ON TiJE LEMURID^. 
199 
genus they are closely allied ; the head, however, is rounder, and the external 
ears less developed, which the character and number of the incisor teeth and 
the presence of a claw, not only on the index finger, but also on the second of 
the hinder hands, are circumstances distinguishing them from every Lemurine 
genus. The first description of the Tarsier is due to Daubenton, who gave 
it this title in allusion to the extraordinary length of the tarsi. Gmelin, 
however, unacquainted with its true relationship, and misled by its apparently 
anomalous structure, placed it in his genus Didelpkis (the receptacle alike of 
Opossums and Kangaroos), under the name of Didelpkis macrotarsus. Pen¬ 
nant, misled by the length of its tarsi, termed it the Woolly Gerboa; and it 
was reserved for Geoffroy St. Hilaire to rescue it from these misalliances, 
and restore it to its true situation. 
In their manners the Tarsiers resemble the Galagos, being arboreal, nocturnal, 
and insectivorous. Till lately onl}’ one species was known; a second is, how¬ 
ever, added on the authority of Dr. Horsfield, who has figured it under the 
name of Tarsius Bancanus in his Zoological Researches. It is described as 
being destitute of the two long middle incisors of the upper jaw. 
" Species 1. The Tarsier (Tarsius spectrum,^ Geoff.; Lemur tarsius^ Shaw). 
•^Fur, of a greyish brown; ears half the length of the head; tail tufted at the 
tip ; size of a squirrel. 
Hind foot of Tarsius spectrum. 
The Tarsius fuscomanus of Fischer is regarded as identical with the 1\ 
spectrum. Habitat, Moluccas. In Mus. Zool. Soc. 
Species 2. Tarsius Bancanus., Horsfield. —Colour, fulvous brown; ears 
rounded, and shorter than the head; Habitat, Banca. We have never seen 
a specimen. 
Geoffroy observes, that though the Tarsier has the external ears much less 
developed than have the Galagos, this inferiority is counterbalanced by the 
far greater volume of the auditory bullcE of the temporal bones, in the Tarsius 
