Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1897-08-18
INVISIBLE MONKEYS.
A New Family Discovered In Africa Whlch
Can Scarcely Be Seen.

A Nav Family Discovered In Africa Which
Can Scarcely Be Seen.
DR.. J. W. Gregory, of the Natural
History Museum, of London, reports
the discovery of family Of African
monkeys that adds another curiosity
to the wonders of the zoos, provided
they are fortunate enough to obtain
specimens. These monkeys are found
in certain districts of East Africa, and
pass most of their time in the dense
forests clothing Mount kilima Miro
and other districts of that sections.
The black stemmed trees in which
they make their homes are thlckly
draped with gray beard moss or lichen,
which reaches for several feet below
the bonghs. AS the monkeys hang
from the branches DIR. Gregory says
that they so closely resemble the
lichen that he found it impossible to
recognize them even when only a short
distance away.
These monkeys are known to the
natives of certain districts OF East
Africa by the name Of guereza. They
belong to the group of thumbless apes
which are restricted to the African
continent, where they take the place
Of the langurs, or sacred apes, of In
dia and other Oriental countries.
From the other thumbless apes the
guerezas, or the species to which that
name properly applies, are distin.
guished by their long, silky, black and
white coats, which are much sought
after by the natives of Africa as artl-
cles of their scanty costume and for
purposes Of decoration.
In the typical Abyssinian guereza
the greater part OF the fur Of the body
and limbs is of deep, shining black,
but from the shoulders there depends
mantle of long, white, silky hair, eS-
tending down each side and meeting
on the lower part of the back, 50 as to
hang down over the sides of the body
as we'll as over the hips and thighs.
The terminal third of the tail is also
clothed with long white hairs. Strik-
ing!y handsome as is this species it is
excelled in this respect by the East
African guereza-the one met with by
DR.. Gregory-in which the base OF the
tail alone is black, the whole of the
remainder of that appendage being
developed into magnificent white
brush, which may be compared to an
Indian chowri or fly whisk.
Black and white is type OF colora-
ton so conspicuous and at the same
time so rare among the larger mann,
mails, that whenever it occurs we may
be sure it is developed for some special
purpose, although, unless we have an
opportunity Of seeing the animals IN
their native haunts it is almost impos'
sible to divine what that purpose may
be.
It is met with elsewhere in the &c
bras and also in the remarkable parti'
colored bear of Thibet. Although the
former animals are conspicuous enough
in stall Mt the Zoo, or when stuffed
in museum, travellers tell us thai
when seen in the haze of an african
desert their black and white stripes
fade at very short distance to an al
most invisible gray. This may ever
be observed in hot summer when thu
grass is burned brown in some of the
private English parks where several o
these beautiful animals are allowed Il
roam at will during the sum ne
months.
DR.. Gregory's observations have
fully solved the problem Of the use o
the remarkable coloration of the guer
ezas, which has SO long puzzled th'
brains of naturalists. Decisive evi
dence is apparent that the black ant
white coloration of these animals pro
tects them by close resemblance tc
their inanimate surroundings. There
are, however, certain smaller animal:
with similar type of colorntion II
which the startling contrast of biac!
and white seems to be for the purpose
OF rendering them conspicuous, and a
some at least of these creatures ar
endowed with most disgusting odor
their conspicuousness has been re
garded as warning other animals from
attacking them.-New York Herald.