182 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



this claw-like nail, indeed, constitutes one of the distinctive 

 characters of the Family. In the P. Geoff royi of Bennett, 

 the claw-like nail on the second finger appears to be 1 inch 

 and T 7 o^ ns i n length (the finger being stated to measure x 8 oths 

 of an inch, or, including the nail, 2 inches r 5 oths) ; whereas, 

 in the Angwdntibo, the whole length of the free extremity of 

 the finger is half an inch, including the claw-like nail, which 

 measures rather less than a quarter of an inch. 



The hands and feet have been already mentioned, as 

 being each divided into opposing portions. They remind one 

 of the zygodactylic feet of the Climbing-Birds ; and this 

 character, taken along with the existence of the rete mira- 

 bile of the limbs (the tortuous and anastomosing plexuses 

 of vessels, which exist in this animal, as well as in others 

 of its class), and the arboreal habits of the creature (for 

 so completely does it dwell among the branches of trees, 

 that it is stated by one of the missionaries to be scarcely 

 able to walk on the ground), all seem to tell of long-continued 

 muscular action, of a capability of taking a safe, sure, 

 and long-enduring hold ; and, probably, like others of its 

 class, of a stealthy step, which may enable it to steal upon, 

 and hold fast, an active and vigilant prey. The incident 

 mentioned already by the missionaries, of the Dwdn seizing 

 animals like the monkey, is very curious ; as we cannot 

 help thinking they must be seized and held fast for a some- 

 what different purpose than merely to prevent them destroy- 

 ing the young and unripe fruit, on which they both are said 

 to feed. The dentition of the Angwdntibo, to be afterwards 

 detailed, would make us incline to the belief of its food 

 being of a more mixed character than simply fruit, and that it 

 probably included at least insects or their larvae, for the cap- 

 ture of which the peculiarly complicated lingual apparatus may 

 afford special facilities ; or possibly, the smaller birds, which, 

 from its nocturnal habits, it may also steal upon and capture, 

 while they are quietly roosting among the branches of the 

 trees. The structure of the feet, however, and the apposition 

 of the thumb to the middle of the fingers, seem to show an 

 adaptation for seizing forcibly the twigs of trees, rather than 

 for the purpose of capturing a prey. 



