ON THE LEMURID^. 
193 
limbs, and elevation of the nose. The latter characters, as generic, are of no 
value,* the former is erroneous. - We have examined the skulls of examples of 
both these genera, and a fine skull of the Slender Loris is^now before us. Its 
dentition, agreeing with that of the Slow Loris, is as follows:—Incisors-g • 
canines ^ on each side . The incisors in the upper jaw are 
very small, and in pairs; the incisors of the lower jaw are as in the true 
Lemurs. The canines do not differ from those in the genus Microcebus. 
Of the molars above, on each side, the three first are false, the first being 
single, the two next bicuspid. The three true molars are 4-cuspid, the points 
being acute. 
Of the molars below, on each side, the two first are false, the first being 
simple and conical, the second bicuspid, with a small posterior notch. Of the 
true molars, the two first are 4-cuspid, but the third or last has a posterior 
additional tubercle. 
The skull is broad and round, the arch of the forehead more distinct than in 
the genus Lemur^ and the profile of the muzzle more concave. The orbits are 
round and large, and their frontal margin is much elevated above the skull: the 
interorbital space is reduced to a thin elevated ridge. The temporal fossm, 
which are not at all deep, have their outline on the parietal and temporal bones 
defined by a distinctly raised line. The auditory bullce of the temporal bones 
are more compressed than in Lemur or Microcebus. 
Cuvier, in his Re^ne Animal (last edit.), though well aware of the generic 
distinctions laid down by Geoffroy, and adverting to them in a foot-note, does 
not adopt them ; neither did that eminent naturalist, the late Mr. Bennett, re¬ 
gard them as tenable. For ourselves we have no hesitation in the matter, 
having examined both the Slender and the Slow Lemur anatomically. 
Genus Loris, Geoff., Stenops, lLL.-*-Ge? 2 . Char. —Head round; muzzle short 
and acutely pointed; eyes large, full, bright, and approximating to each other; 
ears round, short, open, and almost buried in the fur; tail completely rudi¬ 
mentary. Body slender; head and feet as in Microcebus. Habitat, India and 
its islands. The species of this genus have long been celebrated for the slowness 
and caution of their movements, to which may be added a remarkable tenacity 
©f grasp, in conjunction with the endowment, in the limbs, of a long continuance 
of muscular contraction. In the arteries, both of the anterior and posterior ex¬ 
tremities, is observed a peculiarity, first detected by Sir A. Carlisle, which is 
also met with in the Sloth, and in the Cetacea. The main artery of the limbs, 
instead of being a single tube, giving off branches in its course, consists of an 
intertwined vermiform plexus of vessels, anastomosing freely with each other, 
and carrying onwards a large volume of blood, to which this congeries of tubes 
