ORDEE OP QUADEUMANA. 543 



length of the digits, and the opposable thumb in the posterior 

 members ; the complete state of the bony circle of the orbit, as 

 in the majority of Quadrumana ; the existence of only two 

 mamma3 in the female ; — are characteristics which assimilate 

 the Aye-Aye to the Makis, and ought definitively to cause it 

 to be ranked in the Quadrumana. Such is the opinion of 

 the principal zoologists of our time. Cuvier was, therefore, 

 not altogether right in classing this animal among the 

 Rodents. 



The habits of the Aye- Aye are very little known ; Sonnerat said 

 that it used its long front toes to dig into the bark of trees, 

 where it found the insects on which it fed. Nevertheless, some 

 peculiarities in its dentition lead to the belief that it also eats 

 fruit. 



Sonnerat kept a pair of Aj'^e-Ayes alive for two months. " I 

 fed them," he says, " on boiled rice, and to eat this they 

 used the slender toes of their fore-feet, as the Chinese use their 

 chop-sticks. They were drowsy-looking, and sleep with their heads 

 placed between their fore-legs ; it was only after shaking them 

 several times that I succeeded in waking them up." 



The Aye- Aye is only known in Europe by the stuffed specimens 

 shown in the collection of the Jardin des Plantes. 



Family of the Makis {Lemur, Linn.). — The Makis constitute 

 among quadrupeds a well marked natural family, which has its 

 representatives in various parts of the Old World. Thej^ are 

 characterised by an elongated head, analogous to that of certain 

 carnivorous animals, from whence the name of Fox-headed 

 Monkeys which some of the species have received ; by opposable 

 thumbs on the four extremities, and especially by the nail on the 

 index finger of the hind-feet, which is long, compressed, and 

 sharp, and singularly contrasts with those on the other digits. 

 Although their brain is but little developed, they have considerable 

 intelligence, and are susceptible of training. They are in general 

 of small size, and furnished with a short or long tail, though some 

 species are deprived of that appendage. Their eyes are very 

 salient, and denote nocturnal habits, indeed, the Makis only come 

 out after sunset. Linnaeus alluded to this peculiarity in devising 

 for them the name of Lemur, which means spectre in Latin. 



