96 



THE LORIS. 



are large in proportion, and suited for taking a firm grasp of any object to which the animal 

 may cling ; while the corresponding members of the fore-paws are not so largely developed, 

 but yet can be used with some freedom. The face of the Propithece is not so long as that of 

 the true Lemurs, and the round tipped ears are hidden in the bushy hair which surrounds the 

 head. The length of the animal, exclusively of the tail, is about twenty-one inches, and the 

 length of the tail is about four inches less. 



Resembling the Lemurs in many respects, and given to similar customs, the animals which 

 are known by the name of Loris are distinguished from the Lemurs by several peculiarities of 

 structure. 



The first point which strikes the eye of the observer, is the want of that long and bushy 



tail which is possessed by the Lemurs, 

 and which is only rudimentary in the 

 Loris. The muzzle too, although sharp 

 and pointed, is abruptly so, whereas 

 that of the Lemur tapers gradually 

 from the ears to the nose. The country 

 which they inhabit is not the same as 

 that which nurtures the Lemurs, for 

 whereas the latter animals are found ex- 

 clusively in Madagascar, the Loris is 

 found in Ceylon, Java, Sumatra, and 

 other neighboring parts. 



The Slender Loris is a small ani- 

 mal, measuring only nine inches in 

 length, and possessed of limbs so deli- 

 cately slender,' as to have earned for it 

 the popular name by which it is distin- 

 guished from the Slow-paced Loris. Its 

 color is gray, with a slight rusty tinge, 

 the under portions of the body fading 

 into white. Round the eyes, the fur 

 takes a darker hue, which is well con- 

 trasted by a white streak running along 

 the nose. 



Small though it be, and apparently 

 without the power to harm, it is a ter- 

 rible enemy to the birds and insects on 

 which it feeds, and which it captures, 

 "like Fabius, by delay." 

 The Slow-paced Loris, or Kukang, is very similar in its habits to the animal just 

 mentioned, but differs from it in size, color, and several parts of its form. 



The fur is of a texture rather more woolly than that of the Slender Loris, and its color has 

 something of a chestnut tinge running through it, although some specimens are nearly as gray- 

 as the Slender Loris. As may by seen from the engraving on page 97, a dark stripe surrounds 

 the eyes, ears, and back of the head, reaching to the corners of the mouth. From thence it 

 runs along the entire length of the spine. The color of this dark band is a deep chestnut. It 

 is rather laisger than the preceding animal, being a little more than a foot in length. 



In the formation of these creatures some very curious structures are found, among which 

 is the singular grouping of arteries and veins in the limbs. 



Instead of the usual tree-like mode in which the limbs of most animals are supplied with 

 blood,— one large trunk-vessel entering the limb, and then branching off into numerous sub- 

 divisions,— the limbs of the Loris are furnished with blood upon a strangely modified system. 

 The arteries and veins as they enter and leave the limb, are suddenly divided into a great num- 

 ber of cylindrical vessels, lying close to each other for some distance, and giving off their 



SLENDER LORIS.— Slenops gracilis. 



