slender. The index finger is much as in Nycticebus. The colour, too, is not widely different, being of a yellowish grey, but it lacks the dorsal stripe which distinguishes its relative. The incisor teeth are equal and very small. The last upper molar has four cusps instead of the three of Nycticebus. This Lemur is confined to Southern India and Ceylon, and has much the same habits as the last. But it is rather more active, and can capture small birds when sleeping upon the trees; its diet, however, is mixed, and is vegetarian as well as animal.
A mysterious Lemur, which we conveniently place as a kind of appendix to the present family on account of its locality, has been shortly described by Nachtrieb from the Philippines. The tail is rudimentary; there are two upper incisors, but as many as six lower. It is doubtful what the beast really is.
Fig. 263.—Aye-aye. Chiromys madagascariensis. × 1⁄10.
Fam. 2. Chiromyidae.—This family contains but a single genus and species, the Aye-aye, Chiromys madagascariensis, whose characters therefore are for the present those of the family as well as of the genus and species. The external features of this extraordinary animal will be gathered from an inspection of Fig. 263, from which it will be seen that the earlier name of Sciurus given to the creature was not by any means a misnomer. The Squirrel-like appearance is due, of course, chiefly to the strong and long incisor teeth. As to the external characters, which are of systematic importance,
