50 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



[Lemurs* 



boughs in search of food ; their large glaring eyes 

 now glow with peculiar lustre ; not an insect, not a 

 bird escapes their scrutiny : they mark their victim ; 

 stilly, and imperceptibly as the minute-finger tra- 

 verses the dial-plate, do they advance upon their 

 prey ; and not less surely does the minute-finger 

 attain a giving mark than they their prey : when it 

 is once within range of their grasp, they seize it by 

 a rapid instantaneous action. Besides birds, insects, 

 and eggs, fruits also form part of their diet. 



Of all the LemuiidBe which we have seen alive, 

 none appear to be so susceptible of cold or so in- 

 commoded by daylight, nor are any so apparently 

 dull and inanimate from morning till evening. They 

 appear as if in a state of continual torpor ; yet if ex- 

 posed to the influence of warmth, they will rouse 

 up, not. only on the approach of twilight, but even 

 during the hours of day, if shielded from the glare 

 of the sun. When fairly awake, and comfortably 

 warm, they delight to clean and lick their full soil 

 fur, and will allow themselves to be caressed by 

 those accustomed to feed them. 



Mr. Baird, in an interesting paper in the ' Maga- 

 zine of Nat. Hist.' vol. i., 1829, remarks that all the 

 known Mammalia close their eyelids in a direction 

 upwards and downwards, and, in general, the upper 

 eyelid is the one possessing the greatest degree of 

 motion. He found, however, that in his slow-paced 

 Lemur the eyelids were brought together in a dia- 

 gonal direction, or outwards and inwards, which 

 gave the animal at the moment of shutting its eyes 

 a most peculiar look. It was the under or outer 

 eyelid that had the greatest degree of motion, the 

 upper or inner one being almost fixed ; and he con- 

 cludes that the orbicularis oculi must be very 

 powerful. After the death of the animal, and when 

 Mr. Baird had left this country on a second voyage 

 to India, the eye was dissected by Dr. Knox, who 

 found that the peculiar movement of the eyelids 

 above described did not depend on any peculiar 

 structure, but merely on the greater degree of 

 strength of the orbicularis muscle. 



Mr. Baird also observed another peculiarity in the 

 species. " Beneath the tongue proper," says he, 

 " if I may so call it, which is somewhat like that of 

 the cat, though not rough, is another tongue, white- 

 coloured, narrow, and very sharp-pointed, which he 

 projects along with the other one when he eats or 

 drinks, though he has the power of retaining it 

 within his mouth at pleasure." Mr. Baird, however, 

 had not been able to see any particular purpose to 

 which he applied it ; but he saw him use this double 

 tongue when eating flies, of which he was exceed- 

 ingly fond, snapping them up most eagerly when 

 presented to him, and catching them himself when 

 they were reposing in the evening upon the walls of 

 the room. 



Pennant, Vosmaer, Sir W. Jones, Mr. Baird, M. 

 d'Obsonville, and others have published detailed 

 observations made upon Loris in captivity, and their 

 accounts coincide with the facts which have come 

 under our own notice. 



Vosmaer's specimen (S. tardigradus) ate fruits, 

 such as pears and cherries, with relish; and also dry 

 bread and biscuit ; but if dipped in water, would 

 touch neither. When offered water, it smelt it, but 

 drank not. Eggs were favourite diet. " II aimait 

 a lafureur les ceufs," are the words of Vosmaer, who, 

 concluding from its appetite for eggs that it would 

 eat birds, gave it a live sparrow, which it instantly 

 killed with a bite, and ate the whole very greedily. 

 He gave it a live cockchafer, to try whether it 

 would eat insects : it took the offering in its paw, 

 and devoured it completely. Vosmaer afterwards 

 gave it a chaffinch (pincon), which it ate with much 

 relish, and afterwards slept for the remainder of the 

 day. He often saw it still awake at two hours past 

 midnight ; but from half-past six in the morning its 

 sleep was so sound, that its cage might be cleaned 

 without disturbance to its repose. If forcibly 

 awakened during the day in order to teaze it, it was 

 vexed, and bit the stick ; but with a very slow mo- 

 tion, repeating the cry Ai, ai, ai, drawing out the ai 

 each time into a plaintive, languid, and trembling 

 note, in the same manner as is reporled of the 

 American sloths. When it was thus harassed for a 

 long time, and thoroughly roused, it crawled two or 

 three times round its cage, and then slept again. 

 Mr. Baird informs us that he obtained his specimen 

 at Pulo-Penang (Prince of Wales Island) ; and at 

 the time he wrote, it had been nearly ten months in 

 his possession. Its food consisted of fruit and small 

 animals, such as birds and mice. The plantain was 

 the fruit of which it was most fond, and was the 

 only food Mr. Baird saw it eat when he first got 

 it into his possession. The necks of fresh-killed 

 fowls formed the major part of its sustenance during 

 the voyage. It was particularly fond of small 

 birds: these, when put into the cage, it killed 

 speedily, and, stripping off the feathers, soon de- 

 voured them, eating the bones as well as the flesh. 

 Veal was preferred to all other butcher's meat, and 

 it was fond of eggs: meat boiled, or otherwise 



cooked, it would not touch. Sugar appeared to be 

 grateful to its palate, and it ate gum-arabic. The 

 juice of oranges was also greatly relished, and, unlike 

 Vosmaer's specimen, it readily fed upon bread sopped 

 in water and sprinkled with sugar ; and lapped 

 water eagerly like a cat. 



Genus Tarsius. The Tarsiers, of which two 

 species are known, are distinguished by the rounded 

 figure of the head, and the extreme shortness of the 

 muzzle ; by the enormous size of the eyes ; and the 

 extraordinary length and slenderness of the hinder 

 limbs, of which the tarsus is thrice as long as the 

 metatarsus. The fingers both of the anterior and 

 posterior limbs are elongated and slender ; the hind 

 thumb is well developed, with a small triangular 

 nail, and the first and second fingers are furnished 

 witb small, pointed, narrow claws. The ears are 

 large, naked, and capable of being folded. Tail 

 long, covered with short hair. The first de- 

 scription of the Tarsier (T. Spectrum) is due toDau- 

 benton, who gave it this title, in allusion to the 

 length of the tarsi. Gmelin, misled by its ap- 

 parently anomalous structure, placed it in his genus 

 Didelphis (the receptacle alike of opossums and 

 kangaroos), under the name of D. macrotarsus. 

 Pennant, misled by the tarsi, termed it the Woolly 

 Gerboa. M. F. Cuvier considers its dentition to 

 approximate to that of some of the bats. 



4 



Dental formula (Fig. 205) : — Incisors,-; canines, 



1—1 i 6-6 A 



; molars, = 4. 



1— 1' 6-6 



In their habits the Tarsiers are arboreal and de- 

 cidedly nocturnal, preying on birds, eggs, insects, 

 &c. : one species is a native of the Moluccas, the 

 other of the island of Banca. 



206.— The Moholi (Galago Moholi). 



We select as an example of the genus Galago 

 (Otolicnus, 111)., the Moholi of Southern Africa. The 

 Galagos, though they approach the Lemurs in the 

 dental characters, differ from those animals in many 

 well-marked and important points. The ears are 

 large, membranous, naked, and, as in the long-eared 

 bats, capable of being folded down over the ex- 

 ternal orifice. The posterior limbs are greatly de- 

 veloped, and especially at the tarsal portion. The 

 eyes are large and full ; the head is round ; the 

 muzzle pointed; the tail long; the fingers both of 

 the fore and hind, hands, long and slender, with the 

 usual sharp claw on the first finger of the hinder 

 pair. The fur is full, soft, and woolly. The skull 

 (Figs. 207, 208) is more globular, and with larger 

 orbits than we find in the Lemurs : it is more ele- 

 vated above, and broader. 



The Galagos are nocturnal animals : during the 

 day they sleep on the branches, their ears being 

 folded down ; on the approach of night they are all 

 animation, and, with ears expanded and glistening 

 eyes, they begin their prowl for food. They watch 

 the insects flitting among the leaves : they listen to 

 the buzzing of their wings amidst the foliage, and 

 dart upon the incautious fluttcrer with great activity. 

 In addition to insects, they feed on fruits and gum ; 

 and one species is abundant in certain gum-forests 

 in the great desert of Sahara. 



The Moholi was found by Dr. Smith, close to the 

 Limpopo river, in about 25° S. lat. He observed 

 these animals springing from branch to branch, and 

 from tree to tree, with extraordinary facility. In 

 their manner they considerably resembled the mon- 

 keys, particularly in grimaces and gesticulations. 

 According to the natives, the species is entirely 

 nocturnal, and rarely to be seen during the day, 

 which the animal spends in the nest which it has 

 formed in the forks of branches or in cavities of de- 

 cayed trees ; and in these nests, constructed of soft 

 grass, the females bring forth and rear their young 

 (generally two at a birth). Dr. Smith states that 

 the food of the Moholi consists principally of pulpy 

 fruits, though there is reason to believe it also con- 

 sumes insects, as remains of the latter were dis- 

 covered in the stomachs of several individuals which 

 he examined. 



Dr. Smith, for the reasons stated in his work, con- 

 siders this animal different from Galago Sene- 

 galensis. He gives an elaborate anatomical de- 

 scription and good figures of the more important and 

 interesting parts of this animal. 



The general colour is grey, with wavy or brin- 

 dled markings of a darker tint, and the limbs are 

 washed with yellow ; under-parts white ; tail red- 

 brown; ears flesh-coloured. Length from nose to 

 tip of tail, sixteen inches. 



209.— This Banca Taesibb 



{Tarsius Bancanus, Horsf.). This species was 

 obtained by Dr. Horsfield in Banca, near Jeboos, 

 one of the mining-districts, where it inhabits the 

 extensive forests. 



The fur is deep, soft, thick, and woolly, envelop- 

 ing the head, body, limbs, and root of tail, where it 



terminates abruptly. The general colour is brown 

 inclining to grey, especially on the inside of the 

 limbs and the under parts ; a rufous wash appears 

 on the head and outer surface of the limbs. The 

 tail, which equals the head and body in length, is 

 nearly naked, except at its base : towards the ex- 

 tremity it is covered with a soft down, which forms, 

 near the tip, a very obscure tuft. The backs of the 

 hands are covered with a very soft down : the palms 

 are naked, and provided with several prominent 

 cushions, calculated to assist in climbing and 

 perching with safety on the branches. Of its 

 habits no details have been collected. 



Genus Chiromys. This genus was established by 

 Cuvier for the reception of that extraordinary 

 animal the Aye-Aye, respecting the affinities of 

 which so many conflicting opinions have been ad- 

 vanced. 



210, 211.— The Aye-Aye 



{Chiromys 3Iadagascariensis) is a native of Mada- 

 gascar, where it appears to be extremely rai-e, and 

 chiefly, if not exclusively, restricted to the western 

 part : most probably it tenants remote solitudes, 

 seldom visited by the natives, and never by Euro- 

 peans. Only one specimen exists in Europe, viz. 

 that brought home by Sonnerat, its discoverer, who 

 first figured and described the animal in his 

 ' Voyage aux Indes ' (Paris 1781). It is deposited 

 in the Museum of Paris. 



Sonnerat regarded the Aye- Aye (so called, like one 

 of the sloths, from its cry) as allied to the Lemurs, 

 the Monkeys, and the Squirrels; and subsequent 

 writers have taken opposite views, according as 

 they have been biassed by one part of its organiza- 

 tion or another, or according to their ideas of the 

 respective value of characters, deduced from one set 

 of organs or another. Pennant, Gmelin, Cuvier, 

 Fleming, and Swainson, place it among the Rodents : 

 Linnseus and Schreber regard it as a Lemur. 



M. de Blainville, in his pamphlet ' Sur quelques 

 Anomalies de systeme Dentaire,' &c, observes, that 

 notwithstanding the rodent-like character of its 

 teeth, the rest of its organization, its manners, and 

 habits prove it to be a true Lemur, having abso- 

 lutely no relationship with the Rodents, no affinity 

 to them, in spite of all that many naturalists have 

 imagined ; and, after a careful examination of the 

 specimen and skull, we coincide in this opinion. 



The teeth consist only of incisors and molars (see 

 skull, Fig. 212): the incisors are two in each jaw, 

 strong and powerful : those below are compressed la- 

 terally, but are deep from back to front ; their roots 

 are carried backwards each in an alveolus, or socket, 

 extending almost the whole length of the ramus ot 

 the jaw ; they are acutely pointed, their apex re- 

 sembling a ploughshare. These teeth strongly re- 

 mind one of the huge curved canines in the lower 

 jaw of the Hippopotamus. The upper incisors are 

 not so obliquely pointed, and are also smaller than 

 the lower. Between the incisors and the molars an 

 unoccupied space intervenes. The molars are 4 on 

 each side above, 3 below, small, and of simple 

 structure. The head is moderate and rounded, and 

 the muzzle is rather short and pointed. The eyes 

 are very large and nocturnal. The osseous ring of the 

 orbits is complete (Fig. 212). The ears are large ; 

 and obscure furrows on their internal aspect seem 

 to denote that, as in many bats, they are capable of 

 being folded down : they are, in fact, bat-like, black, 

 naked and smooth. 



The fore paws have each five fingers ; that 

 which represents the thumb is short, and arises 

 beyond the base of the rest ; these are long and 

 slender : the middle finger is very thin, but it is ex- 

 ceeded in length by the third or ring finger ; the 

 thumb is not opposable, and, like the other fingers, 

 is furnished with a strong, sharp, hooked claw. The 

 arms are short in proportion to the posterior limbs ; 

 the latter being long, aud terminating in prehensile' 

 feet. The thumb is well developed and protected 

 by a flat nail : the toes are of moderate length and 

 stoutness, but the first is the shortest, and, as in the 

 Lemurs, is armed with a straight pointed claw ; the 

 rest have large hooked claws. The tail is long and 

 bushy, with coarse black or brownish-black hairs : 

 the general colour is ferruginous-brown, passing 

 into grey on the sides of the head, the throat, and 

 belly ; the feet are nearly black Beneath the 

 brown outer-coat there is on the back and limbs a 

 fine thick under-coat of soft yellow wool, which ap- 

 pears more or less through the outer. In the female 

 the teats are two and ventral. Length of head and 

 body 1 foot 6 inches ; the tail being nearly the 

 same. 



According to Sonnerat, who kept two of these 

 animals, a male and female, in captivity, it would 

 appear that the habits of the Aye- Aye are nocturnal. 

 By day they see with difficulty, and the eyes, which 

 are of an ochre colour, resemble those of an owl. 

 Timid and inoffensive, they pass the day in sleep, 

 and when roused up their motions are slow, like 

 those of the Loris : they have also the same fond- 



