CHAPTER XVI.

THE LEMUROIDA (_concluded_)--THE GALAGOS.[129]

THE GALAGOS--DEMIDOFF’S GALAGO AND THE MOUSE GALAGO--THE SENEGAL GALAGO--THE SENNAAR GALAGO--THE MAHOLI GALAGO--THE GRAND, OR THICK-TAILED GALAGO--MONTEIRO’S GALAGO--THE AFRICAN SLOW LEMURS--VAN BOSMAN’S POTTO--GENUS ARCTOCEBUS, OR BEAR MONKEY TRIBE--THE ANGWÁNTIBO--THE ASIATIC SLOW LEMUROIDS--THE SLOW LORIS--THE SLENDER LORIS--GENUS TARSIUS--THE SPECTRE TARSIER, OR TARSIUS--THE MALMAG--GENUS CHEIROMYS--THE AYE-AYE--The Puzzle of the Naturalists--Opinions regarding it--Specimen Examined by Owen--Feeding--Teeth--Hands--Classification of the Lemuroida--Geographical Distribution.

These Galagos are most interesting, lively creatures, and they have wonderful ears, which are long, large, and elliptical, and can be furled up if the animals become frightened. Moreover, they have a long heel-bone, and the tail, often bushy, either equals or is longer than the trunk.

DEMIDOFF’S GALAGO AND THE MOUSE GALAGO.[130]

The distinction between these kinds is not very definite, but they are inhabitants of the West Coast of Africa, namely, Senegal, Calabar, and the Gaboon. The Rev. W. C. Thomson’s account in a letter to Mr. Murray of what he suspects to be really and truly _G. Demidoffii_ and _G. murinus_ is well worth quotation. “Young ones of both species were brought to us about this period of the year (July 26). Mr. Robb has a young specimen of the smaller species just now, and about this time last year I became possessed of one of the larger. It is a most interesting and amusing pet, not only quite tame, but manifesting strong attachment. I had it for about six weeks in my possession, when, unfortunately, both for myself and it, it took a false leap into a water-canal and was drowned. It was a very epitome of zoology, of the size and colour of a large Rat; it had the tail of a Squirrel, the facial outline of the Fox, the membranous ears of the Bat, the eyes and somewhat the manners of the Owl in its cool odd way of peering at objects, the long slender fingers of a lean old man, who habitually eats down his nails, and all the mirthfulness and agility of a diminutive Monkey. It hated its cage at night, but delighted to leap upon the bars of the chairs ranged purposely round the table for it. It could clear a horizontal distance of at least six feet at a leap; and whenever it fell, as during its short apprenticeship it often did, and from alarming heights too, it gave expression of its apparent chagrin by a rough sort of purring. It possessed a curious power of folding its membranous ears back upon themselves, and somewhat corrugating them at pleasure; and it appeared to me that the palms of its hands and feet were endowed in some degree with the power of suction, such as the Walrus is said to possess in perfection. I have seen it maintain itself in positions where the mere lateral pressure of its limbs appeared to be inadequate for the purpose. I once applied it to the side of a cylindrical glass shade, of which it could not embrace so much as a third of the circumference, and sure enough it maintained its position for some time, gradually sliding down until it gave way. The palm was very much depressed, always clean and glistening, surrounded by five papilliform growths, those near the roots of the fingers serving as points of opposition to them, the fingers never closing beyond the palm. Mr. Robb had one of your species (_G. murinus_) in his possession for a considerable while. It devoured Grasshoppers, and even the fierce Mantides (leaf insects), greedily, as well as Moths, little as it was; but I never saw my kind muster courage enough to attack a Grasshopper or _Mantis_, though nearly twice as large as Mr. Robb’s. No doubt mine would, by-and-by, have become less particular and more daring. The smaller species was very familiar, and used to run over people with perfect freedom. A favourite place of refuge was under his whisker, and between it and his shirt collar.” According to the same correspondent, the little ones breed in captivity, but never grow more than about three or four inches long in the body; the larger kind, he says, within a year grow to six or seven inches long, or equal to a big Rat. Their voices differ, the larger animal’s tone being lugubrious. He further says that the little creatures (_G. murinus?_) are gregarious or social in their wild state, travelling in small companies, and inhabiting a common nest, one of which he himself got a glimpse of. He saw several individuals rush out of it as he passed, and it answered in its situation and description to the account he had received of them, which was, that they were built on suitable forks of trees, with a foundation of clay and superstructure of dried leaves.

THE SENEGAL GALAGO.[131]

This is interesting from being the earliest known species of true Galago, and also as apparently having the widest range of geographical distribution. It is but a very little larger than the full-grown species mentioned above, and has fawn-grey fur above, and yellowish-white beneath, with dark-brown feet and tail, and a white stripe on the face. It is common in the Senegal forests, even to the borders of the great Sahara Desert. Its habits in no way differ from the other Galagos’, though it is asserted that when pressed by hunger it feeds on the gum-arabic, plentiful in the acacia trees of its native forests. Its eagerness in the capture of insect prey is well attested. It pursues Beetles, Sphinges, and Moths with great ardour, even while they are on the wing, making prodigious bounds at them, and often leaping right upwards to seize them. Should it by chance miss its object and accidentally fall from the branch to the ground, it re-ascends with the rapidity of flight to renew the hunt. In captivity it freely eats chopped meat, eggs, and milk. Although good-tempered in confinement, it nevertheless is vivacious and petulant. At night it is always on the move, and if the occasion arises, darts off to the woods without a moment’s delay. The Moors say its flesh is good eating.

The so-called Sennaar Galago[132] by some is held to be a different species, but by many is only deemed a variety of the preceding. This animal is plentiful on the wooded banks of the White Nile, and is spread over the forest tracts in Kordofan, and in the same latitudes to the Blue Nile in Sennaar, bordering Abyssinia. By the native name, “Camimdi,” it is also well known in the interior of the East African Coast, viz., above Tete near the Zambesi River. If, moreover, the Maholi Galago, as certain authorities believe, is but a variety of the same, then the Senegal Galago ranges over nearly three-quarters the length and breadth of Africa.

THE MAHOLI GALAGO.[133]

Originally discovered and described by the late Sir Andrew Smith in his “South African Zoology,” this is one of the most charming and interesting little creatures imaginable. The general colouring of the upper parts is a yellowish or brownish-grey, with slightly darker brindling on the back, a broad nose-streak, cheeks and throat white, and a tinge of yellow intermixed with the white of the belly and inside of the limbs. The great tender-looking eyes are of a deep topaz yellow; the ears, flesh-tint inside and downy-white outside, are very big, and betimes are rapidly folded together like those of Garnett’s Galago, giving the creature great variety of expression. The head is somewhat globular, with a short, high, almost pointed nose. The delicate woolly fur of the body lengthens and darkens on the tail, most so towards its end. Smith observes that they spring from branch to branch, and tree to tree, with extraordinary facility, and always seize with one of their fore-feet the branch upon which they intend to rest. In their manners they manifest considerable resemblance to Monkeys, particularly in their propensity to the practice of ridiculous grimaces and gesticulations. It spends the daytime in the nests which it forms for itself in the forks of branches, or in the cavities of decayed trees; and in these nests the females also produce and rear their young, of which there are generally two at a birth. Sir John Kirk found it common among the hills of Kebrabassa, Batoka, and Nyassa, in East Africa. He says, singly and in pairs they came about the camp-fires at night, and in the dim light resembled a Bat in movements, by crossing from side to side, at single leaps, distances of six feet. A pair which lived a few years ago in the Zoological Gardens were a most interestingly tender couple. The day saw them nestled lovingly in their little box, and as night wore on they would peep out and cautiously and by stealth venture into their more spacious cage. Creeping down the branch, which served as a ladder, so noiselessly that not a movement could be heard, they would suddenly spring hither and thither, not like ordinary quadrupeds, but in a manner only to be compared with the leap and dart of a Tree Frog (_Hyla_). Approaching a dish of Meal-worms laid out for them, they would snap them up with their forepaws so quickly that the eye could not follow the motion; this rapidity of action equalled the Chamæleon’s tongue, whose protrusion and withdrawal baffles the eye, the fly gone being the main fact the observer is cognisant of. They seemed heartily to enjoy the Meal-worms, these being dainties in comparison with their ordinary food, which was sopped bread, rice and milk, and fruit. They were much more timid creatures than the impudent, rollicking Garnett’s Galago,[134] whose habits were noticed in the beginning of our description of the Lemuroids. Neither were they by any means as noisy; indeed they seldom if ever uttered a sound, and that was only a subdued warning note. As regards their Monkey-like gestures, hinted at by Smith, this pair never showed any, their manner being rather Squirrel-like than otherwise. Occasionally a hasty contraction or curling together of each capacious ear simulated the scared grimace of a Monkey, but this action was one of surprise or timidity, and not that of the drollery and mischief of Monkey habit. On the whole, these Maholi Galagos appear to be animals of lower intelligence than the Monkey tribe.

THE GRAND, OR THICK-TAILED GALAGO.[135]

This handsome animal comes from both East and West Africa south of the Equator, and is about as large as a Cat, with a great bushy tail some three or four inches longer than the body. This appendage it carries aloft very majestically, or swerves it to and fro as a kind of rudder in climbing, occasionally sweeping it along the back and belly, or curling it around the body after the manner of the Lemurs. Being nocturnal in its habits, the eyes, which are large, and with great wide dark pupils and a brown-red iris, have a glassy, glimmering appearance in daylight, but look like balls of fire at night. The ears are a remarkable feature: about a third shorter than the head, they stand out like great, flattish, elliptical-mouthed trumpets, ever changing position and shape, and catching all sounds, and they are nearly bare within and slightly hairy outside. This animal has fur of a uniformly dark brown, and this colour mainly distinguishes it from

MONTEIRO’S GALAGO.[136]

This short description of the Thick-tailed Galago in a great many respects answers to another, which merits the title of “Grand,” if dimensions a grade larger deserve it. One was obtained at Cuis Bay, south of Loanda, and was conveyed to England in the living state, being supposed to be only a pale variety of the last-mentioned species. The only visible difference from the latter seems to be that of colour, even this slightly varying. It is of a light chinchilla-grey all over, save the tail and the throat, which are nearly white. The nose is black and bare, and the feet are deep brown. The entire length of the animal is twenty-eight inches, whereof the tail is sixteen. The ears are a couple of inches long, and blackish. Mr. Bartlett remarks that when these are thrown forwards they give the head a resemblance to that of the Aye-Aye; but when they are folded back and down the physiognomy approaches that of the Douroucouli. Sir John Kirk (who accompanied Dr. Livingstone) says: “While the _G. maholi_ is peculiar to the interior, where its geographical range seems to be great, the other, or Great-tailed Galago (_G. Monteiri_), is confined to the maritime region--so far as I know, never penetrating beyond the band of wood known generally as the mangrove forests. By the Portuguese it is named ‘Rat of the Cocoa-nut Palm,’ that being its favourite haunt by day, nestling among the fronds; but if it be disturbed, performing feats of agility, and darting from one palm to another. It will spring with great rapidity, adhering to any object as if it were a lump of wet clay.

“It has one failing--otherwise its capture were no easy task. Should a pot of palm-wine be left on the tree, the creature drinks to excess, comes down, and rushes about intoxicated. In captivity they are wild; during the day remaining either rolled up in a ball, or perched half asleep, with ears stowed away like a Beetle’s wing under its hard and ornamented case (elytra). I had half a dozen Squirrels with one in the same cage; these were good friends, the latter creeping under the ‘Golgo’s’ soft fur and falling asleep. On introducing a few specimens of Shrew (_Macroscelides tetradactylus_), the ‘Golgo’ seized one and bit off its tail, which, however, it did not eat. The food it took was biscuit, rice, orange, banana, guava, and a little cooked meat. Stupid during the day, it became active at night, or just after darkness set in.

“The rapidity and length of its leaps, which were absolutely noiseless, must give great facilities to its capturing live prey. I never knew it give a loud call, but it would often make a low chattering noise. It has been observed at the Luabo mouth of the Zambesi, at Quilimane, and at Mozambique. When I had my live specimen at Zanzibar, the natives there did not seem to recognise it; nevertheless, it may be abundant on the mainland.”

Mr. Monteiro tells us that the Loanda specimens have not the character of being such a drunken lot of creatures, though they are arrant thieves, but otherwise he corroborates Kirk’s observations. He mentions that they come in bands, and rob the fruit-trees of the villages. Their flesh is looked upon as good eating, and their skins are eagerly sought for, the fur being used to staunch wounds. In allusion to the Galago’s inebriety, Dr. Gray relates that a friend of his gave a half-grown Scotch Terrier to a distiller, who soon returned it with the character of “habit and repute.” The animal could not by any correction be prevented from drinking the spirit as it came from the still, or any spirits it could get, and it would stagger and reel about, verifying the term, “a drunken dog,” so often applied to divine man.

THE AFRICAN SLOW LEMURS.

The rest of the African Lemuroids have not the habits, appearance, and anatomy of the Galagos, and are a very sad, weird, slow-going set, totally different from the active, careless kinds already noticed. A world of care seems to hang around their deliberate movements; they are images of Sleepy Hollow; they never are seen to spring and rush about, but ordinarily conduct themselves with great gravity and decorum. Slow they are, and hence their name the Slow Loris, and their body and limbs are not made for rapid locomotion. The limbs are nearly equal in length, their head is globular, and the eyes are uneven. The short ears and short fur are all of a piece, and so is the short tail (for this is most common), and the short second or index (counting the thumb as one) finger. The back or rib vertebræ are fourteen or more, and the loin-bones are never less than seven. There is a remarkable division of the blood-vessels of the arms, loins, and legs called the _rete mirabile_. The vessels split into minute tubes, like hairs in calibre, but of two sizes, and lie closely adherent to each other in long parallel lines (see page 245); this arrangement, also termed a plexus, or plexiform, being similar in kind to what is met with in the Sloth tribe of South America. The Slow Lemurs inhabit both Africa and Asia, but are not found in Madagascar, and their mode of life is strictly arboreal and nocturnal.

The first African genus is _Perodicticus_.

VAN BOSMAN’S POTTO.[137]

As far back as the year 1705, while on a voyage to the Guinea coast, the Dutch navigator, Van Bosman, came across a new and strange little quadruped which, on his return, he figured and briefly described under the name of Potto. The colonists knew it as the Bush-dog, and that it was slothful and retiring, seldom making its appearance except in the night-time, and then to feed on the cassada and other vegetables. It is remarkable for its singular hand, which has, as it were, a deformed forefinger, and for a seeming protrusion of the neck-bones.

Like other tropical night-animals, the home or wild habits of the Potto have only been loosely studied. It is not restricted to the northern parts of Guinea, but is found on the Gold Coast and at the Gaboon River under the Equator. It shows a certain agility at night, clambering up the most smooth and polished branches with ease. When caught, and in captivity, one authority says, it sped along the cornices and angles within the house wherever there was the least elevation from the wall.

Those specimens which have lived in the Regent’s Park Gardens from time to time have fed on the same kind of food and exhibited no special differences of habit from the Slow Loris of Asia, presently to be described, if we except a more intractable disposition; for they have seemed rather addicted to giving an ugly bite whenever attempted to be handled, however gently. Mr. Bartlett managed to get one that showed a more amiable disposition, courting kindly stroking. When first obtained, it was so young that doubts were entertained of its surviving, especially as it suffered from the cold weather. To obviate this a small bag of hare-skin was made, fur inside, and Master Potto was placed therein. Furthermore, a bitch having whelps on the premises, one of the latter was put in with the young African for a while, then another, and so on in rotation, the animal heat of Potto being duly sustained. The latter clung to the puppies as it would to its mother, hugging them on the belly so tight that the doggies did not quite seem to relish their forced companion. This nursing, however, did well, and Potto was duly reared, and became on the whole good tempered.

Mr. Skues records having purchased a female at Cape Coast on the 31st March, 1869, along with its young one, which had been born on the 8th February. They slept all day; the mother usually perched on a door, with the youngster clasped to her belly, by its fore and hind extremities. At dusk they came down and wandered about the room all night. After a time, young Potto scampered hither and thither on his own account. Milk and bread they refused, but would feed on pine-apples and bananas, with water. Although there were insects about the room, as is the case always in tropical climates, the Pottos were never detected eating them, but one day the mother was found busily munching at a tray of preserved Beetles. At Accra, circumstances prevented due attention being given them, and there the young one died aged twenty-two weeks. The mother survived only six weeks. The negroes seemed to be much afraid of the Potto, which they called “Aposo,” or “Aposou.” It inhabits West Africa and the coasts of the Gulf of Guinea.

The hairs on the Potto are longish, soft, and woolly, mouse-coloured at the base, rusty in the middle, and paler tipped. Hence results a general chestnut tint, with intermixture of grey, the under surface being considerably paler. The limbs are nearly of one length; the head rounded, with slightly-hairy shortish ears, and moderately-projecting muzzle. The nose and chin are almost naked and flesh-coloured, the former grooved or nicked in the centre. The eyes are lateral and oblique, very convex, and with an oblong pupil. The index, or first finger, is very short, resembling a tubercle.

The nature and number of the teeth indicate a mixed diet, as there are four incisors above and below, and two canines in the upper and lower jaw. Then come three pre-molars and three lower grinders on each side in both jaws.

GENUS ARCTOCEBUS, OR BEAR MONKEY TRIBE.[138]

The next genus is very singular. The species has just the trace of a tail, and the index finger is reduced to a slight projection, or tubercle, on which there is no trace of a nail, and the fingers and toes about the lower joints are united by skin. The ear has two cross folds, and there are fifteen dorsal back-bones, and seven in the loin region.

THE ANGWÁNTIBO.[139]

Our knowledge of this curious African species, which comes from West Africa and Old Calabar, truly a “three-fingered Jack,” is due to the Rev. A. Robb, when missionary at Old Calabar. From his letter (December, 1859) accompanying the bottled specimen first transmitted to England, we gather the following history:--“The Calabar people call it _Angwántibo_--_angwán_ means a farm, but we do not know the etymology of the second part of the word, and cannot say whether it arose from any habit peculiar to the animal. It lives in trees; but, being nocturnal, the people know exceedingly little about it. They cannot tell what it eats. A lad whom I asked said that he lived in the house, and it lived in the bush, how then could he know anything about it? My Krumen also recognised it as a countryman of theirs. They consider the one sent as a young one, and say that in their country it grows to the size of a common puss. Probably theirs is a different animal, but I cannot tell. They call it _Dwăn_, and say that it lays down the law to the other beasts, forbidding them to eat the young fruit when it begins to form on the trees. If the Monkey transgresses, the _Dwăn_ seizes him, and holds him there till he dies--yea, the Monkey rots in his grasp. They say they are shot together thus. If the Monkey gets the shot, the _Dwăn_ holds on; if the _Dwăn_ gets the shot, they fall together. The Krumen say that the _Dwăn_ eats fruit. This is all we know about it at present; and their (the Krumen’s) account seems somewhat fabulous.”

Dr. Alexander Smith describes and compares the animal with the Potto. He mentions the following characters:--Above, yellowish-brown, the roots of the hairs, dark grey; below, paler, in some parts nearly white; hair, wool-like; length from muzzle to point of tail, 10½ inches, the tail being only a quarter of an inch long. The body is slender; the head oval and rounded, with a blunt but protuberant face; the eyes, full and large; ears, naked within, and with short hairs externally; nostrils, sinuous, and laterally placed; there is projecting fold beneath the tongue, as in other Lemuroids, and the neck is short. The limbs are slender, the hinder a trifle larger and stronger than the others; both feet and hands conform to those of the Potto, with, however, a still greater reduction of the index finger. He observes that the hands and feet are divided, as it were, into two opposing portions, which he likens to the grasp of such climbing-birds as the Parrots. This peculiarity, along with the multiple blood-vessel division of the extremities, he thinks indicative of long-enduring muscular action, stealthy step, and adaptation for gripping twigs of trees, rather than for the purpose of capturing a prey.

The anatomical peculiarities of the Angwántibo have been lucidly described by Prof. Huxley in the “Proceedings of the Zoological Society,” where, from his examination, he substantiates Dr. Gray’s separation of the animal generically from its African mother the Potto.

THE ASIATIC SLOW LEMUROIDS.--THE SLOW LORIS.[140]

There are two well-marked kinds of these Lemuroida to be met with in very large districts in the East, and they live in the tropical woods of Eastern and Southern Hindostan, Ceylon, Burmah, Siam, Cochin China, the Malay Archipelago, and in the great Islands of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo. But they do not live together in the same parts.

The first to be noticed has the widest geographical range, and is to be found here and there from Hindostan to China, and from Burmah to the great islands. Hence quite a voluminous history is attached to this animal, whose singular appearance and habits, peculiar anatomy, and geographical distribution, have been the fruitful theme for travellers and naturalists of most European nations. He is called by many names, and is the Bashful Billy--“Chirmundi Billi”--of the Bengalese, or the Slow Lemur, and naturalists term him the Slow Loris, or Kukang (_Nycticebus tardigradus_). When he is turned out of his quarters in the daytime, he reminds one of a very young, awkward puppy without a tail. But his eyes, however, are enormous and owl-like, and seem to start protuberantly forwards with an unmeaning stare. When his wits return, and the scare ceases, he softly turns on his heel, and with a very slow, measured pace--hand-over-hand, as sailors term it--makes for his box. There is a cool, sedate manner about his whole proceedings which may either be taken for wisdom or stupidity. During the night, when hungry cravings send him forth on his own account, his eyes light up, and he seems more alive to his interests, though seldom increasing the activity of his movements. On a table he waddles like a sailor newly ashore, but with a rope or bough to grasp, by foot or hand, there ensues a grip like a vice, a steady mode of ascent putting him betimes out of reach of danger.

The eye of the Kukang, besides its adaptation to nocturnal vision, in the presence of a tapetum, or silvery lining to the choroid or blood-vessel layer, has also a singular manner of closing. Instead of the eyelids shutting from above downwards, as in the majority of Mammals, they approach obliquely outwards and inwards. This mode of closure is entirely due to an inequality in the fleshy fibres which surround the eyelid, and, together with the large pupil, somewhat elliptical in shape, produces in daylight a very strange, unmeaning look. It has a very odd knack of hanging to boughs, body downwards, and the way in which it is done, asleep or awake, apparently receives explanation from the mode in which certain of the flexor muscles are fastened above the knee-joint. Thus, by simple bending of the leg, the toes are drawn (on bending) together, and hold fast without any sensible muscular exertion. The mechanism, in fact, is similar in kind to that which enables birds to perch while slumbering, or by which Bats adhere to crevices while suspended head downwards. It possesses the peculiar _rete mirabile_ of blood-vessels already noticed.

Many anecdotes respecting the habits of the Nycticebus in confinement have hitherto found currency, a similar vein of narrative running through each. One kept by Mr. Baird some nine months had a preference for veal, fresh-killed fowls’ necks, sugar, and gum-arabic, cooked meat being abhorred. Instead of recounting old stories, we append the following observations of Captain Tickell, not hitherto made public:--

“This animal is tolerably common in the Tenasserim provinces, and in Arracan, but from being strictly nocturnal in its habits is seldom seen. It inhabits the densest forests, and never by choice leaves the trees. Its movements are slow, but it climbs readily, and grasps with great tenacity. If placed on the ground, it can proceed, if frightened, in a wavering kind of trot, the limbs bent at right angles, like a mutilated Spider. It sleeps rolled up in a ball, its head and hands buried between its thighs, and wakes up at the dusk of evening to commence its nocturnal rambles. The female bears but one young at a time. In confinement they are at first savage, bite severely, and in spite of general slow movements, can do so pretty quickly, uttering a rough grunt or growl. They, however, get quiet, if not absolutely docile, in time, and are kept without difficulty, requiring no other diet than plantains, or any other kind of fruit. They become content to remain in the smallest box, where another animal would soon pine and perish for want of exercise. When for a time confined they readily abandon their nocturnal habits, eat during the day, and rest at night. They will thus remain contentedly on an old punkah hung in a lumber-room, for many days; but, unless thoroughly reclaimed, they will always seize an opportunity during night to escape, never travelling far, however, and generally turning up in some thicket or bamboo-clump, or other quiet corner in the grounds. They greedily devour all sorts of insects, and also birds’ eggs.”

On one occasion Captain Tickell watched an individual crawling along the floor to seize a Cockroach. When it had approached within ten or twelve inches, it drew its hind feet gradually forwards until almost under its chest; it then cautiously and slowly raised itself up into a standing position, balancing itself awkwardly with its uplifted arms, and then, to his astonishment, flung itself, not upon the insect, which was off “like an arrow from a Tartar’s bow,” but on the spot which it had, half a second before, tenanted (see woodcut). This is its manner, however, of catching such of its living food as will wait long enough. Grubs, Caterpillars, and the slower Beetles (_Scarabæi_) are seized in one or both hands, and slowly carried to its mouth, and there solemnly munched up; the Nycticebus looking all the time, with its delicate small muzzle and its protuberant eyes, like one of those apologetic pigmy Lapdogs ladies love to carry. It is almost wholly silent, but when roused to take food, now and then it utters a feeble tone, like the crackling of some substance in the fire. When angry, and about to bite, it gives forth a tolerably loud growl or grunt.

The above animal (with one or possibly two species) forms the genus Nycticebus, in which the body and limbs are short; there is no tail, and the head is globular, whilst there are no less than sixteen back-bones with ribs. The index finger is short, and there is a nail on it.

The next genus is called Loris, or Stenops.

THE SLENDER LORIS.[141]

Comes from Ceylon, Malabar, and the Coromandel Coast, and the Malays in Ceylon call it “Seyvoingoo,” the Cinghalese, “Onaha ppoolowa.” The meagre figure and long lank limbs of this creature give it a droll, half-starved look, its skin-tight robes and silent melancholy lending oddity, but not gracefulness, to its charms. If seen during the day, and made to walk on a flat surface, what between its blinking, peeping eyes and awkward gait, a feeling of pity devoid of admiration is apt to arise. But watched at night, when it is clambering among branches, its character changes to that of a more lithe and nimbler animal, whose great staring eyes and gliding progress most surely indicate a nature less apathetic than a more hasty conclusion would warrant. Its uncommonly long body, devoid of a tail, is rendered more striking on account of limb-length, and the colour is usually of an unequal sooty-grey, the back mingled with much rusty-tinted or tawny hairs. The under parts are whitish, and there is a light nose-streak. The space round the eyes, which are close together, is dusky, and on the head is a dark spot, pointing to the inner eyelid. As in other of the Lemuroid groups, there is no absolute constancy in depth of tint and markings, lighter and darker varieties being met with. The rounded ears are conspicuous, though not long and mobile as in the Galagos, and the face has a kind of Dog-like expression. The hair is very singular when the animal is alive: it resembles soft packed wool, somewhat curled and arranged in little tufts, as the hair on the scalp of the negro, but very delicate; it soon loses this appearance after death if much handled, as is always the case in removing the skin.

The Slender Loris is very common in the lower country of the south and east of Ceylon. Dr. Templeton, who had several of them, observes “that after a few months’ confinement they soon begin to pine and die. One was particularly noticed. If the room was perfectly quiet about dusk, it ventured about, crawling along the rails of the chairs with a very gentle movement. There was an interval of nearly a minute in the closing of its hands on the parts of the furniture which it grasped in succession, while moving its head from side to side with much grave deliberation. But when a Spider or other insect came within its reach, its clutch at it was quick as lightning, and with equal rapidity it was conveyed to the mouth. It seemed particularly anxious to avoid having its hinder extremities touched. When approached, it retiringly slunk along the stick placed slantingly in the corner for its use, or along the back of the chair, with the usual deliberate movement. Its great goggle eyes would be fixed immovably on your face or hands if held towards it, and with every expression of fear. Its mouth appears small, and so little distensible that one cannot imagine it capable of biting anything except it be of very small size. The natives, nevertheless, assert that it destroys Peacocks in the jungle, seizing them by the neck, which it clutches with such tenacity that the bird soon falls exhausted to the ground off its perch, or in its sudden flight, attempting to escape its persecutor. Having devoured the brain, the Loris leaves the rest of the body untouched.” Among the others in his possession, Templeton alludes to a female which gave birth to a young one. “This latter, when ushered into the world, was about two inches long, like a Mouse, perfectly without hairy covering, a large head, attenuated body, and excessively slender legs. The face and eyes were proportionally much smaller than in the older animal. It clung to the mother so tenaciously, that I believe it would almost have parted with its life than let go its hold.” This baby Loris, he remarks, was not at all entitled to the usual appellation, Dog-like.

Sir J. Emerson Tennent says that the Slender Loris, from its sluggish movements, nocturnal habits, and consequent inaction during the day, has acquired the name of the “Ceylon Sloth.” According to him there are two varieties in the island; one of the ordinary fulvous brown, and another larger, whose fur is entirely black. A specimen of the former was sent to him from Chilaw, on the western coast, and lived for some time at Colombo, feeding on rice, fruit, and vegetables. It was partial to Ants and other insects, and always eager for milk or the bone of a Fowl. The natural slow motion of its limbs enables the Loris to approach its prey so stealthily that it seizes birds before they can be alarmed by its presence. During the day one which he kept was usually asleep in the strange position shown in the woodcut (p. 247), its perch firmly grasped with its hands, its back curved into a ball of soft fur, and its head hidden deep between its legs. The singularly large and intense eyes of the Loris have attracted the attention of the Cinghalese, who capture the creature for the purpose of extracting them as charms and love-potions, and this they are said to effect by holding the little animal to the fire till its eyeballs burst. Its Tamil name is _theivangu_, or “thin-bodied;” and hence a deformed child or an emaciated person has acquired in the Tamil districts the same epithet. The light-coloured variety of the Loris in Ceylon has a spot on its forehead, somewhat resembling the _namam_, or mark worn by the worshippers of Vishnu; and from this peculiarity it is distinguished as the _Nama-theivangu_.

A curious animal, differing from the foregoing Slow Lemuroids, but Asiatic in its distribution, is the only species of the genus _Tarsius_.

GENUS TARSIUS.--THE SPECTRE TARSIER, OR TARSIUS. THE MALMAG.[142]

This is a small, active creature, which appears to excite great terror in the minds of the natives of the East Indian Archipelago, from its curious-shaped face, and sudden appearance at dusk. So impressed are the inhabitants of some portions of Java with its malevolent influence, that if they see one of them on a tree near their rice-grounds, they will leave them uncultivated.

About the size of a small, common Squirrel, this tiny cause of fright has a round head, like that of a Marmoset, a pointed muzzle, large ears, and staring eyes. Its grinning mouth gives a queer and comical look to the face. Its body is about six inches in length. The limbs are long, especially the hind pair, and the tail--about nine inches long--is slender, and furnished with a brush of long hair at the end. The colour of the body is fawn-brown as a rule, and the bare parts are of a flesh tint, and the forehead, face, and nose are reddish, and there is a black eye-streak. The name is derived from the fact of the “tarsus,” or ankle-bones, being remarkably developed, the heel-bones being very long. There is but one kind as yet known, and it can be distinguished from all the other Lemuroids by the peculiarity of its front teeth. There are four upper ones and only two lower, and the inner pair of the upper jaw are much larger than the outer. There are four canine teeth; and there are twelve molar teeth in each jaw, six being false molars. These teeth are very crowded, and there is scarcely any space between them. The ends of the fingers and toes are well supplied with pads, which assist the animal in its jumping and clinging, and the second and third toes have short, sharp, and pointed claws, which stand nearly erect. The nails of the hands are scale-like and triangular, and this is the case with those of the great and outer toes.

The cavity for the eye, or orbit, is unlike that of any other of the Lemuroida, for it is closed behind, and does not open there on to the temple; this is, therefore, very characteristic. But the globular-shaped head, although remarkable, is not quite so distinctive. The most striking anatomical feature, and indeed that which is observable in the outside shape, is the disproportionate length of the heel-bones and foot to the lower leg and thigh. It has a very small side-bone to the leg (_fibula_), and it does not reach to the ankle. Oddly enough, the third finger of the hand is the longest, and the second and fourth are nearly equal, presenting a difference with regard to the other Lemuroida. So that this small, active creature, with a Monkey-like appearance, has more resemblance to the Insectivora, and differs very considerably from the rest of the group with which it is classified. The Spectre Tarsier, which inhabits the Oriental Archipelago and the Philippine Islands, has not been brought alive to England, but the late well-known naturalist, Mr. Cuming, gave the following description of its habits and peculiarities:--

“The Malmag is a small animal living under the roots of trees, particularly the large bamboo of these islands. Its principal food is Lizards, which it prefers to all other. When extremely hungry I have known it to eat Shrimps and Cockroaches, and give a great preference to those which are alive. It is very cleanly in its habits; never touches any kind of food that has been partly consumed, and never drinks a second time from the same water. It seldom makes any kind of noise, and when it does emit sound, it is a sharp, shrill call, and only once. On approaching it in its cage it fixes its large full eyes upon the party for a length of time, never moving a muscle; on drawing nearer or putting anything near it, it draws up the muscles of the face similar to a Monkey, and shows its beautiful, sharp, regular-set teeth. It laps water like a Cat, but very slowly, and eats much for so small an animal. It springs nearly two feet at a time. It sleeps much by day, is easily tamed, and becomes quite familiar, licking the hands and face, and creeping about your person, and is fond of being caressed. It has an aversion to the light, always retiring to the darkest place. It sits upon its posteriors when it feeds, holding its food by its fore-paws; when not hungry it will ogle the food for a considerable time. A male and female are generally seen together; the natives of these islands make sure of taking the second having secured the first. They are extremely scarce in the island of Bohol, and found only in the woods of Jagna and the island of Mindanao. It produces one at a time. I had the good fortune to procure a female without knowing her to be with young. One morning I was agreeably surprised to find she had brought forth. The young one appeared to be rather weak, but a perfect resemblance to its parent; the eyes were open and covered with hair. It soon gathered strength, and was constantly sucking betwixt its parent’s legs, and so well covered by its mother that I seldom could see anything of it but its tail. On the second day it began to creep about the cage with apparent strength, and even climb up to the top by the rods of which the cage was composed. Upon persons wishing to see the young one when covered over by the mother, we had to disturb her, upon which the dam would take the young one in its mouth, in the same manner as a Cat, and carry it about for some time. Several times I saw her, when not disturbed, trying to get out of the cage, with the young one in her mouth as before. It continued to live and increase in size for three weeks, when, unfortunately, some one trod upon the tail of the old one which was protruded through the cage, a circumstance which caused her death in a few days. The young one died a few hours after, and I put it in spirits.”

GENUS CHEIROMYS.

Another Madagascar Lemuroid remains to be noticed, and it ought to have been described with those of that great island; but the creature is so unlike all the others, and is so manifestly inferior in its Lemuroid character, and peculiar in its construction and habits, that it is necessary to place it at the end of all. Its position in the scale of classification is at the end of the Lemuroida, for although it has many of their anatomical characters, it resembles the Rodents, or Gnawers, in others. It is called

THE AYE-AYE.[143]

This is one of the most remarkable animals in the world, both on account of its peculiar Squirrel shape and Lemur-like construction, as well as on account of its habits. The animal was first kept and described by the traveller Sonnerat, who obtained a male and female from the west coast of Madagascar. He kept them on board ship and fed them on boiled rice for two months, when they died, and he used to remark that they used a finger of each hand to eat with, after the fashion of the Chinese, who use chopsticks. Having shown them to some of the natives of the east coast of the island, they were surprised, and denied that these curious-looking creatures belonged to their part of the country; moreover, they ejaculated “Aye-aye” on seeing them, and thus gave the familiar name to the breed. It is now known that the so-called Aye-Aye chiefly inhabits the forests of bamboos, which are numerous in the interior of the island. They are rare animals, and live a solitary life, or are found in pairs, but they never associate in bands of several individuals. They are essentially nocturnal in their habits, for they sleep all the day long in the thick bunches of leaves of the bamboos in the most impenetrable part of the forests, and they are therefore rarely seen, and are only met with quite by accident. The Aye-Aye feeds on the pith of the bamboos, and on sugar-canes, but it also loves Beetles and their grubs as a change of food. During the dark nights it awakens the echoes of the forest with a kind of plaintive grunting, and jumps from bough to bough, and clambers up the trees with great agility and vivacity, examining the bark of old trees most carefully in order to find its favourite insect-food.

As daylight approaches, the Aye-Aye ceases its lively play and forest-roaming, and moves into the sombre shades of the densest foliage; there it avoids the light and the rays of the sun, and placing its head between the fore-feet, and encircling itself with its bushy tail, the now half-torpid creature sleeps on until the evening.

The Aye-Aye is about three feet in length, including the long tail, and there is a half Fox, half Lemur look about it, with a little of the Squirrel. The hind feet at first sight are like those of a Monkey, as are also the limbs; but the hands are not in keeping with the rest, for the fingers are of all kinds of lengths, and the middle one looks as if it were atrophied and wasted. A little care, however, proves that the ears, so widely open and spoon-shaped, and nearly naked, are larger than those of these animals, that the head is really broader than theirs, and that the furthest end of the muzzle surmounts a perfect lip which hides four great front teeth, two above and two below. The tail is a very prominent object, and is longer than the body; it is straight, very bushy, flexible, and is covered with long coarse hairs, being thicker at the end than at the root. All the rest of the body, except the ears, nose, and the palms of the feet and hands, which are naked, is covered with a fur that is dense and furry underneath, and long and hairy at the ends; and it is these long hairs which give the general tint to the animal. The prevailing tint is a deep fuscous approaching to black; there is a little dark-red underneath, and yellow-grey on the throat nearest the head. Everywhere the dark colour is relieved by long scattered white hairs, which are very conspicuous on the back. On the back and tail the hair attains the length of from three to four inches. It has widely-open staring eyes, and whilst it is lively enough in the dark, it looks dazed and stupid in daylight. As if to render the animal more curious than ever, the teats, or mammæ for suckling the young, are not on the breast, but in the lower part of the body, and close to the groins, there being one on each side.

The Aye-Aye, so strangely constructed, has been a great puzzle to naturalists, and there have been many keen debates about its natural history. It is a hundred years since Sonnerat stated that, although the Aye-Aye much resembles a Squirrel, “yet it differs therefrom by some essential characters, being also allied to the Lemur and the Monkey;” and in describing the fore-foot, he specifies the long slender joints of the skeleton-looking middle finger, which the animal, he says, “makes use of to draw out of holes in trees the worms which form its food.” Buffon saw the skin of one of these specimens obtained by Sonnerat, and concluded that it is more closely allied to the genus of Squirrels than to any other, and that it also has more relation to a kind of Jerboa. After describing the hind feet, Buffon remarks that the opposite character of the thumb with the flattened nail separates the Aye-Aye widely from the Squirrel, and that of all animals that have a flat great toe-thumb nail, the Tarsier, a kind of Jerboa, is that which most resembles it. He ranked the Aye-Aye with the Rodents, or Gnawers. Nevertheless, Cuvier considered it to be one of the Squirrels, and by no means ignoring the opposite hind thumb, he still believed it to be an unusual or anomalous kind, but he was greatly led by the belief that the animal gnawed wood invariably for the sake of its only food, the worms and grubs. About the same time a German (Schreber), by examining the limbs, decided that the Aye-Aye was a Lemur, and he called it _Lemur psilodactylus_, or the “bare-fingered” Lemur; and after a while Cuvier obtained the skull and part of the limb-bones from Sonnerat’s specimen, and examined the first especially. Then the great front teeth of the Aye-Aye, and the space behind them, influenced the great anatomist, who saw that it had the teeth of Gnawers (Rodents), and skull like that of the Quadrumana, so he placed it in the list of doubtful animals. After his time, most anatomists considered the animal to be clearly allied to the Squirrels, and placed it amongst the Rodentia. But in 1859 Owen, from whose works the above notices of the progress of opinion on this subject have been taken, received an important letter from Dr. Sandwith, C. B., and a specimen of the Aye-Aye. The following letter explains the habits, and Owen subsequently described the anatomy of the animal, and placed it in its present position in the classification.

Dr. Sandwith wrote:--“After very great difficulty and much delay I have at length obtained a fine healthy male, a real Aye-Aye, and he is enjoying himself in a large cage which I had constructed for him. And now I have some questions to ask you. Do you want him dead or alive? It will, of course, be much easier to send his dead body home, if that will do; and if so, how am I to preserve him? If you want him alive you must tell me so without delay, as I think it would be dangerous to send him home in the cold season. I observe he is sensitive of cold, and likes to cover himself up in a piece of flannel, although the thermometer is now often 90° in the shade. He is a very interesting little animal, and from close observation I have learned his habits very correctly. On receiving him from Madagascar, I was told that he ate bananas, so of course I fed him on them, but tried him with other fruit. I found he liked dates, which was a grand discovery, supposing he be sent alive to England. Still I thought that those strong Rodent teeth, as large as those of a young Beaver, must have been intended for some other purpose than that of trying to eat his way out of a cage--the only use he seemed to make of them besides masticating soft fruits. Moreover, he had other peculiarities, _e.g._, singularly large naked ears, directed forward as if for offensive rather than defensive purposes; then again the second finger of the hands is unlike anything but a monster supernumerary member, it being slender and long, half the thickness of the other fingers, and resembling a piece of bent wire. Excepting the head and this finger, he closely resembles a Lemur. Now, as he attacked every night the woodwork of his cage, which I was gradually lining with tin, I bethought myself of tying some sticks over the woodwork, so that he might gnaw these instead. I had previously put in some large branches for him to climb upon; but the others were straight sticks to come over the woodwork of his cage, which alone he attacked. It so happened that the thick sticks I now put into his cage were bored in all directions by a large and destructive grub called here the Montorek. Just at sunset the Aye-Aye crept from under his blanket, yawned, stretched, and betook himself to his tree, where his movements were lively and graceful, though by no means as quick as those of a Squirrel. Presently he came to one of the worm-eaten branches, which he began to examine most attentively; and bending forward his ears and applying his nose close to the bark, he rapidly tapped the surface with the curious second digit, as a Woodpecker taps a tree, though with much less noise, from time to time inserting the end of the slender finger into the worm-holes as a surgeon would a probe. At length he came to a part of the branch which evidently gave out an interesting sound, for he began to tear it with his strong teeth. He rapidly stripped off the bark, cut into the wood, and exposed the nest of a grub, which he daintily picked out of its bed with the slender tapping finger, and conveyed the luscious morsel to his mouth. I watched these proceedings with intense interest, and was much struck with the marvellous adaptation of the creature to its habits, shown by his acute hearing, which enables him aptly to distinguish the different tones emitted from the wood by this gentle tapping, his evidently acute sense of smell aiding him in his search; his secure footsteps on the slender branches to which he firmly clings by his Quadrumanous members; his strong Rodent teeth enabling him to tear through the wood; and, lastly, by the curious slender finger, unlike that of any other animal, and which he used alternately as a pleximeter, a probe, and a scoop. But I was yet to learn another peculiarity. I gave him water to drink in a saucer, on which he stretched out a hand, dipped a finger into it, and drew it obliquely through his open mouth; and this he repeated so rapidly that the water seemed to flow into his mouth. After a while he lapped like a Cat; but his first mode of drinking appeared to me to be his way of reaching water in the deep clefts of trees. I am told that the Aye-Aye is an object of veneration at Madagascar, and that if any native touches one he is sure to die within the year; hence the difficulty of obtaining a specimen. I overcame this difficulty by a reward of ten pounds.”

Further information on the same subject was obtained by M. Vinson, who states that his Aye-Aye slept the greater part of the day, and moved about and made attempts to escape at night time. Having once succeeded, it climbed to the nearest tree, and moved about, leaping from branch to branch with the agility of the Ring-tailed Lemur; but its ordinary life in captivity suggested the idea of its being an indolent and rather slow-moving animal. The tail is carried in a curve, with the hollow of the bend downwards, so that it is slightly arched, and its chief office seems to be to add to the warmth of the already warm fur when the animal is in repose. In assuming the attitude of rest, the Aye-Aye places its head between its hands, and bends the tail over it by curving it forwards and letting it fall. Then it rolls itself into a ball, and covers the whole surface with the bushy hairs of this useful appendage, which is longer than the whole body and head together.

With regard to the Aye-Aye mentioned by Dr. Sandwith, Owen advised that, if it could not be sent safely to England, it had better be killed by chloroform, and sent over in spirit. Before this advice arrived the animal managed to escape from its confinement, and made for the sugar-canes in a neighbouring plantation, and there the unlucky Aye-Aye was speedily captured. He was martyred for the sake of science, and its description by Owen will last as long as literature, and its skin and bones as long as the British Museum exists. Some other observers had interested themselves about the animal in the interval, and in 1855 M. Liénard is said by Owen to have observed the habits of a young male. This one liked mango nuts, and invariably made a hole in the rind with his strong front teeth, inserted therein his slender middle digit, and then lowering his mouth to the hole, put into it the pulp which the finger had scooped out of the fruit. When one hand was tired it used the other, and often changed them. On presenting him with a piece of sugar-cane, he held it by both hands, and tearing it open with his teeth, sucked out the juice. M. Vinson had one for two months, which was brought from Madagascar to the Ile de la Réunion, and he stated that it selected the grubs it liked best by the sense of smell, and that when _café au lait_ or _eau marée_ was offered, it drank by passing its long slender finger from the vessel to the mouth with incredible rapidity.

The Aye-Aye, according to the discovery of M. Soumagne, honorary consul of France in Madagascar, constructs true nests in trees, which resemble enormous ball-shaped “birds’-nests.” He found them in the belt of forest which is situated half-way up a great mountain close to the town of Tamatave. They are composed of the rolled-up leaves of the so-called “Traveller’s Tree,” and are lined with small twigs and dry leaves. The opening of the nest is narrow, and is placed on one side, and it is lodged in the fork of the branches of a large tree. In this the Aye-Aye resembles the lower Lemuroids, and not the genera _Loris_ and _Tarsius_.

The specimen of the Aye-Aye examined by Owen is three feet in length, the included tail measuring one foot eight inches and a half, and the fourth fingers of the hand and the fourth toes are the longest. The forefinger is shorter than the fifth, or little finger, and the second toe, counting the toe-thumb as the first, is shorter than the little toe.

The Aye-Aye is admirably adapted for its peculiar life, although part of its construction is very unlike that of the other Lemuroids, whose habits are much the same. Having nocturnal habits, the eyes are especially formed for the purpose of admitting all the light possible. They are large, prominent, and none of the “white” or conjunctiva is seen, only the cornea and the light brown or hazel-coloured iris behind it (commonly called the “sight”) being visible. It is a very staring, open eye, and the pupil is capable of being widely opened in the dark, and in fact it dilates generally as the light wanes, so as to admit every possible ray. In daylight, on the contrary, it contracts to a pin’s point in size, so as to shut out the light which would dazzle the eye and probably produce injury to it. There is a tapetum (see page 214) which assists in nocturnal vision. Nature has protected the eye not only with lids, for there are traces of eyelashes on the upper one but not on the lower, under which, however, there are some bristles. There is a kind of eyebrow in the form of tufts of a dozen very slender bristle-like hairs, and to complete the arrangement for protecting the eye against direct injury, and for letting the animal know when things are near enough to injure its organ of sight, there is what is called a nictitating fold in each eye. This is a layer of the white of the eye, or conjunctiva, situated close to the inner side near the nose, and which extends when required over the “sight” as a cover and protection. In addition to the nocturnal sight, the Aye-Aye has evidently extremely delicate hearing, the ears being large, spoon-shaped, and open, and their sense is very acute. For, either by hearing or by their very fine sense of smell, it detects grubs in the wood, and soon has them out, thanks to its teeth and claws.

The feet are long, and are made for grasping and for supporting the Aye-Aye on boughs whilst it uses its hands and teeth. They are very strong, and have a very long ankle, and claws to all the toes, except to the great thumb-like toe, which is very powerful, and has a flat nail. But it is in the hands and teeth that the singularity of the animal is made manifest, which makes it so little like the Lemuroida as a group. The hand is unique, but the front of the skull and the front teeth resemble those of the gnawing animals, and hence the name Cheiromys, which means hand-rat. Something has been said already regarding the food of the animal, and as its nature has to do with the hands and teeth, it is advisable to quote the able Superintendent of the Zoological Gardens, Mr. Bartlett:--

“In feeding,” writes Mr. Bartlett, “the left hand only is used, but the examination of the mode of taking her food requires careful attention, owing to the very rapid movement of the hand. The fourth finger, which is the largest and longest, is thrust forward into the food; the slender third finger is raised upwards and backwards above the rest, while the first finger (or thumb) is lowered so as to be seen below and behind the chin. In this position the hand is drawn backwards and forwards rapidly, the inner side of the fourth finger passing between the lips, the head of the animal being held sideways, thus depositing the food in the mouth at each movement. The tongue, jaws, and lips are kept in full motion all the time. Sometimes the animal will advance towards the dish and lap like a Cat, but this is unusual. The skeleton-like third finger is used with great address in cleansing her face and picking the corners of the eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and other parts of the body, and during these operations the other fingers are closed.” From all that has hitherto been observed, the Aye-Aye evidently eats both insects and vegetable food, so that in captivity it will reject meat food more or less. In its natural state it will prefer the grubs of some trees to those which frequent others, and it searches along the boughs for some evidence of their presence, and, with teeth and slim fingers, opens their galleries and brings them to light.

The teeth are certainly remarkable. There are two sets, the milk teeth and the adult teeth. In the first, or milk teeth, there are two front teeth, one canine tooth, and a molar or grinder on each side of the upper jaw. In the lower jaw there is but one front tooth, no canine, and one molar on each side. A further peculiarity consists in the falling out of the molars, one incisor, and the canine in the upper jaw, to be replaced by the following adult dentition, or second set. This consists of one incisor, no canine, one pre-molar, and three molars on both sides of the upper jaw; while below, the canine and pre-molar are entirely absent, the incisor and molar being like those of the upper jaw; it has thus eighteen teeth altogether. There are two front teeth in the upper and two in the lower jaw only, but they are very large, long, and narrow, being shaped like those of a Rabbit or Rat. Their tips wear away and expose a sharp cutting surface of thick enamel in front, and they are splendid cutting chisels. They gnaw and cut away wood, strip off bark, and make deep holes in the branches, and their length permits them to be placed in hollows in the wood so as to prise them open by acting as levers. It appears that they are made to grow from their sockets as they are worn down by frequent use. They are by themselves, and there is a great gap (diastema) or distance in the gums between them and the next teeth. This is quite after the fashion of the gnawing animals. The back teeth crush and champ fruit, vegetable substances, and insects with ease. There is a curious point about the chin, for there is no bony union there between the two sides of the lower jaw; on the contrary, the union is by a more or less elastic tissue, which permits of some movement up and down and from side to side during the action of the great front teeth.[144]

The hand is most peculiar, for certain of the fingers are so thin and long that they appear as if improperly nourished. They have the usual number of joints, and the last joints have strong curved claws. They have not the same relation of length and size as in any of the other Lemuroids, for the fourth finger is the longest instead of the third, and the third finger is so much more slim than the others, that Owen remarks that it seems as if it were paralysed. The hair is carried down the arms to the fingers, and adds to their spidery look. In the wrist there are the usual nine bones, the intermedium being there in addition to the eight recognisable in the higher Apes; and the two bones of the fore-arm greatly resemble those of the Monkeys in general.

The wrist and fore-arms are very movable, and the fingers also; but the thumbs, small as they are, and clawed, have but little of the thumb-like motion, and are but very slightly opposable to the forefinger, which, moreover, is rather shorter than the “little” or fifth finger.

On the whole the Aye-Aye presents some resemblance to the Lemuroids, and less to any other animal. Its large open ears, the eyes looking straight forward, the nostrils placed at the end of the snout, the want of any groove on the upper lip, the nature of the fur, so furry below and hairy above on the skin, are interesting to those who care to compare this animal with the Lemuroids and Rodents, or gnawing animals; so are the perfect condition of the orbits, or eye cavities, in front and their opening through behind, and the arrangement of the back-bones and limbs to those who would compare it with the Monkeys.

The skeleton resembles that of these last, and there are so many points of difference from the Rodents--although the skull at first sight looks like that of a Rat--that this very exceptional creature is classified with the Lemuroida from its partial resemblance to them and the Monkeys.

THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE LEMUROIDA.

Now that the Madagascar, African, and Asiatic Lemuroids have been noticed, and their prominent peculiarities described, it is easy to arrange them in the proper classification. Firstly, the position of the whole sub-order is next to the Hapale Monkeys of South America in the order of Primates. Then, if the figures or stuffed specimens of an Aye-Aye, a Tarsius, and a Slow Loris be compared, there is no difficulty in distinguishing them, for they differ much. But if a Lepilemur and a Galago are compared, it will be noticed that although they differ enough to be placed in two genera, still the distinction is not great. So it is advisable to group them together in a family; but the three others must belong each to a separate family. The scheme of Professor Mivart, who has paid much attention to these animals, and which we adopt, is as follows:--

FAMILIES OF THE SUB-ORDER LEMUROIDA AND THEIR GENERA.[145]

_Genera._

{ Indris. { Lepilemur. _Family_ I.--Lemuridæ. { Lemur. { Hapalemur. { Cheirogale. { Galago. { Perodicticus. { Loris, or Stenops. _Family_ II.--Nycticebidæ { Nycticebus. { Arctocebus. „ III.--Tarsidæ Tarsius. „ IV.--Cheiromydæ Cheiromys.

As groups these have more or less well-defined differences. Thus, the Lemuridæ have no _rete mirabile_, and, except in one species, the tail is large, and all have their hind legs longer than their front ones.

The Nycticebidæ have short ears and faces, and the tail is short or absent. They have a strange defect in the fingers (of hand and foot), the ankle is short, and there is a _rete mirabile_.

As a family the Tarsidæ have long ears, a long ankle, a long and slender tail, and there is a _rete mirabile_. Moreover, the fourth finger is not the longest.

The Cheiromydæ are known at once by their great front teeth, and the probe-like middle finger of the hand.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION.

All the kinds of Indris, Lepilemur, Hapalemur, Lemur, and Cheirogale inhabit Madagascar and some of the small islands close to its coast, and one kind of Lemur is found in one if not in two of the Comoro Islands, which are between the north west of Madagascar and the African coast, and nearer the island than to the continent. They have not been discovered elsewhere, and this is extremely interesting, because, with the exception of the genus Galago, they form the entire family of the Lemuridæ. The Galagos are not found in Madagascar, but in the woods and forests of the opposite coast of Africa. Some Galagos are found as far south as Port Natal, and the thick-tailed species inhabits both the eastern and the western coasts of the continent, and the central parts also. Others have been found near the Gaboon and in Fernando Po, Senegal, and Gambia, and in the country of Sennaar and near the White Nile. The Aye-Aye is essentially a Madagascar form. The Nycticebidan family has a wide geographical range. Thus, the species of the genus Loris are found in Ceylon, in Southern India at Pondicherry, and in Hindostan; the genus Nycticebus has one species in Borneo and Sumatra, a second in Java, and a third in China. On the contrary, the remaining genera, Perodicticus and Arctocebus, are limited to the west coast of Africa, none of them being found in the intermediate regions of that continent or in Madagascar. Finally, the Tarsidæ, according to Wallace, inhabit Borneo, Celebes, and some other neighbouring islands, the species being the same in all localities. How is the widespread distribution of the animals of the sub-order to be explained? On the presumption that they all sprang from one parent stock, it is necessary to suggest the occurrence of vast geographical changes in bygone ages, such, for instance, as the former connection of Madagascar and the mainland of Africa, and their separation; the former existence and subsequent subsidence of a vast tract of land between Hindostan and Africa, north of and remote from Madagascar; and the former continuity of land where there are now the islands of Borneo, Sumatra, and Java. It is necessary also to assume that Ceylon was united to Hindostan; and the great islands just mentioned to the continent of Asia. The land which was intermediate between Hindostan and Africa has been called Lemuria by Dr. Sclater, and its theoretical existence explains the otherwise incomprehensible presence of Giraffes and Hippopotami, now purely African genera, in the olden time in Asia. Geology rather favours these views. The first Lemuroida swarmed amongst the forests of these vast countries, and their descendants cut off from each other by geographical changes are now limited to very remote localities.

The fossil remains of Lemuroida, or of animals whose skulls resemble somewhat those of the sub-order, have been found in the Eocene of the Western territories, of the United States, and also in the south of France.

The particular muscles of the hand, arm, and shoulder which characterise the Monkeys, and which have been described in the former chapters, are found in the Lemuroids; and Murie and Mivart have already shown that in the Lemuroids the muscles agree mainly with those of Monkeys, and others bear certain resemblances to those of animals lower in the scale. Moreover, the Lemurs possess a unique band of fleshy fibres, which stretch between the shin-bone and the adjoining small bone of the leg, which would seem to serve in aiding the turning of the limb (the rotator fibulæ).

JAMES MURIE. P. MARTIN DUNCAN.

CHIROPTERA, OR WING-HANDED ANIMALS.

THE BATS.