PROFESSOR OWEN ON THE AYE-AYE. 4] 



in proportion to the body. Both fore and hind limbs have a greater proportion of the 

 first segment free of the trunli, but especially the femoral one ; and both thigh and leg 

 are longer in proportion to the foot than in the Cat. The trunk presents its greatest 

 circumference about the hinder third of the thorax, measuring here about ten inches 

 round. The head is short, broad, and rather deep, convex lengthwise, and rather 

 flattened transversely above, becoming suddenly contracted and compressed at the 

 short and deep muzzle. The neck is shott and thick. The tail is rather longer than the 

 body, straight, but flexible, and covered with long and rather loose and coarse hairs, 

 growing pretty equally all round, and making the terminal half rather thicker than the 

 basal one, the end quickly narrowing to the terminal fascicle of hairs. On the 

 trunk the pelage consists of an inner woolly coat, almost concealed by the long hairs 

 which form the outer coat and impart the colour to a great proportion of the animal. 

 The prevailing tint is a deep fuscous, approaching to black ; overspreading the back, 

 the flanks, the tail, and limbs, becoming subrufous upon the bel'y and inner side of the 

 arm and thigh, and lightening into yellowish grey upon the throat and sides of the head- 

 The dark colour is relieved by scattered long white hairs, most conspicuous upon the 

 dorsal aspect, from the occiput to the base of the tail ; more scantily dispersed upon the 

 arm and part of the forearm, and upon the thigh and leg. Upon the face, the throat, 

 the forearms, the inner side of the legs, on the sessile scrotum and inguinal region, the 

 longer hairs are wanting or very scanty. The chief part of the ears, the end of the nose, 

 the palm from the pisiform prominence onward, the sole from the calcaneal promi- 

 nence, and the corresponding aspect of the digits, are naked. The wool, or short 

 coat of hair, is close-set, finely and irregularly wavy, from its lustre rather silky than 

 woolly ; where it is shortest, it is of a light grey ; where it grows longer, as on the 

 cheeks, forehead, dorsal part of the wrists and ankles, and about the privy parts, this hair 

 usually presents three colours — light fuscous near the root, light grey or brownish grey at 

 the middle, including two-thirds of the length, with a dark fuscous tip. Upon the fore- 

 arms this tint prevails. The long hair is deep fuscous, or with a white tip, usually about 

 one-third the length of the hair ; and these bicoloured hairs are most numerous on 

 the parts of the pelage above mentioned as being relieved by their scattered silvery- 

 white colour. On the back and tail the hair attains a length of from three to four 

 inches, is slightly wavy or straight, and greyish at the root. 



The profile of the head (PI. XVIII.) describes a slight convexity from the vertex to the 

 interorbital space, is then straight to the end of the nose, where it bends abruptly down 

 at nearly a right angle, and curves back over the mandibular symphysis, which makes 

 no chin, to the slightly concave under border of the head, where, about two inches from 

 the symphysis, the outline curves down into the neck. 



The eyes are rather prominent, directed forward ; their openings round, exposing 

 only the cornea and iris, which appears to be of a yellowish-hazel hue'. The eyelids 

 ' [The iris is of a light bright brown in the female Aye-aye now living at the Zoological Gardens.— August 1 862.] 



VOL. V. PART II. G 



