The Living Animals of the World 



LEMUR, the GREY LEMUR, the MOUSE LEMUR, the 

 GENTLE LEMUR, the SPORTIVE LEMUR, the CROWNED 

 LEMUR, and COQUEREL'S LEMUR, all represent 

 various small, pretty, and interesting varieties 

 of the group. The BLACK-AND-WHITE LEMUR, one 

 of the larger kinds, is capable of domestication. 

 A specimen kept in a London house, where 

 the present writer saw it, was always called 

 "Pussy" by the children. The other small 

 kinds are very like squirrels, mice, weasels, 

 and other creatures, with which they have no 

 connection. It seems as though the curiously 

 limited and primitive fauna of Madagascar tried 

 to make up for its want of variety by mimick- 

 ing the forms of other animals, and something 

 of the same kind is seen in Australia, where the marsupials take the place of all kinds 

 of ordinary mammals. There are marsupial rats, marsupial wolves, marsupial squirrels, 

 and even marsupial moles. The small squirrel and rat-like lemurs are called CHIROGALES. 

 COQUEREL'S LEMUR is really a chirogale. It is a quaint and by no means amiable little 

 animal, sleeping obstinately all day, and always ready to growl and bite if disturbed. Its 

 colour is brownish grey and cream-colour. A pair of these, rolled up tightly into balls in a 

 box of hay, will absolutely refuse to move, even when handled. They only feed by night. 



Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S.] [North Finchley. 



GARXETT'S GALAGO. 

 One of the squirrel-like lemuroids. 



THE GALAGOS. 



An allied group, confined to tropical Africa, is that of the GALAGOS. They are most beautiful 

 little creatures, whose nearest relatives are the Malagasy lemurs. Generally speaking, they have 

 even more exquisite fur than the lemurs. It is almost as soft as floss silk, and so close that the 

 hand sinks into it as into a bed of moss. The colour of the fur is rich and pleasing, generally 

 some shade of brown. The head is small, the nose pointed, and the ears thin, hairless, and 

 capable of being folded up, like the wings of a beetle. But the most beautiful feature of the 

 galagos is their eyes. These are of immense size, compared with the head. The eye is of 

 the richest and most beautiful brown, like a cairngorm stone, but not glassy or clear. Though 

 quite translucent, the eye is marked with minute dividing-lines, like the grain in an agate a 

 truly exquisite object. When handled or taken 

 in the arms, the little galago clasps the fingers 

 or sleeve tightly, as if it thought it was holding 

 a tree, and shows no disposition to escape. 

 A family of three or four young ones, no 

 larger than mice, with their large-eyed mother 

 attending to them, forms an exquisitely dainty 

 little group. The galagos vary from the size 

 of a squirrel to that of a small cat. The kind 

 most often seen in England is the MAHOLI 

 GALAGO from East Africa. Another species 

 comes from Senegal, and others from Calabar 

 and the forests of the Gold Coast. GARNETT'S 

 GALAGO, another species, is shown above. 

 They may be regarded as nocturnal tropical 

 lemuroids, analogous to the chirogales of Mada- 

 gascar. It has been suggested, with great 

 probability, that the intensely drowsy sleep 



[North Finchley. 



Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S.] 



MAHOLI GALAGO 



Thia little animal is a native of East Africa. It has very large eyes, 

 and fur as soft as the chinchilla's. 



