M O N A C H O L O G I A H A N D B O O ! O F T H E NATURAL HISTOR! OF MON! S O I O L IN N fEA N S! M ARRANGED ACC RD NG T THE STE . A N A TURA LI ST. ED I N B U RG H J O H N S T O N E A N D H U N T E R. : 3 m m M co . LONDON , ARSHALL, THE GREATEST BI PEDO L O G I ST OF THE AGE M O ST OM PL I O O M O O M I I THE ACC SHED SURGE N F RAL DEF R T ES, B UT PA RTI C ULA RL! TO O WH O O O ! O I L A I NE , TH UGH C NSTANTL SC URG NG AND SH NG THE VI O I O M A N ! I V A TTEM PTED CES AND F LL ES F ND, HAS NE ER W I I UL O M I O O TO THRO R D C E N SF RTUNE, R TO LAUGH AT REAL SUFFERING ; T O THE R I GHT AND TRUL ! H O N O URA B L E l! of lm trut m S , 3?q !fi I WO ! I P ! I B! I O TH S R S RES ECTFULL DED CATED, H S C NSTANT I M I READER AND S NCERE AD RER, THE TRANSLATO R. AUTHOR’S PREF E AC . SDIC E the time when philosophy had been chiefly by the instrumentality ofits great Eng — urifie d lish reformer, Bacon p from the scho lastic sophistries and medi eval puerilities with w s hich it was disfigured during so many age , and restored to its pristine dignity, that of of the mother all human knowledge , the study of natural history began to make great pro of ff gress . The most eminent intellects di erent countries engaged in the pursuit of this most attractive science ; they carefully observed and a investig ted the outward forms , constituent of elements, and various properties all that is moving and growing on the surface of the r of u ea th, as well as those the inn merable trea A M O N A C H O LO G lA . sures which it contains in its fruitful womb ; and they have given to the world the result of their learned labours, in the shape of many literary works, published in several languages . r e It may be therefore said , that nothing mains in nature which has not already been examined and described ; and that after the rich harvest which had been gathered on that of field by our predecessors , we naturalists the present day are hardly able to glean upon it a s few cattered ears . O ne day, when oppressed by this painful con a sideration, so disheartening to naturalist ambi tious of fame , I was meditating about the best means of making a new discovery in natural ’ science , I recollected, I don t know how, the S —! now M sel invaluable precept of olon y f. dm This a irable maxim , which has been so wh beautifully rendered by an English poet, o says , The r er st p op udy of mankind is man, d m produced a eep impression upon y mind, A H M O N C O L O GIA . and I began henceforward diligently to study the moral and phvsical nature of my own a nthro genus , and to compare it with various omo r hi c ! on p p species, when lo I discovered a tu sudden , and in the mos nexpected manner, a w ma n new genus , hich connects , the most per . of monke feet tall mortal beings , with the y, the mos silly of all animals , and completely fills up the chasm which was hitherto believed to exist between the bip ed and the qua dru ma ma—or , to use a vulgar expression , between monk man and monkey . I mean the , a genus of u mammalia , whose o tward appearance is d w almost i entical ith that of man , though in every other respect there is an immeasurable ! nk distance which separates ma n from the mo . ’ T O TE —I the e fi e RANSLAT R S NO . think that sci nti c valu of this discovery cannot be overrated ; and I feel quite proud to have had an opportunity of bringing to light and rescuing from an unde ! l H is e served oblivion the merits of its accomp ish ed author . fat e e e e e was, how v r, that of many min nt individuals, who, app aring e e e a e e e e e e e b for th ir g , w r not und rstood by th ir cont mporari s, and, e e nl e e f the e due e e e cons qu ntly, not o y d priv d o r ward to th ir s rvic s, but were not unfrequ ently made the obj ect of a severe persecution . The e e e O or r production of this gr at discov ry is, I think, a most pp M O N A C H O L O GIA . Far be it from me to accuse of negligence those ca c a ns who have preceded me in the of study natural history, and who , embracing in their learned researches the largest as well as the most minute objects which belong to the a domain of th t science , have hitherto omitted to investigate the nume rous and multifarious of herd monks , which they had every day plenty ofopportunities to see moving under their very noses . This almost unaccountable oversight , committed by so many eminent naturalists , may, however, be in some measure excused , d e xtraordi though never justifie , by the most nary likeness which undoubtedly exists between tune event to those naturalists who advocate the system of a gradual e e e e m the e the e d v lopm nt of all living b ings, fro low st to high st organi! ation ; and th erefore I recomm end this subj ect to the parti onlar attention of the author of the Vestiges ofthe N a tura l H istory o Creation e e e e the ffi e f , as it ntir ly r mov s di culty und r which this e e th ing nious writ r was labouring, and which was occasioned by e chasm which had hith erto b een b elieved to exist between man and the ran - an ou out he e e g g . If wish s to avail hims lf of this great dis cover be e e ee he in y !and it would v ry strang ind d if would not) , e e e e e he e e e ord r to compl t his th ory of cr ation, is v ry w lcom to do . I e e e e y e he so , how v r, sinc r l hop that, as a man of honour, will not fail to acknowledge the source wh ence he will have derive d e e e . this important, and , for his th ory, quit invaluabl fact A MON C H O L O GIA . m m ! the face and figure of a man and those of a monk, and which , particularly in some cases , is u ma so great , that a s perficial observer y easily e mistake both for one and the sam being . ! et u , though great allowances m st be made to those naturalists for the very strange oversight which they have committe d on this occasion , and which , I think , is an additional reason fo r humbling that pride of intellect to f u which men o science are so m ch subject, I c annot butexult at the idea that I was allowed the privilege of being the first discoverer of such a new and immense field for the exertion o f future naturalists , and consequent advance th o f science . I frankly confess that is great and important dis covery has filled my heart with such a great joy, that if I had lived in the times of Pythagoras I certainly w ould have offered to the g ods a hecatomb a hundred heads of the best fattened monks I should be able to provide , in order duly to un acknowledge s uch a piece of good fort e , and MONA C H O L O GIA . which undoubtedly is far superior to that of having discovered the celebrated geometrical t hiloso theorem, which the above men ioned p pher is said to have repaid by the sacrifice of of f o . A nd the same number heads cattle , indeed, I really think that if inventions and v discoveries are to be alued , not by their ! but beauty, by their utility to mankind , I could , if my innate modesty did not prevent me from doing it, exclaim ’ ’ Ea egi monumentum cere p erenmus with a much better right than it was done by R t the oman poe , who got for a song so many good things during his lifetime and so much glory after his death . I am , however, by no means so conceited as to think that I have exhausted in my present work this important u or s bject, even succeeded in condensing into its pages a desc riptio n of the numerous host o f , t monks particularly as it is absolutely requisi e , in r k orde to produce such a wor , diligently to O R L GIA MONA O O .