LEISTUS LEMUR. 



which, Comprehending all tlie genera with papilioiui- 

 ceons flowers, is called Pnjnliutincea; ; and the other, 

 consisting of a very small numher of species, with 

 one or two petals or more, and an obscurely lobed 

 calyx, is called Swartziceee. The last is not sub- 

 divided, but Papilionaceee resolve themselves into the 

 two great tribes pointed out by M. De Candolle, 

 namely, those with fleshy cotyledons and eatable 

 pulse Sarcolobfc, and those with ibliaceous cotyledon?, 

 and seeds which are not eatable, PhyllnlnbcE. Each 

 of these is divisible by three, upon slight differences 

 in the fructification. In Rectembrice two sub -orders, 

 MimosioE and C<esalpinue, are formed upon variations 

 in the aestivation of the calyx and corolla ; in the 

 former it is valvate, in the latter imbricated ; the first 

 constitute a single tribe, the lat er into three, distin- 

 guished by less conspicuous peculiarities of structure." 

 Hort. Brit. 



LEISTUS (Frolech ; POGONOPHORUS, Latreille). 

 A genus of coleopterous insects, belonging to the 

 family Carabidce, distinguished by the beautiful blue 

 colour of the majority of the species of which it is 

 composed, and the elongated and curiously spined 

 lower lip ; the palpi are very long, and the outside 

 of the jaws greatly dilated at the base. The type is 

 the Carabus spii;ibarb>is, Fabricius. There are seven 

 other British species. 



LEMNA (Linnaeus). A genus of well-known 

 aquatic, annuals, belonging to the natural order Fluri- 

 ales. There are four species, all natives of Britain, and 

 known by the name of duckweed. These are the 

 plants which form " the green mantle of the standing 

 pool," alluded to in King Lear. 



LEMON. Is the Citrus medico, of Rizzo, a common 

 and well-known exotic fruit. 



LEMUR. A genus of four-handed mammalia, 

 forming a sort of link between the apes and monkeys, 

 and those mammalia which are without hands. The 

 name was originally given to. these animals by Lin- 

 naeus, in consequence of their habits being nocturnal, 

 though in other respects it is rather fanciful to call them 

 " ghosts," which is the meaning of the word lemur. As 

 the genus was originally formed, it contained several 

 animals differing from each other in many important 

 characters, and as the foundation of it was nearly 

 negative, it was of comparatively little use. Sub- 

 sequent naturalists have divided the genus into three 

 distinct parts, or indeed three separate genera Lemur, 

 properly so called, which contains several species, all 

 of them natives of the island of Madagascar, and of 

 that island only ; Loris, sometimes improperly called 

 sloths, and at other times slow lemurs, which are 

 natives of India ; and Galago, of which an account has 

 been already given. We shall give a short notice of 

 the LORIS under that title, and confine the present 

 article to the lemurs, properly so called. It is neces- 

 sary to remark, however, that Landseer, who has 

 given portraits of the red lemur and white fronted 

 lemur, with his usual truth and effect, has introduced 

 into the same plate A. /on', under the name of the 

 slow-paced lemur ; but the character of the animal is 

 given with so much truth, that the trifling mistake in 

 the name cannot mislead. 



Lemurs are exceedingly singular animals, and the}' 

 belong to an island of which the natural productions 

 are altogether of a peculiar nature. It is remark- 

 able, that though the distance between Madagascar 

 and the main land of Africa is not very great, yet 

 that there should be so great a difference between 



both the botany and the zoology of them as there 

 actually is. So far as is known, there is no animal in 

 Southern Africa at all resembling the lemur in its 

 formation and habits, neither is there any resembling 

 theai-ai ; and asboth are handed animals, and combine, 

 with the use of hands, habits which are not possessed 

 by handed animals in any other part of the world, 

 it becomes impossible to apply systematic terms to 

 them with perfect correctness. Until New Holland was 

 discovered, Madagascar was the largest island known ; 

 and Madagascar is more related to Africa in position 

 than New Holland is to Asia. Yet we do not find 

 in the climate of Madagascar much resemblance to- 

 that of Africa, or in the climate of New Holland 

 much resemblance to that of Asia. Madagascar is by 

 far the better climate of the two, and indeed, taking 

 all circumstances together, it is perhaps one of the 

 best climates in the world. The cruelties which were 

 perpetrated upon the natives by early visiters, and 

 the disposition which the natives showed to retaliate, 

 indiscriminately upon all nations for the wrongs which 

 they had suffered at the hands of a few, long pre- 

 vented a proper knowledge of Madagascar and its 

 productions ; but since an end has been put to the 

 cruel traffic in human beings, and the judicious con- 

 duct, of our governors in Bourbon and Mauritius has 

 taught the people of Madagascar that there ;ire na- 

 tions to be trusted, the country has been readily 

 opened to the footsteps of science ; and the blacks 

 of Madagascar are becoming fond of the society, the 

 merchandise, and partially also of the science of 

 Europe. . In consequence of this, we may expect that 

 before many years shall elapse, the production of 

 this extensive and singularly fertile and romantic 

 island will be well known, and its inhabitants will be 

 added to the list of independent and improving 

 nations. 



This is a pleasing prospect in respect both of 

 natural science and of philanthropy ; and when we 

 cast our eyes over the globe, and consider the 

 physical state of different regions, and the moral 

 characters, or rather the moral capacities, of the 

 inhabitants of those regions, we invariably find that 

 whatever of apparent fierceness and cruelty there 

 may be in the people of a land naturally rich, there 

 is invariably more instability in them than in the 

 people of a poor country; and in process of time they 

 rise in the scale of nations, and this almost in pro- 

 portion to their apparent cruelty at the time when 

 they are first, visited by more civilised nations. 

 Taking it altogether, New Holland has perhaps the 

 most uncongenial climate, and the most unproductive 

 soil of any country of the same extent ; while its 

 native productions, both animal and vegetable, afford 

 the most scanty supply of human sustenance. There 

 is no handed animal in any part of New Holland, 

 though there are some climbing animals, and a few 

 supplied with membranes, which assist them in leaping 

 from branch to branch. In the rich woods of Mada- 

 gascar again, we find handed animals numerous, and 

 several of them, such as the lemurs now under notice, 

 peculiar to that part of the world, and also in their 

 habits. They indicate a country which has been 

 from the first abundant in rich forests, while the 

 absence of handed animals in the Australian forests 

 leads us to suppose, that the general character of 

 very much of the surface of that extensive country 

 must be sterile. 



Now these characters are strongly impressed upon 



