OEDEE OF aUADEUMANA. 541 



sharp, very strong, and endow the animal with great facilities for 

 climbing trees. From this peculiarity, no doubt, the name of 

 Cat- Monkey — the meaning of the word Galeopithecus — has been, 

 derived. 



In the female, the mammae are four in number, placed symme- 

 trically on each side of the chest, although but seldom more than 

 one young is produced at a birth. 



The teeth of the Galeopithecus are thirty-four in number : ten 

 incisors, four canines, and twenty molars. They have two in- 

 cisors less above than below ; the total number of teeth in the 

 lower jaw is therefore eighteen. The molars are studded with 

 points like those of the Insectivora, and the lower incisors present 

 this peculiarity, that they are directed forward, and are deeply 

 notched at their summits. 



The Galeopithecidaa are essentially nocturnal; they conceal 

 themselves during day in the most lonely parts of forests, and 

 come forth at evening in quest of food. They are then seen 

 moving actively through the trees, either climbing or flying, 

 according to circumstances. On the ground they are not so 

 embarrassed as might be believed, for they run with agility. 

 Their flight is noiseless ; and although certain writers assure us 

 that they can in this way clear a space of some hundreds of yards, 

 there are good reasons for believing that they but rarely attemf)t 

 such an experiment. Insects constitute the staple of their food, 

 but they are fond of fruit, and even devour small Birds. 



In order to rest, these animals suspend themselves bj^ their hind 

 paws to the branches of trees, like Bats. The people of the 

 regions they inhabit choose this opportunity for capturing them ; 

 and notwithstanding the disagreeable odour their flesh exhales, 

 eat them without repugnance. 



The Galeopithecidse inhabit the Moluccas, the Phillipines, and 

 islands of Sunda, and, it is said, some parts of the Indian Con- 

 tinent. They are most numerous in Java, Sumatra, and Borneo. 



Family of Cheiromys. — This family is still less numerous than 

 the preceding, and contains but a single species, the Chieromys 

 Aye- Aye, a native of Madagascar, which Sonnerat discovered in 

 that island towards the end of the eighteenth century. This 

 singular animal, which is very rare, was not even known at that 



