BABOON (Cynocephalus, Cuvier), a genus of Quadrumana, or Four handed Mammals, which forms the last link in the chain that unites the Simiada., properly so called, with the lower animals. The zoolo gical or technical name of this genus, Cynocrplialus, is from n Greek word used by Aristotle and other ancient writers to designate the common species of Egypt and Arabia, the C. Ilaniadryas of modern writers, and is plainly derived from the marked resemblance which the head and face of these animals bear to those of a dog, and which, in truth, constitutes the most distinctive character of the genus. The origin of the common name Baboon is a subject of greater doubt. Skinner and other British etymologists are content with deriving it from our vernacular word Babe, without considering that the German Pavian, the Dutch Baviaan, the French Babouiu, and the Italian Babbuino, are manifestly but so many different modes of writing the same term. A mbre probable origin of all these terms appears to be the Italian Babbuino, from which is likewise derived, according to the opinion of Aldrovandus, the vulgar Latin word Papio, applied by the writers of the 15th and 16th centuries to these animals, and which is itself a diminutive of the common Italian word Babbo, which answers to our Papa.
Though the Baboons differ widely from the other groups of quadru manous animals, and may be readily distinguished at sight even by those who are not much in the habit of observing them, yet it has been found not a little difficult to form such a simple definition of the genus as will comprehend all the species properly belonging to it, and also distinguish them from those which appertain to the proximate genera, 'lemma and Cerropithecus. The most marked and prominent of the characters which more immediately distinguish the Baboons from the other Sintiado consists in the great prolongation of the face and jaws, and in the truncated form of the muzzle, which gives the whole head a close resemblance to that of n large dog, and from which, as already observed, the Greeks and Romans very appropriately deno minated them Cynoccphali, or Dog-Headed Monkeys. In the ordinary
Quadrumana, which have the head and face round, as in the human species, the hose is flat, and the nostrils situated about half-way between the mouth and the eyes, the whole bearing no unapt resemblance to that of a man who has lost the greater part of his nose : but in the Baboons this organ is prolonged uniformly with the jaws ; it even surpasses the lips to little in length, and the nostrils open at the end of it exactly as in the dog. hero there is a marked difference in form and development from what we observe in the Apes and other higher groups of Quadrumana. The great length of the face detracts from the size of the skull ; the organs of mastication are strongly developed to the prejudice of the brain and intellectual func tions; the facial angle, which has been generally regarded as a pretty accurate measure of the mental capacity, is reduced to 30°, whilst it is never lose than 45° in the Monkeys, and among the Apes amounts even to CO° or 65° ; and the character of the Baboons, as might. bo readily suspected from these indications, is less docile and intelligent than that of the kindred genera. To the same prolongation of the face, and preponderance of the anterior part of the head, is to be attributed, at least in a great measure, the fact that the Baboons less frequently nssumo an erect posture than any of the other Quadrumana, and are leas capable of maintaining it for any length of time. The weight of the long nose, to which the small size of the skull forms but a very inefficient counterbalance, fatigues the muscles of the neck, and constantly tends to make the animal seek for support upon all fours, as may be observed in a dog or a bear ; and iu fact the Baboons are but very little superior to these animals in the facility with which they maintain themselves in an upright posture.