no QUADRUMANA. 



of the spine. The color of this dark band is a deep chestnut. The 

 animal is a little more than a foot in length. 



In the formation of these creatures some very curious structures are 

 found, among which is the singular grouping of arteries and veins in the 

 limbs. 



Instead of the usual tree-like mode in which the limbs of most ani- 

 mals are supplied with blood — one large trunk-vessel entering the limb, 

 and then branching off into numerous subdivisions — the limbs are fur- 

 nished with blood upon a strangely modified system. The arteries and 

 veins, as they enter and leave the limb, arc suddenly divided into a great 

 number of cylindrical vessels, lying close to each other for some dis- 

 tance, and giving off their tubes to the different parts of the limb. It is 

 possible that to this formation may be owing the power of silent move- 

 ment and slow patience which has been mentioned as the property of 

 these lemurs, for a very similar structure is found to exist in the sloth. 



The tongue is aided in its task by a plate of cartilage, by which it 

 IS supported, and which is, indeed, aii enlargement of the tendinous band 

 that is found under the root of the tongue. It is much thicker at its base 

 than at the extremity, which is so deeply notched that it seems to have 

 been slit with a knife. It is so conspicuous an organ that it has been 

 often described as a second tongue. The throat and vocal organs seem 

 to be but little developed, as is consistent with the habits of an animal 

 whose very subsistence depends upon its silence. Excepting when irri- 

 tated, it seldom or never utters a sound ; and even then, its vocal powers 

 seem to be limited to a little monotonous plaintive cry. 



All its motions arc exceedingly slow, but it possesses one skilltul 

 faculty whicli no other animal exhibits: it can climb slowly step by 

 step backward up a pole placed nearly perpendicularly. 



VIII.— GENUS LORIS. 



There is only o/ic species of this small, tailless, nocturnal Lemur, 

 which inhabits Madras, Malabar, and Ceylon. It is called the Bengal 

 LoRi, Loris gracilis. In Ceylon the natives call it Teivangu, or "the 

 creeper." The best account of it is given in Tennant's work on Ceylon. 

 " I possessed a living Teivangu which lived for some time ; it ate rice, 

 fruits, and leaves, but preferred ants and insects. It was very greedy for 



