THE COLUGO. 113 



It is found in many of the islands that belong to the Indian Archipelago, and is 

 tolerably common. As far as is known, there are several species of Galeopithecus ; 

 three, according to some naturalists, and four according to others. 



The color of the fur is very uncertain, even in the same species, some specimens 

 being of a light brown, others of a gray tint, more or less deep ; while many individuals 

 have their fur diversified with irregular marblings or stripes, or spots of different shades 

 and tints. 



The teeth of the Galeopithecus are very curious in their shape, and present as great 

 a contrast to the usual quadrumanous tooth as the entire form does to that of the true 

 monkeys. The upper incisor teeth are separated from each other by a rather wide 

 empty space, the lower incisors have their crowns deeply cut, as if they were being 

 manufactured into combs, bearing, indeed, a very close resemblance to the rudely- 

 manufactured wooden combs made by the inhabitants of the South Sea Islands. 



None of the fingers of this animal are furnished with the broad flat nail which is 

 found in the real monkeys, but each finger is armed with a sharp claw, decidedly 

 hooked, and retractile. The thumbs are not opposable to the fingers. The hinder 

 limbs are slightly larger than the arms. The Colugo is by no means a small animal, 

 as, when it is full grown, it equals a large cat in size. The natives of the countries 

 where this animal is found are in the habit of using it as an article of food. Strangers, 

 however, find its flesh very unpleasant, on account of a strong odor with which it is 

 pervaded. 



As in this work it has been my endeavor to render the study of Animal Life as en- 

 tertaining as possible, I have carefully avoided the use of scientific terms, which might 

 give an air of pedantry to its pages, and deter the reader from venturing upon a sub- 

 ject so repellent. A greater stress has, therefore, been laid upon the disposition and 

 habits of the various animals than on their purely physical form, and the descriptions 

 have been rather of species than of genera. But if any reader should desire to learn 

 the leading characteristics by which the genera are separated from each other and 

 placed in their respective positions, he is referred to a " Compendium of Generic Dis- 

 tinctions," which will be found at the end of Volume I., and by means of which the 

 reader will be enabled to assign almost any animal to its proper genus. 

 8 



