l.">:> SPECIES NOT 



:i piece of bent -wire. Now this is certainly a 

 curious combination of structure; on the whole 

 it is most like a lemur, and seems to be just 

 between the latter and the true monkeys a good 

 instance of transition one would have thought! 

 That anomalous-looking wiry-finger gives hope 

 of an apt illustration of the toe of the rodent 

 being converted by modification and natural se- 

 lection, into the highest class of mammals but 

 one, the quadrumana. And in fact, if there is 

 anything in Mr. Darwin's theory, it is by some 

 road of this kind that our transmutation from 

 the inferior classes of animals has been brought 

 about. This aye-aye is a rare animal, and but 

 few specimens have found their way to this 

 country, and little was known of its habits. The 

 animal is held in great veneration by the in- 

 habitants, who have a firm belief that if they 

 touch it they will die within the, year. The 

 Honourable Dr. Sandwith, our Colonial Secretary 

 at the Mauritius, fortunately overcame this pre- 

 judice of the natives by an all-invincible i'H> 

 note, and the consequence has been an extremely 

 interesting communication from this gentleman 

 to Professor Owen, which is published in the 

 Proceedings of the Linnean Society for July, 

 1859, and which quite clears up the apparent 

 anomaly of the finger. 



"Now," says Dr. Sandwith, "as he attacked 

 every night the wood- work of his cage, which 1 

 \\as gradually lining with tin, I bethought myself 

 of tying some sticks over the wood-work, so that 



