40 PERODICT ICU S 



BOSMAN'S POTTO. 



Type locality. Guinea? West Africa. 



Geogr. Distr. Gold Coast to Sierra Leone, West Africa. 



Genl. Char. Head short, rounded; hands long; last upper molar 

 short, wide, crown elliptical, two cusps, hind cusps wanting; last 

 lower molar with four cusps. 



Color. Head grayish brown, becoming grayer on back of head 

 and neck ; upper part reddish brown, darkest on middle of back, hairs 

 with black tips, sides and rump pale brown; outer side of limbs like 

 back ; under parts gray sometimes reddish ; hands and feet dark brown ; 

 ears black. 



Measurements. Skull : occipito-nasal length, 65 ; Hensel, 55 ; 

 zygomatic width, 48 ; intertemporal width, 23 ; palatal length, 23 ; 

 breadth of braincase, 32 ; median length of nasals, 18 ; length of upper 

 molar series, 18 ; length of mandible, 45 ; length of lower molar series, 

 15. 



Bosman, who first made known the existence of this animal, gives 

 a quaint description of it and its habits, with a rude drawing. He 

 states, "Draught of a creature, by the Negroes called Potto, but known 

 to us by the name of Sluggard, doubtless from its lazy, sluggish nature, 

 a whole day being enough for it to advance ten steps forward. 



"Some writers affirm, that when this creature has climbed upon a 

 Tree, he doth not leave it until he hath eaten up not only the Fruit, 

 but the leaves entirely ; and then descends fat and in very good case in 

 order to get up into another Tree ; but before his slow pace can com- 

 pass this he becomes as poor and lean as 'tis possible to imagine ; and 

 if the tree be high, or the way anything distant, and he meets nothing 

 on his journey, he invariably dies of Hunger betwixt one tree and the 

 other. Thus 'tis represented by others, but I will not undertake for the 

 truth of it, though the Negroes are apt to believe something like it. 



"This is such a horrible ugly Creature that I don't believe any- 

 thing besides so very disagreeable is to be found on the whole Earth ; 

 the Print is a very lively description of it. Its fore feet are very like 

 Hands, the Head, strangely disproportionately large ; that from which 

 this Print was taken was of a pale Mouse color, but it was then very 

 young, and his skin yet smooth, but when old, as I saw one at Elmina 

 in the year 1699, 'tis red and covered with a sort of Hair as thick set 

 as Flocks of Wool. I know nothing more of this animal than that 'tis 

 impossible to look on him without Horrour, and that he hath nothing 

 very particular but his odious Ugliness." 



