38 PROFESSOR OWEN ON THE AYE-AYE. 



" Now, as he attacked every night the woodwork of his cage, which I was gradually 

 lining with tin, I bethought myself of tying some sticks over the woodwork, so that he 

 might gnaw these instead. I had previously put in some large branches for him to 

 climb upon ; but the others were straight sticks to cover over the woodwork of his 

 cage, which alone he attacked. It so happened that the thick sticks I now put into his 

 cage were bored in all directions by a large and destructive grub, called here the Moutouk. 

 Just at sunset the Aye-aye crept from under his blanket, yawned, stretched, and betook 

 himself to his tree, where his movements are lively and graceful, though by no means 

 so quick as those of a Squirrel. Presently he came to one of the worm-eaten branches, 

 which he began to examine most attentively ; and bending forward his ears, and 

 applying his nose close to the bark, he rapidly tapped the surface with the curious 

 second digit, as a Woodpecker taps a tree, though with much less noise, from time to 

 time inserting the end of the slender finger into the worm-holes as a surgeon would a 

 probe. At length he came to a part of the branch which evidently gave out an 

 interesting sound, for he began to tear it with his strong teeth. He rapidly stripped off 

 the bark, cut into the wood, and exposed the nest of a grub, which he daintily picked 

 out of its bed with the slender tapping finger, and conveyed the luscious morsel to his 

 mouth. 



" I watched these proceedings with intense interest, and was much struck with the 

 marvellous adaptation of the creature to its habits, shown by his acute hearing, which 

 enables him aptly to distinguish the different tones emitted from the wood by his gentle 

 tapping ; his evidently acute sense of smell, aiding him in his search ; his secure 

 footsteps on the slender branches, to which he firmly clung by his quadruraanous 

 members ; his strong rodent teeth, enabling him to tear through the wood ; and lastly, 

 by the curious slender finger, unlike that of any other animal, and which he used 

 alternately as a pleximeter, a probe, and a scoop. 



" But I was yet to learn another peculiarity. 1 gave him water to drink in a saucer, 

 on which he stretched out a hand, dipped a finger into it, and drew it obliquely through 

 his open mouth ; and this he repeated so rapidly, that the water seemed to flow into 

 his mouth. After a while he lapped like a cat ; but his first mode of drinking appeared 

 to me to be his way of reaching water in the deep clefts of trees. 



" I am told that the Aye-aye is an object of veneration at Madagascar, and that if any 

 native touches one, he is sure to die within the year ; hence the difficulty of obtaining 

 a specimen. I overcame this scruple by a reward of £10. 



" I quite despair of obtaining the bones of the Epyornis or Dodo, though I have made 

 every effort. I shall always be proud to be of service. 



" Believe me, yours very faithfully, 



" H. Sandwith." 



On the receipt of this acceptable and interesting communication, I wrote to say that, 



