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of much and varied movement; when at rest they usually stand out horizontally, adding greatly to the breadth of the head. The need of acute hearing will be manifest when we come to describe the creature's mode of procuring its favourite food.

The hand is prehensile, having a thumb which is opposable to the other fingers, though in a less degree than in some of the quadrumana. "But," says Professor Owen, "the most singular feature of the hand is the attenuated middle finger, which seems as if stricken and withered by palsy." The animal can freely separate and approach the digits, the longest of which measures about three inches, for a variety of purposes. We give a figure of this hand on the opposite page, from which the Professor's description will be easily understood.

Another peculiarity to be noticed is, the great size and unusual shape of the teeth. They consist only of molars and incisors, like those of a rabbit or hare. The compressed form of the incisors shows their power of paring away only very narrow strips of the substance they may be operating upon; while their great fore-and-aft length enables them to penetrate deeply. These characteristics may be seen by comparing the illustration of the skull given below, with that of the teeth on p. 147.

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We will now transcribe Dr. Sandwith's admirable account of the habits of the Aye-Aye which he kept in captivity, previous to sending it to Professor Owen. It struck him that the animal's "strong rodent teeth, as large as those of a young beaver, must have been intended for some other purpose than that of trying to eat his way out of a cage-the only use he seemed to make of them, besides masticating soft fruits. Now, as he attacked every night the woodwork of his cage, which I was gradually lining with tin, I bethought myself of tying some sticks over the woodwork, so that he might gnaw these instead. I had previously put in some large branches for him to climb upon; but the others were straight sticks to cover over the wood work of his cage, which alone he attacked. It so happened that the thick sticks I now put into his cage were bored in all directions by a large and destructive grub, called here the Montouk. Just at sun-set the Aye-Aye crept from under his blanket, yawned, stretched, and betook himself to his tree, where his movements are lively and graceful, though by no means so quick as those of a squirrel. Presently he came to one of the worm-eaten branches, which he began to examine most attentively; and bending forward his ears, and applying his nose close to the bark, he rapidly tapped the surface with the curious second digit, as a woodpecker taps a tree, though with much less noise, from time to time inserting the end of the slender finger into the worm-holes, as a surgeon would a probe. At length he came to a part of the branch which evidently gave out an interesting sound, for he began to tear it with his strong teeth. He rapidly stripped off the bark, cut into the wood, and exposed the nest of a grub, which he daintily picked out of its bed with the slender tapping-finger, and conveyed the luscious morsel to his mouth.

"But I was yet to learn another peculiarity. I gave him water to drink in a saucer, on which he stretched out a hand, dipped a finger into it, and drew it obliquely through his open mouth; and this he repeated so rapidly that the water seemed to flow into his mouth. After a while he lapped like a * Memoir, p. 14.

147

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cat; but his first mode of drinking appeared to me to be his way of reaching water in the deep clefts

of trees."

How wonderful is the provision of the Almighty! In a forest land, where the trees are liable to -we find an animal whose food is that very grub, great injury from a grub, there-and nowhere else-w and whose organisation enables him to reach that food, for which he has been gifted with an instinctive longing.

This animal was formerly considered as belonging to the Rodentia, from the form of its teeth; but

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TEETH OF ADULT AYE-AYE.

ANTERIOR HAND OF AYE-AYE.

Cuvier called it Chiromys "mouse -on account of

its other characters, external as well as internal, have proved that it may more accurately be referred to the Lemurida; among them it resembles most closely the "Great Galago." or mouse with hands-from two Greek words-chir, "hand" and mys, this combination of characters.

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Dr. Sandwith tells us that the Aye-Aye is an object of veneration in Madagascar; and that if any native touches one, he is supposed to be sure to die within the year. The Rev. W. Ellis makes the same remark in his account of the island.

*Owen's Memoir, p. 8.

The one brought to Paris was at first wild and fierce, endeavouring to hide itself from the presence of any one, but, in the course of two months, it became tame, and did not attempt to escape when left at liberty. It was extremely fond of café au lait and eau sucrée-drinking by means of its long finger.

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which it passed and repassed from the vessel to its mouth with surprising agility. On the trees it exhibited the bounding activity of the monkey tribes, leaping from branch to branch, and crossing wide spaces with an ease and rapidity equal to that of the Ring-tailed Lemur.

We have now reached the last genus of that remarkable division of four-handed animals which we have rapidly examined, and which contains some very extraordinary creatures, whether considered with reference to their structure or their habits.

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Some naturalists class them with the bats, but from those they differ, inasmuch as the toes of their anterior extremities are very unlike. This will be seen if the bones of the foot, and especially the foot itself, as shown in the engravings, be carefully examined. The toes of these parts, which are all furnished with sharp claws, are not more lengthened than those of the hind feet, so that a membrane, of which we must afterwards speak more particularly, lying between the extremities and the

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sides of the tail, can hardly effect more than the functions of a parachute, though the animal has the credit of being able to fly.

Some naturalists have supposed that there are three species of this genus; but, some years ago, * Galeopithecus, or Flying Lemur.

Mr. Waterhouse demonstrated, from a rigorous examination of a series of skulls, that there are but two; and he pointed out their distinguishing characteristics at a meeting of the Zoological Society. The animals of the first and larger species* measured about two feet in entire length, and their skulls were two inches eleven and a half lines in length. The anterior incisor of the upper jaw was broad, and divided by two notches into three distinct lobes: the next incisor on each side had its anterior and posterior margins notched, and the first molar, or the tooth which occupies the situation of the canine, had its posterior edge distinctly notched. This tooth was separated by a narrow space before and behind, from the second incisor in front, and the second molar at the back.

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The animals of the second species,† he remarked, might be distinguished from the former by the proportionately larger ears and the greater length of the hands. The skull, too, he described as narrower in proportion to its length, the muzzle as broader and more obtuse, and the orbit of the eye as smaller. The anterior incisor of the upper jaw was narrow, and had but one notch; the next incisor on each side was considerably larger, longer, and stronger than in the former species, and differed, moreover, in having its edges even.

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THE FLYING LEMUR. THIS animal is about the size of a cat, and is provided with an extensive parachute, which consists of a lateral membrane, not only between the anterior and posterior limbs, but also between the posterior limbs themselves, so as to include the tail, which is of considerable length. The fingers of the forepaws, as has been already remarked, are also included in this ex. tensive membranous expansion. The entire upper surface of the body and lateral membrane is covered with woolly fur, but the under surface is nearly naked. The parachute is capable of being folded up; but when on the stretch for action, it forms a wide expanse, not, indeed, endowing its possessor with true powers of flight, but enabling it to take long sweeping leaps from tree to tree with the utmost facility. .

THE FLYING LEMUR.

Here, then, we close our account of the Four-Handed Animals: the first division being formed of the Monkey, and the second of the Lemur tribes. Diversified as are the names assigned to the latter, and various as, in fact, their species are, the differences are sometimes so minute as only to require being mentioned on the ground of scientific accuracy. Naturalists have had their disagreements as to the proper place in the range of being of particular animals, as well as their most appropriate denominations, and so it will continue to be. Alterations in name and place will still be made. The general reader, meanwhile, will probably be satisfied with regarding the animals of our second division as Lemurs, having generic and specific differences.

Galeopithecus Temminckii.

f Galeopithecus Phillippinensis.

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