BABOON, bib-oon', a large, long-haired, terrestrial monkey of Africa or Arabia, be longing to the genus Cynocephalus, of the fam ily Cercopithectda.. All are of large size, have elongated, blunt muzzles, with nostrils at the extreme end, and great canine teeth which together give the face, when seen in profile, a dog-like aspect. The naked parts of the face, as well as the great callosities upon the but tocks, are often brilliantly colored. Some also have shaggy manes, and all add to their re pulsive appearance a fierceness of disposition which makes them more feared than perhaps is necessary, for they rarely, if ever, have attacked human beings. All of the species go about in troops under the guidance and protection of several old males. They are rare in wooded regions, .preferring rocky and bushy districts, like those in northern Africa, in Arabia and in southeastern Africa. As their fore and hind limbs are of nearly equal length, and very stout, they go mostly on all fours, galloping swiftly and climbing rocks with agility. They climb trees with greater difficulty, and generally keep on the ground away from forest regions. Their food is principally vegetable— fruits, berries, young sprouts, etc.; but they also eat insects, worms, snails and such young birds or small animals as they are able to catch. They do great damage to the plantations of the native Africans, ruthlessly spoiling much more than they are able to eat. The ancient Egyptians seem to have trained them to pick fruits, but within recent times their confine ment in menageries, where they live and breed well, is the extent of their domestication. There is nothing attractive about any of them, either in appearance or disposition.
Among the best known is the great Arabian or sacred baboon, or hamadryad (Cynocephalus hamadryar), the one represented upon Evptian monuments, and venerated by the primitive Egyptians. It is supposed that their habits of
noisy activity at sunrise, as though adoring the sun-god, is the basis of this very ancient form of worship. Mummies of baboons are com monly found in tombs in the Nile Valley: and the species itself is still abundant from the Sudan to southern Arabia. It is ashy gray in color, and has a heavy mane. The great baboon of south Africa, common in the wilder moun tains of Cape Colony, is the chacma (Cynoce phalus porcarius), which is dark-brown and has long hair but no mane, and a tail about half the length of the body, terminated by long, black tufts. This is the one most commonly seen in menageries. The mandril (Cynoce phalus mormon) is still larger, exceeding a 'mastiff in size. It has short legs, a mere stump of a tail and an enormous head, with a crest of greenish hair upon the forehead, and a beard which is orange-yellow; while the naked parts of the face consist mainly of a huge nose, light-blue in color, the sldn of which is folded into ridges. The naked buttocks are bright scarlet. This ugly brute is one of the most ferocious and justly dreaded animals of die Kongo forests. In the same region lives a second similar species called the drill (Cynoce phalus leucophaus), which differs mainly in lacking the bright colors and ribs of the nose of the mandril. Several other baboons live in west Africa, but are not well known, although one reddish-brown species, the Guinea baboon (Cynocephalus sphinx) is commonly seen in the hands of showmen. A large monkey of southern Abyssinia, looking like a black, clipped French poodle, is substantially a true baboon, although it belongs to another genus; it is the gelada (Theropithecus gelada). Consult 'Cassell's Natural History,' Vol. I (1885) ; Elliot, (A Review of the Primates) (New York 1913).