YOUNG ORANGS. (From a Sketch at the Zoological Gardens.)
Mr. Bartlett, of the Zoological Gardens, states that the faculty of attention which is necessary for imitation, obedience, and teaching, is a very variable one amongst the same species of Monkeys, and told Mr. Darwin the following anecdote:—“A man who trains Monkeys to act used to purchase common kinds from the Zoological Society at the cost of five pounds for each, but he offered to give double that price if he might keep three or four of them for a few days, in order to select one. When asked how he could possibly so soon learn whether a particular Monkey world turn out a good actor, he answered that it all depended on their power of attention. If, when he was talking and explaining anything to a Monkey, its attention was easily distracted, as by a fly on the wall, or other trifling object, the case was hopeless. If he tried punishment to make an inattentive Monkey act, it turned sulky. On the other hand, a Monkey which carefully attended to him could always be trained.”
Very little is known about the family habits of the Monkey, and whether they have one, two, or many wives; but in some instances, where the colour of the male and his ornamentation differs from that of the female, it has been possible to trace their habits. Thus, the Gorilla is undoubtedly a polygamist, and the males and females differ. So it is with the Baboons, which live in troops or herds containing twice as many adult females as males. Amongst the South American Monkeys the Howler (Mycetes caraya) usually lives with two or three wives, and is distinguished from them by his voice, colour, and beard; and the Capuchin, which also differs from the female, is probably polygamous. The good example of having one wife set by some Monkeys is utterly lost upon some Eastern potentates. Thus, Sir John Lubbock states, that an intelligent Kandyan chief—of course a polygamist—was perfectly scandalised at the utter barbarism of living with only one wife, and never parting until separated by death. “It was,” he said, “just like the Wanderoo Monkey.”
P. MARTIN DUNCAN.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE LEMUROIDA.
THE GENERA INDRIS AND LEPILEMUR HAPALEMUR.
The Name of the Genus Lemur popularly given to the Group—Lemuroida the Correct Name—Their Distinctive Characters—Their Hands and Feet—Ankle-bones—Tail—Rete Mirabile—Nostrils—Colour of the Eye—Ears—Teeth—Brain—Resemblance to Monkeys—Their Locality—Lemur at Liberty—Its Playfulness—Division of the Lemurs—Beauties of Madagascar—[GENUS INDRIS]—Described by Grandidier—Their Locality—Colour—Fingers—Teeth—[THE DIADEM INDRIS]—Specimens at the British Museum—Little known about it—[THE WOOLLY LEMUR]—Described by Sonnerat—[THE SHORT-TAILED INDRIS]—Distinguished by its Tail—Its Skull—[GENUS LEPILEMUR]—Their Teeth—Tail—[THE WEASEL LEMUR]—[THE GREY LEMUR]—Specimens obtained by Pollen—Their Cry
THE forests of Madagascar, of Western and Eastern Africa, and of some of the Asiatic Islands, are the homes of several kinds of animals which are not unlike the Monkeys in some respects, but which differ from them in their habits of life, and, to a certain extent, in their anatomy. Most of them are in the habit of hiding up all the day, and of moving with great vivacity at dusk and during the night-time. Their gliding, noiseless motion amidst the dense foliage of the tropical woods during the dark hours, and their restless activity in searching for their food during the short twilight, were considered to resemble the fitful apparitions of sprites, spectres, and hobgoblins, and hence Linnæus gave them the name of Lemurs, taking the term from the Latin (lemures), “ghosts.” The name has been adopted popularly, so as to include all the kinds which, with some structural resemblance to the Monkeys, are for the most part nocturnal in their habits, and it really appears to represent the notions which the excessively timid and superstitious natives of the Eastern Islands have of the malevolent influence of some of these active and very small creatures, whose large eyes glare and shine in the dark woods as they rush to and fro before the extreme darkness of the night commences. The use of the name has been productive of some confusion, for it was especially given to one genus or group of kinds which is restricted to the Island of Madagascar. The genus Lemur, with a species of which most visitors to the Zoological Gardens are familiar—the Ring-tailed Lemur—by no means contains all the animals now under consideration, and they have been arranged under other groups, or genera, and have different names; yet they are all popularly called Lemurs.
Hence, to avoid this confusion, it is usual to call the genus just mentioned genus Lemur, and all the others “Lemur-like animals,” and the Greek word εἶδος (like) being added the term Lemuroida is formed. In scientific language, then, the creatures popularly called Lemurs are termed Lemuroida. Either expression may be used, but if the familiar one is employed, it is necessary to remember that the word means other animals besides those of the genus Lemur.
