96 
THE LORIS. 
are large in proportion, and suited for taking a firm grasp of any object to which the animal 
may cling ; while the corresponding members of the fore-paws are not so largely developed, 
but yet can be used with some freedom. The face of the Propithece is not so long as that of 
the true Lemurs, and the round tipped ears are hidden in the bushy hair which surrounds the 
head. The length of the animal, exclusively of the tail, is about twenty-one inches, and the 
length of the tail is about four inches less. 
Resembling the Lemurs in many respects, and given to similar customs, the animals which 
are known by the name of Loris are distinguished from the Lemurs by several peculiarities of 
structure. 
The first point which strikes the eye of the observer, is the want of that long and bushy 
tail which is possessed by the Lemurs, 
and which is only rudimentary in the 
Loris. The muzzle too, although sharp 
and pointed, is abruptly so, whereas 
that of the Lemur tapers gradually 
from the ears to the nose. The country 
which they inhabit is not the same as- 
that which nurtures the Lemurs, for 
whereas the latter animals are found ex- 
clusively in Madagascar, the Loris is 
found in Ceylon, Java, Sumatra, and 
other neighboring parts. 
The Slender Loris is a small ani- 
mal, measuring only nine inches in 
length, and possessed of limbs so deli- 
cately slender, as to have earned for it 
the popular name by which it is distin- 
guished from the Slow-paced Loris. Its 
color is gray, with a slight rusty tinge, 
the under portions of the body fading 
into white. Round the eyes, the fur 
takes a darker hue, which is well con- 
trasted by a white streak running along 
the nose. 
Small though it be, and apparently ' 
without the power to harm, it is a ter- 
rible enemy to the birds and insects on 
slender loris. stenops gracilis . which it feeds, and which it captures, 
“ lik e Fabius, by delay.” 
The Slow-paoed Loris, or Kukang, is very similar in its habits to the animal just 
mentioned, but differs from it in size, color, and several parts of its form. 
The fur is of a texture rather more woolly than that of the Slender Loris, and its color has 
something of a chestnut tinge running through it, although some specimens are nearly as gray 
as the Slender Loris. As may by seen from the engraving on page 97, a dark stripe surrounds 
the eyes, ears, and back of the head, reaching to the corners of the mouth. From thence it 
runs along the entire length of the spine. The color of this dark band is a deep chestnut. It 
is rather larger than the preceding animal, being a little more than a foot in length. 
In the formation of these creatures some very curious structures are found, among which 
is the singular grouping of arteries and veins in the limbs. 
Instead of the usual tree-like mode in which the limbs of most animals are supplied with 
blood, — one large trunk- vessel entering the limb, and then branching off into numerous sub- 
divisions,— the limbs of the Loris are furnished with blood upon a strangely modified system. 
The arteries and veins as they enter and leave the limb, are suddenly divided into a great num- 
ber of cylindrical vessels, lying close to each other for some distance, and giving off their 
