He then
climbs up the tree, and, when sufficiently high, the first one lets go,
and the swing either carries him across to a bough on the opposite side
or he climbs up over his companions.
Closely allied to the last are the woolly monkeys, which have an equally
well developed prehensile tail, but better proportioned limbs, and a
thick woolly fur of a uniform gray or brownish color. They have well
formed fingers and thumbs, both on the hands and feet, and are rather
deliberate in their motions, and exceedingly tame and affectionate in
captivity. They are great eaters, and are usually very fat. They are
found only in the far interior of the Amazon valley, and, having a
delicate constitution, seldom live long in Europe. These monkeys are not
so fond of swinging themselves about by their tails as are the spider
monkeys, and offer more opportunities of observing how completely this
organ takes the place of a fifth hand. When walking about a house, or on
the deck of a ship, the partially curled tail is carried in a horizontal
position on the ground, and the moment it touches anything it twists
round it and brings it forward, when, if eatable, it is at once
appropriated; and when fastened up the animal will obtain any food that
may be out of reach of its hands with the greatest facility, picking up
small bits of biscuit, nuts, etc., much as an elephant does with the tip
of his trunk.
We now come to a group of monkeys whose prehensile tail is of a less
perfect character, since it is covered with hair to the tip, and is of
no use to pick up objects.
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