Monkeys In The Wilds

Professor Albert S. Bickmore's morning Jeeture at the American Museum of Natural History the other day was on "Monkeys of the New Worid." The word monkey, he said, had been derived from manakin or monakin, and meant "unfortuuate little f ello w." In South America monkeys areto be found on and south of a line between the City of Mexico and Vera Cruz, but none above that line. The American monkeys have a broad nose, and their nostrils turn outward and downward. A peculiar species was the tete, only 5 inches high, which has two more teeth than any monkey in África. Another was the bearded monkey, so named beeause of a beard whiuh surrounded his face in a fashion made notable by. a celebrated journalist, some years deceased. The animal (the monkey) was very careful of his beard and never wet it while drinking. He would hollow his hand into the form of a cup, dip it into and fill it with water, and then drink from his hand slowly, while with one of his other hands he would carefully press his beard out of the way of contact with any drops of water that might falL Another odd species was the white throated monkey, still another, "Humboldt's" monkey, discovered by that great explorer, and sometimes called the "negro" monkey, beeause of the curly wool upon its head. Other monkeys had tails so sensitivo that when their owners were passing rapidly through the forests, dragging their tails behind them, they could teil instantly when their caudal appendages came into contact with anything good to eat. The same tails were very powerful, and their owners could hook them over a limb, and, hanging by that support, go fast asleep. If a monkey were shot when in this position he vould not f all; he would simply continue to cling there uutil decomposition set in. The natives shoot monkeys with poisoned arrows, which they blow out of 'rag hollow reeds. When the wounded monkey becomes unconscious from the effects of the poison, the hunter runs up and puts some salt into his mouth, after securing him, and the salt being an antidota for the poison, the hunter gets a live monkey as good as new. The lecturer described in detail the species of the South American monkey known as the "howlers." These monkeys travel in groups and they are very jealous of each other's abilities as howlers. Each group has a champion howler, and when two groups meet one howler from each sits opposite the other, surrounded by the rest, and then each tries to outhowl the other.the respective groups joining in the chorus. This din can be heard at a distance of from two to three miles, and the terror of a huntsman who goes to sleep in the forest and is suddenly awakened by a group of howlers in the trees above him can be better imagined than described. Monkeys like bananas better than anything else, although they are fond of green corn and the breadfruit, whieh grows abundantly in the