Handbook to the Primates

The great increase in our knowledge of animals which has taken place since the volume on Monkeys was published in "Jardine's Naturalist's Library" some sixty years ago, cannot be better illustrated than by the fact that our excellent contributor, Dr. H. O. Forbes, has found it impossible to compress that knowledge into a single volume of the present issue. There is, moreover, no Museum which contains such a complete series of skins of the Primates, as to render a perfect "monograph" of the Order possible. Dr. Forbes has endeavoured in these volumes to bring the subject up to date, and has devoted some years of study to the two which now appear under his name, and he has had the great advantage of having seen many of the species of which these volumes treat, in a state of nature. If diligent research and patient work, combined with a sound anatomical knowledge and an acquaintance with many species of Monkeys in their natural habitat, avail anything, then these volumes should present to the student a more concise epitome of the characteristics of the Primates than any other essay yet offered to the public. It has been found impossible to reproduce any of the plates in the old "Naturalist's Library" of Jardine. They would have formed, with appropriate inscriptions, a very good instalment of a series of "Comic Natural History" volumes, as they were, in fact, nothing but a set of extraordinary caricatures of Monkeys. I have, therefore, again to acknowledge the liberality of the publishers, in adopting my suggestion that a perfectly new set of illustrations should be prepared. These have been executed by Mr. J. G. Keulemans, with a result, I hope, that will satisfy the reader.

R. BOWDLER SHARPE.

In the first volume will be found an account of the Lemuroidea, and the Anthropoidea as far as the group of the Macaques of the family Cercopithecidæ. The second volume continues with the latter genus, and contains the rest of the Monkeys, and the Apes, as well as a summary of the geographical distribution of the species of the Order Primates.

I have not attempted to write a complete synonymy of the species of Monkeys. The literature is scattered over many, often obscure, periodicals, and without seeing the actual specimens described by some of the older writers, it would be easy to introduce a great deal of confusion into the synonymy. I have, therefore, only attempted to give the principal references.

I must express my obligation to Dr. Günther, F.R.S., the Keeper of the Zoological Department in the British Museum, for the facilities of study afforded to me in that institution. To Mr. Oldfield Thomas I am likewise greatly indebted for much assistance, and for many a kindly hint.

Dr. Forsyth Major, who is well-known as one of the foremost authorities on the Lemurs, not only gave me valuable information as to the species and literature of the Lemuroidea, but was even so good as to furnish me with the descriptions of several new species.

Lastly, to my friend the Editor, I have to return my sincere thanks for the patience with which he has revised my MSS., and for the verification of numbers of references, only to be found in the great libraries of London, and inaccessible to an author dwelling in the provinces.

HENRY O. FORBES.

The prefatory remarks in the preceding volume explain the purport of the "Hand-book" of the Primates, which has been undertaken by Dr. Forbes. I hope that the portion of the work devoted to the geographical distribution of these animals will be found to be of some interest; but, as explained by the author, the meagreness of the material in Museums renders the definition of the exact habitats of Monkeys extremely difficult.

R. BOWDLER SHARPE.

I have little to add to the remarks given in the first volume of this "Hand-book." I may refer, however, to the interest which attaches to the study of the extinct forms of life, in relation to those which exist at the present day. Although I have endeavoured, to the best of my ability, to present to the student as complete a review of the species of Monkeys known to us at the present time, I am well aware that there is an enormous amount of work to be done before our knowledge of the Primates can be said to be complete. There is a natural repugnance to collecting specimens of Monkeys on the part of sportsmen. To shoot one feels like killing a sort of relation, and even our best collectors, who thoroughly understood the necessity of obtaining specimens in the interests of science, speak with a feeling of pain of the human-like distress which a wounded Monkey exhibits; and it is, therefore, difficult to induce travellers to shoot animals which offer so much of a "counterfeit presentment" to human beings.

The loose way in which the older naturalists expressed themselves in regard to geographical distribution, has also rendered a correct appreciation of the ranges of some of the Primates exceedingly difficult. Thus "Brazil" may mean any portion of the South American continent from the Argentine Republic to the Amazons, and "Mexique" has done duty in many Museums for any locality between Mexico and Panama. Much, therefore, remains to be done to define the exact areas which the different species of Primates inhabit.

HENRY O. FORBES.