182 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 
this claw-like nail, indeed, constitutes one of the distinctive 
characters of the Family. In the P. Geoffroyi of Bennett, 
the claw-like nail on the second finger appears to be 1 inch 
and xV^hs in length (the finger being stated to measure x^ths 
of an inch, or, including the nail, 2 inches ro-ths) ; whereas, 
in the Angwdntiho, 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), ail 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 Angwdntiho, 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. 
