The animal is a small arboreal lemur, about the size of a guinea pig, with "enormous eyes and a dense woolly coat. A curious anatomical feature is the prominence of the neck vertebrae, which are surrounded by, a patch of bare skin, and when this is tightened, as when the animal curls up to sleep, the pointed neck bones stand up in bold relief like a row of pegs.
The Potto, though entirely harmless and vegetarian, is not easily obtained owing to the unwillingness of the natives to handle it. The thumbs and great toes, combined with the blister-like pads on soles and palms, convert the hands and feet into grasping organs of extraordinary tenacity consistent with an arboreal The natives firmly believe that once the animal grasps a human being it must from thenceforth be carried about for life.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.