NOCTURNAL HOWLINGS forests by night. So far-carrying is the howl, that the late Mr. Salvin found, by calculating the time that it took him to traverse a patch of forest from where the note first broke upon his ears to the base of the tree whereon the Mycetes howled, i.e. one hour, that the voice must have travelled about two miles. The howling is largely assisted by the modification of the throat bone, the hyoid of anatomists, into a deep cup which is a resonator; in other characters the howler is quite a typical Platyrrhine; its distinctive marks are that it has a naked face and usually a beard and a well developed thumb. The beard and face produce a repulsive look, and for some reason or other, when a beast is ill-looking, which is not infrequent, naturalists often dwell in an almost malignant way upon its ugliness. The howler justifies the uncomeliness of its features by a bad and sinful disposition, and, furthermore, by a low intelligence which is stereotyped in the simple and not complexly folded brain. The howling seems to be a means of intimidation; and it is a moot point whether like cats they howl in concert, or whether it is merely a big male who gives vent in this way to defiance of neighbouring males. In any case, those who have heard it compare the note to the tempest howling through rocky caverns, and in this case justly add that "it is a noise so unearthly that, heard unexpectedly for the first time, it would fill the mind with the most melancholy and fearful foreboding." The American forest is apt to harbour or to produce such gloomy noises. There is, however, another and a brighter side to the howler; it appears to be good for food above all monkeys. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION CHAPTER III The Lemurs: Sub-order Lemuroidea THE HESE nocturnal creatures, which have got their name from that way of life, stand unquestionably at a lower level than the apes, whose near relations they nevertheless must be regarded as being. Among themselves they are somewhat more diverse of habit than the monkeys, and show in consequence rather more differences of structure and appearance. The rodent-like Chiromys would hardly be referred to the same group of creatures as the tiny little Smith's dwarf lemur" (Microcebus smithi) or the ambling and quadrupedal black and white ruffed lemur (Lemur varius), by any one not conversant with anatomy, and without the power of making just inferences as to affinity. All lemurs, however, have hand-like feet with an opposable great toe exactly comparable to the thumb of the hand. The most remarkable fact about the lemurs is in reality their extraordinary geographical distribution in the world. The vast majority of them are absolutely confined to the great island of Madagascar, where they form the most important element in the vertebrate fauna. A few live in Africa, and still fewer in the east of Asia. No kind of lemur is common to any two of these three tracts of country which they inhabit. At LEMURS, POTTOS, LORIS the Zoo a good many species are as a rule to be seen. The true lemurs are commonly found represented by several species, such as the black lemur (Lemur macaco), and the crowned lemur, which mainly differ from each other in colour. The African galagos, with long and naked ears and apparently a keener sense of hearing than the other forms, are generally to be seen. Some of the smaller Madagascar species, such as Coquerel's lemur (Chirogaleus coquerali) and Smith's dwarf lemur, are often on view, while the West African potto (Perodicticus potto), tailless and very different in general appearance from its Madagascar kindred, is an animal which may be almost counted upon as an exhibit. So too the slow loris (Nycticelus tardigradus) and the other loris of the East, Loris gracilis. The singular Malayan Tarsius, a small form with large ears, a frail body, and huge staring eyes, has never been acquired by the Society. It is eminently a desideratum. THE SLOW LORIS This woolly-furred little lemur is for us the type of a sub-family of the lemurs which includes also the other loris of the East and the potto and the angwantibo of Africa. Like its allies, the slow loris is almost tailless, it has large, staring eyes, the index finger, first finger, as it is often called, is small-a stage on the way to its disappearance, which has occurred in the pottos. It is a small creature not much over a foot in length. Its home is in the East, to wit, Assam, Malaya, Siam to the Philippines in the extreme East. It is naturally arboreal, and, as its large and soft-looking eyes denote, nocturnal in habit. During the day it sleeps rolled into a ball, the head being bowed between the legs. In spite of the mildness of its eye, the little loris is not to be handled with impunity; its sharp teeth can leave a LEMURS AND SUPERSTITION mark. Coupled with this habit of biting is a partly carnivorous diet. The loris will eat almost anything in the way of vegetables, and it is also singularly adroit in catching birds. A mixed diet occurs, it will be observed, among groups of animals which have some claims to be considered archaic; thus, the venerable pig tribe is omnivorous. So too the Artoid carnivora, which are among the more ancient types of living bears, are mixed eaters. The slow loris has many vernacular names in the east; among them are Bashful Cat," "Bashful Monkey," Wind Monkey." These names have all a meaning; the first two, of course, are plainly to be referred to the slow and nocturnal habits of the little lemur. The last may be in allusion to its whistling note; but perhaps it has been given to it on account of the belief among the Chinese sailors that its voice presages wind. Much other superstition has gathered round this certainly rather weird-looking little Primate. Captain Flower has discovered that a general view is held in Siam that if a man commits a crime which he did not premeditate, some one has "unbeknownst buried a piece of loris under his threshold. The amount of legend which envelops wild animals seems to be in some proportion to the singularity of their physiognomy. Thus, the singular Madagascar lemur, the Chiromys, with its eager eyes and long thin middle finger, is held to presage good fortune, if it brings a traveller in the forest a pillow and places it under his head. The story reminds one a little of the stone lion who wags its tail when it hears the clock strike twelve. The Nycticebus tardigradus carries its young one wrapped round its body like some other lemurs. It remains there, as do the young kangaroos in the pouch, until of large size. One wonders whether this habit may not be indeed a reminiscence of the earlier presence of a pouch in some ancient lemur. HAPALEMUR GRISEUS THE GENTLE LEMURS English vernacular names are not as a rule particularly full of accurate meaning, for in many cases they are mere translations of a scientific name of Greek origin which may have a dim applicability in that tongue to some one, and that not always a striking, peculiarity of the animal so named, but which are apt to lose that faint significance when translated. The lemurs which form the subject of the present article are known to zoologists as Hapalemur, and there are two species, viz. H. simus and H. griseus, both of which are confined to Madagascar. This "simple lemur" is not, however, to be altogether trusted to keep up its alleged gentleness of disposition. It is furnished, as are other lemurs, with a row of closely set projecting serrated and sharp teeth in the front of the lower jaw, a marked lemurian characteristic, which could give a respectable nip to any one entrusting an enquiring forefinger to it. This little grey-coloured animal is nearly always represented at the Zoo; at any rate, it is almost certain that the commoner species, H. griseus, will be found in one of the side cages of the monkey house. Not so frequently, however, the larger broad-nosed form. This, like other lemurs, has acquired its general name of lemur from its quiet and nocturnal, and, therefore, somewhat ghostly, habits. Not that it is altogether silent; indeed, H. simus is said by Mr. Shaw to possess at least two modes of utterance which may correspond to diverse feelings. It may quack like a duck or scream. It is vegetarian and insectivorous, and a constant if not a greedy feeder. The lemurs in general form a race which has its present headquarters in Madagascar, though a few forms are found in Africa and even in the East. But in the past epochs of the world's history lemurs were European and American |