PECULIARITIES OF THE LEMUROIDA. 
213 
•Is called, rotating, and also of bending. Again, the upper arm is loosely but firmly attached to the 
■ shoulders and neck, so as to admit of great range of motion, so what with the bending and rotation of 
the fore-arm, and the mobility and cushion'd -t.ite of the fingers, these creatures possess a wonderful 
apparatus, suited for extreme action and safe holding on. The ability to rest on the hind legs and jump 
/ike a Kangaroo (see page 5), which is peculiar to some kinds, depends also upon peculiar structures. 
The ankle-bones are very long in these, so long, indeed, as to make the foot resemble that of a Frog when 
jumping more than that of any other animal. The long ankle-bone acts as part of a lever, and enables 
the muscles of the back of the leg to act on the foot so as to project the creature high in the air, or 
for many feet from one bough to another, or along the ground. There is nothing like this in the 
f Monkeys. Now, the woolly fur of the Lemuroids, and their cylindrical woolly tails, at first sight 
■appeal’ to be encumbrances to an active animal which lives in the tropics, but they are all extremely 
•chilly creatures, and love heat ; moreover, it is possible that severe falls may be rendered less injurious 
by the deadening influence of a soft fur. The tail is a 
wonderful apparatus in some kinds, and barely exists in 
others, being, however, never prehensile even when 
longest and strongest. Probably it is used as a kind of 
adjuster of movements in rapid exercise, and certainly 
it is a great comfort to many, for several kinds like to 
curl it over their backs, or round their necks, like a 
sable boa, whilst they are asleep, or basking in the sun. 
In one kind it is supplied with a marvellous set of 
tendons, and, indeed, to such an extent of complexity, 
that it would appear that Nature had lavished mechanical 
appliances to every joint without any very definite use. 
i It is remarkable that in those Lemuroida which have no 
tail, or barely a trace, there is a curious arrangement 
of the blood-vessels. The limbs in these kinds are not head of indris (rRormiEers) verravxii,to show 
v i . , . . , . ... , . LEMUltOlD NOSTRILS. (After Grandidier ,) 
supplied with main arteries, and veins with long branches, 
but the blood-vessels form a closely-packed set of tubes of very small size. This network, in the 
language of science, is called a rete mirabile , “a wonderful network,” for such it is. Curiously enough 
this arrangement of the blood-vessels is found in some totally different animals, whose movements are 
very slow and cautious, such as the Sloths, for instance. Equally slow are the movements of some 
of the kinds of Lemuroida which possess this interesting structure. It has been suggested that this 
novel division and subdivision of the blood-vessels tends to produce slowness of movement, and it 
may be said in a general way that the active Lemuroida and active animals of other orders do not 
I have a rete mirabile. 
Some Lemuroids have short, and others have long muzzles, and there is great variety in the shape 
| of the head. Evidently those with long noses have a very fine sense of smelling, and the whole of the 
members of the sub-order have a peculiar twist in the outside nostril, which distinguishes them from 
the Monkeys of both the Old and the New World. This twist was thought to be of great importance 
in classifying the Lemuroida in the animal scale, and they are often at the present day termed “ Strep- 
sir liini,” from the Greek words which mean curved nostril. Some scent out insects and grubs under 
the bark of trees, and all use this sense in searching for food by night. There are some long hairs about 
the upper lip and cheeks like those of a Cat, and these “ smellers ” are doubtless extremely sensitive to 
touch, and although they do not assist the sense of smelling, they help the animals in avoiding danger 
in their movements through the dark underwood. 
The colour of the iris (the membrane around the pupil of the eyes) is very beautiful in most, 
and as the eye is large and staring, it is well seen. Sometimes the pupil is round, but in some kinds it 
is a slit, as it is in the domestic Cat, for instance, and this shape has much to do with their nocturnal 
habits The iris moves in two directions, and makes the pupil either larger or smaller ; and the impor- 
tance of this gift is, that whilst a small pupil admits only a very slight quantity of light into the body 
of the eye, a large one allows a great amount to enter ; hence, at eventide the pupil dilates, or, in other 
words, the iris acts so as to enlarge it, and all the light possible enters, but in sunlight the pupil contracts^ 
28 
