104 THE LEMURS. 
It sometimes breeds in confinement, and then affords an interesting sight. The young 
Lemur is not so thickly clothed as its mother, but makes up deficiencies in its own 
covering by burying itself in the soft fur of its parent. Many a time have I seen the 
little creature sunk deeply in the soft fur of its mother’s back, and so harmonizing with her, 
that the child could hardly be distinguished from the parent. Sometimes it would creep 
under the mother, and cling with arms and legs so firmly, that although she might move 
about her cage, the little one was not shaken off, but held as firmly as Ulysses to the 
Syclops’ ram. 
There is a curious structure in the hand and arm of this Lemur, bearing consider- 
able analogy to the formation of the spider monkey’s tail, which is mentioned on p. 84. 
By means of this construction of the limb, the fingers of the hand are closed when the arm 
is stretched out, so that the animal can suspend itself from a tree-branch, without incurring 
fatigue. It sometimes utters a sound which resembles the purring of a cat, and from that 
habit is derived the name of Cattus. The manner in which the dark spots and rings are 
distributed over the body and tail is well shown in the engraving, and need not be 
described. 
The WHITE-FRONTED LEMUR derives its name from the patch of white hairs which 
appears on its forehead. Some naturalists suppose it to be the female of a similar animal 
on whose forehead a sable patch is substituted for the white, and is therefore called the 
Black-fronted Lemur. At present, however, the Black-fronted animal is considered to be 
a distinct species ; and the only difference between the sexes of the White-fronted Lemur 
seems to be, that in the male animal the forehead and some other portions of the fur are 
white, while in the female they are of a light grey. The general colour of the animal 
is a brownish chestnut, but in some examples a grey tint takes the place of the 
darker colow. 
It is a gentle and engaging creature, and not at all shy, even to strangers, unless they 
alarm it by loud voices or hasty gestures. It is possessed of great agility, climbing trees, 
and running among the branches with perfect ease, and capable of springing through a 
space of several yards. So gently does it alight on the ground after it leaps, that the 
sound of its feet can hardly be heard as they touch the ground. 
As will be seen from the figure on p. 103, the RED Lemur possesses a fur which has 
somewhat of a woolly aspect, the hair separating into tufts, each of which is slightly 
curled It is a beautifully decorated animal, displaying considerable contrast of colour- 
ing. The body, head, and the greater portion of the limbs, are of a fine chestnut, with 
the exception of a large white patch covering the back of the head and nape of the neck, 
and a smaller one in the midst of each foot. The face, the tail, and paws, are black, as is 
all the under side of the body. This latter circumstance is most remarkable, as it is 
almost a general rule that the under parts of animals are lighter in tint than the upper. 
Around the sides of the face, the hair is of a paler chestnut than that which covers the 
body. 
In habits it is similar to the Lemurs which have already been described. Being 
naturally a nocturnal animal, it passes the day in a drowsy somnolence, its head pushed 
between its legs, and the long, bushy tail wrapped round its body, as if to exclude the 
light and retain the heat. Should it be accustomed to be fed during the daytime, it 
shakes off its slumber for the purpose of satisfying the calls of hunger ; but even though 
urged by so strong an inducement, it awakes with lingering reluctance, and sinks to sleep 
again as soon as the demands of its appetite are satisfied. Its entire length is nearly 
three feet, of which the tail occupies about twenty inches. Its height is about a foot. 
The curious animal which is known by the name of the DIApbEM LEMUR, is generally 
thought to belong quite as much, if not more, to the Indris than to the Lemurs, and 
has, therefore, been placed by Mr. Bennett in a separate genus, which he names 
Propithecus. 4 
The name of Diadem Lemur is given to this creature on account of the white semi- 
lunar stripe which runs across the forehead; the curve being just the opposite to the 
crescent on the head of the Diana monkey, and therefore assuming the shape of a diadem. 
This white stripe is very conspicuous, and serves by its bold contrast with the black head 
