740 THE POPULAR SCIEN-CE MONTHLY. 



they have been styled monkeys with the fox's muzzle. Their agility 

 is marvelous ; they leap through the air to a great distance, settling 

 on a branch, which perhaps bends under their weight, and dart off 

 again in evolutions of astonishing rapidity. A wood frequented by 

 troops commands the astonishment and admiration of the traveler, 

 from the intelligent appearance and incessant gambols of these lively 

 animals. The largest kinds are about three feet in length, while the 

 smallest are not larger than a rat. The true lemur, which is distin- 

 guished by a long snout and tail, prefers fruit for food, but does not 

 object to crunch a small bird, a lizard, or insects. These are diurnal in 

 their habits ; while the chirogales, possessing short paws and pointed 

 teeth, shun the light, and only appear in twilight and moonlight, when 

 they make great havoc among lizards and small game. These curious 

 mammifers are characteristic of Madagascar; other species do exist 

 elsewhere, but the nocturnal kind are found nowhere but in this and 

 the Comoro Islands. 



In the most solitary parts of the southwest region lives that strange 

 creature, the aye-aye, or chiromys. A nocturnal animal, gentle and 

 timid, it is about the size of a cat, with a large head, round full eyes 

 not dissimilar to those of the owl, an enormous tail, and most extraoi*- 

 dinary formation of the fore-paws ; the middle finger being long and 

 slender. This, which looks like a deformity, is, in truth, a wonderful 

 arrangement of Nature for its special way of life. As it lives on the 

 larvse hidden in the trunks of trees, the finger can be easily introduced 

 into the fissures from which it tears the coveted prey. Naturalists 

 think it forms a link between the squirrel and the monkey. The Ma- 

 lagaches seem to be impressed with a superstitious dread of the ani- 

 mal, owing to its sleeping all the day in the most secret haunts ; nor 

 do they ever molest it, astonished as they seem to be by its peculiar 

 physiognomy and movements. 



There is another class of mammifers peculiar to this island, which 

 are called tendraks by the natives, and seem closely allied to our 

 hedgehogs. Like these, they are covered with spines, but the teeth 

 differ, and the tail is wanting ; neither do they roll themselves into a 

 ball, but hide the head between their paws when frightened. Seven 

 or eight species have been discovered, with some variety in the spines, 

 some being soft, and not covering the whole of the body. Thev are 

 all nocturnal in their habits, and very good when cooked. As for the 

 carnivora, they all belong to a very small type. The wild-cat is a 

 pretty creature. Its back is fawn-colored, traversed by four stripes 

 of reddish-brown, and yellowish-wliite under the body and the paws. 

 The ichneumon, with its long thin body and shaded skin, also gains 

 the admiration of the traveler; it is a fearful enemy to all small or 

 weak animals, but one of the species feeds greedily on honey. Not 

 the least curious is the cryptoproctus, of the size and appearance 

 of a cat, but with feet formed like those of a bear, the entire sole 



