QUADRUJIANA. 



65 



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Fit-. 5.- 



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Geoffroy's Potto {Lemur potto, Lin.; GaJacjO Grinuensh, Dcsm.; 

 P. Geoffroyi, Ben.) — From Sierra Leone; a slow-njoving and retiring 

 animal, which seldom malies its appearance but in the nijjbt-tinie, 

 and feeds on vegetables, chiefly the Cassada.] 



The G-\lagos {Ololk-nus, lUig.) — 

 Have the tectli and insectivorous regimen of the Loris ; the 

 tarsi elongated, which gives to their hinder limbs a dispro- 

 portionate extent ; tail long and tufted ; large membranous ears 

 [which douiile down when at rest, as in sinne Bats] ; and 

 great eyes, which indicate a nocturnal life. [The index, as ivell 

 as the thumb of the anterior hand, incUnes in some to be op- 

 posable to the other fingers.] 



Several species are known, all from Africa ; as the Great Galai^o {Galago 

 vrassicaudatus, Geof.), as larp;e as a Rabbit ; and the Senegal Galago (G. 

 iScncf/alen-vis, Geof.), the size of a Rat. The latter is known as the Gum 

 animal of Senegal, from its feeding much on that production. [These pretty animals have at night all the activity of 

 birds, hopping from bough to bough, on their hind bmbs only. They watch the insects tlitting among the leaves, 

 listen to the fluttering of the moth as it darts through the air, lie in wait for it, and spring with the rapidity of an 

 arrow, seldom missing their prize, which is caught by the hands. They make nests in the branches of trees, and 

 cover a bed with grass and leaves for their little ones ; are a favourite article of food in Senegal. A species larger 

 than the others bus lately been received alive, 0. Ganwttu of Ogilby.] 



The Malm AGS {Tarsias') — 

 Have the tarsi elongated (fig. 6), and all the other details of form as in the preceding ; but the Interval 

 between their molars and incisors is occupied by several shorter teetli [that is, their upper canines are 

 very smaU ; and] the middle upper incisors are elongated, and re- 

 semble canines. [There are but two permanent lower incisors, and the 

 inferior canines present more of the ordinary form and direction.] Tjieir 

 muzzle is very short, and their eyes still larger than in any of the fore- 

 going. [Tail very long, and almost naked.] Are also noctmiial ani- 

 njals, and insectivorous ; inhabiting the MoUuccas. 



[Tivo species are known, T. spectrum, Geof., {Lemur tarsins, Shaw ; T. fiisco- 

 manns, Fischer,) and the T, baucanu^ ofHorsfield. It is observed by Geotlroy 

 that although the Malmags have the external ears much less developed than in 

 the Galagos, this inferiority is counterbalanced by the far greater volume of the 

 auditory l>Hlla: of the temporal bones, which are so developed as to touch 

 each other; and thus the sense of hearing is, by another mode, rendered 

 as acute in the former as in the latter. The IMalmag has an aversion to light, 

 and retires by day under the roots of trees ; feeds chiefly on hzards, and leaps 

 about two feet at a spring ; is easily tamed, and capable of some attachment ; 

 holds its prey in its fore-hands, while it rests on its haunches ; produces one 

 young at a birth, and lives in pairs.] 



Travellers should search for certain animals figured by Commcrson, 

 Fig. 6.-Foot of the Mdmne. antl wlii^h GeotiVoy lias engraved {.Inn. Mus. six. 10), under the name of 



Cheirogales (C'heirogaleus). 



These figures seem to announce a new genus or subgenus of Quadrumam. [Three species are re- 

 presented in Commerson's drawing, aU of which appear to be now authenticated Iry specimens. Theh: 

 proportions are those of the Galagos ; dentition as in the Malmags, except that they retain all their 

 inferior incisors ; the head is round, the nose and muzzle short, lips furnished with whiskers, the eyes 

 large and approximate, and the ears short and oval ; the uads of the four extremities are compressed 

 and somewhat claw-hke, and the tail is long, bushy, and regularly cyliudiical. 



Three or more species are known, all from the great island of Madagascar. They constitute the division 

 Liclianos of Gray. 



The singidar genus Cheiromys, also, from the same pecuUar locahty, which is arranged by the 

 author among the Rodmtia, would appear to have much better claim to be introduced here, and near 



