130 The Aye-aye. 



seers who will haunt London during the coming summer. 

 In the year 1841 a similar circumstance took place with a 

 pair of pythons in the menagerie of the Jardin des Plantes at 

 Paris. The phenomena of the reproduction of the young pythons 

 in this case were accurately watched by Professor Valenciennes, 

 and the results of his observations published in the Comptes 

 Rendus of the Academy of Sciences of Paris. The number of 

 eggs in this case was only fifteen, and the mother sat bravely 

 on, until, at the length of two months, eight young ones were 

 produced. Professor Valenciennes has attempted to show, by 

 careful thermometrical experiments, that this female python, 

 during her incubation, developed heat to the amount of ten or 

 twelve degrees (centigrade) above the temperature of the sur- 

 rounding objects. But it has been considered by other autho- 

 rities on the subject, that there is some doubt whether this 

 increase of heat was really caused by the incubative action, and 

 there is still much uncertainty upon this point. Experiments 

 made at the Regent's Park Zoological Gardens go to show, 

 according to the report of Dr. P. L. Sclater, " that the heat of 

 the incubating female python is not greater than the heat of 

 a non-incubating boa in an adjoining compartment." 



THE AYE-AYE. 



BY W. B. TEGETMEIER. 



The Aye-aye of Madagascar, the Ghiromys ~Madagascariensis of 

 Cuvier, is one of the most anomalous of living mammalia. In 

 consequence of the exclusion of Europeans by the tyranny of 

 the late queen, but little information has latterly reached 

 Europe respecting the productions of that island, so that one 

 of our best known naturalists has stated, in a book published 

 within a few weeks, that " not a specimen of the aye-aye has, 

 as I believe, been seen since Sonnerat's day, so that if not 

 actually obliterated, the species must be on the verge of extinc- 

 tion." .Fortunately, this conjecture is not borne out by the facts 

 of the case ; the recent throwing open of Madagascar to Euro- 

 peans has made known that the natives regard the animal with 

 interest, and Dr. Sandwith has availed himself of his oppor- 

 tunities, as Colonial Secretary at the Mauritius, to obtain these 

 animals in a living state, and to study their actions and habits. 

 A specimen, most carefully preserved in spirits, has also 

 been recently forwarded to Professor Owen, who has studied 

 its structural peculiarities, so that at the present time we 

 are in possession of much fuller details regarding this extra- 

 ordinary quadruped than heretofore, and are enabled to arrive at 



