198 Sciefitific Intelligence, — ILoology. 



and oranges, he is also very fond of. When an orange gi- 

 ven to him has been at all hard, I have seen him much puzzled 

 how to extract the juice. On such an occasion I have observed 

 him lie all his length on his back in the bottom of his cage, 

 and grasping the piece of orange with both hands, squeeze 

 the juice into his mouth. Mr Vosmaer mentions the animal he 

 had in his possession as being fond of dry biscuit ; that, when 

 moistened with water, he would not touch it ; and that, when 

 water was presented to him, he smelled it, but would not taste 

 it. This is all at variance with the specimen in my posses- 

 sion. Dry bread or biscuit he will not touch ; but when moist- 

 ened with water, and dipped in sugar, he eats it very readily ; 

 and water he also takes greedily, lapping it as the cat does. 

 — His faeces are rather peculiar in their form. They are very 

 hard oval pellets — very much tapered at the extremity last dis- 

 charged, and sometimes tapered off to a long thread, an inch or 

 two in length. He is very slothful, and extremely slow in his 

 motions. During the day he sits on his hinder parts, close to 

 the bars of his cage, rolled up in the form of a ball ; his head 

 in his breast, and grasping the bars of his cage with his poste- 

 rior extremities, which are brought up close to his belly. In 

 this position he will sit and sleep during the whole day almost, 

 if not disturbed. When he climbs, it is in a most methodical 

 manner. He first lays hold of the branch with one of his fore 

 paws, then with the other. When he has obtained a firm hold 

 with both fore paws, he then moves one of his hinder ones, and, 

 after grasping firmly the branch with it, moves the other, never 

 quitting his hold with his hind paws, till he has obtained a se- 

 cure grasp with his fore hands. When irritated, he makes a 

 shrill plaintive cry, expressive of much annoyance, and bites se- 

 verely if he can reach the offending substance. When irritated 

 much, I have seen him dart his body forwards, in order to seize 

 with his teeth the finger or hand of the person annoying him ; 

 upon such an occasion, however, it was only his trunk that mov- 

 ed — ^his posterior extremities were all the time firmly grasping 

 the substance on which he stood, and he seemed to make use of 

 them as levers, by which to increase the force and celerity of his 

 Hiotions. 



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