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assertion, that the sentinels are often punished with death for neglecting their duty.

The Europeans at the Cape of Good Hope sometimes catch young apes by stratagem, or by previously killing their dam, and bring them up with care for the purpose of rendering them afterwards serviceable. When they have attained their growth, they are taught to guard the house of their owner during the night, and on all occasions of his absence. This they do with great fidelity; but as they increase in age, their mischievous propensities develop themselves, and they oftentimes become extremely illtempered and ferocious. These apes, which are of the ursine species, are so much inclined to imitation, that they seldom see any thing done without attempting to do the same. Some of them are very stubborn and perverse; but many are readily susceptible of education, learning, without difficulty, almost every thing that is taught them.

Condamine and Bouger saw, in Peru, some domesticated monkeys of large size, which had been admitted into the apartments of the academicians, during the time they were employed in making observations in the mountains. These animals greatly excited the astonishment of the academicians, by afterwards, of their own accord, going through a series of imitations. They planted the signals, ran to the pendulum, and then immediately to the table, as if for the purpose of committing to paper the observations they had made. They occasionally pointed the telescopes towards the heavens, as if to view the planets or stars, and performed numerous other feats of a similar nature.

The whimsical occurrence which took place before the troops of Alexander the Great, is too singular and too amusing to be passed over in silence. The soldiers under command of this monarch always march

VOL. 11.

ed in order of battle. They happened one night to encamp on a mountain, that was inhabited by a numerous tribe of monkeys. On the following morning, they saw at a distance what appeared to be an immense body of troops approaching them, as if with the intention of coming to an engagement. The commanders, as well as the soldiers, were in the utmost astonishment. Having entirely subdued the prince of the country, they could not conceive from whence this new force could have come. They had not previously been informed of any thing of the kind. The alarm was immediately given, and in a short time the whole Macedonian army was drawn up in battle-array, to combat with this unexpected enemy. The prince of the country, who was a prisoner in the camp, was interrogated respecting it. He was surprised to be informed of such a force in the neighbourhood, and requested permission to behold it himself smiled at the mistake; and the Macedonians were not a little chagrined that they should have been such fools as to take a troop of these imitative animals for a band of armed men.

He

All the apes and monkeys are reported to entertain a natural aversion and antipathy to the crocodile. It is said, that some of them will even faint at seeing or smelling the skin of one of these frightful reptiles.

The animals of that subdivision of the tribe denominated sapajous have long tails, which they can coil up, and employ in some respects, but particularly in descending trees, as a hand. By means of their tails, they are also able to swing themselves backward and forward amongst the branches of trees.

Monkeys are seldom known to produce young ones, except in hot climates. The Barbary apes, however, [Simia inuus of Linnæus] which are found wild at Gibraltar, bring young ones in great abundance amongst the inaccessible precipices of the rock. A female of this species has also been

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known to produce offspring in a state
of captivity, at one of the hotels in
Paris. A striated monkey [Simia jac-
chus] brought forth young ones in
the house of a merchant at Lisbon,
and another in that of a lady in
Paris.

Female monkeys generally carry
their young ones nearly in the same
manner as negresses do their chil-
dren. The little animals cling to the
back of their dam by their hind feet,
and embrace the neck with their
paws.
When the females suckle
them, it is said that they hold them
in their arms, and present the teat as
a woman would to a child.

Monkeys usually live in much more
extensive troops than apes.
troops of patas, or red monkeys of
The
Senegal, are reported to amount some-
times to as many as three or four
thousand. Some naturalists believe
that they form a sort of republick, in
which a great degree of subordina-
tion is kept up. That they always
travel in good order, conducted by
chiefs, the strongest and most expe-
rienced animals of their troop; and
that, on these occasions, some of the
largest monkeys are likewise placed
in the rear, the sound of whose voice
immediately silences that of any of
the others that happen to be too noisy.
The orderly and expert retreat of
these creatures from danger is an
amusing sight to Europeans, unac-
customed to the native manners of
such animals. The negroes believe
them to be a vagabond race of men,
who are too indolent to construct
habitations to live in, or to culti-
vate the ground for subsistence.
They sometimes commit dreadful
havock in the fields and gardens of
persons who inhabit the countries
where they abound.

The different species of monkeys are seldom known to intermix or associate together; but each tribe generally inhabits a different quarter. The negroes who have not been taught the use of fire arms, are said to kill them by shooting them in the face

with arrows.
when the sapajous are shot, that in
the act of falling from the tree they
But it often happens,
seize hold of a branch with their tail,
and, dying in this situation, continue
suspended even for a long time after
of the larger species is wound-
death. When a monkey of some
ed, the rest will frequently collect
together, and with great fury pur
ments.
sue the hunters to their huts or lodg

was the only animal which could be
It was formerly supposed that man
infected by the smallpox and measles;
but it is now ascertained that mon
plaints prevail, are also liable to re-
keys, kept in houses where these com
ceive the infection.

In the year 1767, the inhabitants of Saint Germain-en-Laie, near Paris, the small pox, by playing with chil were witness to a monkey's catching dren who were infected, and the ani mal bore the marks of it for a consi derable time afterwards. A circum stance nearly similar was observed also at Paris. M. Paulet, a medical upon, in 1770, to attend a person man of some eminence, was called who had the measles. As the disease every possible precaution might be was contagious, he requested that taken to prevent it from spreading; and particularly that a monkey, accus tomed to play with the children of have any communication with the the house, should, on no account, invalid. The request was made too late. One of the sick person's sis ters, and at the same time also the monkey, which had been accustomed attacked by the disease. to sleep at the foot of her bed, was key, in consequence, was treated in The mon the same manner as a human subject. the animal's pulse, found it so quick M. Paulet, on examining the state of the pulsations. In the axillary artethat it was scarcely possible to count ry these were much more sensible than in any other. that, as nearly as them, they were about five hundred And he declared he could count

in a minute. We ought to remark, that this monkey was of a very low stature, and that in all animals, the shorter they are the quicker is their pulse. These facts, which are well authenticated, sufficiently prove (independently of others) that the smallpox and measles are not diseases entirely confined to the human species; but that animals, as well as men, are liable to receive the infection from them. Numerous instances have occurred of the smallpox being communicated to and from animals. Those from cattle are now well known. A shepherd infected with the smallpox has been known to communicate the disease to his sheep, and these sheep to those of another flock. A horse has been observed to be covered with the pustules of the smallpox. Goats are sometimes attacked by it; and, when this is the case, great numbers generally perish. [See Roder. à Castro, lib. 4. de Meteor. Microc. cap. 6.] This dreadful contagion is likewise frequently known to extend to the flocks of raindeer in Lapland.

Such is the summary of the principal observations that have been transmitted to us by different travellers, respecting the manners and habits of life of the animals which constitute this interesting tribe; and from what has been said, it appears that they have a nearer alliance than any other quadruped, in the general conformation of their bodies, to the human race. They consequently have the art of imitating human actions better than any others, since they are able to use their fore feet as hands. From the general organization of the monkeys, they are likewise capable of an education nearer allied to that of man, than any other animal. Some naturalists have attributed infinitely too much sagacity to them, whilst others have certainly not allowed enough. The monkeys seem to do those things which mankind do before their reason is matured by age; and in this respect there

is no other quadruped which bears any resemblance to them. Most animals seem at times to be actuated by the spirit of revenge. By the different means that are employed to gratify this passion, we may in a measure judge of the different degrees of their instinct; and every one knows how greatly the monkey exceeds all other brutes in its vindictive malice. There appears, in some measure, an analogy even betwixt the vices, if we may so call them, of the monkeys, and the disgusting brutality too often observable in the vitious and degraded part of mankind.

The animals of the monkey tribe differ very essentially from each other in their general manners and habits of life. The oran otan is susceptible of more considerable attainments than any of the others. The short muzzled monkeys, with long tails, such as the greater part of the guenons, sapajous, and sagoins, are for the most part exceedingly tractable, and receive a certain degree of instruction without much difficulty. But some of the apes, and baboons, with long muzzles, are so savage and ferocious as to be incapable of any education what

ever.

The monkeys of the new continent, as might naturally be supposed, differ (at least in some degree) in their habits of life from those of the old world. The great Author of Nature has assigned to them several characteristicks that are peculiar to themselves: such, amongst others, are the situation and separation of the nasal orifices; and the presence of two additional grinders in each jaw. We, likewise, are acquainted with no species of monkey, belonging to the ancient world, that has a preheusile tail, or the bony pouch observable in the throat of the preacher monkey and the arabata [Simia beelzebul and Simia seniculus of Linnæus.]

In some countries monkeys, even in their wild state, are rendered serviceable to mankind. It is said, that in districts where pepper and cocoa

grow, the inhabitants, availing themselves of the imitative faculties and the agility of the monkeys, are able to procure an infinitely greater quantity of these articles than they could do by any other means. They mount some of the lowest branches of the trees, break off the extremities where the fruit grows, and then descend and carefully range them together on the ground. The animals afterwards ascend the, same trees, strip the branches all the way to the top, and dispose them in a similar manner. After the monkeys have gone to rest, the Indians return and carry off the spoil.

In some places, it is this inclination to imitate human actions which leads to their destruction. The Indians carry in their hands vessels filled with water, and rub their faces with it in the presence of the monkeys; then substituting a kind of glue instead of water, leave the vessels behind them and retire. The observant creatures seize the vessels and do the same; when the glue, adhering strongly to their hair and eyelids, completely blinds them, and prevents every possibility of their effecting an escape.

In other places, the natives take to the habitations of the monkeys a kind of boots, which they put on and pull off their legs several times successively. These are then rubbed over in the inside with a strong glue; and when the monkeys attempt to do the same, they are unable to disengage themselves, and, consequently, are caught without difficulty.

Sometimes the inhabitants carry in their hands a mirror, and appear to amuse themselves by looking at it in different attitudes In place of these they leave a kind of traps, not unlike the glasses in external appearance, which, when the animals take them up, seize and secure them by the

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times, when they have caught the young ones they put them into a cage, and appear to teaze and torment them, in order that they may likewise catch the parents.

The hunters of some countries place near the haunts of monkeys vessels containing strong and intoxicating liquors. The animals drink of them, and in a short time become so drunk, as to lie down on the spot and fall asleep.

Some of the Indians ascend to the summits of the mountains in which the animals breed, and construct there a pile of wood, round the base of which they spread a quantity of maize. They place on the pile some substance, which, on being exposed to heat, explodes with tremendous noise. This is contrived to explode during the time that the monkeys are employed in devouring the maize, and, in the terrour and astonishment, the old animals scamper off on all sides with the utmost rapidity, leaving their young ones a prey to the hunters.

The dexterity of monkeys is such, that, although burthened by their off spring clinging to their backs, they can leap from tree to tree, if the distarce is not very great, and secure their hold among the branches with the greatest certainty. When they perceive any person taking aim at them, either with a gun or bow, they cry out and grind their teeth some times in the most horrible manner. They are often able to avoid the ar rows that are shot at them, and sometimes they even catch them in their hands. When any one of their com munity is shot, and falls to the ground, all the rest set up a dismal and tremendous howl, which makes all the adjacent mountains and woods resound. If a monkey is wounded, and does not fall, it frequently happens that his companions will seize and carry it off far beyond the reach of their enemy and miserable is the fate of that hunter who is imprudent enough to venture near their haunts during that same day. When the

animals reascend the trees, they each carry a stone in their hands, and generally another in their mouths; and, in such case, these are thrown at their adversary with a correctness of aim that is truly astonishing.

The inhabitants of several countries derive a means of subsistence from the flesh of these animals. We are assured by Condamine, that in Cayenne the monkeys are the kind of game that is more frequently pursued than any other; and that the Indians of the country bordering on the river of the Amazons are peculiarly fond of their flesh. Their fat is esteemed a sovereign remedy for stiffness in the joints. In the Portuguese settlements in South America, powdered monkey's bones are consi

dered an excellent sudorifick, and likewise as anti-venereal. In the gallbladder of one or two of the Indian species, but particularly of the dorick and wanderu, a kind of gall-stone is sometimes found. These, says Tavernier, the natives have been known to sell for as much as a hundred crowns each. They will not, in general, permit them to be exported out of their country as articles of commerce, but chiefly preserve them as an invaluable present to foreign ambassadours residing amongst them. They are considered to possess all the properties that have been attributed to the most precious of the bezoar stones.

Christ Church.

W. BINGLEY.

DIAMONDS. BY W. WOOD, F.L.S.

THOSE persons who are totally macquainted with the operation of chymistry, will not readily believe that the most precious stone in the world, is nothing but modified charcoal; and that, far from being indestructible, it may be entirely consumed by fire. Such, however, is the fact; for the knowledge of which we are particularly indebted to the decisive experiment of Mr. Tennant; though other chymists have not been deficient in their operation on the same subject. It was found, from some experiments which preceded those of Mr. Tennant, that the diamond, though it was capable of resist ing the effects of violent heat in a close vessel, might be consumed when exposed to the joint action of heat and air. These experiments, however, if we except those by Lavoisier, only proved the inflammability of the diamond. Mr. Tennant and, we ought to add, Mr. Guyton, went further, and not only proved its combustible nature, but likewise ascertained its component parts. According, therefore, to the present arrangement of

minerals, this substance is placed among the combustible bodies: nevertheless, we have taken the liberty to leave it at the head of the precious stones, as a more natural, though less scientifick, situation than the other.

Diamonds, when brought to Europe in their rough state, are said to be either in the shape of roundish pebbles with shining surfaces, or in octaëdral crystals; but they are not entirely confined to this form, as they vary in several respects, and sometimes occur with twenty-four, and even forty-eight sides.

These precious stones are principally found in the East Indies, in the kingdoms of Golconda and Visapour in the peninsula on this side the Ganges, nearly eighteen degrees from the line. They are likewise in the kingdoms of Pegu and of Siam, in Brasil, and in South America. One circumstance is worthy of remark respecting the situation of diamond mines. It is, that those of America are at the same distance in the southern hemisphere that the Asiatick

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