ORDER OF QUADRUMANA. 
543 
length, of the digits, and the opposable thumb in the posterior 
members ; the complete state of the bony circle of the orbit, as 
in the majority of Quadrumana ; the existence of only two 
mammae in the female ; — are characteristics which assimilate 
the Aye- Aye to the Makis, and ought definitively to cause it 
to be ranked in the Quadrumana. Such is the opinion of 
the principal zoologists of our time. Cuvier was, therefore, 
not altogether right in classing this animal among the 
Rodents. 
The habits of the Aye- Aye are very little known ; Sonnerat said 
that it used its long front toes to dig into the bark of trees, 
where it found the insects on which it fed. Nevertheless, some 
peculiarities in its dentition lead to the belief that it also eats 
fruit. 
Sonnerat kept a pair of Aye- Ayes alive for two months. “ I 
fed them,” he says, “on boiled rice, and to eat this they 
used the slender toes of their fore-feet, as the Chinese use their 
chop-sticks. They were drowsy-looking, and sleep with their heads 
placed between their fore-legs ; it was only after shaking them 
several times that I succeeded in waking them up.” 
The Aye- Aye is only known in Europe by the stuffed specimens 
shown in the collection of the Jardin des Plantes. 
Family of the Makis (Lemur, Linn.). — The Makis constitute 
among quadrupeds a well marked natural family, which has its 
representatives in various parts of the Old World. They are 
characterised by an elongated head, analogous to that of certain 
carnivorous animals, from whence the name of Fox-headed 
Monkeys which some of the species have received ; by opposable 
thumbs on the four extremities, and especially by the nail on the 
index finger of the hind-feet, which is long, compressed, and 
sharp, and singularly contrasts with those on the other digits. 
Although their brain is but little developed, they have considerable 
intelligence, and are susceptible of training. They are in general 
of small size, and furnished with a short or long tail, though some 
species are deprived of that appendage. Their eyes are very 
salient, and denote nocturnal habits, indeed, the Makis only come 
out after sunset. Linnaeus alluded to this peculiarity in devising 
for them the name of Lemur, which means spectre in Latin. 
