U6 QUADRIMANA. 



characteristics in this quadruped, some of which pertain to Rodents and 

 others to the M;ikis. At first siirht. the Ave-Ave shows some strikinsT 

 points ot rx'semblance to the S<iuirrels : it has their general form, the 

 long bushy tail, and especially their dentition. It has, in fact, no canine 

 teeth, but possesses, in frv>nt of its jaws, a pair of strong incisors, 

 is*.>late<l from the molars by a vacant space, similar to the gap occur- 

 ring in the Squirrels and all animals belonging to the Order of Ro- 

 dentia. But, on the other hand, the lar^ size and rounded form of 

 its head, indicative of a voluminous brain, the conformation of its limbs, 

 the length of the digits, and the opf>osable thumb in the posterior mem- 

 bers, the complete state of the bony circle of the orbit, as in the majority 

 «rf Qitadrumaita. the existence of only two mammx^ in the female, are 

 characteristics which assimilate the Aye-Aye to the Makis, and ought 

 detiaitively to cause it to be ranked in the Quadrumana. 



But it mav be obser\ed as a majrked diflerence between this animal 

 and all the other Quadrumana. that in the Aye- Aye the milk-giving organs 

 are placed on the lower :: of the abdomen, and thus a great distinc- 



tion is at once made : this creature and the true Quadrumana. 



Indeed, there are so many points of discrepancy in this strange being, 

 that it is difficult to make it agree with the systematic laws which have 

 hitherto been laid down, and naturalists have placed it in one order or 

 another, according to the stress which they laid on different points of its 

 organization. 



After its discovery in 17S2, so little was heard of the Aye- Aye that 

 many writers described it as extinct. But further news of it was 

 heard in ^&^-^ when De Castelle forwarded the skeleton and hide of 

 one to Paris. This remained the ooly ^jecimen in Europe, till 1862, 

 when the Zoological Society of London received one alive. Since then 

 several of them have been sent to various collections in Europe. From 

 the time of Cu^^e^ down to Giebel in 1S59, most writers classed it am<»g 

 the Rifdnt^y but Owens and Peters have clearly established its nght to 

 the rank of a j^uocuh' ; according to them its dental formula is 



2 — 2 I — I 2 — 2 

 L =, C- ^ -, M. = = iS, 



2 — 2 o — o 2 — 2 



for its first set of teeth, bat for the permanent set, 



I. i^. C ^^. P.M. 1^. M. ^^ = ... 

 2 — 2 — — 3 — 3 



