AYE-AYE.—Cheiromys Madagascariensis. 
expected in a creature so entirely nocturnal in its habits. The movements of the Aye-aye 
are slow and deliberate, though not so sluggish as those of the Loris. It is not a very 
small animal, measuring almost a yard in total length, of which the tail occupies one 
moiety. 
On a review of this and the Lemurine monkeys, it can hardly fail to strike the 
observer that there must be something very strange in the climate or position of 
Madagascar—perhaps in both—that forbids the usual quadrumanous forms, and produces 
in their stead the Lemurs, the Indris, and the Aye-aye. So very little is known of this 
important island, that it may be the home of hitherto unknown forms of animal life, 
which, when brought under the observation of competent naturalists, would fill up sundry 
blanks that exist in the present list of known animals, and afford, in their own persons, 
the clue to many interesting subjects which are now buried in mystery. 
The strange animal which is known by the name of the Firyrnc Lemur, or CoLuco, 
presents a singular resemblance to the large bat which is popularly called the Flying Fox, 
and evidently affords an intermediate link of transition between the four-handed and the 
wing-handed mammals. 
By means of the largely-developed membrane which connects the limbs with each 
other, and the hinder limbs with the tail, the Colugo is enabled to leap through very great 
distances, and to pass from one bough to another with ease, although they may be situated 
so far apart that no power of leaping could achieve the feat. This membrane is a 
prolongation of the natural skin, and is covered with hair on the upper side as thickly as 
airy part of the body, but beneath it is almost naked. When the creature desires to make 
one of its long sweeping leaps, it spreads its limbs as widely as possible, and thus converts 
itself into a kind of living kite, as is shown in the fioure. By thus presenting a large 
surface to the air, it can be supported in its passage between the branches, and is said to 
be able to vary its course shghtly by the movement of its arms. 
When the animal is walking or climbing about among the branches, the wide 
membrane is folded so closely to the body, that it might escape the observation of an 
