76 PROFESSOR OWEN ON THE AYE-AYE. 
and attachments. There is also a pair of strong ‘ levatores penis,’ arising from the fascia 
crossing the vena dorsalis, and inserted by a common tendon into the ossiculum penis, 
§ 12. Comparison of the External Characters and Dentition. 
In deducing the natural affinities of Chiromys from the ordinary zoological or external 
characters, and commencing by a comparison of its general form and proportions, I find 
its nearest resemblance to be to the Malmags ( Otolicnus, Illig., Galago, Geoffr.) amongst 
the Lemuride ; especially to the species called ‘ Great Galago ’ (Otolicnus crassicaudatus) 
from the south-eastern part of Africa, and to the ‘ Black Galago’ (O. alleni) from 
Fernando Po. There is the same general character of the pelage, with the long hairy 
tail, and the same degree of liberation of the limbs from the trunk ; the same breadth 
of head and large naked ears; but, in the shortness of the muzzle, the Tarsius, perhaps, 
more resembles the Chiromys. The proportionate length of the digits of the hand is 
almost the same; but the third digit is much more slender in Chiromys. The hallux 
of the foot has the flat nail as in all the Lemurs, with the strength and opposable 
position of that member; but the four unguiculate toes are more nearly of the same 
length in Chiromys; and the tarsal segment is as short as in Lichanotus and Lemur 
proper. Although the muzzle is deeper and less pointed than in the Lemuride, con- 
formably with the large bent incisors and their sockets, it is less deep and is much 
shorter than in any Rodent, in which order the eyes are placed further back, and are 
lateral, the premaxillaries being larger and longer, and the whole head being com- 
pressed in the Rodents. The nostrils are more terminal in Chiromys, and are but 
partially, instead of being wholly lateral as in Rodents. The upper lip is not bifid 
as in Squirrels, nor curved downward and backward to cover the lower scalpriform 
teeth as in most Rodents. Although the mouth is less cleft than in the Lemurs, 
it is more so than in any Rodent of the same size, and the hairs are not extended upon 
the inner surface of the angle of the mouth. In Tarsius there are fasciculi of few and 
long vibrissz, from the exterior of the lips and eyebrows, almost as in Chiromys. 
The trunk is broader, less arched, and larger in the chest than in most Rodents; and 
the pelage of the Aye-aye has not the uniform, close-set, shining character as in that 
order. 
In all Squirrels, the under part of the tail presents an almost naked narrow mid-tract, 
from which the long hairs diverge: the Aye-aye resembles the Malmags in their growth 
uniformly from the whole circumference of the tail. 
In proceeding to a comparison of the locomotive members of the Aye-aye, we obtain 
an instructive test of the relative value of digital and dental characters in determining 
the ordinal affinities of a Mammal. Had the limbs only of the Aye-aye first reached 
the zoologist, it can scarcely be doubted but that the same conclusion of their being 
those of a Lemur would have been arrived at, as was expressed by the name applied to 
the Aye-aye by the naturalists (Schreber, Illiger) who guided themselves by the 
