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Baboon. The name applied in popular language to members of the family Cercopithecidae of the four-handed mammals. The baboons rank next to the anthropoid apes in the ascending series of animals, and are distinguished externally by a short tail, large callosities on the buttocks, limbs of nearly equal length, and by the large head, which has a muzzle resembling that of a dog, the nostrils being situated at its extremity. They are large, strong animals, extremely unattractive in outward appearance, and of great ferocity. More than any other of the monkeys, they employ the fore limbs in terrestrial progression, running upon all fours with the greatest ease. They live upon the ground, travel in troops of ten or more, and steal grain and fruit with great boldness. The baboons are all inhabitants of Africa. They attain a height of about two feet, and an average specimen weighs about forty-five pounds. The mandrill has a brilliant blue and scarlet muzzle and a yellow beard on its chin. The common baboon, a native of South Africa, is very often brought to Europe, and is that most usually seen in menageries and museums. It is of a uniform reddish-brown color, with black face and white eyelids.

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