41 



QUADRUMANA.- 



-JIAMMALIA. ■Nycticeeid.e. 



manlike of all the lemurs. Its fur is very soft, long, 

 and thick. Its general colour is black, with the throat 

 and buttocks whitish. In its nature the indri is 

 described as being very gentle, and, although not 

 remarkable for intelligence, it is said to be so far 

 susceptible of education that the natives of Madagascar, 

 who honour it with the appellation of the Man of the 

 ivoods, sometimes train it to hunt, probably for birds. 



If the information that we possess upon the habits 

 of the preceding species be scanty enough, we know 

 still less with regard to the other members of this 

 family, which indeed are very few in number. They 

 differ from the indri in having the tail, which in that 

 animal is so greatly abbreviated, well developed and 

 furred, and also in some particulars of their dentition 

 upon which we need not dwell. 



Family. VI.— NYCTICEBID.E. 



Tlie animals of this family, which includes the greater 

 part of the lemurine forms found out of Madagascar, 

 are distinguished from the preceding families by the 

 more acutely tuberculate form of their molar teeth, 

 which must be regarded as indicative of their insecti- 

 vorous habits, and from those of the following family 

 by their having, like the lemurs, a curved claw only on 

 the first finger of the hinder hands. In the number 

 and arrangement of their teeth they agree with the 

 lemurs. They are strictly nocturnal animals, and, like 

 most other animals of similar habits, have the ej'es very 

 large. The species are found in India and Africa. 



THS BENGAL LORI {Lorls gracilis), Plate 4, fig. 

 13, as indicated by its name, is an Indian species. It 

 occurs in Bengal, Assam, Silhet, and the Malayan pen- 

 insula, and also in the island of Ceylon. The lori 

 measures about a foot in length, and is of a greyish 

 fulvous colour, with the lower surface of the body 

 whitish, and a white band running down between the 

 eyes, and surrounding the nose. It has a rounded 

 head, with small ears and a short pointed nose. Its 

 body and limbs are slender, the first fingers of the 

 hands are short, and the tail is altogether wanting. 

 Its fur is very thick and soft. The habits of the loris 

 are strictly nocturnal. They reside in large forests, 

 usually in mountainous districts, and pass the days 

 sleeping in the holes of trees. At sunset they come 

 forth, and move slowly about amongst the branches, 

 seeking their food, which consists partly of fruits and 

 the tender leaves of trees, and partly of insects, small 

 birds, and mice. When on the ground their long 

 slender limbs seem unable to support them, and they 

 move, as described by M. F. Cuvier, in a manner 

 somewhat resembling that of a very young puppy. 

 Hence many writers have compared them with the 

 sloths, and it is remarkable that they exhibit an 

 arrangement of the arteries supplying the anterior 

 limbs somewhat resembling that which prevails in 

 those singular creatures. M. Gervais justly compares 

 the slow and cautious movements of the loris to the 

 semiparalytio gait of the chameleon. 



In their nature the loris are gentle and inoffensive, 

 and not destitute of intelligence, as will be seen from the 

 following extracts from an interesting account given by 



Sir William Jones, the celebrated oriental scholar, of a 

 specimen which lived for some time in his possession. 

 •'To me," says Sir William, "who not only constantly 

 fed liim, but bathed him twice a week in water 

 accommodated to the seasons, and whom he clearly 

 distinguished from others, he was at all times grateful ; 

 but when I disturbed him in 'winter, he was usually 

 indignant, and seemed to reproach me with the un- 

 easiness which he felt, though no possible precautions 

 had been omitted to keep him in a proper degree of 

 warmth. At all times he was pleased at being stroked 

 on the head and throat, and frequently suffered me to 

 touch his extremely sharp teeth ; but at all times his 

 temper was quick, and when he was unseasonably 

 disturbed, he expressed a little resentment by an 

 obscure murmur, or a greater degree of displeasure by 

 a peevish cry, especially in winter, when he was often 

 as fierce on being much importuned as any beast of the 

 woods. From half-an-hour after sunrise to half-an- 

 hour before sunset, he slept without intermission, rolled 

 up like a hedgehog,* and as soon as he awoke he 

 began to prepare himself for the labours of his approach- 

 ing day, licking and dressing himself like a cat. He 

 was then ready for a slight breakfast, after which he 

 commonly took a short nap ; but when the sun was 

 quite set, he recovered all his vivacity. His ordinary 

 food was the sweet fruit of this country. Milk he 

 lapped eagerly, but was contented with plain water. 

 In general he was not voracious, but never appeared 

 satiated with grasshoppers, and passed the wdiole night 

 whilst the hot season lasted in prowling for them. 

 When a grasshopper or any insect alighted within his 

 reach, his ej'es, which he fixed upon his prey, glowed 

 with uncommon fire, and having drawn himself back 

 to spring on it with greater force, he seized the victim 

 with both his fore paws, but held it in one of them 

 while he devoured it." 



Another species of lori {L. tardiyradus), is found 

 in some of the islands of the eastern archipelago, such 

 as Java, Sumatra, and Borneo. It is rather smaller 

 than the preceding species, and has a rudimentary tail, 

 from which and other characters it has been regarded 

 by some writers as forming the type of a distinct genus 

 {Nyclicebus). The Javanese lori has also been de- 

 scribed as a distinct species. 



THE POTTO {Pcrodicticits Pottv) is the first African 

 species of this family to which we shall refer. It is 

 distinguished from all the rest of the Quadrumana by 

 the rudimentary form of the first or index finger of the 

 forehands, which is reduced to a mere tubercle furnished 

 with a little claw. The potto is a thick-set animal, 

 with short limbs and a long tail. Its size is about that 

 of a small cat. Its ears are of moderate size. Its 

 general colour is a reddish-brown, with the extremity 

 of the tail black. M. Van der Hoeven mentions, that 

 in two specimens observed by him, " the spinous pro- 

 cesses of the last five cervical and of the first two 

 dorsal vertebras are long, and pierce through the hairy 

 integument of the back, with a weak horny covering." 

 The potto is a native of the forests of the coast of 

 Guinea, especially about Sierra Leone. Like the lori, 



* The individual descrilied by F. Cuvier is said by him to 

 have slept sitting iu a crouching posture. 



