1586 Quadrupeds. 



in the passages cited (Zool. 1526 and 1558), with that of impaled in- 

 sects as described by the Rev. Mr. Turner (Zool. 1342) and by myself 

 (Zool. 1525). The result must be, the conclusion that no tittle of evi- 

 dence has yet been adduced in support of the Rev. J. F. Dawson's 

 assertion, that impaled insects writhe and struggle in agony : indeed 

 all recorded facts furnish direct evidence against that assertion. 

 The discussion has not been without its advantage, for 1 find 

 that many of my correspondents who fully embraced the Rev. Mr. 

 Dawson's view, and felt acutely the pang which they supposed 

 themselves inflicting on insects, have now satisfied themselves that 

 those views, although originating in the purest feelings of humanity, 

 and therefore entitled to our highest respect, were nevertheless unsup- 

 ported by fact. I will conclude with a few appropriate words from 

 Herschell's i Preliminary Discourse. 1 — " Experience once recognised 

 as the fountain of all our knowledge of Nature, it follows that, in the 

 study of Nature and its laws, we ought at once to make up our minds 

 to dismiss as idle prejudices, or at least suspend as premature, any 

 pre-conceived notion of what might, or what ought to be, the order of 

 Nature in any proposed case, and content ourselves with observing, as 

 a plain matter of fact, what IS." — p. 79. Edward Newman.] 



Notes on the Lemur Catta or Ring-tailed Lemur. 

 By Geo. A. Thrupp, Esq. 



This little animal, a native of Madagascar, and called there makkak 

 or mococco, came into my possession in last October (1846). It was 

 bought at the Cape for twenty-six shillings, being considered, even 

 there, rare and valuable. It used to run about the ship in which it 

 came to England with two others of the same species, and was fed 

 principally on ship's biscuit, well soaked in water and sweetened with 

 sugar. It drank a great quantity of water, and would not eat much 

 at once. At night the lemurs usually slept curled up together, or in 

 the sailor's hammocks. They would wake early, and run to greet the 

 sunrise, sitting one behind the other, with their arms extended widely 

 to catch all the warmth of the sun. In playing among themselves, 

 they would fight sitting on their haunches, and cuffing with their fore 

 paws like the kangaroos. The lemurs are powerful for their size, and 

 my specimen, once seeing a half-grown cat sleeping in a boat along- 



