350 TYPES OF ANIMAL LIFE 



presented to the King's Cabinet. That skin has survived 

 all the tumults of the Revolution, and it constituted the 

 only evidence of the existence of such a beast, for 

 more than half a century. At last, in 1 844, a second 

 specimen was brought to Paris, and this was followed by 

 others, and live ones were then obtained for the Zoolo- 

 gical Gardens in London, where one may now be seen. 

 The aye-aye is about the size of a cat, and has long dark 

 hair, a long tail, a round head, and very large ears. 

 The hind foot is like that of the lemuroids, but its 

 hands have long fingers with pointed claws, and the 

 middle finger of each hand is long, out of all propor- 

 tion and more slender than the others. 



It is a strictly nocturnal animal, passing the day in 

 a round nest formed of leaves and fixed between the 

 forked branches of some tree. Its food has not been 

 certainly ascertained. It has been said to feed merely 

 on grubs which live in the wood of trees. Its large 

 ears have been represented as enabling it to hear the 

 grubs there at work, while its large teeth could 

 gnaw the wood quickly and so lay them bare. Then as 

 such grubs retreated deeper from the light of day, it 

 was said to introduce its long and slender middle finger 

 into their burrow and hook them out. But observations 

 made on aye-ayes in confinement do not confirm this 

 representation, but rather point to their supporting 

 themselves on the succulent juices of plants. Their 

 teeth certainly seem to indicate a vegetable diet, and 

 they are formed like those of the animals next to be 

 here noticed, namely the rodents. There are but two 

 cutting teeth in either jaw, but these are very large, 

 and those of each jaw applied closely, one against the 

 other ; they are, moreover, separated from the grinding 

 teeth by a long toothless space, there being no eye-teeth 



