I am disposed to regard, then, progressive change as one of the great primary modifying principles of organic nature; and "natural selection" as a secondary one,—the latter immediately operating in the production of proximately-allied specific and varietal forms.

66

Some years ago I contributed a few facts, which showed that variations of physical conditions, as depth of water and nature of sea-bottom, induced in certain British shells modifications of form equal to differences prevailing between many species of mollusca :* in a paper published a year or two previously, I particularly noticed the remarkable, and, in many cases, imperceptible gradations of generic characters running through the tetrabranchiate Cephalopods:† and in my Monograph," I have pointed out the various forms assumed by Camarophoria Schlotheimi, and some other Permian fossils. These may be taken as evidences that I have not been inattentive to the vexed question of species. Of course, it would ill become any one to dogmatise on the question, and disbelieve in the future turning-up of facts subversive of his preconceived notions; nevertheless, I feel myself bound to declare, that all my observations and reasoning incline me to believe in the two modes of creation herein advanced.

degradations of the Indo-Caucasian type, developed by the physical conditions peculiar to the regions they respectively inhabit. Cogent reasons may be advanced for regarding the American Indian as having descended from the Mongolian, and the latter from the Indo-Caucasian. Even the aboriginals of Australia may be looked upon as another degraded race. Those inhabiting the south and west coasts are confessedly inferior to other oceanic tribes, as they appear to be incapable of constructing canoes. From some remarks recently made by Professor Jukes, one might be led to attribute this mark of inferiority to the apparent absence in Australia of indigenous timber suitable for canoes (vide “ Athenæum," No. 1793). I believe, however, a more general cause has operated; one involving physical conditions. Nevertheless, I certainly prefer accepting the particular circumstance stated, as one of the means which have brought about the degradation of the Australian, to adopting the view which considers him to be a distant "blood-relation" of some extinct ape, even should the remains of species be found hereafter more human-like and more manipulative than the gorilla or chimpanzee.

* See Annals and Magazine of Natural History, vols. xviii. and xix. † See Ibid., vol. xiv.

257

Notice of the "Angwántibo" of Old Calabar, Africa; an Animal belonging to the FAMILY LEMURINA; and apparently a new species of the Genus Pero licticus, of Bennett. By JOHN ALEXANDER SMITH, M.D.* (Plate III.)

The interesting little animal (now exhibited) was given to me by Mr William Oliphant, who received it some time ago from the Rev. Alexander Robb, one of the U. P. missionaries at Old Calabar. The following extract from a letter, dated Old Calabar, 1st December 1859, gives some details concerning it:-"I was at Creek Town yesterday, and received from King Eyo Honesty' a small bush animal; or, as the Krumen call it, bush meat,' which I brought with me to give to Mr Thomson, who is with us for a day or two, as he takes a great interest in these matters. He, however, advised me to bottle the animal, and send it to you myself; which, therefore, I now do with pleasure. We have put it up so that it ought to reach you in safety. It is in a stoppered bottle, well sealed, and the bottle is put up in a small tin box wrapped up in our native grass cloth. It seems to be a lori, or Stenops tardigradus. The Calabar people call it Angwántibo (Angwán means a farm), but we do not know the etymology of the second part of the word, and cannot say whether it arose from any habit peculiar to the animal. It lives in trees; but, being nocturnal, the people know exceedingly little about it. They cannot tell what it eats. A lad whom I asked said that he lived in the house, and it lived in the bush; how, then, could he know anything about it? My Krumen also recognised it as a countryman of theirs. They consider the one sent as a young one; and say that in their country it grows to the size of a common puss. Probably theirs is a different animal, but I cannot tell. They call it Dwăn, and say that it lays down the law to the other beasts, forbidding them to eat the young fruit when it begins to form on the trees. If the monkey transgress, the Dwăn seizes him, and holds him there till he dies,yea, the monkey rots in his grasp. They say that they are shot together thus. If the monkey gets the shot, the Dwan

* Read before the Royal Physical Society, Edinburgh, 25th April, 1859. NEW SERIES.-VOL. XV. NO. II.—APRIL 1862. 2 K

holds on; if the Dwan gets the shot, they fall together. The Krumen say that the Dwan eats fruit. This is all we know about it at present; and their (the Krumen's) account seems somewhat fabulous. One of the legs of this specimen is broken. I will send it by the mail that takes this to your address.-I am, &c., ALEXANDER ROBB.

"P.S.-Since writing the above, I have met a youth who professes to know about the Angwántibo. He says it sleeps by day, and eats at night; and that, when full grown, it is as big as an old cat, and that it eats fruit."

In a subsequent letter from Mr Robb, dated 28th February, 1860, he says:" I trust you received the Tardigradus sent a few months ago. Another specimen which I procured I handed to Mr Thomson, who, I believe, sent it to Mr Murray."

I have also received from the Rev. H. M. Waddell the following notice, which he had put down in his note-book as descriptive of the "Angwántibo:-An animal of the sloth kind, lives in trees, hangs on the branches, and eats fruit. Rather larger, when full grown, than a large cat. Longish snout, short ears, each foot three long crooked toes and claws, with a thumb similarly shaped. No tail. Dun colour; cannot walk on the ground. When set down, crawls a little, falls over, and rolls itself up in a ball. Inoffensive."

The animal belongs to the FAMILY of the Lemurs, LEMURINA s. PROSIMII, and to the first division of the family which is distinguished by Van der Hoeven in his valuable "Handbook of Zoology" (translated by the Rev. W. Clark, M.D., London, 1858), as follows:

PHALANX 1. Nail of the Index alone of the soles incurved, subulate. Upper incisor teeth four, in pairs.

A. With tarsus not elongate.

Under this great subdivision, it belongs to the

Genus STENOPS, Illig. (genera Loris and Nycticebus,

Geoff.)

rounded. Eyes large, approximate. Index of hand short,

not longer than pollex. Tail short, or none.

Van der Hoeven subdivides the Genus Stenops into the three following sections:

(a) Tail short. Index of hand very short, resembling an unarmed tubercle. (Perodicticus, Bennett.)

(Sp.) Stenops potto, Lemur potto, Gm., Nycticebus potto, Geoffr., Perodicticus Geoffroyi, Benn. Gold Coast of Guinea. Potto, Bosman.

(b) Tail very short (Nycticebus, Geoffr).

(Sp.) Stenops tardigradus, Auct., Lemur tardigradus, L. Bengal, Siam, Sumatra, Borneo. Stenops javanicus, nob., Nycticebus javanicus, Geoffr.

(c) Tail, none (Loris, Geoffr. Body slender; eyes very large, almost contiguous. Nose acute, sub-ascending).

(Sp.) Stenops gracilis, Loris gracilis, Geoffr., Lemur tardigradus, L. Ceylon.

The Angwántibo belongs apparently to the first of these subdivisions (a); although, with reference to the first character of this subdivision-that taken from the length of the tail-it agrees better with, and would therefore seem more naturally to come under, the second subdivision (b), still, the distinguishing and peculiar characteristic of the subdivision (a) seems to be the undeveloped index finger, and with this my specimen exactly corresponds. The length of the tail would appear, therefore, to be rather doubtful as a distinctive character; at least, this animal seems to be somewhat intermediate in its characters between the first two subdivisions of the genus Stenops as given by Van der Hoeven, viz.-(a) Tail short; index of hand very short, resembling an unarmed tubercle; and (b) Tail very short. The Angwántibo having the index of hand very short, resembling an unarmed tubercle; and also, the tail very short. To include it, therefore, the first character of section (a) would require to be altered to-tail short, or very short; index of hand very short, &c. It seems to me, indeed, from the discovery of this Angwántibo (assuming it to be a new species), that the greater or less length of the tail is not sufficiently distinctive to allow any characters taken simply from it, to be used for the division into sections of the comprehensive genus Stenops of Van der Hoeven.

The generic character which Van der Hoeven gives of the GENUS Stenops-index of hand short, not longer than pollex, in the sections (b) and (c), or the equivalent GENERA Nycticebus, Geoff., and Loris, Geoff.-from the examination I have been able to make of these animals, appears to be due to the smaller relative size of the metacarpal bone, and the phalanges of the index finger, which are THREE in number, as in all the other fingers (except the thumb). In the Potto, however, and this Angwántibo (as will be afterwards described), which fall under his section (a), and the GENUS Perodicticus, Benn, the character of index of hand very short, resembling an unarmed tubercle, is due, not only to the small relative size of the bones of that finger, but also to the presence of only Two very small phalanges (the same number as in the thumb), the other fingers having three. This anatomical difference forms a good distinction or character between section (a), the Genus Perodicticus, Benn., and the other Genera, which Van der Hoeven has also included in his great Genus Stenops.

The only species noticed by Van der Hoeven under section (a) of his genus Stenops, and, as far as I am aware, the only one known, is the Stenops potto or Perodicticus Geoffroyi of Bennett, and it, like this Angwántibo, is a native of Africa; the other described Genera, or species of Van der Hoeven's Genus Stenops, are inhabitants of Asia, the East Indies, &c. Van der Hoeven, in his description of this species, the Stenops potto or Aposou, says—“ The Aposo or Aposou of the negroes of the Gold Coast of Guinea is a nocturnal animal, which sleeps on trees and lives on fruits. The spinous processes of the last five cervical and of the first two dorsal vertebræ are long, and pierce through the hairy integument of the back, with a weak, horny covering. Professor Halbertsma first drew my attention to this peculiarity, which I have observed in two specimens."

On referring to the description of this same species (the Potto), placed under the Genus Perodicticus, and named P. Geoffroyi, by Mr E. T. Bennett, which is published in the "Proceedings of the Committee of Science of the Zoological Society of London," for 26th July 1831 (Part I.,