so 



FOUR-HANDED FOLK 



among the thickest bunches of leaves, on the 

 bamboos, in the deepest woods. But when the 

 day-lovers have gone to bed, the queer little 

 beast comes out to frolic and to eat. He eats 

 the pith of bamboos and sugar-canes, and is fond 

 of beetles and grubs as well, and he makes more 

 noise than the galago, uttering a sort of plain- 

 tive cry as he jumps from branch to branch. 



He is a singular-looking animal, with large 

 eyes and ears, and a tail longer than his body. 

 His fur is bushy and long, and very dark in 

 color. But the most remarkable things about 

 him are his hands. The hinder pair are like 

 other lemurs, but the front ones have the stran- 

 gest bony fingers of different lengths, the second 

 one so long and thin that it looks like a bent 

 wire. 



For a long time no one knew the use of this 

 remarkable finger, but at last a naturalist kept 

 one alive and watched him. In his cage was 

 put at one time a worm-eaten branch, and when 

 the captive came out at dusk he at once began 

 to examine it. With his wire-like finger he 

 gently tapped the bark, at the same time hold- 

 ing his large ears close to it, listening. 



Finally he seemed to hear something that 

 pleased him, for at once he began to tear off the 

 bark with his strong teeth, and to cut into the 

 wood, till he reached the entrance to a nest 



