540 THE TRUE LEMURS CHAP. 
several varieties are allowed. The colours of these Lemurs are 
bright, and distributed so as to form contrasting bands; thus 
P. coquereli, a variety of P. verreaua, has a black face and a 
body mainly white, with splashes of a rich maroon upon the 
limbs and upon the chest. 
These Lemurs are diurnal, and are especially active in the 
early morning and evening, sleeping, or at any rate remaining 
quiet, during the heat of the day. Their fitness for an arboreal 
life is shown by the existence of a parachute-like fold of skin 
between the arms and the body, which suggests a commencement 
of the more complete parachute of Flying Foxes, etc. These 
Lemurs are said to be reverenced and therefore shielded from 
injury by the natives of Madagascar. 
Sub-Fam. 2. Lemurinae.—The “True Lemurs” are all inhabit- 
ants of Madagascar and of the Comoro Islands. They have not such 
long hind-limbs as have the members of the last sub-family, nor 
are the toes webbed. The tooth formula differs from that of the 
Indrisinae in that there is one more premolar on each side of 
the upper jaw, and often one more incisor in the lower jaw, 
making thus a total*’of thirty-six teeth. Sometimes, however, 
the incisors of the upper jaw are totally wanting. 
The Hattock, genus J/ixocebus, is a scarce creature, only known 
from a single species, JZ caniceps. As it is rare, nothing is 
known of its habits. It has one pair of upper incisors. The 
creature is one foot and half an inch long, exclusive of the tail, 
which is an inch longer than the body. 
Genus Lepilemur.—The Lemurs belonging to this genus, 
entirely confined to Madagascar, as are all the Lemurinae, have 
received the perfectly unnecessary and pseudo-vernacular name of 
“Sportive Lemurs”; an equally imappropriate and not at all 
ingenious name of “Gentle Lemurs” being bestowed upon the 
allied genus Hapalemur. In Lepilemur there are seven species, 
which are to be distinguished from J/ivocebus in having the tail 
shorter than the body. There are no incisors in the upper jaw. 
The last molar is tricuspidate in the upper jaw ; that of the lower | 
jaw has five cusps. They are nocturnal creatures, and but little 
is known of their habits. Previously to Dr. Forsyth Major’s visit 
to Madagascar only two species of the genus were known; he has 
added five others. The length of the body is 14 inches, and that of 
the tail 10 inches, in LZ. mustelinus, which is the largest species. 
