28
DE. BANDWITH ON THE HABITS OF TBE AYE-APE.
that the scute proceeds from the direct calcification of the conuective tissue of the dermis.
On the other hand, I must remark that horizontal sections of‘
the scutes have presented oblique parallel fissures, sometimes
crossing one another, which might readily be supposed to correspond with the lines of separation of ossified bundles of conneetive tissue.
Nom.-During a recent visit to Paris, my friend Mr. Busk
was kind enough to examine the specimens of recent Crocodilia iu
the Museum of the Jardin des Plantes, with reference to certain
points t o which I requested his attention. Mr. Busk idorma me
that there is no doubt about the transverse direction of the preniaxillo-maxillary suture in Crocodilus rhombifer ; and his statements lead me to entertain no question that C. bomb$rons is a
synonym of C. palustris.
I n the typical specimens of C. marginatus and C. suchus of
Geoffroy St.-Hilaire, the premadlo-maxillary suture extends back
to the level of the seventh tooth.
Mr. Busk has furthermore pointed out to me the existence of
another American species of Crocodile-C. Morelettii, which has
been described by M. Auguste Dum6ril in his “ Description des
Reptiles nouveaux ou imparfaitement conuus,” &c., Archives
du Mushurn,’ t. vi. 1852.
This species inhabits lake Flores, in Yucatan ; and it is said bq
11.DuniCril to approach C. Americanus, from which it differs iu
the proportions of the skull and in the characters of the dermal
arniour.
(
June 21st, 1859.
On the Habits of the (‘Aye-Aye ” (Cheiromys madagascariensis,
L., Cuv.). By the Hon. H. SANDWITH,
M.D., C.B., Colonial
Secretary of the Mauritius. Communicated by Prof. OWEN,
F.R.S.,
V.P.L.S.
[Read April 7th, 1859.1
‘I
Maimtius, Jan. 27, 1859.
hfn DEAR MR. OwEN,-After very great difficulty and much
&lay, I have at length obtained a fine healthy male adult Aye--Aye ;
R I I h~ r is now enjoying himself in a large cagc which I have had
c.on\truc+xi for him.
I l c is a most intfreuthg little ~iiiinal;nut1 froill close observa“
“
DB. SANDWITH ON THE HABITS OF THE AYE-AYE.
29
tion I hare learnt his habits very correctly. On receiving him
from Madagascar, I was told that he ate bananas ; so of course I
fed him on them, but tried him with other fruit. I found he liked
dates,-which was a grand discovery, supposing he be sent alive to
England. Still I thought that those strong rodent teeth, as large
as those of a young Beaver, inust 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. Moreover, he had other peculiarities, -e.g., singularly large,
naked ears directed forward, as if for offensive rather than defensive purposes ; then, again, the second finger of the hands is unlike
anything but a monster supernumerary member, it being slender
and long, half the thickness of the other fingers, and resembling
a piece of bent wire. Excepting the head and this finger, he
closely resembles a Lemur.
" 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 prekiously put in some large branches for
him to climb upon ; but the others were straight sticks to cover
over the woodwork 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
Nouto.uk. Just a t sunset the Aye-Aye crcpt from under his
blanket, yawned, stretched, a i d bctook himself to his tree, w h ~ w
his movements are lively and graceful, though by no nie.zns so
quick as those of a squirrel. Presently he cnn~eto one of the
worm-eaten branches, d i i c l i he began t o examine most attentively ;
and bending forward his cars, and applying his nose close to the
bark, he rapidly tapped the surfice with the curious second digit,
as a woodpecker taps a tree, tliongh with much less noise, from
time to time inserting the end of the slender finger into the
worm-holes, as a surgeon vould n probe. At length he came to a
part of the brauch which evidently gave out an interesting sound,
for he began to tear it m itli his strong teeth. H e rapidly stripped
off the bark, cut into the ~ o o d arid
,
exposctl the nest of a griib,
which he daintily picked out of its bed %I ith the hlendcr tapping
finger, and conveyed the luscious morsel t o Iris mouth.
" 1 watched these proceedings with inteiisc interest, and was
milch struck with the niarvcllons adaptation of thc creature to its
habits, shown by his :ic*iite hearing, nhich eiiables him aptlg to
d i h i g u i s h the different tones emitted from the wood by his gtmtle
30
M R . 1. J. A. SALTER ON THE MOULTING OF THE
tapping; his evidently acute sense of smell, aiding him in his
search ; his secure footsteps on the slender branches, to which he
firmly clung by his quadrumanous members; his strong rodent
tedh, enabling him to tear through thc wood ; and lastly by the
curious slender finger, unlike that of any other animal, and which
he used alternately as a plesimeter, a probe, and a scoop.
I gave him water
" But I was yet to learn another peculiarity.
to drink in a saucer, on which he stretched out a, hand, dipped a
finger into it, and drew it obliquely through his opeii mouth ; and
this he repeated so rapidly, that the water seemed to flow into his
mouth. After EL 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.
I am told that the Aye-Aye is an object of veneration at Madagascar, and that if any native touches one, he is sure to die within
the year; hence the difficulty of obtaiiiing a specimen. I overcame this scruple by a reward of 2210.
" I quite despair of obtaining the bones of the Dinomis or Dodo,
though I have made every effort. I shall always be proud to be
of service.
" Believe me, yours very faithfully,
"
€1. SANDWITH."
On the Moulting of the common Lobster (Homarus vulgaris) and
Shore Crab (Camhus menas). By S. JAMESA. SALTER,
M.B., F.L.S., F.G.S.
[Read April 7th, 1859.1
I AM induced to bring this subject before the Linnean Society, on
account of the singularly perfect spccimen of the thrown-off slough
of a Lobster which I have now an opportunity of cxhibiting, and
because the process by which it was shed was witnessed and carefiilly watched by two competent observers-by my friend Mr.
Robert Cooke, of Scarborough, a Fellow of this Society, and by
the intelligent wife of the Curator of the Scarborough Museum,
in an aquarium in which institution the occurrence took place.
The methods by which certain of the Decapod Crustaceans cast
their old shells in the process of renewal and growth have already
been made the subject of observation and record.
Riaumur, as earlyas 1712, and again in 1718, saw and described