LEMURS, POTTOS, LORIS 



the Zoo a good many species are as a rule to be seen. 

 The true lemurs are commonly found represented by 

 several species, such as the black lemur (Lemur macaco), 

 and the crowned lemur, which mainly differ from each 

 other in colour. The African galagos, with long and 

 naked ears and apparently a keener sense of hearing than 

 the other forms, are generally to be seen. Some of the 

 smaller Madagascar species, such as Coquerel's lemur 

 (Chirogaleus coquerali) and Smith's dwarf lemur, are 

 often on view, while the West African potto (Perodicticus 

 potto), tailless and very different in general appearance 

 from its Madagascar kindred, is an animal which may be 

 almost counted upon as an exhibit. So too the slow 

 loris (Nycticelus tardigradus) and the other loris of the 

 East, Loris gracilis. The singular Malayan Tarsius, a 

 small form with large ears, a frail body, and huge staring 

 eyes, has never been acquired by the Society. It is 

 eminently a desideratum. 



THE SLOW LORIS 



This woolly- furred little lemur is for us the type of 

 a sub-family of the lemurs which includes also the other 

 loris of the East and the potto and the angwantibo of 

 Africa. Like its allies, the slow loris is almost tailless, 

 it has large, staring eyes, the index finger, " first " 

 finger, as it is often called, is small a stage on the way 

 to its disappearance, which has occurred in the pottos. 

 It is a small creature not much over a foot in length. 

 Its home is in the East, to wit, Assam, Malaya, Siam to 

 the Philippines in the extreme East. It is naturally 

 arboreal, and, as its large and soft-looking eyes denote, 

 nocturnal in habit. During the day it sleeps rolled into 

 a ball, the head being bowed between the legs. In spite 

 of the mildness of its eye, the little loris is not to be 

 handled with impunity ; its sharp teeth can leave a 



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