28 QUADRUMANA. 



[Family STREPSIRHINA.] 



[The Lemur 1 ; it may be Lemur Mongoz, Linn., Lemur Macaco, 

 Linn., or Lemur Catta, Linn.] 



The Mongoose or Mocock. 



This animal seems to be an exact degree from the monkey to the 

 brute in its external shape. It has the ears and head of the monkey, 

 but the mouth is smaller, like that of a raccoon. Its hands and feet 

 are quite those of a monkey's, only the nails are sharper, especially 

 those of the hind-foot. However, the nails of the thumb, both of the 

 fore- and hind-feet, are broad, especially those of the hind ; for the 

 thumb of the hind-foot is more a counterpoise to the other toes than 

 that of the fore-foot is. 



In Mr. Da Costa's 2 , the mouth was pretty full, or close-set with 

 teeth. There were four grinders, pretty much like those of a bear, not 

 so sharp or wedged as a dog's : two teeth with sharp points and with 

 pretty thick bases, especially the backmost : these are between the 

 grinders and tusk tooth. The tusks [canines] are thin and curved, the 

 convex edge forwards ; those in the upper jaw are the longest. In the 

 lower jaw there are six fore-teeth, the outermost the largest and the 

 innermost the smallest : they stand not perpendicularly, but shelving- 

 like those of the hog, and the outermost approaching towards a point, 

 or inclining towards one another 3 . In the upper jaw there are only 

 four front teeth standing through the gum at some distance from one 

 another, especially the two last 4 . 



These animals are one remove towards the carnivorous animals. 



The body is more like that of a quadruped than that of a monkey. 

 The viscera are a good deal like those of the monkey, but still they are 

 a degree further removed than the monkey. The uterus is between 

 that of the monkey and of the common quadruped ; or it is what may 



1 [The skeleton, Nos. 4641 — 4651, preserved in the Hunterian Collection, is of 

 the Lemur Catta : the skull, No. 4637, is of the Lemur nigrifrons ; and the skull, 

 No. 4639, is of the Lemur albifrons, Geoifr. I have dissected all the above species 

 at the Zoological Gardens, and their anatomy does not vary from that described in 

 the text.] 



2 [The author of the ' Syllabus of a Course of Lectures on Fossils,' quoted at 

 p. 297, vol. i.] 



3 [These 'outermost' teeth are the true homotypes of the upper canines: the 



dentition of Lemur being : — i -^-^ c i^, p |=|, m |-^| =36. See the Editor's 

 ' Odontography,' p. 438. pi. 114. fig. 5.] 



4 [The skull prepared to exemplify the dentition of the Lemur is No. 4637, Osteol. 

 Series, and agrees with that of the Lemur nigrifrons, Geofir.] 



