THE GENTLE-LEMURS. jg 



the upper part of the thigh, the hinder part of the belly, and the 

 greater part of the upper side of the tail yellowish-rufous ; 

 the upper side of hands dark brown, of the feet yellowish- 

 grey ; extremity of tail blackish-brown. Length of body, 12}^ 

 inches ; tail, 131^ inches. 



Distribution. — Confined to Madagascar. 



Habits.—The habits of the Hattock, as the natives name this 

 animal, are quite unknown. 



THE GENTLE-LEMURS. GENUS HAPALEMUR. 

 Hapalemur, Is. Geoffr., Cat. Meth. Primates, p. 74 (1851). 



This genus has been constituted for two species of a 

 specialised type of Lemur, characterised by a globose head, a 

 short muzzle, with a tapering nose and short hairy ears. The 

 hind-limbs are longer than the fore-limbs, the feet short and 

 broad, and the tail hairy and equal in length to the body. The 

 female has four teats, two on the breast, or on the shoulder, 

 and two on the abdomen. 



Li regard to their skeletal characters, the facial portion of 

 the skull is short and narrow in front— the nasal bones being 

 arched— and the brain-case rounded. The cranium presents no 

 elevated frontal crests, as among the members of the next 

 genus {Lepidolenmr). The pre-maxillary bones are very small. 

 The hind margin of the bony palate, which dilates posteriorly, 

 does not extend behind the mid-line of the last molar. The 

 squamosal region of the skull and the outer and posterior— the 

 mastoidal— portion of the ear-capsules (periotic bones), is not 

 inflated in the members of this genus. Their lower jaw is very 

 characteristic, being massive in front and possessing a very long 

 symphysis (or line of junction of its two halves), its angle being 



