582 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



gles with, it, he was never discouraged, and always coaxed for 

 another. 



No beast that I ever saw was more fond of play than the little 

 Malagasy, not even a lively kitten. From the moment his door 

 was opened till he was shut in for the night he often gave his 

 mind to a constant succession of pranks. He scraped the heads 

 off our dress-trimmings with his comb-like teeth, and he slapped 

 or pulled books or work out of our hands, and especially liked to 

 frolic in one's lap, lying on his back kicking with all fours, pre- 

 tending to bite, and even turning somersaults or indulging in the 

 most peculiar little leaps. In the latter he flung out his arms, 

 dropped his head on one side in a bewitching way, turned half 

 around in the air, and came down in the spot he started from, the 

 whole performance so sudden, apparently so involuntary, and his 

 face so grave all the time, it seemed as if a spring had gone off 

 inside, with which his will had nothing to do. 



A favorite plaything with the lemur was a window-shade. He 

 began by jumping up to the fringe, seizing it and swinging back 

 and forth. One day he learned by accident that he could " set it 

 off," and then his extreme pleasure was to snatch at it with so much 

 force as to start the spring, when he instantly let go and made 

 one bound to the other side of the room, or to the mantel, where 

 he sat, looking the picture of innocence, while the released shade 

 sprang to the top and went over and over the rod. We could 

 never prevent his carrying out this little programme, and we 

 drew down one shade only to have him slyly set off another the 

 next instant. 



Next to the shade, his chosen play-ground was a small brass 

 rod holding a bracket-lamp. It was not more than half an inch 

 wide, and so sharp-edged that it seemed impossible that an ani- 

 mal of his size and weight could stay on it one minute, especially 

 as it was not more than eight or ten inches long, and held a 

 burning lamp at the end. The lamp was no objection to the 

 always chilly little beast ; he enjoyed the heat of it, and not only 

 did he sit there with perfect ease, and dress his fur or eat his 

 bread, but he played what seemed impossible pranks on it. He 

 turned somersaults over it ; he hung by one hand and swung ; he 

 jumped and seized it with hand or foot ; whisked over it, and 

 came up the other side. He never made a slip nor touched the 

 lamp, and his long, stiff tail served as a balancing -pole. 



Perhaps the greatest fun in our little captive's residence in a 

 parlor was with a newspaper. The thing that inspired his first 

 interest in the article was being told to let it alone, when he 

 longed to tear it up. That ungratified desire made us constant 

 trouble, till at last I resolved to give him his wish. I took an old 

 paper and put it on the floor for him. His first pass was to come 



