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Show S1'EOIAL :mXPRESSIONS : {jlJ.AI'. v. they 1ncan Ly this latter expression thnt the seal~ is lowered; for they likewise speak of. the young chnnpanz: ee, when crying out., " as having the eyebrows "strongly contracted." The great power of 1novement in the scalp of the gorilla, of many ~aboons and other monkeys, deserves notice in relation to the po,;er possessed by some few ~en, eitl~er thr~ugh rev2~rsion or persistence, of voluntanly moving theu scalps. Astonishment, Terror. -A living fresh-water turt}e was placed at my request in the same con1partment Jn the Zoological Gardens with many 1nonkeys; and they showed unbounded astonishment, as well as some fear. This was displayed by their remaining mot.ionless, staring intently with widely opened eyes, the.u eyeLrows beino- often moved up and down. Their faces seemed son~ewhat lengthened. They occasionally ra~sed themselves on their hind-legs to get a better view. They often retreated a few feet, and then turning their heads over one shoulder, again stared intently. It was eurious to observe how much less afraid they were of the turtle than of a living snake which I had formerly placed in their compartment; 21 for in the course of a few minutes some of the monkeys ventured to approach and touch the turtle. On the other hand, son1e of the hu·ger baboons were greatly terrified, and grinned ~s if on the point of screamii1g out. When I showed a httle dressed-up doll to the Oynopithecus n-iger, it stood motionless, stared intently with widely opened eyes, aucl advanced its ears a little forwards. But when tho turtle was placed in its compartment, this monkey also moved its lips in an odd, rapid, jabbering manner, which the keeper declared was 1neant to conciHate or please the turtle. ----------------- 20 See on this subject, ' Descent of Man,' vol. i. p. 20. :n 'Descent of Man,' vol. i. p. 43. CHAP. v. MONKEYS. 145 . I was never. able clearly to perceive that the eyebi? ws of a ton1shed monkeys were kept permanently raised, though. they ':ere frequently 1noved up and down. Attentwn, whwh precedes astonishment, is expressed UJ Ulan by U. slight raisino- of the eyebrow • · and Dr. Duchenne informs me that when he gav , tc; the mon~\:ey formerly mentioned Ron1e quite new articl .. of food, Jt elevated its eyebrows a little, thus assu1ning an appearance of close attention. It then took the food in its fing-ers, and, with lowered or rectilinear eyeLrows, scratched, smelt, and examined it,-an expression of reflection being thus exhibited. Sometimes it would th~·ow back its head a little, and again with sudden! y rEused eyebrows re-examine and finally taste the food. In no case did any monkey keep its mouth open when it was astonished. Mr. Sutton observed for 1ne a young orang and chimpanzee during a considerable ~ength of ti~e; . ttnd however much they were astonished, or. whilst hstenin.g intently to some stra11ge ~ound, ~h~y d1d n~t keep theu mouths open. This fuct Js surprising, as With ntankind hardly any expression is more general than a widely open mouth under the sense of astonishn1ent. As far as I have been able to obse~ve, monkeys breathe more freely through their nostnls than men do; and this may account for their not opening their ~ouths when they are astonished; for·, aR we shall see In a future chapter, man apparently act in this manner when startled, at first for the s~ke of quickly drawing a full in~piration, and afterwards for the sake of breathing as quietly as possible. Terror is expressed by many kinds of monkeys by the utterance of shrill screams; the lips being drawn back, so thnt the teeth are exposed. ~rhe hair become.-; erect, especially when some anger is likewise felt. 1\Ir. Sutton has distinctly seen the face of the JJfacacus L |
