The first point of importance in their structure is the long prehensile tail, the tip of which is bare of fur and covered with soft black skin, like that of the feet. It can grasp with very great power, and the animal possesses the faculty of directing it as accurately as an elephant directs its proboscis, so that it is able to seize the branches of the tree, or to pick up any object within reach. I was going to say that it can grasp the branches of the tree in which it resides, but this expression would have been wrong. Monkeys have no residence; they are essentially nomad in their characters, traversing continually the rocks or forests of the country wherein they live, and neither needing nor possessing a fixed residence. The chief use of a definite habitation is to furnish a secure home for the young while they are helpless.
Thus, the rabbit retires to her burrow, the wolf or the lioness to her den, and the squirrel to her cage. But the young of the monkey are never helpless, like those of the animals just mentioned; they cling to their mother’s body, bury themselves in her fur, and find therein a warm and living cradle. It is noteworthy, too, that the young monkey suspends itself in such a manner that it offers no impediment to its mother’s movements, nor does it interfere with her equilibrium as she passes along the branches.
The next important point in these monkeys is the peculiar formation of their limbs. All monkeys are agile, but these creatures are especially made for locomotion among branches, and in consequence they combine strength and lightness in a very wonderful manner. Their heads are very small and round, their bodies are slight and of trifling weight, while their limbs are at once long, slender, and powerful.
The fore paws are small, and the observer must remark that the thumb is almost entirely absent. A monkey does not grasp with its fore paws, but merely hooks its fingers over the branches, and so swings without wasting its strength. The grasping power is chiefly evident in the hind paws, the thumb of which is very large, and therefore possesses great force. The inner surface of the hind paws is quite black, soft, and silken to the touch, and little indicative of the enormous grasping power which resides in them.
As instruments of terrestrial progression the limbs possess but few capabilities. All monkeys have an awkward air while on the ground; but these long-limbed creatures are peculiarly ill fitted to a level surface. They can walk on their hind feet, and often do so, but it is in a curious, waddling sort of gait, with the arms extended as balancers, and the long tail curved high over the head like the letter S.
They often proceed along the floor of their cage in a very curious manner. Without changing their seated posture they gather up their legs, place their hands on the floor, and swing themselves along, using the arms as crutches. This movement is exactly like the mode of progression which has been related of the kangaroos in books of Natural History. Awkward as this manœuvre may seem, it suits them well enough, and they get along at a pace which really surprises those who see it for the first time.
The nostrils are very wide apart, on account of a thick cartilage which divides them, and the teeth present many remarkable peculiarities, which need not be described except in a purely scientific work.
“I have elsewhere written an account of a Black Spider Monkey named Sally, who, like the monkey in the fable, had seen the world, having traversed the greater part of the globe by sea and by land. I afterwards made her acquaintance, and was much pleased with her gentle manners.
“She was terribly impatient of cold, and, when allowed to go near a fire, it was almost painful to see the eagerness with which she drank in the heat. She would hold up her arm, and expose her side to the fire until the hair began to shrivel and scorch; she would then turn the other side, and repeat the process. She would lie strangely curled up on the flat plate of the kitchen fender, spin round and round, as if she were a joint to be roasted, and would cry piteously when removed from the pleasing warmth.
“She was fond of climbing to the shoulders of those whom she liked, and used to do so in rather a curious manner, not pulling herself up by grasping the clothes, as is the custom with most monkeys, but by clasping the limbs round the body. When she had reached the waist, she generally put her hand into every pocket, in order to feel for apples or nuts, and displayed little petulant signs of disapprobation when her search was unsuccessful.