322 MR. STANLEY S. FLOWER ON THE [Apr. «*, 



a day or two, and on one occasion two individuals never returned 

 to me. One kept by itself makes a nice and interesting pet, but 

 when there were more than one I found they would resent being 

 handled and bite ; their bite may be very severe, as I know 

 from painful experience, but the stories of its being dangerously 

 poisonous to buman beings are hard to believe. The young are 

 carried under the mother's belly, holding on tight by all four 

 hands, until they almost equal her in size. 



Popular Beliefs. Many strange powers are attributed to this 

 animal by the natives of the countries it inhabits ; there is hardly 

 an event in life to man, woman, or child, or even domestic animals, 

 that may not be influenced for better or for worse by the Slow 

 Loris, alive or dead, or by any separate part of it, and apparently 

 one cannot usually tell at the time that one is under its super- 

 natural power ! Thus a Malay may commit a crime he did not 

 premeditate, and then find that an enemy had buried a particular 

 part of a Loris under his threshold, which had, unknown to him, 

 compelled him to act to his own disadvantage. Its fur is used to 

 cure wounds, and a sailing ship with a live Loris on board is said 

 never to be becalmed. But its life is not a happy one, for it is 

 continually seeing ghosts : that is why it hides its face in its hands ! 



A full account of the folk-lore connected with the Slow Loris 

 would fill a small volume, but it would be of much interest. I am 

 very glad to hear that Mr. H. N. Ridley is collecting stories about 

 it from old Malay writings. 



Distribution. Eastern Bengal, Assam, Burma, Siam, Cochinchiua, 

 Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Philippines. 



Order CARNIVORA. 



Family Felid.e. 



16. Pelis tigris L. The Tiger. 



Felis tigris, Blanf. Paun. Ind., Mamm. p. 58. 



Siamese. " Seu-a." 



Malay names for different varieties of tigers, Cantor, p. 35 

 (ajjucl Low) : — 



1. " Rimau Sipai," reddish-coated, striped. 



2. " Rimau Ballu," darker coloured. 



3. " Daun Pinang,' - ' reddish-coated, without stripes. 



4. " Tuppu Kasau," darkish, without stripes, but with longer 

 hairs than the others. 



5. " Puntong Prun," very dark, striped. 



"Rimau" is the common word for tiger; Cantor also gives 

 " Harimau." 



The tiger is numerous in suitable localities in the Malay 

 Peninsula, and the island of Singapore, but seems to be entirely 

 absent from Penang. In Kedah I was told no tigers inhabit the 

 flat country around Alor Star, but are found in the hills ; writing 

 of the tiger in Pahang, however, Ridley (J. S. B. R. A. S. 1894, 



