An Account of a Very Small Monkey, Communicated to Martin Folkes Esq; LL. D. and President of the Royal and Antiquarian Societies, London; By James Parsons M. D. F. R. S.

XX. An Account of a very small Monkey, communicated to Martin Folkes Esq; LL.D. and President of the Royal and Antiquarian Societies, London; by James Parsons M.D. F.R.S. SIR, Read April 18. 1751. THE right honourable the Lord Kingston, of Queen's-square, permitted me to take a drawing and this description of the little monkey, which you and the reverend Dr. Stukeley saw a few days ago. Its particular characters, join'd to its very small size, induced me to think it a subject worthy the notice of the Royal Society; especially too as there is yet no good figure of it exhibited. It is, from the tip of the nose to the root of the tail upon the edge of the spine, but seven inches and an half; and the tail, from its root to the extremity, is nine inches; its face about an inch long; and hardly three quarters of an inch broad at the eyes, where it is broadest. Its utmost weight is about four ounces and an half averdupoise. The face is naked, and of a flesh-colour; the eyes black, having no white part visible; the ears are thin, large in proportion, and of a dark colour; and are surrounded each with a grove of very white hairs; between which the hairs of the neck are blackish, and so are the four extremities: the rest of the body and tail is a mixture of dusky and yellow, so as to compose a dark olive; the hairs of the body are exceedingly exceedingly soft, and, upon closely examining them, each hair is parti-colour'd, that is, dusky at the root, then a little yellowish, then dark, and then yellowish again, somewhat like the soft feathers of partridges. The fingers are slender, each having three joints: they are five on each extremity, and are pointed by nails rather resembling the claws of birds, than those of human bodies; which is common to most other species of the cercopithecii. I since waited on Mr. Hyde, of Charterhouse-square, who shew'd me another of these, which happens to be the male of this very species now described, and seems about one size larger than my lord's, being about eight inches, measured by a pack-thread, from the nose to the root of the tail, and from thence, the tail is about ten inches long. It weighs about six ounces and a quarter, is very slender like the female, and with some difficulty moves his posterior extremities; but they seem always better in warm weather, and more active than in winter, being scarce able to bear cold. The same gentleman gave me besides an account of the following particulars relating to it: This and a female, which is since dead, were brought by an East-India ship about two years ago, from Brasile, having occasionally touch'd there in its return from the Indies: which shews Brasile to be the native place of these animals. And as Mr. Hyde has had his monkey now two years, these may be reasonably supposed at their full growth; and perhaps the males are commonly somewhat larger than the females, as it is in some other animals. They are both very thin and spare, and of the same colour in every respect, except except that there are more downy white hairs on the male than on the female; the marks and features are the same in both; their voices are small and shrill; and they are alike in all other respects but the sex; and altho' the claws are like those of a bird having hooked nails, pointed at the end of every finger of the upper extremities, the thumb of each inferior extremity in male and female is flat like the human, and has a flat nail. Mr. Hyde feeds his monkey sometimes with roasted chestnuts, sometimes in summer with sweet fruits, as gooseberries when thorough ripe, plums, cherries, and such-like; but he will not touch currants, because of their acidity. He seems very fond of the smaller spiders and their eggs; but not the larger sorts; nor will he touch the great blue-bottle fly, tho' he greedily eats the small common flies. He frequently has a diarrhoea; and once, by accident, it was found, that he seem'd to love a gum, call'd gum-senega, which he feeds on with eagerness, and it never fails to cure him; so that he gives it to him now only occasionally. Another kind of diet, which I saw him eat, was young snails; of which he eats three a day. I have chosen the figure of the male to be engraved for the Transactions, put into such an attitude, as will best shew the penis and scrotum. They are placed nearly in the same situation with those of a dog; but most resemble those of human nature, being naked of hair, having a fair soft flesh-colour'd skin, very tender and taper towards the end of the penis, which is altogether as prominent from the body as the human. The feminine part of generation of this species consists. consists of a flesh-colour'd naked piece a little raised, having a hole in the middle, and situated backwards between the femora, not quite so far as the pudenda of the females of other small quadrupeds. This, sir, is the species of monkey mention'd by Marcgravius, in the fifth chapter of the fifth book of his Historia rerum naturalium, &c. where he treats of the quadrupeds and serpents of Brasile; but his figure bears so little resemblance to the creature, and his description is so short, that I believe you will think this farther history not unnecessary: however, I have transcribed his words as follow, to shew that this animal is the same, that he describes. "Cagui or sagui minor, tenerum animalculum et parvum, leonem quoque facie referens. Totius corporis longitudo circiter sex digitorum est, caudae autem decem; capitulum habet parvulum, quod vix pomum minus æquat: nasum exiguum elatum; oculos teneros; os parvum cum dentibus acutissimis; crura manus habent instar cercopithecorum, quinque digitis teneris praedita: aures subrotundas, quas circumstant pili albi, ordine et cumulatim positi et quasi eleganter essent pexi. Pili autem totius corporis interius et in exortu rufescunt, exterius sunt ex albo et fusco mixti; cauda autem quasi ex albo et fusco annulata est. Acutissimum edit sonum voce sua: velocissimum est animalculum in saliendo: frigoris impatientissimum. Vescitur pane, farina mandiocæ, atque aliis." What the Brasilians call cagui, the Congenses call pongi; which are distinguished into the cagui major and and minor. Mr. Ray, in his *Synopsis anim.* p. 154, chapter of monkeys, thinks, this is that species described by Clusius from Lerius, which they call Sagouin. I am, SIR, Your truly humble servant, James Parsons. XXI. Extract of a Letter from Naples, concerning Herculaneum, containing an Account and Description of the Place, and what has been found in it. Read April 18. 1751. THE entrance into Herculaneum is described to be down a narrow passage, cut with a gradual descent; and, towards the bottom, into steps: and the city is supposed to lie about 60 feet under the surface of the ground. Those, who go down into it, carry each of them a wax taper, and are preceded by a guide. It is supposed, that, besides the earthquake, which swallow'd up this town, it was also at the same time overwhelmed with the burning lava, which then ran down from mount Vesuvius, during the eruption. And accordingly all the passages into it are cut thro' this lava; which is a very hard substance, like stone, of a slate-colour, and said to be composed of various kinds of metals and glass; which indeed is manifest in the appearance of it. The streets of Naples are paved with the same lava: but it seems to be of a much