214 APES, MONKEYS, AND LEMURS 



was first described by the French naturalist GeofTroy St. Hilaire, and was exhibited 

 in the I/ondon Zoological Gardens as far back as 1830. 



This (L. nigrifrons} is another closely allied lemur, also first made 

 known to science by the naturalist last mentioned. In comparing it 

 with the preceding species, E. T. Bennett, who had the opportunity of 

 seeing living examples of both, observes that " their size, it is true, is nearly equal, 

 and there is little, if any, difference in their form ; but their colors, invariable as 

 we have hitherto found them, furnish sufficient ground for regarding them as 

 distinct. The present animal has the elongated muzzle of the last, but the black 

 color embraces .in it the forehead and sides of the face, as well as the base of 

 the muzzle ; and the hair on the former parts, instead of being long and woolly, 

 is short, smooth, and even. While the black is thus extended backwards over 

 the head, it is bounded on the fore part of the muzzle, which instead of being 

 uniform in color, as in the preceding species, becomes grizzled towards its extremity, 

 and at last almost white. The general color of the upper parts of the body is a dark 

 ashy gray, most of the hairs terminating in a tawny tip, which is so strongly 

 marked on the back as to give a decided tinge. The tail is light gray at the base, 

 and darker towards the tip ; the outside of the limbs is of a light ashy gray ; 

 the chin, chest, and throat are pure white ; and the under parts, together with 

 the inner side of the hind limbs, pale rufous. The hands, which are blackish, have 

 the same tendency to become grizzled as the fore part of the muzzle. ' ' 



In captivity this and the preceding species are described as being perfectly tame 

 and good-natured, without any tendency to the petulant and mischievous habits of 

 the smaller monkeys. In a wild state the habits of these allied species are doubtless 

 similar. 



BLACK LEMUR {Lemur macaco} 



With the black lemur, which is represented in the accompanying figure, we 

 come to the first of a group of three very well-marked species, differing considerably 

 from those already noticed ; this difference being chiefly shown by the presence of a 

 more or less well-marked ruff fringing the cheeks and chin, and frequently also by a 

 fringe of hairs on the margins of the ears. Moreover, all these lemurs are subject 

 to great variation in color, which in one case appears to be merely individual, while 

 in another it is distinctive of the two sexes. So great, indeed, is this variation, that 

 the two species of which we shall treat have been described under at least four dis- 

 tinct scientific names ; thereby showing how great is the need of caution in such 

 matters. 



The black lemur comes from the northwest coast of Madagascar ; and the male, 

 upon the evidence of which the species was originally described, is of a uniform 

 black color, with a well-developed ruff round the cheeks and neck, and a long fringe 

 to the ears. Very different, however, is the female, which was at first described 

 under the name of the white-whiskered lemur (L. leucomystax). In this sex the 

 general color of the fur is brown, with a patch on the lower part of the back, and the 

 ruff round the face and the fringe on the ears are white. 



