318 ANIMALS OF EGA. Chap. V. 



with the knuckles bent at an acute angle, and thus 

 mounted to the top with the greatest facility. Although 

 seeming to prefer insects, it ate all kinds of fruit, but 

 would not touch raw or cooked meat, and was very 

 seldom thirsty. I was told by persons who had kept 

 these monkeys loose about the house, that they cleared 

 the chambers of bats as well as insect vermin. When 

 approached gently, my Ei-a allowed itself to be caressed ; 

 but when handled roughly, it always took alarm, biting 

 severely, striking out its little hands, and making a 

 hissing noise like a cat. As already related, my pet was 

 killed by a jealous Caiarara monkey, which was kept 

 in the house at the same time. 



I have mentioned the near relationship of the night 

 apes to the Sai-miris (Chrysothrix), which are amongst 

 the commonest of the ordinary monkeys of the American 

 forests. This near relationship is the more necessary to 

 be borne in mind, as some zoologists have drawn a com- 

 parison between the Nyctipitheci and the Microcebi, 

 Nycticebi, and Loris, nocturnal apes of the Lemur family 

 inhabiting Ceylon and Java, and it might be erroneously 

 inferred that our American Ei-as were related more 

 closely to these Old World forms than they are to the rest 

 of the New World monkeys. The Nycticebus of Java has 

 also large nocturnal eyes, short ears, and a physiognomy 

 similar to that of our Nyctipitheci ; resemblances which 

 might seem to be strong proofs of blood-relationship, but 

 these points are fallacious guides in ascertaining the ge- 

 nealogy of these animals ; they are simply resemblances 

 of analogy, and merely show that a few species belong- 

 ing to utterly dissimilar families have been made similar 



