“The Anubis Baboon was first insulted, and put into a furious rage,
as was easily done by his keeper, who then made friends with him, and
shook hands. As the reconciliation was effected the Baboon rapidly
moved his jaws and lips up and down, and looked pleased. Two or three
species of Macacus, and the _Cynocephalus niger_, draw back their ears,
and utter a slight jabbering noise when they are pleased by being
caressed. With the Cynocephalus the corners of the mouth are at the
same time drawn backwards and upwards, so that the teeth are exposed;
hence this expression would never be recognised by a stranger as one
of pleasure. The crest of long hairs on the forehead is depressed, and
apparently the whole skin of the head drawn backwards. The eyebrows
are thus raised a little, and the eyes assume a staring appearance.
The lower eyelids also become slightly wrinkled, but this wrinkling
is not conspicuous, owing to the permanent transverse furrows on the
face. With Monkeys the expression of slight pain, or of any painful
emotion, such as grief, vexation, jealousy, &c., is not easily
distinguished from that of moderate anger, and these states of mind
readily and quickly pass into each other. Grief, however, with some
species, is certainly exhibited by weeping. A woman who sold a Monkey
to the Zoological Society, believed to have come from Borneo (_Macacus
maurus_), said that it often cried, and Mr. Bartlett, as well as the
keeper, Mr. Sutton, has repeatedly seen it when grieved, or even when
much pitied, weeping so copiously, that the tears rolled down its
cheeks. There is, however, something strange about this case, for two
specimens subsequently kept in the Gardens, and believed to be the
same species, have never been seen to weep, though they were carefully
observed by the keeper and myself when much distressed and loudly
screaming. Rengger states that the eyes of the _Cebus azaræ_ fill with
tears, but not sufficiently to overflow, when it is prevented getting
some much-desired object, or is much frightened. Humboldt also asserts
that the eyes of the _Callithrix sciureus_ instantly fill with tears
when it is ‘seized with fear,’ but when this pretty little Monkey in
the Zoological Gardens was teased so as to cry out loudly, this did not
occur. I do not, however, wish to throw the least doubt on the accuracy
of Humboldt’s statement.
“The appearance of dejection in young Orangs and Chimpanzees when out
of health is as plain and almost as pathetic as in the case of our
children. Their state of mind and body is shown by their listless
movements, fallen countenances, dull eyes, and changed complexion.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account