22 The Aye-Aye. 



the palms of its bands, is covered with thick dark 

 fur. 



It was discovered by the French naturalist and 

 traveller Sonnerat about one hundred years since, 

 who gave it the name Aye-Aye from an exclama- 

 tion of the natives on seeing it. He obtained a 

 pair, male and female, which he kept for two 

 months, feeding them only on boiled rice. He 

 evidently observed them very closely, and left a 

 good description of their appearance and habits 

 in confinement. In his opinion, the Aye- Aye did 

 not approach any genus, but leaned towards the 

 maki, the squirrel, and the ape. He made the 

 curious mistake, however, of imagining it to be a 

 subterranean animal. Buff on, who tells us that he 

 examined the skin of one which Sonnerat pre- 

 sented to the Cabinet du Roi, considered that it 

 was allied to the squirrel, and also that it bore 

 some relation to the tarsier, and accordingly placed 

 it among the rodents-. Cuvier first placed it next 

 to the flying squirrel, and immediately before the 

 rat, but afterwards in the list of doubtful animals. 

 Schreber was the first to class it among the 

 lemurs, and named it Lemur psilodactylus a name 

 adopted by Shaw while Sonnini, who formed the 

 genus Cheiromys, observed, rightly, that it was the 

 only species known. Most naturalists, however, 

 continued to class it among the rodents, until, in 

 the year 1859, Professor Owen placed it in its 

 present position as the sole representative of the 

 last of the three families into which the Lemuroidea 



