Volume 1
A history of the earth, and animated nature / By Oliver Goldsmith. With an introductory view of the animal kingdom, tr. from the French by Baron Cuvier. And copious notes embracing accounts of new discoveries in natural history: And a life of the author by Washington Irving. And a carefully prepared index to the whole work.
- Oliver Goldsmith
- Date:
- 1847
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A history of the earth, and animated nature / By Oliver Goldsmith. With an introductory view of the animal kingdom, tr. from the French by Baron Cuvier. And copious notes embracing accounts of new discoveries in natural history: And a life of the author by Washington Irving. And a carefully prepared index to the whole work. Source: Wellcome Collection.
557/660 page 485
![those countries where the men are most barba- rous and stupid, the brutes are most active and sagacious. It is in the torrid tracts inhabited by barbarians, that such various animals are found with instinct so nearly approaching rea- son. The savages, both of Africa and America, accordingly suppose monkeys to be men; idle, slothful, rational beings; capable of speech and conversation ; but obstinately dumb, for fear of being compelled to labour. As of all savages, those of Africa are the most brutal, so, of all countries, the monkeys of Africa are the most expert and entertaining. The mon- keys of America are, in general, neither so saga- cious nor so tractable, nor is their form so nearly approaching that of man. The monkeys of the new continent may be very easily distinguished from those of the old, by three marks. Those of the ancient continent are universally found to have a naked callous substance behind, upon which they sit; w'hich those of America are en- tirely without: those also of the ancient con- tinent have the nostrils differently formed, more resembling those of men, the holes Opening down- ward ; whereas the American monkeys have them opening on each side; those of the ancient world have pouches on each side the jaw, into which they put their provisions; which those of America are without: lastly, none of the monkeys of the ancient continent hang by the tail, which many of the American sorts are known to do. By these marks the monkeys of either continent may be readily distinguished from each other, and prized accordingly. The African monkey, as I am as- sured, requires a longer education, and more cor- rection, than that of America; but it is at last found capable of more various powers of imitation, and shows a greater degree of cunning and activity. ]\Ir. Buffon, who has examined this race of im- itative beings with greater accuracy than any other naturalist before him, makes but nine spe- cies of monkeys belonging to the ancient con- tinent ; and eleven belonging to the new. To all these he gives the names which they go by in their respective countries; which, undoubtedly, is the method least liable to error, and the most proper for imitation. Of the monkeys of the ancient continent, the first he describes is the macaguo ; somewhat re- sembling a baboon in size, strength of body, and a hideous wrinkled visage: it differs, however, in having a very long tail, which is covered with tufted hair. It is a native of Congo. The second is the patas, which is about the same size with tire former; but differs in having a longer body, and a face less hideous; it is par- ticularly remarkable for the colour of its hair, which is of a red, so brilliant, that the animal looks as if it were actually painted. It is usually brought from Senegal; and by some called the red African monkey.^’ The third of the ancient continent is the mai^- BROUK of which he supposes the monkey which he calls the bonet chinois to be a variety. The one is remarkable for a long tail, and long beard; the other for a cap of hair that covers the crown of the head, from whence it takes the name. Both are natives of the East Indies ; and the Bramins, who extend their charity to all the brute creation, have hospitals for such of them as happen to be sick, or otherwise disabled. The foxirth of this kind is the mangabet ; it may be distinguished from all others by its eye- lids, which are naked, and of a striking white- ness. It is a native of Madagascar The fifth is the mona, or the cephus of the ancients : it is distinguished by its colour, which is variegated with black and red; and its tail is of an ash colour, with two white spots on each side at its insertion. It is a native of the northern parts of Africa.^® The sixth is the caelitrix, or green monkey of St. lago, distinguished by its beautiful green colour on the back, its white breast and belly, and its black face.*^ The seventh is the moustoc, or white nose ; distinguished by the whiteness of its lips, from whence it has received its name, the rest of the face being of a deep blue. It is a native of the Gold Coast, and a very beautiful little animal. The eighth is the talapoin ; and may be dis- tinguished as well by its beautiful variety of green, white, and yellow hair, as by that under the eyes being of a greater length than the rest. It is supposed to be a native of Africa and the East. The ninth and last of the monkeys of the ancient continent, is the douc, so called in Cochin- China, of which country it is a native. The douc seems to unite the characters of all the former together: with a long tail, like the monkey; of a size as large as the baboon ; and with a flat face like the ape : it even resembles the American monkeys, in having no callosity on its posteriors. Thus it seems to form the shade by which the monkeys of one continent are linked with those of the other. Next come the monkeys of the new continent; which, as has been said, differ from those of the old, in the make of their nostrils, in their having no callosity on their posteriors, and in their hav- ing no pouches on each side of the jaw. They differ also from each other, a part of them mak- ing no use of their tails to hang by; while others of them have the tail very strong and muscular, and serving by way of a fifth hand to hold by.^- Those with muscular holding tails, are called 18 See Ibid. 19 See Ibid. p. 494. 20 See Ibid. 21 As this monkey is found in Cape de Verd islands and the neighbouring parts of Africa, it is one of a species most frequently imported into Europe.—Ed. 22 There are no apes or monkeys without a tail known in America, and but one species with a tail shorter than the body, which was lately discovered](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22014457_0001_0557.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
