82 



THE PROSIMIANS. 



fur is generally grayish-brown, ash-gray, or 

 grayish-yellow, and lighter on the under side 

 than on the back. Usually the colour is 

 adapted to that of the branches of the trees 

 which they frequent. Still brighter colours, 

 rusty-red for example, and constant markings 

 in the form of stripes, 

 spots, and light and 

 dark rings on. the tail 

 also occur. Some 

 species vary very 

 much in colour, and 

 in others the males 

 and females are so 

 different that they 

 have been mistaken 

 for different species. 

 All the lemurs live 

 socially and lead a 

 nocturnal life, sleep- 

 ing through the day, 

 curled up with their 

 tails over them, either 

 singly or sometimes 

 in pairs; and the 

 smaller species in- 

 habit either holes in 

 trees (Chirogaleus), 

 or artificial nests like 

 those of the dwarf 

 lemur (Microcebus). 

 The females in the 

 latter genus have, 

 besides the usual 

 pectoral teats, a pair 



of teats in the abdom- 

 inal region, which 

 leads us to infer that they bring up a numer- 

 ous offspring in their nests. The sleep of 

 the lemurs is not so sound that they are not 

 liable to be awakened even by slight noises. 

 The hind-feet of the true lemurs possess 

 a remarkable arrangement of muscles and 

 sinews at the ankle-joint, by means of which, 

 when the limb is bent, the foot completely 

 embraces the branch on which the animal 



sits. The creature is thus enabled to sit firmly 

 while sleeping without any muscular exer- 

 tion. The apparatus continues to act even 

 for some days after death. A black lemur 

 which I was dissecting, firmly embraced my 

 thumb in this way when I bent its leg. 



After sunset the 



lemurs awake, 

 range their fur, 



Fig. 27. The Gray or Broad-nosed Lemur (Hapalcmur griseus 



ar- 

 and 



then, amid loud cries, 

 go in search of their 

 food. Some species 

 have a very loud 

 voice, and since they 

 often practise their 

 music in companies 

 of thirty or forty, and 

 appear mutually to 

 try to outvie one an- 

 other, like the Ameri- 

 can howling mon- 

 keys, their choruses 

 are truly excruciating 

 to the ear. The voice 

 of the ruffed lemur 

 (Lemur varius), a 

 creature only 16 in- 

 ches in length, is 

 said to be so like the 

 growl of a lion as to 

 inspire terror. After 

 such concerts the 

 whole band betakes 

 itself to search for 

 food, performing, 

 meanwhile, the most 

 audacious feats in 

 climbing, leaping, and other kinds of gym- 

 nastics. During their foray they work in- 

 credible devastation among the fruit-trees; 

 devastations, however, which are of no serious 

 consequence to man since they are wrought 

 only in the inmost depths of the primeval 

 forests. The young come into the world 

 already covered with hair, and coloured like 

 their parents. At first they cling fast between 



