LKMOHID.E. 



LEMUIUD.E. 



any flood obasiTeis bare narrowly watched it, and have recorded 



Voseasir received one in June 1763, and kept it in his chamber. 

 It alept all day till the evening, not waking (it being summer) till half. 

 pas* eight It was shut up in an oblong cage, secured with iron ban, 

 awl oonetently alept sitting on its Under parts close to the bars, with 

 Ms bead brought forwards between its fore-feet, which were bent 

 against its beUy. In this attitude it held on strongly to the wires with 

 Ml bind feet, and often by one of the anterior feet as w.-ll, which 

 induced Vosmaer to think that the animal ordinarily slept in trees 

 attached to the branches. When awakened it moved very slowly, 

 sad always the same from the commencement to the end, dragging 

 Meelf from bar to bar, grasping one above with its fore foot or rattier 

 bud, and not quitting its hold till it had slowly but very powerfully 

 seised another with, one of its anterior feet or bonds. The same 

 alowntee marked its creeping on the ground, along which it dragged 

 one foot after the other, ae if it bad been paralytic. In this mode of 

 iMuginaini it raised its body but very little, so little, that as it dragged 

 itself forward the belly was frequently not more than the breadth of 

 a finger from the ground. It was vain to attempt to drive it by putting 



stick through the ban ; for it would not quit its hold, and if pushed 

 too roughly, its only defence was biting the stick. As the evening 

 approached it awaked by degrees, like one whose sleep is broken after 

 long watching. Its first care was to eat, for the day had been dedicated 

 to repose. After its repast, which it dispatched with comparative 

 celerity, the remains of its former meal were evacuated. The faces 

 were in small pellets like sheep's dung, and the urine had a strong 

 ilisesjsialil. odour. The sea-captain who brought it over stated that 

 it fed on rice boiled very thick, and that it had never been seen to 

 drink. 



Vosmaer, impressed with the belief that his animal would not refuse 



different sort of food, gave it a leafy lime-tree sprig : this it rejected. 

 Fruits, such as pears and cherries, were more to its taste. It willingly 

 ate dry breed and biscuit ; but if dipped in water would touch neither. 

 When offered water it smelt it, but drank not Eggs were a favourite 

 diet " It aimoit a la fureur les ocufs," are the words of Vosmaer, 

 who, concluding from its appetite for eggs that it would eat birds, 



Ke it a lire sparrow, which it instantly killed with a bite, and ate 

 whole very greedily. He gave it a live cockchafer, to try whether 

 it would eat inserts : it took the offering in its paw, and devoured it 

 completely. Vosms/r afterwards gave it a chaffinch (pincon), which 

 H ate with much relish, and afterwards slept for the remainder of the 

 day. He often saw it still awake at two houn past midnight ; but 

 from half-past six in the morning its sleep was so sound that its cage 

 might be ffrtimnl without disturbance to its repose. If forcibly awaked 

 daring the day in order to teice it, it was vexed and bit the stick ; but 

 with a very alow motion, repeating the cry ' ai, ai.ai,' dnwing out the 

 ai each time into a plaintive, languid, and trembling note, in the same 

 manner ae is reported of the American Sloths. When it was thus 

 harassed for a long time, and thoroughly roused, it crawled two or 

 three times round its cage, and then alept again. 



Tbe snseiaen observed by Sir William Jones was a male, as 

 Voameer. appears to bare been; and Sir William thus gracefully 

 Jesttibss ita habits: "In his mannen be was for the most part 

 grntle, except in the cold season, when bis temper seemed wholly 

 hanger! ; and Us creator, who made him so sensible of cold, to 

 which be most often have been exposed even in bis native forests, 

 gave him, probably for that reason, his thick fur, which we rarely 

 eee on animal* in these tropical climates : to me, who not only 

 ooorUotlr fed him, but bathed him twice a week in water accom- 

 modated to the seasons, and whom be clearly distingui.hed from 

 others, be waa at all times grateful; but when I disturbed him in 

 winter, be wae usually indignant, and seemed to reproach me with 

 the uneasiness which he felt, though no possible precautions had been 

 omitted to keep him in a proper degree of warmth. At all times 

 be was pleased with being stroked on the bead and throat, and 

 frequently eoftred me to touch his extremely sharp teeth ; but at all 



Us temper was quick ; and when be was unseasonably disturbed, 

 he expressed a little resentment by an obscure murmur, like that of a 

 eqwrrd, or a greater degree of displeasure by a peevish cry, enpecislly 

 in winter, when be was often a* neroe, on being much importuned, 

 as any beast of the woods. From half an hour after sunrise to 

 half an bow before snneei be slept without intermission, rolled up 

 like a bodfebog ; and. as soon ss be awoke, he began to prepare 

 Usjaelf for the labour, of his approaching day, licking and dressing 

 Uaedf like a eat, an operation which the flexibility of his neck and 

 ttmba enabled him to perform very completely: be waa then ready 

 for a slight breakfast, after which be commonly took a short nap; 

 but when the sun was quite set, be recovered all his vivacity. His 

 ordinary food was the sweet fruit of this country ; plantains always, 

 and mangoes daring the season; but be refused peaches and was not 

 food of mulberries, or even of foaiavas: milk be lapped eagerly, but 

 was contented with plain water. In general he was not voracious, 

 but new appeared satiated with grasshoppers, and passed the whole 

 night, while the hot eeason lasted, in prowling for them : when a 

 pper. or any insect, alighted within bis reach, his eyes, which 

 I on Us prey, glowed with uncommon fire ; and having drawn 

 ' back, to spring on it with greater force, he seised bis victim 



with both his fore paws, but held it in one of them while ho devoured 

 it Kur other purposes, and sometimes even for that of holding his 

 food, ho used all his paws, indifferently, as bauds, and frequently 

 grasped with one of them the higher part of his ample cage, while 

 his three others were severally engaged at the bottom of it ; but tho 

 posture of which he seemed fondest was to cling with all fotir of 

 them to the upper wires, his body being inverted ; and in the evening 

 he usually stood erect for many minutes, playing on the wires with 

 his fingers, and rapidly moving his body from side to side, as if he 

 had found the utility of exercise, in his unnatural state of confine- 

 ment, A little before day-break, when my early houn gave me 

 frequent opportunities of observing him, he seemed to solicit my 

 attention ; and if I presented my finger to him, he licked or nibbled 

 it with great gentlecess, but eagerly took fruit when I offered it, 

 though he seldom ate much at his morning repast : when the day 

 brought back the night, his eyes lost their lustre and strength, and 



he composed himself for a slumber of 10 or 11 houn My 



little friend was, upon the whole, very engaging ; and when he was 

 found lifeless in the same posture in which he would naturally have 

 slept, I consoled myself with believing that he hod died without pain, 

 and lived with as much pleasure as ho could have enjoyed in a state 

 of captivity." 



Mr. Baird, in the paper above quoted, gives an account of one of 

 these Loris (loeris, a clown, Dutch ; name in Ceylon, according to 

 that gentleman). Mr. Boird's specimen was a male, and was obtained 

 at Pulo-Penang (Prince of Waloe's Island). When Mr. Baird wrote, 

 he had been in possession of the animal upwards of nine months. 

 Its food consisted of fruit and small animals, such as birds and mice. 

 The plantain was tho fruit of which he was the most fond, and waa 

 the only food Mr. Baird saw him eat when he first got him into his 

 possession. The necks of fresh-killed fowls formed tho major port of 

 its sustenance during the voyage. It was particularly fond of small 

 birds : these, when put into his cage, ho killed speedily, and, stripping 

 off the feathers, soon devoured them, eating the bones as well as the 

 flesh. Veal was preferred to all other butcher's meat, and it waa 

 fond of eggi ; meat boiled, or otherwise cooked, it would not touch. 

 Sugar appeared to be gratoful to its palate, and it ate gum-arabic. 

 " As flesh is not always to be had quite fresh (tha only state iu 

 which it is acceptable to him), ho has for some time post been fed 

 upon bread sopped in water, and sprinkled with sugar ; this ho cats 

 readily, and seems to relish it much. M. Vosmaer mentions that bis 

 animal eat dry biscuit, but refused it if moistened with water ; neither 

 would it ever taste water. This is completely at variance with the 

 habits of my animal, for he not only eats moistened bread, but laps 

 water like a cat. When food is presented to him, if hungry, he seizes 

 it with both hands, and letting go with his right, holds it with his 

 left all the time he is eating. Frequently, when feeding, he grasp* 

 the bars in the upper port of his cage with his hind paws and hangs 

 inverted, appearing exceedingly intent upon the food he holds fast in 

 the left hand. He is exceedingly fond of oranges ; " in this the 

 animal resembled a domesticated Lemur albifroru once hi our posses- 

 sion; "but when they are at all hard, he seems very much puzzled 

 how to extract the juice. I have, upon such an occasion, seen him 

 lie all his length upon his back, in the bottom of his cage, and, firmly 

 grasping the piece of orange with both hands, squeeze the juice into 

 his mouth." Mr. Baird, after noticing the cry mentioned by Vosmaer 

 and Sir W. Jones, says, " When the cat annoys him, which she does 

 very frequently by leaping over him, ho repeats the cry nearly a 

 dozen times : it is always however expressive of anger. He has 

 also another sort of cry expressive of eagerness to obtain anything : 

 this is much gruffer iu sound, not shrill nor loud, but apparently 

 made by forcing the air out of his nostrils. Ho likes much to be 

 stroked under the chin and throat, and also under the arms, turning 

 his head round to the hand like a cat, and lifting his arm, stretching 

 it out beyond his bead. Though not a very sensible animal, he is 

 still evidently capable of feeling kindness and showing rcneutment. 

 He allows his throat and fora arms to be stroked, but refuses to let 

 the same liberty be token with his lower limbs. For some time whilo 

 in China, a littlo Chinese dog was his companion, sleeping in tho 

 same cage with him ; and, with the exception of a few occasional jars, 

 they lived very comfortably together. As the dog grew up however 

 they were separated. A cat, the only animal iu the house besides 

 himself, has made many overtures to him, and when he is allowed to 

 get out of his cage, he is followed up and down the room by his 

 feline companion, who evidently wishes to moke him her playfellow. 

 Any undue familiarities however on her part are met with on imme- 

 diate repulse from him; and, one time, when patting him rather 

 incautiously with her foot, he bit her so severely, that she now, though 

 evidently wishing to bo on good terms with him, keeps at a safe 

 distance. This same cat has, since this, become more familiar. 

 Though not daring to approach him, she follows him wherever ho 

 goes, to his great annoyance, and renders herself an object of his 

 abhorrence. He cries out on her approach, and is sadly tantalised by 

 her playful trick of leaping over him. He seems to be rather a social 

 animal notwithstanding. A large japanned tray attracts a good deal 

 of his attention. Seeing his image reflected in it, he walks before it, 

 and tries to grasp his own image. Finding his efforts ineffectual, he 

 imitates the action of the child, by peeping behind it, with xpectation 



