than
there is between them and the lowest of the apes--_i.e._, the marmosets.

Concerning this resemblance, Buffon has observed, when speaking of the
ape, the most man-like (and so man-like) as to brain:[13] "Il ne pense
pas: y a-t-il une preuve plus evidente que la matiere seule, quoique
parfaitement organisee, ne peut produire ni la pensee, ni la parole qui
en est le signe, a moins qu'elle ne soit animee par un principe
superieur?"

As to the second sub-order, it contains some very curious forms. The
typical lemurs (which inhabit Madagascar) have long fox-like snouts and
long tails. Certain African forms (the genus _Galago_) are very active
in their movements, and great leapers. A tailless group (the slender
loris) is interesting, as presenting a diminutive quasi-human form,
reflected, as it were, through a Lemurine prism, just as the rat-mole
shows us a mole-form reflected through a rodent prism.

A little animal, the Tarsier, which is found on the islands of Celebes
and Borneo, is very exceptional in its structure. Still more so is the
aye-aye (_Cheiromys_). This very remarkable species was discovered by
Sonnerat in Madagascar in 1770, and was never again seen till 1844, when
a specimen was forwarded to Paris. It has now, however, become well
known.

Inhabiting the sea are many beasts, which are, by mistake, popularly
spoken of as "fishes." Such are the whales and the porpoises--animals
which, in spite of their form and habit, suckle their young, and have
hot blood, as all other mammals have. These creatures form an order by
themselves, called _Cetacea_.

Another order of aquatic beasts is termed _Sirenia_, and the animals
which compose it were long confounded with the _Cetacea_, from which,
however, they are widely divergent in structure, in spite of the
general similarity which exists between them in external appearance. The
order _Sirenia_ contains but two existing genera. One of these is the
now well-known manatee (_Manatus_), the other is the dugong
(_Halicore_)--an animal very similar to the manatee, and found in the
rivers of regions about the Indian Ocean. A third form, the _Rhytina_,
existed in the Aleutian Isles till recent times, but was extirpated
almost as soon as discovered, from its incapacity for flight or defence,
and from its flesh affording a welcome change of diet to hungry sailors.

The _Cetacea_ and _Sirenia_ are examples of creatures organized for a
completely aquatic life--for never c