The Bearded Saki. The third sub-family of the Cebidæ includes some dozen species which inhabit the forests of Equatorial America. They are of the genus Pithecia, and some species have broad beards and bushy tails. The head of the Bearded Saki (Pithecia Satanas) has a singularly human appearance.
The Douroucouli. The fourth sub-family of the Cebidæ includes several genera and a number of species, of these the Douroucouli (Nyctipithecus felinus) is one of the most interesting. It is a small monkey, measuring only thirteen inches, apart from its tail, which is eighteen inches long: It is catlike in some of its habits, sleeping during the day, and prowling about at night in search of food, which it finds in fruits, insects and small birds. It has a catlike mew, though it often makes a louder cry more resembling the noise of the jaguar.
The Marmosets. The fifth family of the quadrumana comprises the marmosets, of which there are two genera—the Hapale and the Midas. These are very small, measuring about eight inches without the tail, which is eleven inches long. The marmoset is one of the prettiest of the monkeys, and, though at first shy, soon becomes playful and affectionate. Marmosets are one of the few species that breed in confinement. Sir William Jardine describes a marmoset who gave birth to three offspring in Paris. One of these, for some reason, displeased her, and she killed it, but upon the others beginning to suck the maternal instinct awoke, and she became as affectionate as she was before careless. "The male seemed more affectionate and careful of them than the mother, and assisted in the charge. The young generally keep upon the back or under the belly of the female, and Cuvier observed, that when the female was tired of carrying them, she would approach the male with a shrill cry, who immediately relieved her with his hands, placing them upon his back, or under his belly, where they held themselves and were carried about until they became restless for milk, when they were given over to the mother who, in her turn, would again endeavour to get rid of them."
SUB-ORDER II.
The Lemurs. The lemurs and their allied forms make up the remaining families of the quadrumana. These are three. The Lemuridæ, of which there are many species, most of which belong to Madagascar, others to Africa, Asia, and the Indian Archipelago; the Tarsidæ, which hail from Sumatra and Borneo; and the Chiromyidæ, of which the aye-aye is the representative. The Lemuridæ are divided into four sub-families by Professor Mivart. I, the Indri; II, the true Lemurs; III, the slow Lemurs and IV, the Galagos. The lemur is nocturnal in its habits and noiseless in its movements. Some of its species much resemble the cat in appearance though its four hands unmistakably demonstrate its order. Sir William Jones describes a Slow Lemur (Nycticebus tardigradus), which he had in his possession, as "gentle except in the cold season, when his temper seemed wholly changed." This animal expressed great resentment when disturbed unseasonably. From half an hour after sunrise to half an hour before sunset he slept without any intermission, rolled up like a hedgehog: and as soon as he awoke he began to prepare himself for the occupations of his approaching day, licking and dressing himself like a cat—an operation which the flexibility of his neck and limbs enabled him to perform very completely. He was then ready for a slight breakfast, after which he commonly took a short nap; but when the sun was quite set he recovered all his vivacity. "Generally he was not voracious, but of grasshoppers he never could have enough; and passed the whole night during the hot season in prowling for them. He used all his paws indifferently as hands." Mrs. Bowdich tells of one of these animals, procured by Mr. Baird at Prince of Wales Island, who shared a cage with a dog to whom he became greatly attached, while nothing could reconcile him to a cat, which constantly jumped over his back, causing him great annoyance.
The Tarsier. The tarsier (Tarsius spectrum) is a small, kitten-faced animal with long hind legs, which enable it to leap like a frog. It is nocturnal in habit, and is found in Sumatra, Borneo, and elsewhere.
The Aye-Aye. The aye-aye (Chiromys madagascariensis) is a remarkable little animal resembling, as Professor Owen says, in size and shape the domestic cat, its head and ears being larger, and its hind legs and tail longer than those of the cat. Dr. Sandwich, writing of one he had in his possession, says:—"The thick sticks I put into his cage were bored in all directions by a large and destructive grub, called the montouk. Just at sunset the aye-aye crept from under his blanket, yawned, stretched and betook himself to his tree. 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 his hand, dipped a finger into it and drew it obliquely through his open mouth. After a while he lapped like a cat, but his first mode of drinking appeared to me to be his way of reaching water in the deep clefts of trees."
ORDER II.
Wing-Handed Animals. The animals which most nearly resemble the four-handed animals or quadrumana are the wing-handed animals,—the bats or Cheiroptera. These are of singular appearance and interesting habit. "If," says the Rev. J. G. Wood, "the fingers of a man were to be drawn out like wire to about four feet in length, a thin membrane to extend from finger to finger, and another membrane to fall from the little finger to the ankles, he would make a very tolerable imitation of a bat."—Of course, it should be added, making allowance for proportion, the full grown male bat, of the largest species, rarely exceeding twelve inches in height from head to foot. Bats' wings are highly nervous and sensitive, so much so as to render their owners almost independent of sight. Besides being "well adapted for flight," says Dr. Percival Wright, "they are still capable in a small measure of seizing, differing thus from the anterior limbs of Birds."
Bats. Dr. Dobson divides the order Cheiroptera into two sub-orders: I, The Great Bats and II, The Smaller Bats. Of these there are numerous genera and a large number of species. The Great Bats abound in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the East, where they live on fruit, and from this circumstance are classified as "fruit-eating bats," though they are sometimes called "flying-foxes." The largest of these inhabit Sumatra and Java, living in large companies, sleeping by day and foraging by night. A large tree serves them for a sleeping-chamber, where, suspending themselves head downwards from the branches, they wrap their wings about them in lieu of blankets and sleep out the sunshine. After sunset they gradually awake and proceed to ravage any fruit preserves which may be within reach, committing serious depredations while the owners outsleep the moon. According to Mr. Francis Day, "they do very great injury to cocoa-nut plantations and mangoe gardens." "Their habits," says Mr. Day, "are very intemperate, and they often pass the night drinking the toddy from the chatties in the cocoa-nut trees, which results either in their returning home in the early morning in a state of extreme and riotous intoxication, or in being found the next day at the foot of the trees, sleeping off the effects of their midnight debauch." The Smaller Bats include several families, numerous genera, and a large number of species to be found in almost all parts of the world. These bats are chiefly insect-eaters, though included among them are the vampire bats and the Megaderma lyra which have the reputation of being cannibalistic. The various families are "The Horseshoe Bats," "The Nycteridæ," "The Vespertilionidæ," "The Emballonuridæ," and "The Phyllostomidæ.
The Common English Bats. The common English bats belong to the Vespertilionidæ. The Pipistrelle feeds upon insects but will eat flesh if opportunity serves. In his "Natural History of Selbourne," Mr. White describes a tame bat which he saw, which would take flies out of a person's hand. "If you gave it anything to eat," he says, "it brought its wings round before the mouth, hovering and hiding its head in the manner of birds of prey when they feed. The adroitness it showed in shearing off the wings of the flies, which were always rejected, pleased me much. Insects seemed to be most acceptable, though it did not refuse raw flesh when offered; so that the notion that bats go down chimneys and gnaw men's bacon seems no improbable story." The Long-eared Bat, Plecotus auritus, is also common in England. "Its ears," says Mr. Wood, "are about an inch and a half in length and have a fold in them reaching almost to the lips," hence its name. "It is very easily tamed."
The Vampire Bat. The Vampire Bat which belongs to South America has been invested with a halo of romance by the stories which have been told about its sanguinary character. "It lives," says the Rev. J. G. Wood, "on the blood of animals, and sucks usually while its victim sleeps. The extremities, where the blood flows freely, as the toe of a man, the ears of a horse, or the combs and wattles of fowls, are its favourite spots. When it has selected a subject, on which it intends to feed, it watches until the animal is fairly asleep. It then carefully fans its victim with its wings while it bites a little hole in the ear or shoulder, and through this small aperture, into which a pin's head would scarcely pass, it contrives to abstract sufficient blood to make a very ample meal. The wound is so small, and the bat manages so adroitly, that the victim does not discover that anything has happened until the morning, when a pool of blood betrays the visit of the vampire. "The Vampire Bat," says Professor Darwin, "is often the cause of much trouble by biting the horses on their withers. The injury is not so much owing to the loss of blood, as to the inflammation which the pressure of the saddle afterwards produces. The whole circumstance has lately been doubted in England. I was therefore fortunate in being present when one was actually caught on a horse's back. We were bivouacking late one evening, near Coquimbo, in Chili, when my servant, noticing that one of the horses was very restive, went to see what was the matter, and fancying he could distinguish something, suddenly put his hand on the beast's withers, and secured the vampire. In the morning the spot where the bite had been inflicted was easily distinguished by its being slightly swollen and bloody. The third day afterwards we rode the horse without any ill effects."