176 STUDIES, SCIENTIFIC AND SOCIAL chap. 



active squirrel-monkeys, and the exquisite little mar- 

 mosets, show how distinct are the forms under which the 

 same general tyipe may be exhibited, and in how many 

 varied ways existence may be sustained under almost 

 identical conditions. 



Lemurs. 



In the general term monkeys, considered as equivalent 

 to the order Primates, or the Quadrumana of the older 

 naturalists, we have to include another sub-type, that of 

 the Lemurs. These animals are of a lower grade than 

 the true monkeys, from which they differ in so many 

 points of structure that they are considered to form a 

 distinct sub-order, or, by some naturalists, even a separate 

 order. They have usually a larger head and more pointed 

 muzzle than monkeys ; they vary considerably in the 

 number, form, and arrangement of the teeth ; their 

 thumbs are always well-developed, but their fingers vary 

 much in size and length ; their tails are usually long, but 

 several species have no tail whatever, and they are clothed 

 with a more or less woolly fur, often prettily variegated 

 with white and black. They inhabit the deep forests of 

 Africa, Madagascar, and Southern Asia, and are more 

 sluggish in their movements than true monkeys, most of 

 them being of nocturnal or crepuscular habits. They feed 

 largely on insects, eating also fruits and the eggs or young 

 of birds. 



The slow lemurs of South India (forming the genera 

 Nycticebus and Loris) are small, tailless nocturnal 

 animals, somewhat resembling sloths in appearance, and 

 almost as deliberate in their movements, except when in 

 the act of seizing their insect food. The species figured 

 (Fig. 41) is the Gray Loris of Siam and the adjacent 

 countries. It lives in the deep forests of the mountains, 

 sleeping during the day in holes of trees, but at night 

 roaming about among the branches in search of fruit and 

 tender leaves, as well as insects, mice, or small birds. It 

 moves slowly and noiselessly till it can suddenly seize its 

 prey with its grasping hand. The grey fur renders it 

 almost invisible at night, while its largely developed eyes 



