RING-TAILED LEMUR. 41 



that aa animal which could howl much louder than 

 a bear was^ of necessity, a most fierce and formidable 

 creature, When feeding, it sits up like a monkey, hold- 

 ing its food in its hands. 



The size of the specimen examined by Edwards, was 

 that of the smaller sort of house cat ; the tail v/as longer 

 than the whole body, and the whole animal of a deep 

 black. 



The Ring- tailed Lemur. 



Lemur Catta, Linn. Mococo, Buff on. The Maucauco, 

 Edwards. Ring-tailed Macauco, Pennant. 



The ring- tailed lemur is confessedly by far the most 

 elegant of the whole tribe. It seems also to be a rare 

 animal, at least in our menageries, since it does not yet 

 appear in the collection of the Zoological Society. Ed- 

 wards has given a very accurate figure and description 

 of an individual which was brought from Madagascar 

 by his friend captain Worth, and v/hich Edwards " kept 

 alive at his house for some time." Independent of its 

 rarity and beauty^ its character is particularly confiding 

 and affectionate, while its motions are described as hav- 

 ing an ease and elegance surpassing almost every other 

 quadruped. In their native state, these animals hve in 

 societies, and are seen in troops of thirty or forty to- 

 gether in the woods, where they feed principally upon 

 fruits. In captivity it delights in sunshine, and in sit- 

 ting before a fire : its general attitude at such times is 

 similar to that of a squirrel when feeding, sitting up- 

 right, and often extending forwards its spread hands. 

 The palm of the hand is stated to possess a peculiar 

 organisation ; it is extended by a straight line concealed 

 under the hair as far as the middle of the arm, where 

 it appears uncovered : by means of this, when the arms 

 are extended, the fingers necessarily close; and this ac- 

 counts for the facility with which these animals suspend 

 themselves from the branches of trees.* Its ;;«r is not 



* The singular formation of the arm, above stated, is deserving of great 

 attention, not merely as an isolated fact explaining the habits of this par- 



