a Specimen of Lemur tardigradus, 211 



round nail. His hind legs are much longer than his fore ones, 

 and are prehensile; the great toe or thumb is placed nearly at 

 right angles with his other toes, and is evidently formed for 

 grasping branches of trees, &c. ; the index toe, or fore finger, 

 however, of the hind foot, has a peculiarity ; instead of a round 

 nail, as all the other toes and fingers have, it is provided with 

 a sharp sickle-formed claw, somewhat like that of the dog. 

 This I have frequently seen him make use of in scratching 

 himself, of which he is very fond. He has no tail, but there 

 is a prominence in its place, which is very visible when he 

 walks. 



A very remarkable appearance is presented by his tongue ; 

 and though a specimen of this animal was dissected by Sir A. 

 Carlisle, a good many years ago, this anomalous appearance 

 has not been mentioned by him, and has been totally over- 

 looked by all the other authors who have described him. 

 Beneath the tongue proper, if I may so call it, which is some- 

 what like that of the cat, though not rough, is another tongue, 

 white-coloured, narrow, and very sharp-pointed, which he 

 projects along with the other one when he eats or drinks, 

 though he has the power of retaining it within his mouth at 

 pleasure. I have not been able to see any particular use to 

 which he applies it ; but, from its sharpness, it would appear as 

 if it were formed for puncturing soft fruits, of which he is very 

 fond, and which form great part of his food. Perhaps it may 

 be formed for catching insects, as Sir W. Jones mentions that 

 his specimen was very fond of grashoppers, and once or 

 twice this animal has been seen to eat spiders. I have also 

 found him to be exceedingly fond of flies ; he snaps them up 

 most eagerly when presented to him, and also catches them 

 himself, when they are reposing in the evening, upon the walls 

 of the room. I have seen him use his double tongue, however, 

 when eating them. When he licks the hand, as he now does 

 (being so tame) frequentl}^, he produces a sensation as if of 

 something very hard and rough rubbing against the skin, 

 which, I think, is produced by the second tongue ; though I 

 am not perfectly certain whether it may not be his teeth. I 

 have never seen it projected alone, however, but always in 

 company with the other. His teeth, especially the canine ones, 

 are exceedingly sharp. 



These are the most remarkable particulars with regard to 

 his external form. 



His manners and habits are also sufficiently interesting. 

 His food consists of fruit and small animals, as birds and mice. 

 The plantain is the fruit of which he is the most fond, and was 

 the only food I saw him eat when I first got him into my 



