318 
ANIMALS OF EGA. 
Chap. Y. 
with the knuckles bent at an acute angle, and thus 
mounted to the top with the greatest facility. Although 
seeming to prefer insects, it ate all kinds of fruit, but 
would not touch raw or cooked meat, and was very 
seldom thirsty. I was told by persons who had kept 
these monkeys loose about the house, that they cleared 
the chambers of bats as well as insect vermin. When 
approached gently, my Ei-a allowed itself to be caressed ; 
but when handled roughly, it always took alarm, biting 
severely, striking out its little hands, and making a 
hissing noise like a cat. As already related, my pet was 
killed by a jealous Caiarara monkey, which was kept 
in the house at the same time. 
I have mentioned the near relationship of the night 
apes to the Sai-miris (Chrysothrix), which are amongst 
the commonest of the ordinary monkeys of the American 
forests. This near relationship is the more necessary to 
be borne in mind, as some zoologists have drawn a com- 
parison between the Nyctipitheci and the Microcebi, 
Nycticebi, and Loris, nocturnal apes of the Lemur family 
inhabiting Ceylon and Java, and it might be erroneously 
inferred that our American Ei-as were related more 
closely to these Old World forms than they are to the rest 
of the New World monkeys. The Nycticebus of Java has 
also large nocturnal eyes, short ears, and a physiognomy 
similar to that of our Nyctipitheci ; resemblances which 
might seem to be strong proofs of blood-relationship, but 
these points are fallacious guides in ascertaining the ge- 
nealogy of these animals ; they are simply resemblances 
of analogy, and merely show that a few species belong- 
ing to utterly dissimilar families have been made similar 
