INTRODUCTION 

 CLASSIFICATION. 



The Order Primates containing, as it does, Man and the creatures 

 which are nearest allied to him, must be regarded as the most important 

 of all those recognized as belonging to the Animal Kingdom. The 

 various species contained within it, from Man to Marmoset, form a 

 fairly homogeneous group, with which the Lemuroids are associated in 

 a subordinal division. It is a moot point with some whether the Lemurs 

 should be considered members of the Order, having any rank whatever 

 within it, as about the only claim they have to the position is the 

 possession of the opposable great toe, which however is also found in 

 a species of an altogether different Order, the Opossum of the Car- 

 nivores. But, no matter how slight may be the pretensions of the 

 Lemurs for admission to the ranks of the Primates, yet, by the almost 

 general acquiescence of Mammal ogists, they have of late been accepted 

 as occupying a recognizable place in the Order. 



The Lemuroids are divided into three Families with four Sub- 

 families, having twenty genera and subgenera embracing one hundred 

 and six species forming the Suborder Lemuroidea. The remaining 

 Primates are separated into two divisions containing respectively the 

 Old World and New World Species, designated as the Cratarrhine 

 and Platarrhine. The first, in this work is divided into three Families 

 with two Subfamilies containing twenty-two genera, and about 320 

 species ; the second with two Families, having four Subfamilies, 

 thirteen genera and about 150 Species. The dentition observed in the 

 Order is both diphydont and heterodont ; the members living in the 

 eastern hemisphere possessing thirty-two teeth, those of the western 

 hemisphere having thirty-six, except the members of the Family Calli- 

 tbj.ch.idm which have thirty-two, the excess in the others being 

 accounted for by the presence of an extra pair of premolars in each 

 jaw. In the arrangement adopted the species ascend from the lowest 

 form to the one considered as holding the highest rank, exclusive of 

 Man, but standing nearest to him. 



The two aberrant forms of the Lemuroidea, Daubentonia and 

 Tarsius head the list, the former remarkable for the peculiar struc- 

 ture of the limbs and the specialized second finger, and the rodent 

 teeth ; the latter for its lengthened legs, digits provided with discs, 

 and large eyes. These comprise the Families Daubentoniid^:, and 

 Tarsiioe. Following these but still of a low order in the Family 

 Nycticibid/E, Subfamily Lorisin^e, come Loris and Nycticebus, the 

 Slender and Slow Lori, with large expressionless eyes, pointed noses 



