Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/141

LEMUR. of torpidity, in a hollow in a tree, great quanti- ties of accumulated fat providing the necessary Dourishment. The galagos (genus Galago) have large, round, naked ears, which the animal can fold at will; thej" are small, beautiful, active nocturnal animals, with large eyes, long tails, and soft wcoUy fur. The loris and pottos are remarkable for the slowness of their movements and the small or rudimentary index-finger.

The true lemurs are characterized by having thirty-six teeth, long tails, moderately elongated tarsus, and short caecum. They are confined to Madagascar and the adjacent Comoro Islands. They vary in size from that of a cat to that of a small squirrel, with fox-like faces and soft, thick fur. They walk on the ground or run about on the limbs of trees on all fours, but they are capable of very agile jumping. They are diurnal, but most active toward evening, and are very noisy, as they go about in .small troops; only two or three species are nocturnal or solitary. They are omnivorous and eat insects and birds' eggs, as well as buds and fruit. At rest, the tail is usually coiled around the body for warmth. Only one or two young are born at a time, and they are carried about by the mother, at first on her front (the niammoe are pectoral), but later ou her back. Lemurs are easily kept, and often breed in captivity, and are common in menageries. They are very variable in color, and for that reason the validity of many species is open to question. The most beautiful is the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur caf/o ), or 'Madagascar cat,' which is gray, with the long tail marked with alternate black and white rings. Like the others it is locally distriliutcd — not scattered generally all over the island, but only where the environment is suitable. This species lives only on slippery seaside cliffs, where it scrambles about rocks where not even barefooted men can walk, its long, smooth, leather-like palms enabling it to go safely. It feeds almost wholly on the fruit of the prickly pear in winter, stripping oft' the spinous skin by means of the long canine teeth. In summer it eats wild figs and bananas mainly. It may be easily tamed and taught to live upon cooked rice and the like, but will take no meat. These lemurs use their teeth as weapons, but also strike with their hands, and will put to flight dogs larger than themselves.

The broad-nosed lemur (Hnpalemtir grixeiis, or simii.s) lives only among bamboos, whose young shoots form its principal fare; it also eats grass and sugar-cane. This genus is remarkable for a spine-bearing gland on the forearm. Many lemurs have strange processes upon the skin, the purpose of which is not clearly understood. The color of some species varies with sex, as Lemur macaco, the male of which is black and the female red. The rulTed lemur (Lemur rarius) is the largest of the race. It inhabits Northeastern Sladagascar, and, as its name im- plies, is remarkable for its variation in color, some being black and white in patches variously disposed, others reddish brown or red and black. The hair on the neck forms a high ruff.

Lemurs are all perfectly harmless, but their big eyes, weird actions (in some cases), and often loud and strange nocturnal cries have led to their being regarded with superstition by the ignorant, especially in the Oriental countries. IVIuch fnlk-lnre and superstition has therefore gathered about many species. Consult, on this point, Flower, Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London for 1900, p. 231.

See Pbi-mates; Aye-Aye; Galago ; Mouse-Lemub; Potto; and other names of particular species. See Plate of Lemubs.

Bibliography. Grandidier and Milne-Ed- wards, "Mammals," in llis.toire iialurcUe de iladagascar (Paris, 1875); alsd articles in the Proceedings of the Zoiilui/ical Society of London for 1864, 180.5, 1867, 1873, 1879, and 1895; and the Transactions of the same society for 1803, 1869, and 1872. The best general account is by Lyddeker, lioijal Xatural Hixiory, vol. i. (Lon- don, 1894).

LEM'URES (Lat. nom. pi., ghosts). Among the Romans of historic times, the same as lance, that is, the souls of the departed, especially of ancestors who hovered about during the night and required propitiation. It is very probable that the word is derived from the name of the festival. The festival called Leinuria w-as held on May 9, II, and 13, and at midnight of each daythe father of the family, with special ceremonies, nine times threw black beans over his head, thus, as was supposed, banning the ghosts from the house for another vear. Ovid describes Lemuria in Fasti v., 419 fig.

LEMTTRIA (Xeo-Lat., from Lat. lemur, ghost ). In zoology, a hypothetical continent, now largely covered by the Indian Ocean, which was proposed by Haeckel as an area of ancient land characterized prominently by being inhab- ited by lemuroid animals. The object of the hypothesis was to account for the fact that now lemurs inhabit the widely separated regions of ^Madagascar and the Malayan islands. The more recent evidence from paleontology that the earli- est lemurs inhabited America destroys both the logical basis of, and the need for, such a hypothe- sis. Consult Wallace, Geographical Distribution of Ani/nals (Xew York, 1870). See Lemur.

LENA, la'na. The easternmost of the three great rivers of Siberia and the chief waterway of Eastern Siberia (Map: Asia, M 2). It rises on the slopes of the Baikal ilountains, west of Lake Baikal, and 180 miles northeast of Irkutsk. It flows first in a general northeastern direction to the town of Yakutsk, after which it flows north- west and then northward. It falls into the .-Xrctic Ocean about longitude 127° E., forn;ing a vast delta consisting of seven principal and numerous secondary arms. Its total length is estimated at 300(j miles. The upper course of the river, from its rise to its junction with the Kuta (about 430 miles), at which point it be- comes navigable for steamers, is through a moun- tainous region. Its banks are partly rocky and barren and partly covered with thick forests: its course is swift. There is very little agricul- tural land along the upper course, and the chief occupations of the adjacent settlements arc fishing and hunting. The middle stream, from the mouth of the Kuta to its junction with its chief tributary, the Aldan (over 1400 miles), is much wider and has on the whole the appearance of a navicable river. The banks are partly lined with mountain masses of red sandstone, and numerous reefs and islets render navigation hazardous. Below Yakutsk the Lena throws off a number of arms, forming long, narrow islands, and the banks become lower and the course of the river much slower. The country- along the middle course of the Lena is very sparsely inhabited by Yakuts.