a Specimen of Lemur tardigradus. 



209 



The genus Lemur of Linnaeus (the Mdkis of Cuvier), including 

 animals with long 

 tails and great 

 swiftness, as the 

 Lemur catta and, 

 the Lemur macaco, ' 

 &C.5 and animals 

 without tails, and 

 remarkable slow- 

 ness of motion, as 

 the Lemur tardi- 

 gradus, &c., has 

 been split by Cu- 

 vier into several di- 

 visions, after the example of M. Geoffrey. Two of this singu- 

 lar genus are remarkable for their slowness of motion, and 

 have been formed by that naturalist into a distinct genus, the 

 Ld?'is {loeris, a clown, jyutch ; name in Ceylon). This species 

 is the Loris paresseux. (See published account, Philos, Journal, 

 June, 1827.) 



Though he has been described by two or three different 

 authors, and from live specimens, there are some particulars 

 connected with his organisation, which apparently have not 

 been taken notice of by any author I have been able to consult. 

 A short description of his form and nature, therefore, as far 

 as they have come under my notice, may not be uninteresting. 



The specimen described, I obtained at the beautiful island 

 of Pulo-penang, or Prince of Wales' Island ; and as I now 

 have had him in my possession upwards of nine months, and 

 as no change has taken place in his growth in that time, I 

 should consider him as a full-grown animal. He is one of the 

 male sex, of a dusky ash colour, and is particularly well 

 marked by a line of dark brown, running along the back ; his 

 whole body is covered with a thick short fur ; a covering which 

 is rather unusual in hot climates, but which seems well adapted 

 for his habits and manners. His head is almost round ; the 

 face sharpened at the extremity ; ears short and flat, but wide 

 and large otherwise. His eyes are large and very prominent, 

 almost hemispheres in shape, and very much approximated ; 

 they are of a yellowish brown colour, and are surrounded by 

 a circle of dark brown, the same colour as that on the back. 

 They shine brilliantly in the dark, especially when animated, 

 glowing like heated furnaces; eyelashes short and black. 

 When he closes his eyelids, he does it in a manner different 

 from any other animal I have seen ; instead of closing them by 

 moving them together, upwards and downwards, he draws the 



