232 



LEMURS. 



forehead ; and the cheeks and region round the eyes are darker than the rest of 

 the body. Some young specimens are decidedly reddish. 



This animal is confined to the forests of Southern India and Ceylon, and 

 appears only to be found in those which are situated at but a comparatively slight 

 elevation above the sea-level. Mr. Blanford states that its habits are very similar 

 to those of its cousin the slow loris, although its movements are not quite so 

 deliberate. It partakes of the same kind of food as the latter ; and sleeps rolled 

 up like a ball, with its head between its thighs, and its hand grasping the bough 

 on which it is seated, as shown on our illustration on p. 230. 



The present writer once had occasion to purchase a pair of these animals in 

 the bazaar at Madras, and was surprised to find the number of specimens which 



THE SLENDER LORIS. 



were exposed there for sale. On the voyage up to Calcutta these pretty little 

 creatures lived mainly on a diet of plantains and rice, supplemented with an 

 occasional cockroach; but as they passed the whole day in slumber, they could 

 scarcely be reckoned as very lively pets. 



Sir J. Emerson Tennent, who tells us that this animal has acquired the name 

 of the " Ceylon sloth " in Ceylon, observes that " 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 this 

 they are said to effect by holding the little animal to the fire till the eyeballs burst. 

 Its Tamil name is Thavangu, or 'thin bodied'; and hence a deformed child or 

 emaciated person has acquired in the Tamil districts the same epithet. The light- 

 coloured variety of the loris in Ceylon has a spot on the forehead, somewhat 

 resembling the namam, or mark worn by the worshippers of Vishnu ; and from 

 this peculiarity it is distinguished as the Nama-thavangu." 



