* * * "The strain of man's bred out
Into Baboon and Monkey."
Timon of Athens. Act i., Scene 1.
In King Lear, Act ii., Scene 4, the Fool remarks:—
"Ha, ha! he wears cruel garters. Horses are tied by the head, dogs and bears by the neck, Monkeys by the loins, and men by the legs," &c.
In Macbeth, Act iv., Scene 2, Lady Macduff applies the word monkey as an epithet to her precocious son:—
"Now God help thee, poor Monkey!
But how wilt thou do for a father?"
Again, in Othello, Act iv., Scene I, Cassio says:—
"This is the Monkey's own giving out: she is persuaded I will marry her, out of her own love and flattery, not out of my promise."
The Ape.
With regard to Apes and Baboons, it is possible that some of the former mentioned by Shakspeare belong to the family Simiidæ; but as in Hamlet, Act iv. Scene I, he distinctly refers to an Ape with a cheek-pouch, it will be sufficient for our purpose to class the Apes with the Baboons in the family Cynopithecidæ.
"Sometime like Apes, that moe and chatter at me."
The Tempest. Act ii., Scene 2.
"And all be turned to * * * * Apes,
With foreheads villainous low."
Id. Act iv., Scene 1.
"His glassy essence,— like an angry Ape."
Measure for Measure. Act ii., Scene 2.
"The fox, the Ape, and the humble bee
Were still at odds, being but three."
Love's Labour Lost. Act in., Scene 1.
See also Love's Labour Lost, Act iv., Scene 2, and Act v., Scene 2.
