402 PRIMATES-APES AND LEMURS 



They are never seen to spring and rush about, but are most deliber- 

 ate in all their movements ; hence their name, the Slow Loris.- 

 Their body and limbs are not made for rapid movement. The 

 limbs are nearly equal in length, and the head is globular ; the 

 ears are short, as is also the tail, and the body is clothed with short 

 hair. The Asiatic Slow Lemuroids appear to resemble their African 

 relations very much in their general attributes; they are very 

 sluggish in their movements, and nocturnal in habit. 



The Aye-Aye (Cheiromys Madagascariensis) is one of the most 

 remarkable animals in the world, both on account of its peculiar 

 squirrel shape and lemur-like construction, and of its habits. It 

 is about three feet in length, including the long tail, and there 

 is a half -fox, half -lemur look about it, with a little of the 

 squirrel. The hind-feet at first sight are like those of a monkey, 

 as are also the limbs ; but the hands are not in keeping 

 with the rest, for the fingers are of all kinds of lengths, and the 

 middle one looks as if it were atrophied and wasted. The tail is 

 longer than the body, straight, very bushy (being covered with 

 long, coarse hairs), and flexible. The ears are large, widely opened, 

 spoon-shaped, and nearly naked ; the head is broad ; in the 

 front of the jaws are four large teeth two in the upper, and two 

 in the lower jaw shaped like those of a rodent, and there is a gap 

 in the gums between them and the next teeth, which still further 

 heightens the rodent-like aspect of the jaws. On the whole, the 

 Aye-Aye presents more resemblance to the Lemuroids, and less to 

 any other animal. Its large open ears, the eyes looking straight 

 forward, the nostrils placed at the end of the snout, the absence of 

 any groove in the upper lip, the nature of the fur, so furry below 

 and hairy above on the skin, are interesting points to those who 

 care to compare this animal with the Lemuroids and Rodents. 

 The skeleton resembles that of the Lemuroids and Apes, and there 

 are so many points of difference from the Rodents although the 

 skull at first sight looks like that of a rat that this very ex- 

 ceptional creature is classified with the Lemuroids from its partial 

 resemblance to them and the Monkeys. 



r The Monkeys of the New World are distinguished by their 

 generally prehensile tail, and the broad end to the nose, the openings 

 of the nostrils, which look outwards, being separated by a thick 

 gristle. It is from this latter characteristic that the New World 



