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The Cebidae have thirty-six teeth; the Marmosets possess but thirty-two: three of them, however, are pre-molar, as are three of those of the Cebidae, thus distinguishing them both from all the forms of the Old World.
They have two molar teeth less in each jaw than the Cebidae, the other family of American monkeys; they agree with them, however, in the sideway position of the nostrils, a character which distinguishes both from all the monkeys of the old world. The body is long and slender, clothed with soft hairs, and the tail, which is nearly twice the length of the trunk, is not prehensile.
The American monkeys consist of two chief families, the Cebidae, and the Midas or Marmosets which are again separated into thirteen genera, consisting of about eighty-six species, greatly diversified among themselves. In America neither Pithecidae or Lemurs are found: they exclusively inhabit the Old World.
Its body, about eighteen inches in height, exclusive of limbs, is clothed from head to tail with very long, straight, shining, whitish hair. Its head, nearly bald, is sprinkled over with a short crop of thin grey hair; whilst round its ruddy countenance, bushy whiskers, of a sandy colour, meet under the chin. It has reddish-yellow eyes. It belongs to the Cebidae family.
All the Cebidae, both long-tailed and short-tailed, are equally dwellers in trees. The scarlet-faced monkey lives in forests, which are inundated during great part of the year, and is never known to descend to the ground; the shortness of its tail is, therefore, no sign of terrestrial habits, as it is in the Macaques and Baboons of the Old World.
On examining it, we found it was a veritable monkey, one of the most curious of the race I ever saw. It was of the genera of Cebidae. The body was about eighteen inches long, exclusive of the limbs. Its tail was very short, and apparently of no use to it in climbing; and its limbs were rather shorter and thicker than those of most monkeys. In a short time it began to show signs of life.
It differs a little from the typical Cebidae in its teeth, the incisors being oblique and, in the upper jaw, converging, so as to leave a gap between the outermost and the canine teeth. It lives in small troops among the crowns of the lofty trees, subsisting on fruits of various kinds.
Its mode of progression along the main boughs of the lofty trees is like that of the squirrel; it does not ascend to the slender branches, or take those wonderful flying leaps which the Cebidae do, whose prehensile tails and flexible hands fit them for such headlong travelling.
The two great families of quadrumana, cebidae and simiadae, are a noted instance, the one being exclusively American, while the other belongs entirely to the old world. There are many other cases in which the full circular group can only be completed by taking subdivisions from various continents.
Among the most curious of the monkey tribe are the ateles, or spider-monkeys, called also Cebidae, and, by the natives sapajous, one of the species of the coaita, or quata. As they are seen gambolling among the trees, with their long limbs, and still longer tails, ever actively employed, their resemblance to huge spiders is remarkable.
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