104 LEMURS. 



an inhabitant of southern India, and is commonly known 

 as the slender loris. It differs from the common loris by 

 its much larger eyes, which are separated from one another 

 only by a very thin partition, as well as by its slender 

 body and limbs ; and in consequence of these and other 

 points of difference is referred by naturalists to a distinct 

 genus, of which it is the sole representative. This beauti- 

 ful little creature is about the size of a squirrel, and is of 

 a yellowish-brown colour. It occurs in the forests, usually 

 in pairs. Sir E. Tennent observes that "the naturally 

 slow motion of its limbs enables the loris to approach its 

 prey so stealthily that it seizes birds before they can be 

 alarmed by its presence. During the day, the one which 

 I kept was usually asleep in the strange position repre- 

 sented in the figure ; its perch firmly grasped with both 

 hands, its back curved into a ball of soft fur, and its 

 head hidden deep between its legs. The singularly large 

 and intense eyes of the loris have attracted the attention 

 of the Singhalese, who capture the creature for the purpose 

 of extracting them as charms and love-potions, and they 

 are said to effect this by holding the little animal to the 

 fire till the eyeballs burst." I once brought a pair of these 

 little creatures from Madras to Calcutta, and during the 

 voyage they lived chiefly on plantains and bread-and-milk. 



In West Africa the slow lemurs are represented by the 

 potto and the smaller awantibo, both of which differ from 

 the loris by the reduction of the index finger to a mere 

 stump, and also by the presence of a distinct tail, which 

 is of greater length in the former than in the latter species. 

 These animals resemble their Asiatic cousins in their 

 habits, but are even more deliberate in their movements ; 

 and while the potto appears to be not uncommon, the 

 awantibo is of extreme rarity. 



The whole of the preceding species are included by 

 naturalists in a single family, but the two following 

 representatives of the group are so different from all the 

 others that each is made the type of a distinct family. The 

 first of these two aberrant creatures is the weird tarsier, of 

 the forests of Sumatra, Borneo, Celebes, and some of the 

 Philippine islands. This animal derives its name from 



