GENUS STENOPS— LORISES. 



193 



DOtJBTFUl, SPECIES. 



1 . L'Indri a longue queue is described and figured by Sonnerat (Voy. 

 II. pi. 89) under the name of Maquis a bourres (Flocky Lemur). This 

 is ihe Lemur laniger of Linn. Gmel., the Maki fauve of Buffon, and In- 

 dris longicaudatus of most other authors. It is said to be yellow, with a 

 very long tail ; but the species itself requires revision, being probably 

 identical with some of the Lemurs already described. 



GENUS III. STENOPS— LORISES. 



Si/n. Les Loris. — Cuv. Reg. Anim. I. 108. 

 STENOPS.' — Illig. Prodr. I. 73. 



LOBis and NvcTiCEEDS. — Geoff. Ann. Mus. XIX. 162 Desm. Mam. 



LeMDB (in part). — Linn. Gmel. I. 



GENERIC CHARACTERS. 



The Head round. The Muzzle short. The Eyes very large, ap- 

 proximated, and directed forwards. The Ears short and hairy. 

 The Dental Formula as in the genus Lemur (see page 189). 

 The Tarsus and Metatarsus of equal length. 

 The Mammae four. Habits nocturnal. 

 The first finger only of the hinder hand with a claw. 

 Inhabit the East Indies and Africa. 



The Lorises, otherwise called Slow-paced Lemur? (Singes Pares- 

 seux), have the same dentition as the Lemurs, only the points of 

 their molars are sharper. They have the abrupt muzzle of a Mas- 

 tiff; the body slender ; the tail wanting [or medium size]; large 

 approximated eyes ; and a rough tongue. 



They feed on Insects, sometimes also on small Birds or Quadru- 

 peds ; they walk at an excessively elow pace ; and their habits are 

 nocturnal. Sir A. Carlisle has noticed that the arteries of their limbs 

 are subdivided at the base into small branches, in the same manner 

 as in the true Sloths.'' 



, Two species are noticed from the East Indies [and one from 

 Africa]. 



To this grnus we assign, with Temminck, the Potto of Bosman. It 

 thus comprises three species; but there are two others, the reality of whose 

 existence requires further proof. The dentition appears to undergo some 

 important changes during its progress to maturity, 



1. STENOPS TARDIGRADUS SLOTH-LORIS. 



Syn. Le Loris paresseux ou le Paresseux de Bengale. — Cuv. Reg. Anim. 

 I. 108. 



Lemur TARDIGRADUS. — Linn. Gmel. I Raffles, in Linn. Trans. XIII. 



247. 



Nycticebus Bengalensis. — Geoff. Ann. Mus. XIX. 16i Desm. Mam. 



Slow-paced Lemur. — Shaw, Gen. Zoo). I. 



Icon. Le Loris paresseux Audeb. Sing. 



Loris de Bengale Buff. Hist. Nat. Suppl. VII. pi. 36 Vosm.3 



Descr. Paress. (Amsterdam, 1770). 



POUKAN F. Cuv. et Geoff. Hist. Mam. 



Tail-less Maucauco Penn. Quadr. I. pi. 4-8. 



SPECIFIC characters. 



The Hair reddish-brown, a dark brown line along the back; the tail 

 apparently wanting ; a white spot on the forehead. 

 Inhabits Bengal. 



The Sloth- Loris has been long and pretty accurately known to Natu- 

 ralists. Linnjeus described it ; as did Vosmaer, the celebrated Dutch Zoo- 

 logist. D'Obsonville examined it in its native haunts, and Audebert fur- 

 nished an account from the Paris Museum. Our distinguished country- 

 man. Sir William Jones, supplied a truly classical description in the Asi- 

 atic Researches, Vol. IV., while Dr Shaw, and Sir A. Carlisle, the cele- 

 brated anatomist, have both examined it with care. 



The following detailed account of the Sloth-Loris is from the pen of 

 the learned and accomplished Sir William Jones : — " This male animal 

 had four hands, each five-fingered ; palms naked ; nails round, except 

 those in the indices behind, which were long, curved, pointed; hair very 

 thick, especially on the haunches, extremely soft, mostly dark-grey, varied 

 with brown, and a tinge of russet ; darker on the back, paler about the 

 face, and under the throat, reddish toward the rump ; no tail ; a dorsal 

 stripe, broad, chestnut-coloured, narrower towards the neck ; a head al- 



most spherical ; a countenance expressive and interesting; eyes round, 

 large, approximated, weak in the day-time, glaring and animated at night ; 

 a white vertical stripe between them; eye-lashes black, short, ears dark, 

 rounded, concave; great acuteness at night, both in seeing and hearing ; 

 a face hairy, flattish ; a nose pointed, not much elongated, the upper lip 

 cleft ; canine teeth comparatively long, very sharp. 



" In his manners he was for the most part gentle, except in the cold 

 season, when his temper seemed wholly changed ; and his Creator, who 

 made him so sensible of cold, to which he must often have been exposed 

 eveu in his native forests, gave him, probably for that reason, his 

 thick fur, which we rarely see in animals in these tropical climates. To 

 me, who not only constantly fed him, but bathed him twice a-week in 

 water accommodated to the seasons, and whom he clearly distinguished 

 from others, he was at all times grateful ; but when I disturbed him in 

 winter, he was usually indignant, and seemed to reproach me with the 

 uneasiness which he felt, though no possible precautions had been omit- 

 ted to keep him in a proper degree of warmth. At all times he was 

 pleased with being stroked on the head and throat, and frequently suffered 

 me to touch his extremely sharp teeth ; but at all times his temper was 

 quick, and, when he was unseasonably disturbed, he expressed a little re- 

 sentment by an obscure murmur, hke that of a Squirrel, or a greater de- 

 gree of displeasure by a peevish cry, especially in winter, when he was often 

 as fierce, on being much importuned, as any beast of the woods. From 

 half an hour after sun-rise, to half an hour before sun-set, he slept with- 

 out intermission, rolled up like a Hedgehog ; and, as soon as he awoke, 

 he began to prepare himself for the labours of his approaching day; lick- 

 ing and dressing himself like a Cat, an operation which the flexibility of 

 his neck and limbs enabled him to perform very completely : he was then 

 ready for a slight breakfast, after which he commonly took a short nap ; but 

 when the sun was quite set, he recovered all his vivacity. His ordinary 

 food was the sweet fruit of the country; plantains always and mangos du- 

 ring the season ; but he refused peaches, and was not fond of mulberries, 

 or even of guaiavas : milk he lapped eagerly, but was contented with plain 

 water. In general he was not voracious, but never appeared satisfied with 

 Grasshoppers ; and passed the whole night,while the hot season lasted, in 

 prowling for them. When a Grasshopper, or any Insect, alighted within his 

 reach, his eyes, which he fixed on his prey, glowed with uncommon fire ; 

 and, having drawn himself back to spring on it with greater force, he seized 

 the prey with both his fore-paws, but held it in one of them, while he de- 

 voured it. For other purpose!, and sometimes even for that of holding 

 his food, he used all his paws indifferently as hands, and frequently 

 grasped with one of them the higher part of his ample cage, while his three 

 others were severally engaged at the bottom of it ; but the posture of which 

 he seemed fondest was to cling with all four of them to the upper wires, 

 his body being inverted ; and in the evening he usually stood erect for 

 many minutes, playing on the wires with his fingers, and rapidly moving 

 his body from side to side, as if he had found the utility of exercise in his 

 unnatural state of confinement. A little before day-break, when very- 

 early hours gave me frequent opportunities of observing him, he seemed 

 to sohcit my attention ; and if I presented my finger to him, he licked it 

 with great gentleness, but eagerly took fruit when I offered it ; though he 

 seldom ate much at his morning repast : when the day brought back Ins 

 night, his eyes lost their lustre and strength, and he composed himself for 

 a slumber often or eleven hours. 



" My little friend was, on the whole, very engaging ; and, when he was 

 found lifeless, in the same posture in which he would naturally have slept, 

 I consoled myself with believing that he died without pain, and lived with 

 as much pleasure as he could have enjoyed in a state of captivity. 



" In India it is found in the Garrow mountains, in the woods on the 

 Coast of Coromandel, and has likewise been transmitted from the Eastern 

 Islands." 



Little requires to be added to this truly graphic description. M. F. Cuvier 

 remarks, that the length of the body of this Loris is about 1 4 or 16 inches, 

 equal to the size of a small Cat ; and when standing erect upon its paws, 

 its shoulders are nearly six inches high. Sprawling, however, may be said to 

 be the favourite gait of this animal ; its extremities being wide asunder, 

 and its chest and abdomen almost touching the ground ; so that it has a 

 very uncommon appearance. Regarding the dental system of this species, 

 M. F. Cuvier remarks, that the crest, on the inner side of the true molars, 

 projects more at the anterior than the posterior part ; that the upper in- 

 cisors are regularly placed at the side, not before each other, and that the 

 inferior canine is round, and not flattened externally. D'Obsonville in- 

 forms us he could readily distinguish the peculiar cries of this Loris, when 

 it was happy and sad, when it was hungry or impatient ; it is a kind 

 of soft whistle. It appears susceptible of some education, ceasing to bite 



' Stenops, from <;i'JOS, narrow, and a-^/, visage. 

 Tha remarkably slow pace of these Lorises has led travellers to suppose them true Sloths, and bonce some authors have asserted, contrary to Buffon and to the fact, that 

 the grausof Sloth, exists also in Asia._iVo(t of the Baron Cuvier. 



VosM. Descr — Description de differens Animaui de la Menaoerie du Prince d'Orange, par P. Vosmaer. Amsterd. 1766— 17S7. 

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