The forests of Madagascar, of Western and Eastern Africa, and of some of the Asiatic Islands, are the homes of several kinds of animals which are not unlike the Monkeys in some respects, but which differ from them in their habits of life, and, to a certain extent, in their anatomy. Most of them are in the habit of hiding up all the day, and of moving with great vivacity at dusk and during the night-time. Their gliding, noiseless motion amidst the dense foliage of the tropical woods during the dark hours, and their restless activity in searching for their food during the short twilight, were considered to resemble the fitful apparitions of sprites, spectres, and hobgoblins, and hence Linnæus gave them the name of Lemurs, taking the term from the Latin (_lemures_), “ghosts.” The name has been adopted popularly, so as to include all the kinds which, with some structural resemblance to the Monkeys, are for the most part nocturnal in their habits, and it really appears to represent the notions which the excessively timid and superstitious natives of the Eastern Islands have of the malevolent influence of some of these active and very small creatures, whose large eyes glare and shine in the dark woods as they rush to and fro before the extreme darkness of the night commences. The use of the name has been productive of some confusion, for it was especially given to one genus or group of kinds which is restricted to the Island of Madagascar. The genus Lemur, with a species of which most visitors to the Zoological Gardens are familiar--the Ring-tailed Lemur--by no means contains all the animals now under consideration, and they have been arranged under other groups, or genera, and have different names; yet they are all popularly called Lemurs. Hence, to avoid this confusion, it is usual to call the genus just mentioned genus Lemur, and all the others “Lemur-like animals,” and the Greek word εἶδος (_like_) being added the term _Lemuroida_ is formed. In scientific language, then, the creatures popularly called Lemurs are termed _Lemuroida_. Either expression may be used, but if the familiar one is employed, it is necessary to remember that the word means other animals besides those of the genus Lemur. [Illustration: ANUBIS BABOON. (_See pp. 149–150._) (_From the Living Specimen in the Zoological Gardens, London._)]