sickness. ”

“ The principal grooves and foldings seen in the human brain are represented, and there is a perfectly distinct hippocampus minor—an eminence in the cavity of the posterior lobe, which was for a long time supposed to be a character peculiar to the human brain, and the presence or absence of which was once a celebrated cause of difference between certain distinguished anatomists. ”

“ This species inhabits the northern and eastern provinces of Ceylon, and the wooded hills which occur in these portions of the island. In appearance it differs both in size and in colour from the common Wanderoo, being larger and more inclined to grey; and in habits it is much more reserved. At Jaffna, and in other parts of the island, where the population is comparatively numerous, these Monkeys become so familiarised with the presence of Man as to exhibit the utmost daring and indifference. ”

“ I have procured several specimens in different parts of the country, but although it is often seen in the low country, I think we must consider it to be a mountain species, which leaves the mountains at certain times in search of fruit. ”

“ Of their habits in their native state very little indeed is known, for they prefer to keep to the great trees of the forests far from human habitation; while, owing to their very delicate constitution enabling them to resist for a very short period the rigours of a climate cooler than their own, scarcely anything has been learnt of them in captivity. ”

“ They will sometimes, when barked at by a dog, attack it and inflict a very bad bite. They ascend the mountains to the height of 3,000 feet; but at that height the colour of their hair becomes of a much deeper red. ”

“ Anderson observes: "The differences which exist in certain dimensions between the skulls of well-authenticated examples of the two sexes are far greater than are generally found in the same sexes of different species." ”

“ Characters.—Fur long; hair radiating on the crown; hair of cheeks long, hiding the small ears; tail slightly tufted; top and sides of head pale yellow, or whitish; face and ears, palms and soles black; back, sides, outside of limbs, tail, hands, and feet, dark slaty, or greyish-brown, sometimes washed with purple.
Aged specimens are grey or white on the head; young ones often have the feet darker than the adult.
Facial portion of the skull longer and the superciliary ridges less projected forward than in S. entellus. ”

“ A flock of them will take possession of a Palmyra palm; and so effectually can they crouch and conceal themselves among the leaves that, on the slightest alarm, the whole party becomes invisible in an instant. ”

“ They live in the high trees of the forest and near to water, or in rocky hills, in moderately-sized troops composed of males, females, young, and infants clasping their mothers. An old male is occasionally found solitary. ”

“ Except in colour, it had all the characteristics of Presbytes cephalopterus. So striking was its whiteness that it might have been conjectured to be an albino, but for the circumstance that its eyes and face were black. I have heard that White Monkeys have been seen near the Ridi-galle Wihara in the Seven Korales, and also at Tangalle; but I never saw another specimen. The natives say they are not uncommon, and Knox states that they are 'milk-white both in body and face: but of this sort there is not such plenty.' The Rev. ”