162 SPOLIA ZEYLANTCA 



the mothers had four eqnal pendulous mammsB placed conse- 

 cutively in two pairs in the posterior pectoral (below the last rib) 

 and in the anterior abdominal regions, surrounded by a nearly 

 hairless tract. 



Each teat is about a quarter of an inch in length; the anterior 

 pair is distant about one inch and a quarter from the axillary 

 region ; the posterior pair is about two and a half inchesfromthe 

 inguinal region. 



The tetramerous arrangement of the teats in the Loria fjracilis 

 of Ceylon is a constant character, and may be observed in young 

 females as well as in females during lactation. The more primi- 

 tive mammals of the orders Edentata and Sirenia, represented in 

 Ceylon by the pangolin and the dugong respectively, have only 

 one pair of teats in the axillary region, but this fact does not 

 militate against the idea that the four teats of Loris may be a 

 primitive feature, at least within the limits of its own order. 



Not only the organization but the strictly arboreal habits of the 

 Loris suggest that it is a creature of remote antiquity. Whether 

 the character of the lacteal tract affords a further indication of 

 this may be a matter of opinion, but the numerical data should be 

 correctly given. The plurality of teats is remarkable also on 

 account of the fact that the Loris, like bats and monkeys generally, 

 only produces one young at a birth, which remains clamped to 

 the parent by its extraordinary prehensile limbs until able to look 

 after itself. 



ARTHUR WILLEY. 

 Colombo, July, 190a. 



