HISTORY
of
QUADRUPEDS,
The Third Edition.
Vol.II.
LONDON:
Printed for B.&J.WHITE, Fleet Street.
MDCCXCIII.
HISTORY
OF
QUADRUPEDS,
XX. BEAR.
Six cutting teeth, and two canine, in each jaw.
Five toes before; five behind.
In walking rests on the hind feet, as far as the heel.
208, BROWN.
Ursus. Plinii lib. viii. c. 36.
AρχτΘ. Oppian Cyneg. iii. 139.
Ursus. Gesner quad. 941. Agricola, An. Subter. 486. Raii syn. quad. 171.
Niedzwiedz. Rzaczinski Polon. 225.
Bâr. Klein quad. 82. Schwenckfelt Theriotroph. 131. Ridinger Wild. Thiere. 31. Arct. Zool. i. No. 20.
Ursus niger, cauda concolore. Brisson quad. 187.
Ursus, cauda abrupta. Lin. syst. 69.
Bicrn. Faun. suec. No. 19.
L'Ours. De Buffon, viii. 248. tab. xxxi. xxxii. Schreber, cxxxix. cxl. LEV. MUS.
B. with a long head: small eyes: short ears, rounded at the top: strong, thick, and clumsy limbs: very short tail: large feet: body covered with very long and shaggy hair, various in its color: the largest of a rusty brown: some from the consines of Russia, black, mixed with white hairs, called by the Germans, silver bar; and some (but rarely) are found in Tartary of a pure white.
VOL. II. B
PLACE AND MANNERS.
Inhabits the north parts of Europe and Asia, the Alps of Switzerland, and Dauphiné; Arabia*, Japan †, and Ceylon ‡; and the northern parts of North America; and extends to the Andes of Peru: Doctor Shaw informs us, it is also found in Barbary. They must have been very plentiful, for Pliny says that Domitius Ænobarbus produced at one of the shews a hundred Numidian pears, and as many Æthiopian hunters§. The brown bears are sometimes carnivorous, and will destroy cattle, and ear carrion; but their general food is roots, fruits, and vegetables: will rob the fields of pease; and when they are ripe, pluck great quantities up; beat the pease out of the husks on some hard place, eat them and carry off the straw: they will also, during winter, break into the farmer's yard, and make great havock among his stock of oats: are particularly fond of honey.
They live on berries, fruits, and pulse, of all kinds; and feed much on the black mulberry: are remarkably fond of potatoes, which they very readily dig up with their great paws: make great havock in the fields of maiz; and are great lovers of milk and honey. They feed much on herrings, which they catch in the season when those fish come in shoals up the creeks; which gives their flesh a disagreeable taste; and the same effect is observed when they eat the bitter berries of the Tupelo.
Bears strike with their fore foot like a cat; seldom or never use their mouths in fighting; but seizing the assailant with their paws, and pressing him against their breast, almost instantly squeeze him to death.
The females, after conception, retire into the most secret
* Forskal, iv.
† Kœmpfer, Hist. Japan, i. 126.
‡ Knox, Hist. Ceylon. 20.
§ Lib. viii. c. 36.
8
places; least, when they bring forth, the males should devour the young: it is affirmed for fact, that out of the several hundred bears that are killed in America, during winter, (which is their breeding season) that scarcely a female is found among* them; so impenetrable is their retreat during their pregnancy: they bring two, rarely three, young at a time: the cubs are deformed, but not a shapeless mass, to be licked into shape, as the antients pretended†. The cubs even of the brown bears are of a jetty blackness, and often have round their necks a circle of white. The flesh of a bear in autumn, when they are most excessively fat, by feeding on acorns, and other mast, is most delicate food; and that of the cubs still finer; but the paws of the old bears are reckoned the most exquisite morsel: the fat white, and very sweet: the oil excellent for strains, and old pains.
The latter end of autumn, after they have fattened themselves to the greatest degree, the bears withdraw to their dens, where they continue for a great number of days in total inactivity, and abstinence from food, having no other nourishment than what they get by sucking their feet, where the fat lodges in great abundance. In Lapland they pass the long night in dens lined warmly with a vast bed of moss, in which they roll themselves, secure from the cold of the severe season‡. Their retreats are either in cliffs of rocks; in the deepest recesses of the thickest woods; or in the hollows of antient trees, which they ascend and descend with surprizing agility: as they lay in no winter provisions, they
* Out of 500 bears that were killed in one winter, in two counties of Virginia, only two females were found, and those not pregnant. Lawson, 117.
† Hi sunt candida informisque caro, paulo muribus major, fine oculis, fine pilo; ungues tantum prominent: hanc lambendo paulatim figurant. Plinii lib. viii. c. 36.
‡ Fl. Lap. 313. The moss is a variety of the Polytrichum Commune.
B 2
are in a certain space of time forced from their retreats by hunger, and come out extremely lean: multitudes are killed annually in America, for the sake of their flesh, or skins, which last makes a considerable article of commerce.
Arct. Zool. 2d. Ed. ii. N° 19.
209. BLACK.
B. with a long pointed nose, and narrow forehead: the cheeks and throat of a yellowish brown color: hair over the whole body and limbs of a glossy black, smoother and shorter than that of the European kind.
They are usually smaller than those of the old world: yet Mr. Bartram gives an instance of an old he bear killed in Florida, which was seven feet long, and, as he guessed, weighed four hundred, pounds.
These animals are found in all parts of North America, from Hudson's Bay to the southern extremity; but in Louisiana and the southern parts they appear only in the winter, migrating from the north in search of food. They spread across the northern part of the American continent to the Asiatic isles. They are found in the Kurilski islands, which intervene between Kamtschatka and Japan, Jeso, Masima, which lies north of Japan, and probably Japan itself; for Kæmpfer says, that a few small bears are found in the northern provinces.
It is very certain that this species of bear feeds on vegetables. Du Pratz, who is a faithful as well as intelligent writer, relates, that in one severe winter, when these animals were forced in multitudes from the woods, where there was abundance of animal food, they rejected that, notwithstanding they were ready to perish with hunger, and migrating into the lower Louisiana, would often break
3
into the courts of houses. They never touched the butchers meat which lay in their way, but fed voraciously on the corn or roots they met with.
210. POLAR.
White bear. Martin's Spitsberg. 100. Egede Greenl. 59 Ellis voy. 41. Crantz Greenl. i. 73. Barentz voy. 18. 45. La Hontan voy. i. 235. Catesby Carolina, App. xxvi. Arct. Zool. i. No. 18.
Ursus albus. Marteasii. Kle n quad. 82.
L'Ours blanc. Brisson quad. 188. De Buffon, xv. 128. Schreber, cxli. LEV. MUS.
B. with long head and neck: short round ears: end of the nose black: vast teeth; hair long, soft, white, tinged in some parts with yellow: limbs of great size and strength: grows to a vast size: the skins of some are thirteen feet long.
PLACE.
This animal is confined to the coldest part of the globe: it has been found as far as navigators have penetrated northwards, above lat. 80. The frigid climates only seem adapted to its nature. It is unknown, except on the shores of Hudson's Bay, Greenland, and Spitzbergen. The north of Norway, and the country of Mesen, in the north of Russia, are destitute of them: but they are met with again in great abundance in Nova Zembla, and from the river Ob, along the Siberian coast, to the mouths of the Jenesei, and Lena, but are never seen far inland, unless they lose their way in mists; none are found in Kamtschatka, or its islands.
They have been seen as far south as Newfoundland; but they are not natives of that country, being only brought there accidentally on the islands of ice.
MANNERS.
During summer the white bears are either resident on islands of ice, or passing from one to another: they swim admirably, and
can continue that exercise* six or seven leagues; and dive with great agility. They bring two young at a time: the affection between the parents and them is so strong, that they would die rather than desert one another. Their winter retreats are under the snow†, in which they form deep dens, supported by pillars of the same, or else under some great eminence beneath the fixed ice of the frozen sea.
They feed on fish, seals, and the carcases of whales; and on human bodies, which they will greedily disinter: they seem very fond of human blood; and are so fearless as to attack companies of armed men, and even to board small vessels. When on land, they live on birds, and their eggs; and, allured by the scent of the seals flesh, often break into and plunder the houses of the Greenlanders: their greatest enemy in the brute creation is the Morse ‡, with whom they have terrible conflicts, but are gerally worsted; the vast teeth of the former giving it a superiority.
The flesh is white, and said to taste like mutton: the fat is melted for train oil, and that of the feet used in medicine; but the liver is very unwholesome, as three of Barentz' s sailors experienced, who fell dangerously ill on eating some of it boiled.
One of this species was brought over to England, a few years ago: it was very furious, almost always in motion, roared loud, and seemed very uneasy, except when cooled by having pail-fulls of water poured on it.
Callixenus Rhodius §, in his description of the pompous pro-
* La Hontan, i.
† Egede, 60.
‡ Egede, Greenl. 60. 83.
§ As quoted by Athenæus, lib. v. p. 201.
cession of Ptolemœus Philadelphus at Alexandria, speaks of one great white Bear, Aρχτoζ λεuχημεγαλη μια, among other wild beasts that graced the shew: no withstanding the local situation of this species at present, it is possible that Ptolemy might procure one; whether men could penetrate, in those early times, as far as the present residence of these Arctic animals, I will not venture to affirm, nor to deny; but since my friend, the Hon. Daines Barrington*, has clearly proved the intense cold that in former ages raged in countries now more than temperate, it is most probable that in those times they were stocked with animals natural to a rigorous climate; which, since the alteration, have necessarily become extinct in those parts: the Polar bear might have been one; but that it was the species meant by Callixenus is clear to me, by the epithet μεγαλη, or great, which is very applicable to it; for the white Tartarian land bear (which Ptolemy might very easily procure) differs not in size from the black or brown kind, but the bulk of the other is quite characteristic.
PIED LAND BEARS.
Land bears, sometimes spotted with white; at other times wholly white; are sometimes observed on the parts of Russia bordering on Siberia, in a wandering state, supposed to have strayed out of the losty snowy mountains, which divide the two countries†.
* Phil. Trans. vol. lviii. p. 58.
† Doctor Pallas.
211. WOLVERENE.
Quickhatch Catesby Carolina, App. xxx.
Carcajou, or Quickhatch. Dubbs Hudson's Bay, 40.
Quickhatch, or Wolverene. Ellis Hudson's Bay, 42. Clerk's voy. ii. 3. Edw. 103.
Ursus luscus. U. cauda elongata, corpore ferrugineo, rostro fusco, fronte plagaque laterali corporis. Lin. syst. 71. Arct. Zool. I. N° 21.
Ursus. Freti Hudsonis. U. castanei coloris, cauda unicolore, rostro pedibusque fuscis. Brisson quad. 188. Schreber, cxliv.
Le Glouton. De Buffon, Supplem. iii. 244. LEV. MUS.
B. with a black sharp-pointed visage: short rounded ears, almost hid in the hair; hairs on the head, back, and belly, reddish, with black tips, so that those parts appear, on first fight, quite black: sides of a yellowish brown, which passes in form of a band quite over the hind part of the back, above the tail: on the throat a white spot: on the breast a white mark, in form of a crescent: legs very strong, thick and short, of a deep black: five toes on each foot*, not deeply divided: on the fore foot of that I examined were some white spots: the bottom of the feet covered very thickly with hair: rests, like the bear, on its foot, as far as the first joint of the leg; and walks with its back greatly arched: claws strong and sharp, white at their ends: tail cloathed with long coarse hairs; those at the base reddish, at the end black: some of the hairs are fix inches long: length from nose
* Mr. Edwards observed only four toes on the fore feet of the animal he describes. My description is taken from an entire skin, in very fine preservation, communicated to me by the late Mr. Ashton Blackburne, of Oxford, Lancashire, who, with indefatigable industry and great judgment, enriched the cabinets of his friends with the rarest natural productions of that continent: as this work has profited so greatly by that gentleman's labors, it would be ungrateful to omit my acknowlegements.
to tail twenty-eight inches: length of the trunk of the tail seven inches, but the hairs reach six beyond its end: the tail in Mr. Edwards's figure not quite accurate: it is corrected in that which is borrowed from his admirable work. The whole body is covered with very long and thick hair, which varies in color, according to the season.
Inhabits Hudson's-Bay, and Canada, as far as the straights of Michilimakinac.
A most voracious animal: slow of foot, so is obliged to take its prey by surprize: in America is called the Beaver-Eater, for it watches those animals as they come out of their houses, and sometimes breaks into their habitations, and devours them.
In a wild state is vastly fierce; a terror to both wolf and bear, which will not prey on it when they find it dead*, perhaps on account of its being so very fœtid, smelling like a pole-cat: makes a strong resistance when attacked; will tear the stock from the gun, and pull the traps it is caught in to pieces: burrows†, and has its den under ground. Mr Graham, long resident in Hudson's Bay, has assured me, that it will lurk on a tree, and drop on the deer which pass beneath, and fasten on them till the animals are quite exhausted.
Charlevoix, in Hist. Nouv. France, v. 189, gives the name of this animal (Carcajou) to our 189th species, the Puma, or Brown Panther of N. America.
* Clerk California, ii. 3.
† La Hontan's voy. i. 62.
VOL. II. C
In conformity to the opinion of that respectable naturalist Doctor Pallas, I unite the Woolverene and Glutton. I do not alter my description of the latter; but add both that and the synonyms; submitting to future times the propriety or impropriety of uniting these animals: there being distinctions that even now leave me very undetermined.
212. GLUTTON.
Gulo. Olaii Magni gent. Septentr. 138.
Gulo, vielfrass. Gesner quad. 554. Klein quad. 83. tab. v.
Rosomak. Rzaczinski Polon. 218. Bell's Travels, i. 235.
Muller's Russ Samlung. iii. 549, 550. Ritchkoff Topogr. Orenb. i. 295.
Jerf, Field frofs. Strom Sondmor. 152. Pontop. Norway, ii. 22. Scheffer's Lapland, 134.
Hyæna. Brisson quad. 169. Ysbrandts Ides Trav. Harris's Coll. ii. 923.
Mustela gulo M. pedibus fissis, corpore rufo-fusco, medio dorsi nigro. Lin. syst. 67. Zimmerman. 311.
Jarf, Filfress. Faun. suec. No. 14.
Jæerven. Gunner's Act. Nidros. iii. 143. tab. iii.
Le Glutton. De Buffon, xiii. 278.
B. with a round head: thick blunt nose: short ears, rounded, except at the tip: limbs large: back strait; marked the whole length with a tawny line: tail short and very full of hair: the hair in all other parts black, finely damasked or watered like a silk, and very glossy; but sometimes varies into a browner color. Klein attributes to it five toes on each foot: that which Mr. Zimmerman describes, had but four, very thickly covered with hair.
SIZE.
The length of one which was brought from Siberia, and kept alive at Dresden, was a yard and eight inches: the height from the top of the head was nineteen inches. Mr. Zimmerman de-
8
scribes another, rather lesser than the former, which was shot near Helmstedt, in Wolfenbuttle. Its length was three feet three: its height before fifteen inches; behind, sixteen: the tail six inches.
PLACE.
Inhabits Lapland, the northern and eastern parts of Siberia, and Kamtschatka. Those of Kamtschatka differ, and vary to white and yellowish, and their skins are esteemed by the natives before the black: they say, that the heavenly beings wear no other garments. The women wear the paws of the white sort in their hair: and esteem a skin as the most valuable present which their husbands or lovers can make.
They are excessively voracious; that which was confined at Dresden would eat thirteen pounds of flesh in a day, and not be satisfied. The report of their filling themselves so full, as to be obliged to go between two trees to force out part of the food, seems to be fabulous.
Like the Lynx, it lurks on the boughs of trees, and will fall on any animal which passes by, fasten on, and destroy it. Its game is chiefly deer; and about the Lena, horses. Is capable of being made tame.
It differs from the bear by its lean habit; by not lying inactive in winter; and by its living entirely on animal food. It is also more bold, voracious, and cunning.
The Russians call it Rosomak; the Kamtschatkans, Timmi; and the Koratski, Haeppi. An animal, called by the Greenlanders, Amanki, is said to be found in their country, which is supposed to be the Glutton; but as Greenland is destitute of wood, I suppose their Amanki, or Amarok, to be a fabulous animal*.
* See Crantz Hist. Greenland.
C 2
213. RACCOON.
Raccoon. Lawson Carolina, 121. Catesby Carolina, App. xxix.
Mapach, seu animal cuncta prætentante manibus. Hernandez, Nov. Hisp. I. Nieremberg. 175.
Vulpi affinis Americana. Raii syn. quad. 179. Sloane Jamaica, ii. 329.
Coati. Worm. Mus. 319.
Coati. Ursus cauda annulatim variegrata. Brisson quad. 189.
Ursus Lotor. U. cauda annulata, fascia per oculos transversali nigra. Lin. syst. 70. Arct. Zool. i. N° 22.
Le Raton. De Buffon, viii. 337. tab. xliii. Schreber, cxliii.
Raccoon. Kalm's Travels. Forster's Tr. i. 96. 208. tab. II. LEV. MUS.
B. with a sharp-pointed black nose: upper jaw the longer: ears short, and rounded: eyes surrounded with two broad patches of black: from the forehead to the nose a dusky line: face, cheeks, and chin, white: upper part of the body covered with hair, ash-colored at the root, whitish in the middle, and tipt with black: tail very bushy, annulated with black: toes black, and quite divided. Sometimes this animal varies: I have seen one entirely of cream color*.
PLACE.
Inhabits the warm and temperate parts of America: found also in the mountains of Jamaica, and in the isles of Maria, between the S. point of California and Cape Corientes, in the S. Sea†: an animal easily made tame; very good-natured and sportive, but as unlucky as a monkey; almost always in motion; very inquisitive, examining every thing with its paws; makes use of them as hands: sits up to eat: is extremely fond of sweet things, and strong liquors, and will get excessively drunk: has all the cunning of a fox: very destructive to poultry; but will eat all sorts
* LEV. MUS.
† Dampier's voy. i. 276.
5
of fruits, green corn, &c.: at low water feeds much on oysters; will watch their opening, and with its paw snatch out the fish; sometimes is caught in the shell, and kept there till drowned by the coming in of the tide: fond also of crabs: climbs very nimbly up trees: hunted for its skin; the fur next to that of the beaver, being excellent for making hats.
Wha Tapoua Row. White's Bot. Bay, 278.
214. NEW HOLLAND.
B. of the same external form as the American Raccoon except the ears, which are pointed: six cutting teeth in the upper jaw; two? in the lower: back of a dark grey; growing lighter on the sides: belly of a fine brown: tail as long as the body, covered with long hair; the lower part near the end is naked, and has a prehensile quality like some species of monkies, or the common Opossum.
PLACE.
Inhabits New Holland.
XXI. BADGER.
Six cutting teeth, two canine, in each jaw.
Five toes before, five behind: very long strait claws on the fore feet.
A transverse orifice between the tail and the anus.
215. COMMON.
Meles. Plinii lib. viii. c. 38. Gesner quad. 327.
Meles, five Taxus. Raii syn. quad. 185.
Meles, Taxus, Tassus, Blerellus; Jazwiec, Borsuk. Rzaczinski Polon. 233.
Coati cauda brevi, Coati grifeus, Taxus, Meles, Tax. Klein quad. 73.
Dachs. Kramer Austr. 313.
Meles pilis ex fordidé albo et nigro variegatis vestita, capite tæniis alternatim albis et nigris variegato. Brisson quad. 183.
Le Blaireau, ou Taison. De Buffon, viii. 104. tab. vii.
Ursus meles U. cauda concolore, corpore supra cinereo, fubtus nigro, fascia longitudinali per oculos auresque nigra. Lin. syst. 70.
Meles unguibus anticis longissimis. Graf-suin. Faun. suec. No. 20. Br. Zool. i. 64. Br. Zool. illustr. tab. lii. Schreber, cxlii. LEV. MUS.
B. with small eyes: short rounded ears: short thick neck: with nose, chin, lower sides of the cheeks, and middle of the forehead, white: ears and eyes inclosed in a pyramidal bed of black: hairs on the body long and rude; their bottoms a yellowish white, middle black, ends ash-colored: throat, breast, belly, and legs black: tail covered with long hairs, colored like those on the body: legs very short and thick: claws on the fore feet very long: a fœtid white matter exudes from the orifice beneath the tail: animal of a very clumsy make.
SIZE.
The length is commonly two feet six inches from the nose to the origin of the tail; of the tail six inches: the weight from fifteen to thirty four pounds. The last is rare; but I met with, in the winter of 1779, a male of that weight.
Inhabits most parts of Europe, as far north as Norway*, and Russia; and the step or defert beyond Orenburgh, in the Russiart Asiatic dominions; in Great Tartary, and in Siberia about the river Tom, and even about the Lena, but none in the north; inhabits also China, and is often found in the butchers shops in Pekin, the Chinese being fond of them†. A scarce animal in most countries: seldom appears in the day; confines itself much to its hole: is indolent and sleepy: generally very fat: feeds by night; eats roots, fruits, grass, insects, and frogs: not carnivorous: its flesh makes good bacon: runs slowly; when overtaken comes to bay, and defends itself vigorously: its bite hard and dangerous: burrows under ground, makes several apartments, but forms only one entrance from the surface: hunted during night, for the skin, which serves for pistol furniture; the hair, for making brushes to soften the shades in painting. The division of this species into two, viz. the swine and the dog badger, unnecessary, there being only one.
Arct. Zool. i. No. 23.
β. AMERICAN.
B. with a white line from the tip of the nose, passing between the ears, to the beginning of the back, bounded on each side, as far as the hind part of the head, with black, then by a white one, and immediately between that and the ears is another of black: hair long: back colored like that of the common badger: sides yellowish: belly cinereous: thighs dusky: tail covered with long dirty yellow hairs, tinned with white; the end dusky.
* Pontop. hist. Norway, ii. 28.
† Bell's travels, ii. 83.
The legs were wanting in the skin I took my description from. M. de Buffon's description, taken from a stuffed animal* brought from Terra di Librador, will supply that defect: he says there were only four toes on the fore feet; but he suspects (as I imagine was the case) that the fifth might have been rubbed off in stuffing.
Described from a skin from Hudson's-Bay, found in a furrier's shop in London: it was less than that of the European badger: the furrier said, he never met with one before from that country. Kalm † says, he saw the European badger in the province of Pensylvania, where it is called the Ground Hog ‡; and this proves to be no other, varying very little from it.
216. INDIAN.
B. with a small head, and pointed nose: scarcely any external ears; only a small prominent rim round the orifice, which was oval: color of the nose and face, a little beyond the eyes, black: crown, upper part of the neck, the back, and upper part of the tail, white, inclining to grey: legs, thighs, breast, belly, sides, and under part of the tail black.
Five toes on each foot; the inner small: claws very long and strait.
SIZE.
Length from nose to tail about two feet: tail four inches: hair short and smooth.
* He calls it Le Carcojou. Suppl. iii. 242. tab. xlix.
† Kalm's travels, Forster's transt. i. 189.
‡ M. Brisson describes a white Badger, with a yellowish white belly, and also much inferior in size to that of Europe, which M. Reaumur received from New York. Vide Brisson quad. 185.
PLACE.
Inhabits India: feeds on flesh: is playful, lively, and good-natured: sleeps rolled up, with its head between its hind legs; sleeps little in the day: refused all commerce with the English badger which was turned to it, and lived some time in the same place: climbs very readily over a division in its cage.
VOL. II. D
XXII. OPOSSUM.
Two canine teeth in each jaw.
Cutting teeth unequal in number in each jaw*.
Five toes on each foot: hind seet formed like a hand, with a distinct thumb.
Tail very long, slender, and usually naked.
217. VIRGINIAN.
Tlaquatzin. Hernandez Mex. 330. Nierem! erg, p. 136. and fig. 136.
Tajibi. Maregrave Brasil. 222. Raii syn. quad. 182. 185.
Semi-vulpa. Gesner quad. 870. Icon. An. 90.
Opossum. Ph. Tr. alridg ii. 884. tab. xiii; iii. 593; and v. 169. 177. Lawson Caroïna, 120. Beverley's Virginia, 135. Catesby Carolina, App. xxix. Rochefort Antiles, i. 283.
Fara, ou Ravall? Gumilla, Orenoque, iii. 238. Arct. Zool. i. No. 24.
Le Manicou. Feuilleè obs. Peru. iii. 206.
Wood-rat. Du Pratz Louisiana, ii. 65.
Didelphis marsupialis. D mammis octo intra abdomen? Lin syst. 71. Amœn. Acad.? i. 561. LEV. MUS.
O. with long sharp-pointed nose: large, round, naked, and very thin ears, black, edged with pure white: small, black, lively eyes: long stiff hairs each side the nose, and behind the eyes: face covered with short soft white hairs: space round the eyes dusky: neck very short; its sides of a dirty yellow: hind part of the neck and the back covered with hair above two inches long; soft, but uneven; the bottoms of a yellowish white, middle part black, ends whitish: sides covered with dirty and dusky hairs; belly, with soft, woolly, dirty white hair: legs and thighs black: feet dusky: claws white: base of the tail clothed with long hairs, like those on the back; rest of the tail covered
* This species has eight cutting teeth in each jaw. Tyson.
with small scales; the half next the body black, the rest white: it has a disagreeable appearance, looking like the body of a snake, and has the same prehensile quality as that of some monkies: body round, and very thick: legs short: on the lower part of the belly of the female is a large pouch, in which the teats are lodged, and where the young shelter as soon as they are born.
SIZE.
The usual length of the animal is, from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail, about twenty inches; of the tail twelve inches.
PLACE.
MANNERS.
Inhabits Virginia, Louisiana, Mexico, Brasil, and Peru: is very destructive to poultry, and sucks the blood without eating the flesh: feeds also on roots and wild fruits: is very active in climbing trees: will hang suspended from the branches by its tail, and, by swinging its body, fling itself among the boughs of the neighbouring trees: continues frequently hanging with its head downwards: hunts eagerly after birds and their nests: walks very slow: when pursued and overtaken, will feign itself dead: not easily killed, being as tenacious of life as a cat: when the female is about to bring forth, she makes a thick nest of dry grass in some close bush at the foot of a tree, and brings four, five, or six young at a time.
FALSE BELLY.
As soon as the young are brought forth, they take shelter in the pouch, or false belly, and fasten so closely to the teats, as not to be separated without difficulty: they are blind, naked, and very small when new-born, and resemble fœtuses: it is therefore necessary that they should continue there till they attain a perfect shape, strength, fight, and hair; and are prepared to undergo what may be called a second birth: after which, they run into this pouch as into an asylum, in time of danger; and the parent carries them about with her. During the time of this second
D 2
gestation, the female shews an excessive attachment to her young, and will suffer any torture rather than permit this receptacle to be opened; for she has power of opening or closing it by the assistance of some very strong muscles.
The flesh of the old animals is very good, like that of a sucking pig: the hair is dyed by the Indian women, and wove into garters and girdles: the skin is very fœtid.
M. de Buffon seems not to be acquainted with this animal, but has compiled an account of its manners, and collected the synonyms of it. The figures* which he has given belong to the following species, as does the description.
218. MOLUCCA.
Carigue, ou Saragoy. De Laet, 485.
Carigueya. Maregrave, 223.
Mus Marsupialis, Beutel ratze. Klein quad. 59.
Vulpes major putoria cauda tereti & glabra? Barrere France Æquin. 166.
Philander orientalis fœmina. Sch. Mus. i. 61. tab. xxxvi. fig. 1. 2. xxxviii fig. 1.
Sarigue, ou l'Opossum. De Buffon, 311. x. tab. lxv. lxvi. Schreber, cxlvi. A. B. LEV. MUS.
O. with long, oval, and naked ears: mouth very wide: over each eye is an oblong spot of white: lower side of the upper jaw, throat, and belly, of a whitish ash-color: rest of the hair of a cinereous brown, tipt with tawny, darkest on the back: tail long as the body; near the base covered with hair, the rest naked: claws hooked.
On the belly of the female is a pouch, in which the young (like those of the former) shelter. Maregrave found six young within the pouch of the Carigueya, which I consider as the same animal. It had ten cutting teeth above, and eight below.
* The figure in the first edition was very indifferent, I have therefore changed it for the very faithful one in the Phil. Trans.
3
SIZE.
Length from nose to tail, ten inches. The tail exceeds the length of head and body. Its whole figure is of a much more slender and elegant make than the former.
The tail pulverised, and taken in a glass of water, is reckoned in New Spain a fovereign remedy against the gravel, colic, and several other disorders.
PLACE.
This genus is not confined to America, as M. de Buffon supposes; who combats the opinion of other naturalists on this subject with much warmth: but the authority of Piso, Valentyn, and of Le Bruyn, who have seen it both in Java and in the Molucca Isles, and of numbers of collectors in Holland, who receive it frequently from those places. This and N° 219 are proofs of what I advance. It is also met with in New Holland.
This species is found in great numbers in Aroe and Solor: It is called in the Indies, Pelandor Aroe, or the Aroe Rabbet. They are reckoned very delicate eating; and are very common at the tables of the Great, who rear the young in the same places in which they keep their rabbets. It inhabits also Surinam, and the hot parts of America.
α GREATER.
Seba figures and describes, in his 1st vol. 64. tab. xxxix. an Opossum under the name of Philander maximus orientalis fœmina. It has a pouch like the former: is much larger: seems to have a longer and more slender tail: has broader ears; has a dusky spot over each eye, and is of a darker color. It feeds on fruits: was brought from Amboina, where it is called Coes Coes*.
* In Indiis orientalibus, idque solum, quantum bactenus constat, in Amboina, similis Bestia (Carigueya) frequens ad felis magnitudinem accedens, mactata ab incolis comeditur, si rite preparetur, ham alias fœtet. Nomen illi Cous Cous inditum. Piso India, 343.
I am unacquainted with this species, so leave these two conjoined till I receive fuller information.
Much is wanted to complete the natural history of this genus.
219. JAVAN.
Filander. Le Bruyn voy. East Indies, ii. 101. tab. ccxiii. Ed. Angl.
O. (according to Le Bruyn's figure) with a narrow fox-like head: upright pointed ears: a brown stripe passing through the eyes: fore legs very short: five toes on the fore feet; three only on the hind, two of which are very strong, the outmost slender and weak; and sound on dissection to consist internally of two bones, closely united, with two weak claws bursting out of the skin*: tail thick, shorter than the body.
In the upper jaw are six cutting teeth; in the lower two, which are formed like those of squirrels: no canine teeth†.
On the belly is a complete pouch, like the Virginian kind: hair on the body rude: face seemingly that of a hare.
PLACE.
Discovered first by Mr. Le Bruyn, who saw in Java several in an inclosure along with rabbets: they burrowed like them; leaped in their pace; preserved their young in the pouch, which would often peep out when the old ones were still.
The sidelity of Le Bruyn's figure has been since confirmed by the specimens sent from Java into Holland.
* Pallas in act. acad. Petrop. pars ii. 229. tab. ix*.
† The same.
Mus sylvestris Americanus Scalopes dictus. Seb. Mus. i. 46. tab. xxxi. fig. 1. 2.
Philander saturate spadiceus in dorso, in ventre dilutè flavus, pedibus albicantibus. Brisson quad. 211.
Didelphis murina. D. cauda semipilosa, mammis senis. Lin. syst. 72.
La Marmose. De Buffon, x. 336. tab lii. liii. Schreber, cxlix.
O. with long broad ears, rounded at the end, thin and naked: eyes encompassed with black: face, head, and upper part of the body, of a tawny color: the belly yellowish white: the feet covered with short whitish hair: toes formed like those of the Virginian: tail slender, covered with minute scales, from the tip to within two inches of the base, which are cloathed with hair. Length from nose to tail, about eight inches; tail of the same length: the female wants the false belly of the former; but, on the lower part, the skin forms on each side a fold, between which the teats are lodged.
This species varies in color: I have seen one from Guiana, brown above, white beneath.
Inhabits the hot parts of South America: agrees with the others in its food, manners, and the prehensile powers of its tail: it brings from ten to fourteen young at a time; at lest, in some species, there are that number of teats: the young affix themselves to the teats as soon as they are born, and remain attached, like so many inanimate things, 'till they attain growth and vigor to shift a little for themselves.
221. MEXICAN.
Cayopollin. Hernandez Nov. Hisp. 10.
Animal caudimanum. Nieremberg, 158.
Mus Africanus Kayopollin dictus, mas. Seb. Mus. tab. xxxi. fig. 3.
Philander saturaté spadiceus in dorso, in ventre ex albo flavicans, cauda ex saturatè spadiceo maculata. Brisson quad. 212. Schreber, cxlviii.
Le Cayopollin. De Buffon, x. 350. tab. lv. LEV. MUS.
O. with large, angular, naked, ard transparent ears: nose thicker than that of the former kind: whiskers very large: a slight border of black surrounds the eyes: face of a dirty white, with a dark line running down the middle: the hairs on the head, and upper part of the body, ash-colored at the roots; of a deep tawny brown at the tips: legs dusky: claws white: belly dull cinereous: tail long, and pretty thick, varied with brown and yellow: is hairy near an inch from its origin; the rest naked: length, from nose to tail, about nine inches; the tail the length of the body and head.
Inhabits the mountains of Mexico: lives in trees, where it brings forth its young: when in any fright, they embrace their parent closely: the tail is prehensile, and serves instead of a hand.
222. CAYENNE.
Le Crabier. De Buffon, Supplem. iii. 272.
Canis serus major, Cancrosus vulgo dictus. Koupara. Barrere France Æquinoct. 149.
O. with a long slender face: ears erect, pointed, and short: the coat woolly, mixed with very coarse hairs, three inches long, of a dirty white from the roots to the middle; from thence to the ends of a deep brown: sides and belly of a pale yellow: legs of a dusky brown: thumb on each foot distinct: on the toes
of the fore feet, and thumb of the hind, are nails; on the toes of the hind feet crooked claws: tail very long, taper, naked, and scaly.
Length seventeen French inches: of the tail fifteen and a half. The subject measured was young.
Inhabits Cayenne: very active in climbing trees, on which it lives the whole day. In marshy places, feeds on crabs, which, when it cannot draw out of their holes with its feet, hooks them by means of its long tail. If the crab pinches its tail, the animal sets up a loud cry, which may be heard afar: its common voice is a grunt like a young pig. It is well furnished with teeth, and will defend itself stoutly against dogs: brings forth four or five young, which it secures in some hollow tree. The natives eat these animals, and say their flesh resembles a hare. They are easily tamed, and will then refuse no kind of food.
223. NEW-HOT.
O. with the upper part of the head, and the back and sides, covered with long, soft, glossy hairs, of a dark cinereous color at the bottoms, and of a rusty brown towards the ends: belly of a dirty white.
Tail taper, covered with short brown hairs, except for four inches and a half of the end, which was white, and naked underneath: toes like the former.
The skin I examined had lost part of the face: the length from the head to the tail was thirteen inches: the tail the same.
This was found near Endeavour river, on the eastern coast of
VOL. II E
New Holland, with two young ones*. It lodges in the grass, but is not common.
Stockdale's Bot. Bay, 150.
224. VULPINE.
O. with very long whiskers: ears erect, and pointed: upper parts of the body greyish, mixed with dusky and white hairs, tinged with rufous: the last predominates about the shoulders: all the under side of the neck and body of a tawny buff; about a quarter of the tail, next to the body, of the same color with the back; the rest black: length from the tip of the nose to the tail, two feet two inches: the tail fifteen.
Inhabits New Holland.
225. SHORT-TAILED.
Mus sylvestris Americana, fœmina. Seb. Mus. i. 50. tab. xxxi.
Philander obscurè rufus in dorso, in ventre helvus, cauda brevi crassa, Brisson quad. 213. Schreber, cli.
O. with naked ears: the back of a dull red; belly of a paler: tail scarce half the length of the body; thick at the base, lessening towards the end: no false belly.
Inhabits South America: the young adhere to the teats as soon as born. Seba says it lives in woods, and brings from nine to twelve young at a time.
* Cook's voy. iii 586.
226. PHALANGER.
Philander ex rufo luteus in dorso, in ventre ex flavoalbicans, capite crasso. Brisson quad. 213. S. b. Mus, i. 50. tab. xxxi. fig. 8. Klein quad. 58.
Le Phalanger. De Buffon, xiii. 92. tab. x. xi. Schreber, clii.
O. with a thick nose: short ears, covered with hair: eight cutting teeth in the upper jaw; two in the lower: hair on the upper part of the body reddish, mixed with light ash-color, and yellow: the hind part of the head, and middle of the back, marked with a black line: the throat, belly, legs, and part of the tail, of a dirty yellowish white; the rest of the tail brown and yellow: the body of the female marked with white: the first and second toes of the hind feet closely united: the claws large: the thumb on the hind feet distinct, like that of the other species: the bottom of the tail is covered with hair, for near two inches and a half; the rest naked: the length, from nose to tail, near nine inches; the tail ten.
PLACE.
This species inhabits the East Indian islands, as I am informed by Doctor Pallas; nor is it found in Surinam, as M. de Buffon conjectures.
227. MERIAN*.
De zak, of Beurs Rot. Merian insect. Surinam. 66. tab. lxvi.
Mus sylvestris Americana. Seb. Mus. i. 49. tab. xxxi. fig. 5.
Philander ex rufo helvus in dorso, in ventre ex flavo albicans. Brisson quad. 212.
Mus sylvestris Americanus, catulos in dorso gerens. Klein quad. 58.
Didelphis dorsigera. D. cauda basi pilosa corpore longiore, digitis manuum muticis, Lin. syst. 72.
Le Philandre de Surinam. De Buffon, xv. 157. MUS. LEV.
O. with long, sharp-pointed, naked ears: head, and upper part of the body, of a yellowish brown color: the belly white,
* From Merian, a German paintress, who first discovered the species at Surinam.
E 2
tinged with yellow: the fore feet divided into five fingers; the hind into four, and a thumb, each furnished with flat nails: tail very long, slender, and, except at the base, quite naked.
SIZE.
The length, from nose to tail, is ten inches. The tail exceeds the length of the body and head.
Inhabits Surinam: burrows under ground: brings five or six young at a time, which follow their parent: on any apprehension of danger, they all jump on her back, and twisting their tails round her's, she immediately runs with them into her hole.
* Flying.
228. FLYING.
Flying Opossum. Stockdale's Bot. Bay, 297. White's,288.
O. with large ears: whole upper part of the body covered with a rich fur of a glossy black, mixed with grey. On each hip is a tan-color'd spot; all the under side white: tail at the base light color'd; increasing to black as it advances towards the tip: along the middle of the back from the head to tail, is a black line: on the fore feet are five toes; on the hind only three, with a thumb without any nail. From the fore to the hind feet, is a large membrane like the flying squirrel's: length from nose to tail, twenty inches: of the tail twenty two.
Inhabits New Holland. The fur exquisitely fine.
** Gerboid.
229. KANGARU.
Kanguroo. Cook's voy. iii. 577. tab. xx.
Yerboa gigantea. Zimmerman, 526.
O. with a small head, neck, and shoulders: body increasing in thickness to the rump.
The head oblong, formed like that of a fawn, and tapering from the eyes to the nose: end of the nose naked and black: upper lip divided.
Nostrils wide and open: lower jaw shorter than the upper: aperture of the mouth small: whiskers on both jaws: those on the upper longest: strong hairs above and below the eyes.
Eyes not large; irides dusky; pupil of a blueish black.
Ears erect, oblongly ovated, rounded at the ends, and thin, covered with short hairs; four inches long.
TEETH.
No canine teeth: four broad cutting teeth in the upper jaw: two long lanceolated teeth in the lower, pointing forward: four grinding teeth in each jaw, remote from the others. This animal has the very singular power of separating the lower incisores, and of bringing them again close to each other.
Belly convex and great.
LEGS.
Fore legs very short, scarcely reaching to the nose; useless for walking.
Hind legs almost as long as the body: the thighs very thick: on the fore feet are five toes, with long conic and strong claws; on the hind feet only three: the middle toe very long and thick, like that of an ostrich; and extends far beyond the two others,
5
which are placed very distinct from it, and are small: the claws short, thick, and blunt: the inner toe of the hind feet is singularly distinguished by having on it two small claws: the bottom of the feet, and hind part, black, naked, and tuberculated, as the animal rests often on them.
TAIL.
Tail very long, extending as far as the ears; thick at the base, tapering to a point: the end is black; at the extremity is a strong hard nail: the hair on all parts short and rather hard.
Scrotum large and pendulous, and is placed before the penis.
The female has on the belly an oblong pouch of a vast depth. The receptacle of its young.
Hair on the whole animal soft, and of an ash-color; lightest on the lower parts.
SIZE.
Length of the largest skin I examined, three feet three inches from the nose to the tail: of the tail, two feet nine.
Weight of the largest which was shot, was eighty four pounds; but this, on examination of the grinding teeth, had not attained its full growth*. Later accounts inform us, they grow to the weight of a hundred and forty pounds: to the length of six feet to the base of the tail: the tail itself, according to Mr. Stockdale's publication, only two feet one.
PLACE.
Inhabits the western side of New Holland, and has as yet been discovered in no other part of the world. The natives call it Kangaru. It lurks among the grass: feeds on vegetables: drinks by lapping: goes chiefly on its hind legs, making use of the fore feet only for digging, or bringing its food to its mouth. The dung is like that of a deer. It is very timid: at the fight of men
* Cook's voy. iii. 586.
flies from them by amazing leaps, springing over bushes seven or eight feet high; and going progressively from rock to rock. It carries its tail quite at right angles with its body when it is in motion; and when it alights often looks back: is much too swift for gre-hounds: is very good eating, according to our first navigators; but the old ones, according to the report of the more recent voygers, were lean, coarse, and tough.
The weapon of defence was its tail, with which it would beat away the strongest dog.
In the spring of the present year I had opportunity of observing the manners of one brought into the capital alive. It was in full health, very active, and very mild and good natured: on first coming out of its place of confinement, it for a little time went on all fours, but soon assumed an upright attitude. It would sport with its keeper in a very singular manner: it first placed its tail in a perpendicular manner, erected its body on it as on a prop, and then raising its whole body, darted its hind legs on the breast of the man. It was capable of striking with great force if provoked: and it could scratch violently with its fore claws.
This is a very anomalous animal: but has more relation to this genus than any other; and in form of its legs comes very near to the Javan. N°219.
230. LESSER KANGARU.
Kanguroo rat. Stockdale, 277. White, 286.
O. with the visage of a rat; with two sharp pointed cutting teeth in the upper; two larger in the lower, with truncated ends: fore feet very short, furnished with four toes: hind legs and tail resembling the great species. Three toes on each hind foot; the middle greatly exceeding the other two in length: on the belly is a pouch; within which were four nipples. The color above is of a pale brown, lighter on the belly: in size double to that of the Brown rat.
MANNERS.
From the form of its parts, the manners probably the same with those of the former: one was shewn in London in 1790, but so shy as to elude a perfect description, continually concealing itself in the straw of the box.
231. SPOTTED KANGARU.
Stockdale's Bot. Bay, 147.
O. with a long canine visage: upright sharp ears: head and body black; the first plain: the body and thighs marked with large spots of white, thinly dispersed: tail covered with short hairs at the base, the rest very bushy, covered with very long black hairs. Fore legs covered with short hairs for a small space next to the body; the remaining part naked: the feet furnished with five toes; the hind feet with four and a thumb, with a claw. Length from the nose to the tail twenty-five inches: tail about nine.
Inhabits New Holland.
XXIII. WEESEL.
Six cutting teeth, two canine teeth, in each jaw.
Sharp nose: slender bodies.
Five toes before; five behind.
232. COMMON.
Mustela. Agricola An. Subter. 485. Gesner quad. 752.
Weasel or Weesel, mustela vulgaris; in Yorksbire, the Fitchet, or Foumart. Raii syn. quad. 195.
The Whitred. Sib. Scot. iii. II.
Wiesel. Klein quad. 62.
Mustela nivalis. Lin. syst. 69.
Sno-mus. Faun. Suec. N° 18.
Mustela supra rutila, infra alba. Brisson quad. 173.
La Belette. De Buffon, vii. 225. tab. xxix.
Weesel. Br. Zool. i. 82. Br. Zool. illustr. tab. ci. Schreber, cxxxviii. LEV. MUS.
W. with small rounded ears: whole upper part of the head and body of a pale tawny brown; under side entirely white: a brown spot beneath the corners of the mouth: length, from nose to tail, between six and seven inches: tail two and a half.
Inhabits most parts of Europe; is common in Siberia, as far as Kamtschatka; is met with in N. America, even as high as Hudson;s Bay, found also in Barbary*. Is very destructive to chickens, birds, and young rabbets; a great devourer of eggs: does not eat its prey on the spot; but after killing it, by a bite near the head, carries it off to its retreat: is a great destroyer of field mice; a gentleman informed me he found eighty-five, newly killed, in one hole, which he believed belonged to this animal:
* Shaw's Travels, 249.
VOL. II. F
very active, runs up the sides of walls with great ease; no place is secure from its ravages: frequents outhouses, barns, and granaries: is a great enemy to rats and mice, and soon clears its haunts from those pernicious animals: brings four or five young at a time: its skin and excrements intolerably fœtid. In Norway, Sweden, Russia, and Siberia, it always changes to white at approach of winter. In Siberia it is called Lasmitska: their skins are sold to the Chinese for three or four rubles the hundred.
233. TOUAN.
Le Touan de la Cepedes, &c. vi. 252. tab. lxi.
W. with the upper part of head and body blackish; sides of the body, head, and legs, of a bright ferruginous: the lower part of the neck and body of a more pure white: the length from the nose to tail is rather more than five inches: the tail is rather more than two inches long, and tapers to a point.
Inhabits Cayenne: lives in hollow trees: lives on worms and insects, and brings two young at a time, which it carries on its back.
234. STOAT.
Mustela. Gesner quad. 753.
Wiesel. Kramer Austr. 312. Meyer's An. ii. tab. 23, 24.
Muslela erminea. M. plantis fissis, caudæ apice albo. Lin. syst. 68.
Wesla. Faun. suec. No. 17.
Muslela hyeme alba, æstate supra rutila infra alba, caudæ apice nigro. Brisson quad. 176.
Le Roselet. De Buffon, vii. 240. tab. xxix. Schreber, cxxxvii. A.
Stoat. Br. Zool. i. 84. LEV. MUS.
β ERIMINE, when white. Mus Ponticus. Plinii hb. viii. c. 37. Agricola An. Subter. 484.
Armelinus, Hermelein. Gesner quad. 754.
Gornostay. Rzaczinski Polon. 235.
Mustela Candida, animal ermineum. Raii syn. quad. 198.
L'Hermine. De Buffon, vii. 240. tab. xxix. fig. 2 Brisson quad. 176. Schreber, cxxxvii. B.
Ermine. Hest. Kamtschatka, 99. Pontop. Norway, ii. 25. Br. Zool. i. 84. LEV. MUS.
W. with the upper part of the body pale tawny brown: edges of the ears, and ends of the toes, of a yellowish white: throat, breast, and belly, white: end of the tail black: length, from nose to tail, ten inches; tail five and a half: in the N. of Europe and Asia, and in the Highlands of Scotland, it becomes entirely white at the approach of winter, the end of the tail excepted: resumes its brown color in the spring: sometimes found white in England: one was brought to me in a former winter, mottled with brown and white, the season not having been severe enough to effect a total change*; but in February 1780, I saw in my grounds two others in the state of most perfect and beautiful ermines. In the mountains of Southern Asia and Persia, it retains its brown color the whole year†.
* Br. Zool. illustr. tab. ci.
† Pallas.
F 2
Inhabits, in great abundance, the N. of Europe, and of Asia; in Kamtschatka and the Kurile lslands: is met with in Newfoundland and Canada*: the skins a great article of commerce in Norway and Siberia: is found in the last place in plenty, in birch forests, but none in those of fir or pine: the skins are sold on the spot, from two to three pounds sterling per hundred† taken in Norway in traps, baited with flesh; in Siberia ‡, either shot with blunt arrows, or taken in a trap made of two flat stones, propped by a stick, to which is fastened a baited string, which, on the left touch of the animal, falls down and kills it; its manners and food the same with the former; but does not frequent houses: its haunts are woods and hedges, especially such as border on some brook.
235. QUIQUI.
Mustela Quiqui. Molina Chili. 273.
W. with a cuneiform nose: ears short and round, with a white spot in the middle: general color brown: legs and tail short: feet like those of a lizard: length from nose to tail thirteen inches.
Inhabits Chili: is fierce and irritable: lives under ground: feeds on mice.
236. CUJA.
Mustela Cuja. Molina Chili. 272.
W. with black eyes: nose turned up at the end: hair black; very thick, but soft: tail as long as the body, well furnished with hair: very like the ferret in size, shape, and teeth.
* Charlevoix bist. Nouv. France, v. 197.
† Muller Russ. Samlung. 516.
‡ Bell's travels, i. 199. Pontop. Norway, ii. 25.
3
Inhabits Chili: lives on mice: breeds twice a year, and brings three or four at a time.
237. S. AMERICAN FITCHET.
La Fouine de la Guiane. De Buffon, Suppl. iii. 161. tab. xxiii.
W. with a long sharp nose: that, the cheeks, throat, and sides of the neck, black: forehead and sides of the head, to the ears, white: ears short, round, and edged with white: from each ear, a narrow white stripe extends along the sides of the neck: the body covered with coarse hairs, grey at their bases, black and white at the ends: legs and feet black, tinged with red: the toes not unlike those of a rat.
SIZE.
Length from nose to tail near twenty-one inches and a half: tail full of hair, of a bright chesnut, mixed with white; is rather shorter in proportion than that of the English Fitchet, to which it has a great resemblance.
PLACE.
Inhabits Guiana.
238. FITCHET.
Putorius. Gesner quad. 767.
Yltis. Agricola An. Subter. 485.
Pole-cat, or Fitchet, Rail syn. quad. 196.
Tchorz. Rzaczinski Polon. 236.
Mustela fœtida. Iltis. Teussels kind. Klein quad.
Mostela putorius. M. pedibus fissis, corpore flavo nigricante; ore auriculisque albis. Lin. syst. 67. Iller. Faun. suec. No. 16.
Mustela pilis in exortu ex cinereo albidis, colore nigricante terminatis, oris circumferentia alba. Brisson quad. 186.
Le Putois. De Buffon, vii. 199. tab. xxiii. Schreber, cxxxi.
Pole-cat. Br. Zool. i. 77. MUS. LEV.
W. With the space round the mouth white; the tips of the ears of the same color: head, body, and legs, of a chocolate-
color, almost black: on the sides the hairs are of a tawny cast: tail black: length seventeen inches; tail fix.
Inhabits most parts of Europe; is common in the temperate parts of Russia, but grows scarcer in Siberia, except in the desert of Baraba, and beyond the lake Baikal. None are found north of those places: they are usually met with, in the places just cited, with white or yellowish rumps, bounded with black.
The Fitchet burrows under ground, forming a shallow retreat, about two yards in length, generally terminating under the roots of some large tree; sometimes forms its lodge under hayricks, and in barns: brings five or six young at a time: preys on poultry, game, and rabbets: in winter frequents houses, and will rob the dairy of milk. This animal is excessively fœtid; yet the skin is dressed with the hair on, and used as other furs, for tippets, &c; and is also sent abroad to line cloaths.
239. SARMATIAN.
Mustela sarmatica, Russis Perugusna. Pallas, Itin. i. 453. Gueldenstaedt, in Nov. Com. Petrop. xiv. 441. tab. x. Zimmerman, 486. Schreber, cxxxii.
Przewiaska, or the girdled weesel? Rzaczinski, auct. hist. Polon. 328.
W. with broad, short, round ears, edged with long white hairs: mouth surrounded with white: head, feet, and under side of the body, of a full black: head crossed beyond each eye with a white band, passing beneath the ears along the sides of the neck, and down to the throat: from the hind part of the head, another of yellow passes on each side obliquely towards
the shoulders; above, is a third: the upper part of the body is of a brownish black, striped and spotted irregularly with obscure yellow: tail dusky, full of hairs, intermixed with white ones longer than the rest: the end wholly black.
SIZE.
Length, from the tip of the nose, about fourteen inches; of the tail six.
PLACE.
Inhabits only Poland, and the southern provinces of Russia, between the Dnieper and Volga; and in Asia, the Caucasean mountains, and Georgia; and by report, Bucharia.
MANNERS.
It is a most voracious animal, feeding on the marmots, mice, and other lesser animals that inhabit with it the vast plains of the Russian empire. Seizes on its prey, and first sucks out the blood; does not meddle with eggs: lives usually in holes made by other beasts, but is not without the power of burrowing: preys by night: sleeps little: very fierce and untameable: its eyes flaming: its smell fœtid, especially when it erects its tail, which it does in anger: is very active: it moves by frequent jumps: copulates in the spring: goes two months, and brings four or eight young, according to the report of the natives.
240. SIBERIAN.
Mustela siberica, kolonnok Russis. Pallas Itin. 701.
W. with the face black, whitish about the nostrils, and spotted towards the eyes; the rest of the animal of a deep yellow, nearly approaching to fox or orange color; with the throat sometimes spotted with white: tail very full of hair, and of a
deeper color than the body: hair in general loose and long: the soles of the feet thickly covered with fur.
SIZE.
Its body more slender than the Fitchet, coming nearer to the form of the Stoat: length to the tail twelve inches; of the tail fix.
PLACE.
Begins to appear in the Altaic mountains, between the Ob and the Irtish, from whence it is common, in wooded mountains, to the Amur and lake Baikal. It has great resemblance in its manners, haunts, and food with the sable; but does not extend so far north.
241. FERRET.
Viverra. Plinii lib. viii. c. 55. Agricola An. Subter. 486.
Mustela rustica, viverra, Furo, Ictis. Gesner quad. 762. Raii syn. quad. 198.
Fret. Klein quad. 63. Schreber, cxxxiii.
Viverra pilis subflavis, longioribus, castaneo colore terminatis (masc.) M. pilis ex albo subflavis vestita. (fœem.) Brisson quad. 177.
Mustela Furo. M. pedibus fissis, oculis rubicundis. Lin. syst. 68. MUS. LEV.
W. with a very sharp nose: red and fiery eyes: round ears: color of the whole body a very pale yellow: length about fourteen inches; tail five.
Inhabits, in its wild state, Africa*; from whence it was originally brought into Spain †, in order to free that country from the multitudes of rabbets, with which the kingdom was overrun; from thence the rest of Europe was supplied with it: is a lively active animal: the natural enemy of rabbets: sucks the
* Shaw's travels, 249.
† Kαì γαλας αρìας ας Au:ùη qepεI Strato, lib. iii.
blood of its prey, seldom tears it: breeds in our climate: and brings five, six, or nine at a time: but is apt to degenerate, and lose its savage nature: warreners * are therefore obliged to procure an intercourse between the female and a pole-cat, by leaving it near the haunts of the last: the produce is a breed of a much darker color than the ferret, partaking more of that of the pole-cat. The ferret has the same disagreeable smell with that animal.
242. MARTIN.
Martes gutture albo. Agricola An. Subter 485. Gesner quad. 764.
Stein-marter. Klein quad. 64.
Martes, alias Foyna, Martin, or Martlet. Raii syn. quad. 200.
Kuna. Rzaczinski Polon. 222.
Mustela pilis in exortu albidis castaneo colore terminatis vestita, gutture albo. Brisson quad. 178.
Mustela martes. M. pedibus fissis, corpore sulvo nigricante, gula pallida. Lin. syst. 67. Mard. Faun. suec. No. 15.
La Fouine. De Buffon, vii. 186. tab. xviii. Schreber, cxxix.
Martin. Br. Zool. i. 79. LEV. MUS.
W. with broad rounded ears: lively eyes: head brown, with a tinge of red: body, sides, and legs, covered with hair, ash-colored at the bottoms, bright chesnut in the middle, black at the tips: throat and breast white: belly deep brown: tail full of hair, and of a dusky color: feet broad, covered at bottom with thick down: claws white: length eighteen inches: tail ten.
PLACE
Inhabits most parts of Europe, even to the warmer parts of Russia, but does not extend far east in that empire: is a most elegant lively animal: capable of being tamed: is very good-natured and sportive: lives in woods; and breeds in the hollow
* Br. Zool.i. 78. ii.498.
VOL. II. G
of trees; and often, during winter, shelters in magpies nests: brings from four to six young at a time: destroys poultry, game, &c. and will eat rats, mice, and moles: the skin and excrements have a musky smell: the fur is of some value, and used to line the robes of magistrates.
243. GREY-HEADED.
Le grande Marte de Guianne. de La Cepedes. de Buffon, Suppl. vi, 250. tab. lx.
W. with the head and upper part of the sides of the neck greyish: throat and under side of the neck white: all the rest of the body, limbs, and tail, black: length from the tip of the nose to the tail above two feet: of the tail (which is full of hair) eighteen inches.
PLACE.
Inhabits Guiana.
244. PINE.
Martes gutture luteo. Agricola An. Subter. 485.
Martes sylvestris. Gesner quad. 765.
Martes abietum. Raii syn. quad. 200.
Baum-Marter. Klein quad. 64.
Mustela pilis in exortu ex cinereo albidis castaneo colore terminatis, gusture flavo. Brisson quad. 179.
La Marte. De Buffon, vii. 186. tab, xxii. Schreber, cxxx.
Yellow-breasted Martin. Br. Zool. i. 81. Faunul. Sinens. LEV. MUS.
W. with a Yellow breast and throat: the hair of a dark chesnut-color, and of far superior fineness to the former; in other respects agreeing with it.
Inhabits the N. of Europe, Asia, and America: found also in Great Britain*: are not found about the river Oby, nor in any part of Siberia: inhabits large forests, especially those of pines: never lodges near houses, as the other species is said† to do: M. de Buffon says, that it brings but two or three young at a time: its prey is the same with the former; its fur of far greater value. The peninsula of Kamtschatka, and North America, abound with them: their skins a prodigious article of commerce. Those found about Mount Caucasus, with an orange throat, are esteemed the finest in the furriers shops.
245. SABLE.
Zobela. Agricola An. Subter. 485.
Mustela Sobella. Gesner quad. 768.
Mustela Zibellina, the Sable. Raii syn, quad. 201. Klein quad. 64.
Mustela Zibellina, Aristotele Satherius, Nipho Cebalus, Alciato Mus Samarticus et Scythicus. Charleton Ex. 20.
Mustela Zibellina. M. pedibus fissis, corpore obscurè fulvo, sronte exalbida, gutture cinereo. Lin.syst. 68.
Mustela Zibellina. Nov. Com. Petrop. v. 330. tab. vi.
Martes Zibellina. Mustela obscurè fulvo, gutture cinereo. Brisson quad. 180.
La Zibeline. De Buffon, xiii. 309.
W. with long whiskers: rounded ears: large feet: white claws: long and bushy tail; color of the hair black at the tips, cinereous at the bottom: chin cinereous, sometimes white, yellow, or spotted: the edges of the ears yellowish: sometimes the hair has a tawny cast: for in spring, after shedding
* M. de Buffon says, we have none of these animals in England, Parce qu'il n'y a pas de bois. That gentleman never did our kingdom the honour of making a progress through it.
† All foreign writers agree in this; but those which inhabit my neighborhood always keep in the woods, except in their nocturnal excursions.
G 2
the coat, the color varies: there are instances of their being found of a snowy whiteness*.
The size is equal to that of the Martin, to which it has a great resemblance in form: but this specific distinstion must be noted—the tail of the martin is much longer than the hind legs, when extended: that of the Sable shorter.
PLACE.
Inhabits Siberia, Kamtschatka, and some of the Kurile isles, which lie between Kamtschatka and Japan. Notwithstanding what Mr. Schesser says†, it is certain there are none to be found west of the Urallian mountains, from whence they increase in numbers, in proportion as you advance eastward.
Sables live in holes in the earth, or beneath the roots of trees: sometimes, like the martin, form nests in the trees, and will skip with great agility from one to the other: are very lively, and much in motion during night: sleep much in the day: one that was kept tame would, on sight of a cat, sit up on its hind legs: excrements most excessively fœtid: prey, during summer, on ermines, weesels, and squirrels, but above all on hares; in winter, on birds; in autumn on hurtleberries, cranberries, and the berries of the service-tree: but during that season their skins are at the worst, that diet causing them to itch, and to rub off their fur against the trees: they bring forth at the end of March, or beginning of April, and have from three to five at a time, which they suckle for four or five weeks‡
Their chace was, in the more barbarous times of the Russian empire, the employ, or rather the tasks, of the unhapy exiles into Siberia: as that country is now become more populous, the
* Strahlenberg hist. Russia, 442.
† Scheffer Lapl. 136.
‡ Hist. Kamtschatka, 109, &c.
sables have in great measure quitted it, and retired farther North and East, to live in desert forests and mountains. They live near the banks of rivers, or in the little islands in them*: on this account they have, by some, been supposed to be the Σαϑεζιov of Aristotle, Hist. An. lib. viii. c. 5; which he classes with the animals conversant among waters.
At present the hunters of sables form themselves into troops, from 5 to 40 each; the last subdivide into lesser parties, and each chuses a leader, but there is one that directs the whole: a small covered boat is provided for each party, loaden with provision, a dog and net for every two men, and a vessel to bake their bread in: each party also has an interpreter for the country they penetrate into: every party then sets out according to the course their leader points out: they go against the stream of the rivers, drawing their boats up, till they arrive in the hunting-country; there they stop, build huts, and wait till the waters are frozen, and the season commences. Before they begin the chace their leader assembles them, they unite in a prayer to the Almighty for success, and then separate: the first sable they take is called GOD's sable, and is dedicated to the church.
They then penetrate into the woods, mark the trees as they advance, that they may know their way back; and in their hunting-quarters form huts of trees, and bank up the snow round them: near these lay their traps, then advance farther, and lay more traps, still building new huts in every quarter, and return successively to every old one, to visit the traps, and take out the game to skin it, which none but the chief of
* Avril's Travels, 140.
the party must do: during this time they are supplied with provisions by persons who are employed to bring it on sledges, from the places on the road where they are obliged to form magazines, by reason of the impracticability of bringing quantities thro' the rough country they must pass. The traps are a sort of pit-fall, with a loose board placed over it, baited with fish or flesh: when sables grow scarce, the hunters trace them in the new-fallen snow, to their holes, place their nets at the entrance, and sometimes wait, watching two or three days for the coming out of the animal: it has happened, that these poor people have, by the failure of their provisions, been so pinched with hunger, that, to prevent the cravings of appetite, they have been reduced to take two thin boards, one of which they apply to the pit of the stomach, the other to the back, drawing them tight together by cords placed at the ends*: such are the hardships our fellow-creatures undergo, to supply the wantonness of luxury.
The season of chace being finished, the hunters re-assemble; make a report to their leader of the number of sables each has taken; make complaints of offenders against their regulations; punish delinquents; share the booty; then continue at the headquarters 'till the rivers are clear of ice; return home and give to every church the dedicated furs.
COMMERCIAL HISTORY.
The following is the commercial history of this fur-trade, which Dr. J. R. Foster was so obliging as to translate for me, from Muller's Samlung Rufs. Geschichte, iii. 495 to 515, being an abstract from above 20 pages.
* Bell's Travels, i. 245.
4
"SABLE, SOBOL in Russian; ZOBEL in German: their price varies, from Il. to 10l. sterling, and above: sine and middling sable skins are without bellies, and the coarse ones are with them: forty skins make a collection called Zimmer; the finest sables are sold in pairs, perfectly similar, and are dearer than single ones of the same goodness; for the Russians want those in pairs for facing caps, cloaks, tippets, &c. The blackest are reputed the best. Sables are in season from November to February, for those caught at any other time of the year are short haired, and then called Nedosoboli. The hair of sables differs in length and quality: the long hairs, which reach far beyond the inferior ones, are called Os; the more skin has of such long hairs, the blacker they are, and the more valuable is the fur; the very best have no other but those long and black hairs. Motchka is a technical term in the Russian fur-trade, expressing the lower part of the long hairs; and sometimes it comprehends likewise the lower and shorter hairs: the above-mentioned best sable furs are said to have a black Motchka. Below the long hairs are, in the greater parts of sable furs, some shorter hairs, called Podosie, i. e. Under-Os: the more Podosie a fur has, the less valuable: in the better kind of sables the Podosie has black tips, and a grey or rusty Motchka: the first kind of Motchka makes the middling kind of sable furs; the red one the worst, especially if it has but few Os: between the Os and Podosie is a low woolly kind of hair, called Podsada; the more Podsada a fur has, the less valuable, for the long hair will, in such case, take no other direction than the natural one; for the character of sables is, that notwithstanding the hair naturally lies from the head towards the tail, yet will
it lie equally in any direction, as you strike your hand over it: the various combinations of these characters, in regard to Os, Motchka, Podosie, and Podsada, make many special divisions of the goodness of furs: besides this, the furriers attend to the size, preferring always, cœteris paribus, the biggest, and those that have the greatest gloss: the size depends upon the animal being a male or female, the latter being always smaller. The gloss vanishes in old furs: the fresh ones have a kind of bloomy appearance, as they express it; the old ones are said to have done blooming: the dyed sables always lose their gloss, become less uniform, whether the lower hairs have taken the dye or not, and commonly the hairs are somewhat twisted or crisped, and not so strait as in the natural ones: some fumigate the skins, to make them look blacker; but the smell, and the crisped condition of the long hair, betrays the cheat; and both ways are detected, by rubbing the fur with a moist linen cloth, which grows black in such cases.
"The Chinese have a way of dying the sables, so that the color not only lasts, (which the Russian cheats cannot do) but the fur keeps its gloss, and the crisped hairs only discover it: this is the reason that all the sables, which are of the best kind, either in pairs or separate, are carried to Russia; the rest go to China: the very best sables come from the environs of Nertchisk and yakutsk; and in this latter district, the country about the river Ud affords sometimes sables, of whom one single fur is often sold at the rate of 60 or 70 rubles (12 or 14l.) The bellies of sables, which are sold in pairs, are about two fingers breadth, and are tied together by forty pieccs, which are sold from 1 to 2l. sterling. Tails
are fold by the hundred; the very best sable furs must have their tails, but ordinary sables are often cropped, and a hundred fold from 4 to 8l. sterling: the legs or feet of sables are seldom sold separately. White sables are rare, and no common merchandize, but bought only as curiosities: some are yellowish, and are bleached in the spring on the snow."
The common sables are scarcely better in hair and color than the martin.
The sable is found again in North America. The Russians have often discovered the skins mixed with those of martins, in the fur-dresses which the Ichutcki get from the Americans by way of exchange. Their fur is more glossy than that of the Siberian sable, and of a bright chesnut-color; but of a coarser quality. It is to be observed, that no sables are found N. E. of the river Anadyr, the country of the Ichutcki*.
The information I received from Doctor Pallas, respecting the character of this animal, obliges me to lay aside my notion of its being found in the new world, under the name of The Fisher; yet I have reason to suppose I have recovered it on that continent, by seeing the skin of another quadruped highly resembling it, in the cabinet of Mrs. Blackburn, sent from Canada; which I describe under the name of the American.
AMERICAN.
Its length, from nose to tail, was twenty inches. The trunk of the tail only five inches: but from the rump to the end of the hairs eight. The ears more pointed than those of the Asiatic sable: feet very large, hairy above and below: five toes, with white claws on each foot.
* Doctor Pallas.
VOL. II. H
COLOR.
Color of the head and ears whitish: whiskers short and black: whole body of a light tawny: feet brown. This seems to have been one of the bleached kind before mentioned.
246. FISHER.
W. With a black nose: strong and stiff whiskers: six small weesel-like teeth above and below: six large canine teeth: four grinding teeth in each upper jaw; three sharppointed, the fourth flat: in the lower jaws six; the last flatted, the next tridentated; the next to those bidentated: ears broad and round, dusky on their outsides, edged with white: face and sides of the neck pale brown, or cinereous, mixed with black: hairs on the back, belly, legs, and tail, black; brownish at their base: sides brown: the feet very broad; covered with hair even on their soles: five toes on the fore feet; generally four, but sometimes five, on the hind feet; with sharp, strong, and crooked white claws: fore legs shorter than those behind: tail full and bushy, smallest at the end, seventeen inches long: length, from nose to tail, twenty-eight inches.
Inhabits North America: notwithstanding its name, is not amphibious: preys on all sorts of lesser quadrupeds*: by the number of skins imported, is not an uncommon animal; not less than 580 being brought in one season from New york and Pensylvania; seems to be the animal called by Josselyn †, the SABLE; which, he says, is perfectly black. I have seen many of the skins, which vary in color. LEV. MUS.
* By a letter from Mr. Peter Cellinson, who received the account from Bartram, of Pensylvania.
† JOsselyn's voy. 87.
247. MADAGAS. CAR.
Le Vansire. De Buffon, xiii. 167. tab. xxi. de la Cepedes, de Buffon, Suppl, vii, 249. tab. lix.
W. with short ears: the hair on the whole body brown at the roots, and barred above with black, and serruginous: the tail of the same color: the length from nose to tail, about fourteen inches; the tail, to the tip of the hairs at the end, near ten.
Inhabits Madagascar.
248. PEKAN.
Le Pekan. De Buffon, xiii. 304. tab. xlii. Schreber, cxxxiv. LEV. MUS.
W. with very long and strong whiskers: ears a little pointed: hair on the head, back, and belly, cinereous at the roots, of a bright bay at the ends; very soft and glossy: on the sides is a tinge of grey: between the fore-legs a white spot: legs and tail black: toes covered, with thick hair, above and below: claws sharp.
In form like a martin: its length, from nose to tail, one foot seven inches: the length of the trunk of the tail above ten; and the hairs extend an inch beyond.
Inhabits North America: described from a skin.
Le Vison. De Buffon, xiii. 308. tab. xliii.
249. VISON.
W. with rounded ears: color of the hair brown, tinged with tawny, very bright and glossy: beneath is a thick down, cinereous tipt with rust color: legs very short: tail dusky.
H 2
SIZE.
Length to the tail above seventeen inches: tail, to the extremity of the hairs, nine.
PLACE.
Inhabits North America, described from the stuffed skins, in 1765, in the cabinet of M. Aubry, curate of Saint Louis, in Paris. A fuller account of this and the preceding animal is desired.
250.WHITE-CHEEKED.
W. with rounded ears: broad and blunt nose: dusky irides: head flat: face, crown, legs, rump, and tail, black: chin and cheeks white: throat of a rich yellow: back and belly of a pale yellow, intimately mixed with cinereous.
SIZE.
Length, from nose to tail, eighteen inches: tail of the same length, covered with long hair.
Described from the living animal at Mr. Brooks's, April 1774. Place unknown.
251. GRISON.
Le Grison. De Buffon, xvi. 169. tab. xxv. Allamand, v. 65. tab. viii. Schreber, cxxiv.
W. with large head and eyes: short but broad ears: upper part of the body of a deep brown, each hair tipped with white, which gives it a grey or hoary look: from each side of the forehead extends a broad white line, passing over the eyes, and reaching as far as the shoulders: the nose, throat, and whole under side of the body, thighs, and legs, black.
SIZE.
Length, from the tip of the nose to the origin of the tail, seven inches. By the figure, the tail is little more than half the length of the body.
6
Inhabits Surinam, but is a very scarce animal: first described by Mr. Allamand.
252. GUINEA.
Galera, subsusca, cauda elongata, auribus subnudis appressis. Browne's Jamaica, 485. tab. xlix.
Le Tayra, ou le Galera, De Buffon, xv. 155. Schreber, cxxxv.
W. with the upper jaw much longer than the lower: eyes placed mid-way between the ears and tip of the nose: ears like the human: tongue rough: tail declining downwards, lessening towards the point: feet strong, and formed for digging: shape of the body like that of a rat: size of a small rabbet: of a dusky color: the hair rough.
PLACE.
Inhabits Guinea: common about the negro settlements: burrows like a rabbet: very sierce; if drove to necessity will fly at man or beast: very destructive to poultry: seems to be the Kokeboe of Bosman*, which only differs in color, being red.
253. GUIANA.
Mustela barbara. M. pedibus sissis, atra, collo subtus macula alba triloba. Lin. syst. 67.
Mustela maxima atra moscum redolens. Tayra, grosse Belette. Barrere France Æquin.155.
W. with round ears, covered with down: an ash-colored space between the eyes: a trilobated spot on the lower part of the neck: size of a martin: color black: hairs coarse.
PLACE.
Inhabits Brasil and Guiana: when it rubs itself against trees, leaves behind an unctuous matter, that scents of musk.
*Hist, Guinea, 239.
254. WOOLLY.
La petite Fouine de la Guiane. De Buffon, Suppl. iii. 162. tab. xxiv.
W. with a long slender nose: upper jaw longer than the lower: ears very short and round: body covered with woolly hair: tail taper, ending in a point, between eight and nine inches long: body, from nose to tail, between fifteen and sixteen.
M. de Buffon does not mention the color; by his figure the belly seems white. He says it inhabits Guiana. I am doubtful whether it is not one of the above species.
255. ICHNEUMON.
Iχνενμωγ. Aristot. htst. An lib. ix. c. 6. Oppian Cyneg. iii. 407.
Ichneumon, I'linii lib. viii. c. 24.
L'lchneumon, que les Egyptiens nomment Rat* de Pharaon. Belon obj. 95. Portraits, 06. Prosp. Alp. 1. 234. Gesner quad. 566. Raii syn. quad. 202. Shaw's Travels, 249, 376.
Mustela Ægyptiaca. Klein quad. 64.
Meles Ichneumon digitis mediis longioribus, lateralibus æualibus, unguibus subumformibus. Hasselqutst itin. 191.
Ichneumun: Mus Pbaraonis vulgo. Brisson quad. 181.
Viverra Ichneumon. V. cauda e basi incrassata sensim attenuata, pollicibus remotiusculis, Lin.syst.63. Schreber, cxvi. A. LEV. MUS.
β. INDIAN. Quil, vel Quirpele. Garcia Arom. 214. Raii syn. quad. 197. Viverra Mungo. Kampser Amœn. 574.
De Mongkos. Valentyn Ambun. iii.
Serpenticida sive Moncus Rumph herb. Ambon. App. 69. tab. xxviii
Indian Ichneumon. Edw. 199.
Ichneumon seu vulpecula Ceilonica. Seb. Mus. i 66. tab. xli. fig. 1.
La Mangouste. De Briffon, xiii. 150. tab. xix. Le Nems, tom. xvi. 14. tab. xxvii.
Viverra indica. V. ex griseo rufescens, Briffon quad. 177. Raii syn. quad. 198. Schreber, cxvi. LEV. MUS.
W. with bright flame-colored eyes: small rounded ears, almost naked: nose long and slender: body thicker than
* The Ægyptians never style it Phar, or Mouse, but Nems, or Ferret, from its resemblance to that animal. Hasselquist, 196. This Forskal confirms, p. 111.
8
that of others of this genus: tail very thick at the base, tapering to a point: legs short: the hair is hard and coarse: color various in different animals, from different countries; in some alternately barred with dull yellowish brown and white; in others, pale brown and mouse-coloured; so that the animal appears mottled: throat and belly of a uniform brown: beneath the tail is an orifice not unlike that of a badger.
The specimen in the Ashmolean Museum was thirteen inches and a half long to the origin of the tail; the tail eleven: the Ægyptian variety is the largest. Some are forty-two inches long from the nose to the extremity of the tail. M. de Buffon gives the figure of one in the xxvith plate of his Supplement, vol. iii. under the name of La Grande Mangouste: the tail is longer, and more slender than that of the common kind, and the hair universally more broken and coarser.
Inhabits Ægypt, Barbary, India, and its islands: a most useful animal; being an inveterate enemy to the serpents and other noxious reptiles which infest the torrid zone: attacks without dread that most fatal of serpents the Naja, or Cobra di Capello; and should it receive a wound in the combat, instantly retires; and is said to obtain* an antidote from a certain herb; after
* A fact, as yet, not well established: Botanists are not yet agreed about the species of this sanative plant, whose use, it is pretended, this weesel pointed out to mankind: those who have seen the combats between the Ichneumon and Naia, never could discover it: Kampfer, a writer of the first authority, who visited India, and who had a tame Ichneumon, and been witness to its battles with the serpent, says no more than that it retired and eat the roots of any herb it met with. It is from the Indians he received the account of the root, whose veracity he speaks most contemptuously of. Amœn. Exot. 576. Rumphius never saw the plant growing; but describes it from a specimen sent him from Java, for he says the Indians would persuade him that it had no leaves. Vide Herb. Amboin. App. 71. All that seems certain is, that the Indians have a plant, of whose alexipharmic virtues they have a high opinion, and are said to use it with success against the dreadful macassar poison, and the bite of serpents. Kœmpser says he had good success with one species, in putrid severs, and found it infallible for the bite of a mad dog. As there is no doubt but a most useful plant of this nature does exist in the Indies, it is to be hoped that strict enquiry will be made after it. In order to direct their searches, they are referred to
Garcia ab Horlo Hist. Aromatum in Clus. Exot. 214.
Kampser Amœn. Exot. 573. Rumph. Herb. Amboin. App. 29.
Amœn. Acad. ii. 89. Flora Zeylanica, 46. 190, 239.
which it returns to the attack, and seldom fails of victory. Is a great destroyer of the eggs of crocodiles, which it digs out of the sand; and even kills multitudes of the young of those terrible reptiles: it was not therefore without reason, that the antient Ægyptians ranked the Ichneumon among their Deities: is at present domesticated, and kept in houses in India and in Ægypt; for it is more useful than a cat, in destroying rats and mice: grows very tame: is very active; springs with great agility on its prey; will glide along the ground like a serpent, and seems as if without feet: sits up like a squirrel, and eats with its fore feet: catches any thing that is flung to it: is a great enemy to poultry: will seign itself dead till they come within reach: loves fish: draws its prey, after sucking the blood, to its hole: its excrements very fœtid: when it sleeps, brings its head and tail under its belly, appearing like a round ball, with two legs sticking out. Rumphius observes how skilfully it seizes the serpents by the throat, so as to avoid receiving any injury: and Lucan beautifully de-
scribes the same address of this animal, in conquering the Ægyptian Asp.
Aspidas ut Pharias cauda solertior hostis
Ludit, at iratas incerta prouocat umbra:
Obliquansque caput vanas serpentis in auras
Effusœ toto comprendit guttura morsu
Letiseram citra saniem: tunc irrita pestis
Exprimitur, saucesque fluunt pereunte veneno. Lib. iv. 724.
Thus ost' th' Ichneumon, on the banks of Nile,
Invades the deadly Aspic by a wile;
While artfully his slender tail is play'd,
The serpent darts upon the dancing shade;
Then turning on the soe with swift surprize,
Full on the throat the nimble seizer flies:
The gaping snake expires beneath the wound,
His gushing jaws with poisonous floods abound,
And shed the fruitless mischief or. the ground.
ROWE.
Gm. Lin. 85.
256. CAFRE.
W. with short hairy ears: hairs on the body shining, rude, mixed with yellow, black, and brown: tail grows gradually more slender from the base, tip black.
Inhabits the Cape of Good Hope.
257. FOUR-TOED.
Le Surikate. De Buffon, xiii. 72. tab. viii. Scbreber, cxvii. Miller's plates, xx.
W. with a very sharp-pointed nose: head depressed: cheeks inflated: upper jaw much longer than the lower; tip
VOL. II. I
black: whiskers black, arising from warty tubera: irides dusky: region about the eyes black: ears small, rounded, black, lying close to the head.
Tongue oblong, blunt, aculeated backwards.
Six small incisores; two long canine in each jaw, and five grinders on each side.
Back very broad, and a little convex: belly broad and flat.
Legs short: feet small, naked at the bottom; four toes on each: the claws on the fore feet long, like those of the badger; on the hind feet short.
Color of the hairs brown near the bottom; black near the ends, and hoary at the points; those on the back undulated: inside of the legs yellowish brown: tail tusted with black.
Length from nose to tail eleven inches; of tail eight: the last thick at the base, ending pretty abrupt.
Inhabits the Cape of Good Hope, where it is called Meer-rat: feeds on flesh; preys on mice; is a great enemy to Blattœ: is always making a grunting noise: is much in motion: fits quite erect, dropping its fore legs on its breast, and moving its head with great ease, as if on a pivot, and appearing as if it liftened, or had just spied something new. When pleased, it makes a rattling noise with its tail, for which reason the Dutch at the Cape call it Klapper-maus*. It is also found in Java, where the Javanese style it Jupe; the Dutch, Suracatje*. The animal which I examined was brought alive from the Cape. Well engraven in Miller's plates, tab. xx.
*Pallas Miscel. Zool. 59, 60.
258. Yellow.
Yellow maucauco. Syn. quad. No. 108. Viverra caudivolvola. Schreber, tab. xlii.
W. with a short dusky nose: small eyes: ears short, broad, and flapping, and placed at a great distance from each other: head flat and broad: cheeks swelling out: tongue very long: legs and thighs short, and very thick: five toes to each foot, separated and standing all forward: claws large, a little hooked, and of a flesh-color.
The hairs short, soft, glossy, closely set together: on the head, back, and sides a mixture of yellow and black: cheeks, inside of the legs, and the belly, yellow: half way down the middle of the belly is a broad dusky list, ending at the tail; and another from the head along the middle of the back to the tail: tail of a bright tawny, mixed with black; is round, and has the same prehensile faculty as some of the monkies have: length from the nose to the tail nineteen inches; of the tail seventeen.
MANNERS.
It was very good-natured and sportive; would catch hold of any thing with its tail, and suspend itself: lay with its head under its legs and belly.
PLACE.
Shewn about twelve years ago in London: its keeper said it came from the mountains of Jamaica, and called it a Potto, the name given by some writers to a species of Sloth found in Guinea.
LEV. MUS.
I 2
Le Kinkajou. De Buffon, xvi. 244. tab. 1.
259. MEXICAN.
with a short dusky nose: tongue of a vast length: small eyes, encircled with dusky: ears short and rounded, and placed very distant: the hairs short; on the head, upper part of the body, and the tail, the colors are yellow, grey, and black intermixed: the sides of the throat, and under side, and the insides of the legs, of a lively yellow: the belly of a dirty white, tinged with yellow.
The toes separated: the claws crooked, white, guttered beneath.
SIZE
The length from head to tail two feet five (French); of the tail, one foot three: the tail is taper, covered with hair, except beneath, near the end, which is naked, and of a fine flesh-color. It is extremely like the former; but larger in all its parts.
MANNERS.
Like the former, it has a prehensile tail, and is naturally very good-natured: goes to sleep at approach of day; wakes towards night, and becomes very lively: makes use of its feet to catch at any thing: has many of the actions of a monkey: eats like a squirrel, holding the food in its hands: has variety of cries during night; one like the low barking of a dog: its plantive note is cooing; its menacing, hissing; its angry, confused.
Is very fond of sugar, and all sweet things: eats fruits, and all kinds of vegetables: will fly at poultry, catch them under the wing, suck the blood, and leave them without tearing them: prefers a duck to a pullet; yet hates the water.
M. de Buffon calls this animal le Kinkajou, after a description
(given by M. Dennis) of one of that name found in N. America, described also by Charlevoix, under the name of Carcajou; both which, in fact, are the same as my Puma, N° 189. M. Dennis gives it the same manners; adds, that it climbs trees, watches the approach of the moose, falls on, and soon destroys it. He says, he lost a heiser by one of those animals, which at once eat through its neck; but the quadruped in question never could have the powers attributed to so serocious a creature. This therefore is new, and by form and manners a proper concomitant of the animal last described.
This animal was brought to Paris from New Spain, and lived there two or three years. It is a very distinct species from the former, of which M. de Buffon gives a very indifferent figure, taken from the animal I describe.
260. BRASILIAN.
Coati. Maregrave Brasil. 228. De Laet, 486. Raii syn. quad. 180. Klein quad. 72.
Vulpes minor, rostro superiore longiusculo, cauda annulatim ex nigro et ruso variegatâ. Quachy. Barrere France Æquin. 167.
Viverra nasua. V. rusa, cauda albo annulata. Lin. syst. 64.
Ursus naso producto et mobili, cauda annulatim variegata. Brisson quad. 190.
Le Coati brun. De Buffon, viii. 358. tab. xlviii. Schreber, cxviii.
Badger of Guiana, Bancroft, 141. LEV. Mus.
W. with the upper jaw lengthened into a pliant, moveable proboscis, much longer than the lower jaw: ears rounded: eyes small: nose dusky: hair on the body smooth, soft, and gloffy, of a bright bay color: tail annulated with dusky and bay: breast whitish: length, from nose to tail, eighteen inches; tail, thirteen.
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β. DUSKY. Nose and ears formed like the preceding: above and beneath the eye two spots of white: hair on the back and sides dusky at the roots, black in the middle, and tipt with yellow: chin, throat, sides of the cheeks, and belly, yellowish: feet black; tail annulated with black and white; sometimes the tail is of an uniform dusky color*. Le Coati noiatre of M. de Buffon, tab. xlvii. Schreber, cxix. The Coati-mondi of Marcgrave.
Inhabits Brasil and Guiana: feeds on fruits, eggs, and poultry: runs up trees very nimbly: eats like a dog, holding its food between its fore-legs: is easily made tame: is very good-natured: makes a sort of whistling noise: seems much inclined to sleep in the day. Marcgrave observes, that they are very subject to gnaw their own tails.
261. STIFLING.
Yzquiepatl. Hernandez Mex. 332. Raii syn. quad. 181. Klein quad. 72.
Meles Surinamensis. Brisson quad. 185.
Ichneumon de Yzquiepatl. Seb. Mus. i. tab. xlii.
Le Coase. De Buffon? xiii. 288. tab. xxxviii. Schreber, cxx.
W. with a short slender nose: short ears and legs: black body, full of hair: tail long, of a black and white color: length, from nose to tail, about eighteen inches.
Inhabits Mexico, and perhaps other parts of America. This, and the four following species, remarkable for the pestiferous,
* Described as a distinct species by Linæus, under the title of viverra Narica. V.subfusca, cauda unicolore, 64. and by M. Brisson, under that of Ursus naso producto et mobili, cauda unicolore, 190.
suffocating and most fœtid vapour they emit from behind, when attacked, pursued, or frightened: it is their only means of defence: some turn* their tail to their enemy, and keep them at a distance by a frequent crepitus; and others ejaculate their urine, tainted with the horrid effluvia, to the distance of eighteen feet: the pursuers are stopped by the terrible stench: should any of this liquid fall into the eyes, it almost occasions blindness; if on the cloaths, the smell will remain for several days, in spite of all washing; they must even be buried in fresh soil, in order to be sweetened. Dogs that are not true bred, run back as soon as they perceive the smell; those that have been used to it, will kill the animal; but are often obliged to relieve themselves by thrusting their noses into the ground. There is no bearing the company of a dog that has killed one, for several days.
Professor Kalm was one night in great danger of being suffocated by one that was pursued into a house where he flept; and it affected the cattle so, that they bellowed through pain. Another, which was killed by a maid-servant in a cellar, so affected her with its stench, that the lay ill for several days: all the provisions that were in the place were so tainted, that the owner was obliged to throw them away.
Notwithstanding this, the flesh is reckoned good meat, and not unlike that of a pig: but it must be skinned as soon as killed, and the bladder taken carefully out. The Virginian species,
* Wood's voy. in Dampier, iv. 96; the rest of the account is taken from Catesby and Kalm.
or skunk, is capable of being tamed, and will follow its master like a dog: it never emits its vapour, except terrified.
It breeds in hollow trees, or holes under ground, or in clefts of rocks: climbs trees with great agility: kills poultry, eats eggs, and destroys young birds.
262. STRIATED.
Pole-cat, or Skunk. Lawson Carolina.
Pole-cat. Catesby Carolina, ii.
Mustela Americana fœtida. Klein quad. 64.
Mustela nigra tæniis in dorso albis. Brisson quad. 181.
Viverra putorius. V. susca lineis quatuor dorsalibus parallelis albis. Lin, syst. 64.
Le Conepate. De Buffon, xiii. 288. tab. xl. Schreber, cxxii.
W. with rounded ears: head, neck, belly, legs, and tail, black: the back and sides marked with five parallel white lines: one on the top of the back; the others on each, side: the second extends some way up the tail, which is long and bushy towards the end: size of an European Pole-cat; the back more arched: varies in the disposition of the stripes.
Inhabits N. America: when attacked, bristles up its hair, and flings its body into a round form: its vapour horrid. Du Pratz says, that the male of the Pole-cat, or Skunk, is of a shining black: perhaps the Coase of M. de Buffon is the male; for his description does not agree with the Yzquiepatl, which he makes synonymous.
263. SKUNK.
Chinche. Feuilleè obs. Peru, 1714, p. 272.
Skunk, Fiskatta. Kalm's voy. Forster's tr. i. 273. tab. ii. Fosselyn's voy. 85.
Enfant du Diable, Bete puante. Charlevoix Nouv. France, v. 196.
Le Cninche. De Buffon, xiii. 294. tab. xxxix. Schreber, cxxi. LEV. MUS.
W. with short rounded ears: black cheeks: a white stripe from the nose, between the ears, to the back: upper part of the neck, and the whole back, white; divided at the bottom by a black line, commencing at the tail, and passing a little way up the back: belly and legs black: tail very full of long coarse hair; generally black, sometimes tipt with white, and sometimes wholly white*, that figured by M. de Buffon entirely white: nails on all the feet very long, like those on the fore-feet of a badger. Rather less than the former.
Inhabits Peru, and N. America, as far as Canada: of the same manners and stench with the others.
Viverra Cinghe. Molina Chili. 269.
264. CINGHE.
W. with black hair, changeable into blue: along the back a bed of white round spots from head to tail: head long: ears large, well covered with hair, and pendulous: hind legs longer than the fore.
Inhabits Chili: carries its head low: back arched; which it
* De la Cepidés de Buffon, Suppl, tom. vii. p. 233. tab. lvii.
VOL. II. K
generally covers with its bushy tail, like the squirrel: digs holes in the ground, in which it hides its young.
MANNERS.
In manners and food agrees with the Stifling; and its dreadful stench. Molina denies that the smell comes from the urine, but from a greenish oil coming from a bladder feated near the anus, from which it ejects the fetid liquor. The Indians value the skins. highly, and use them as coverlets for their beds.
269. Z0RRINA.
Annas of the Indians, Zorrinas of the Spaniards. Garcilasso de la Vega, 331.
Mariputa, Masutiliqui. Gumilla Orenoque, iii. 240. De Buffon, Sehreber, cxxiii.
W. with the back and sides marked with short stripes of black and white; the last tinged with yellow: tail long and bushy; part white, part black: legs and belly black. Less than the preceding.
Inhabits Peru, and other parts of S. America: its pestilential vapour overcomes even the panther of America, and stupesies that formidable enemy.
266. RATEL.
Viverra Ratel. Sparman Stock, Wettsk. Hondl. 1777, 148. tab. iv.
Stink-bingsem. Kolben, ii. 133.
Blaireau puant. Voy. de la Caille, 182.
W. with a blunt black nose: no external ears; in their place, only a small rim round the orifice: tongue rough: legs short: claws very long: strait, like those of a badger, and guttered beneath: color of the forehead, crown, and whole upper part of the body, of a cinereous grey: cheeks, and space round
the ears, throat, breast, belly, and limbs, black: from each ear to the tail extends along the sides a dusky line, leaving beneath another of grey.
SIZE.
Length from nose to tail forty inches: of the tail, twelve: fore claws, an inch and three quarters long: hind claws one inch.
PLACE.
MANNERS.
Inhabits the Cape of Good Hope; lives on honey, and is a great enemy to bees, which in that country usually inhabit the deserted burrows of the Æthiopian boar, the porcupine, jackals, and other animals: preys in the evening: ascends to the highest parts of the deserts to look about, and will then put one foot before its eyes, to prevent the dazzling of the sun. The reason of its going to an eminence, is for the sake of seeing or hearing the honey-guide cuckoo*, which lives on bees, and, as it were, conducts it to their haunts: the Hottentots profit of the same guide. This animal cannot climb; but when he finds the bees lodged in trees, through rage at the disappointment, will bite the bark from the bottoms: by this sign also, the Hottentots know that there is a nest of bees above.
The hair is very stiff, and the hide so tough, probably formed so by nature, as a defence against the sting of bees, that it is not easily killed. It makes a stout resistance by biting and scratching, and the dogs cannot fasten on its skin. A pack which could tear a middle-sized lion to pieces, can make no impression on the
* A new species, very sond of honey, which by its noise directs men, as well as this beast, to the bees nest. Sparman, in Phil. Trans. lxvii. 43.
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hide of this beast: by worrying, they will leave it for dead, yet without inflicting on it any wounds.
This seems to be the Stink-bingsem of Kolben, and Blaireau-puant of La Caille, which they brand for the horrible stench which it emits from behind, by breaking wind; but the Abbé says, it quickly discharges the noisome air. Mr. Sparman is silent in respect to this, circumstance. The Hottentots call it Ratel.
Viverra Mariputo. Gm. Lin. 88.
267. MARIPUTO.
W. of a black color, with a white bed, reaching from the forehead to the middle of the back: no ears: length twenty inches; tail nine.
Observed by Mutis in New Spain, about the mines of Pampluna sleeps in the day: forms deep boroughs: wanders about in the night:, feeds on worms and infects: is very swift.
Gm. Lin. 89.
268. CEYLON.
W. above grey, mixed with dusky: below white. Size of the martin.
Inhabits the Philippine isles and Ceylon.
Gm. Lin. 90.
269. HERMAPHRODITE.
W. with three dusky lines along the back: tail longer than the body, with the tip black.
Inhabits Barbary. Described by PALLAS.
Cook's first voy. iii, 626. Martin-cat. Stockdale's Bot. Bay, 176.
270. QUOLLE
W. with short rounded ears: color black; marked with oblong spots on the body, neck, and tail; belly of a pure white: length from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail, eighteen inches: tail tapers elegantly to a point, and is about the same length as the body.
Inhabits the Western side of New Holland.
White's Bot. Bay, 181.
271. TAPOATAFA.
W. with long ears erect: color brown; lightest on the tail: tail about the length of the body, covered with long hairs, and ending in a point: size of a rat.
Inhabits New Holland. According to Mr. White's description the teeth are so anomalous as to render it difficult to reduce this animal to any genus.
White's Bot. Bay, 185.
272 SPOTTED TAFA.
THIS, according to Mr. White's account and figure, differs from the former only in having the body and sides marked with irregular white spots: tail plain.
273. MUSKY.
W. with nose, lower part of the cheeks, legs, and end of the tail, black; on the middle of the cheeks is a white spot: body cinereous, dashed with yellow: some obscure dusky lines and spots mark the body and lower part of the tail.
Inhabits Bengal: smells of musk. Sir Elijah Impey.
274. CIVET.
La Civette qu'on nommoit anciennement Hyæna. Belon obs. 94.
Zibettus. Caii opuse. 43.
Felis Zibethus. Gesner quad. 837.
Animal Zibethicum, masc. et fœm. Hernandez. Mex. 580, 581.
Civet Cat. Raii syn. quad. 178.
Coati Civetta vulgo. Klein quad. 73.
Meles fasciis et maculis albis nigris et rufeseentibus variegata. Brisson quad. 186.
Viverra Zibetha. V. cauda annulata, dorso cinereo nigroque undatim striato. Lin.syst. 65.
La Civette. De Buffon, ix. 299. tab. xxxiv. Schreber, cxi. LEV. MUS.
W. with short rounded ears: sky-blue eyes: sharp nose; the tip black: sides of the face, chin, breast, legs, and feet black; the rest of the face, and part of the sides of the neck, white, tinged with yellow: from each ear are three black
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stripes, ending at the throat and shoulders: the back and sides cinereous, tinged with yellow, marked wich large dusky spots disposed in rows: the hair coarse; that on the top of the body longest, standing up like a mane: the tail sometimes wholly black; sometimes spotted near the base: length, from nose to tail, about two feet three inches; the tail fourteen inches: the body pretty thick.
PLACE.
Inhabits India*, the Philippine isles†, Guinea‡, Æthiopia ║, and Madagascar §: the famous drug musk, or civet, is produced from an aperture between the privities and the anus, in both sexes, secreted from certain glands. The persons who keep them, procure the musk by scraping the inside of this bag twice a week with an iron spatula, and get about a dram each time; but it is seldom sold pure, being generally mixed with suet or oil, to make it more weighty: the males yield the most; especially when they are previously irritated. They are fed, when young, with pap made of millet, with a little flesh or fish; when old, with raw flesh: in a wild state prey on sowl.
* Dellon's voy. 82.
† Argensola, iii.
‡ Bosman, 238, Barbot. 114.
║ Rauwolf's Travels, ii. 482.
§ Flacourt's Madagascar, 154; where it is called Falanouc.
275. β ZIEET.
Animal Zibethicum Americanum. Hernandez Mex. 538.
Felis Zibethus. Gesner quad. 836.
Le Zibet. De Buffon, 299. tab. xxxi. Schreber, cxii.
W. with short rounded ears: sharp long nose: pale cinereous face: head, and lower part of the neck, mixed with dirty white, brown, and black; sides of the neck marked with stripes of black, beginning near the ears, and ending at the breast and shoulders: from the middle of the neck, along the ridge of the back, extends a black line, reaching some way up the tail: on each side are two others: the sides spotted with ashcolor and black: the tail barred with black and white; the black bars broader on the upper side than the lower.
A variety first distinguished from the other by M. de Buffon; but figured long before by Hernandez and Gesner: unknown in Mexico*, till introduced there from the Philippine isles. These animals seem not to be known to the antients.
276. MUSK.
W. with the upper part of the body cinereous, dashed with yellow, and marked with some obseure dusky lines: nose, part of the cheeks, legs, and end of the tail, black; on the middle of the cheeks is a white spot.
PLACE.
Inhabits Bengal: has a very strong musky scent: described from a drawing in Sir Elijah Impey's collection.
* Hernandez Nov. Hisp. ii.
Sonnerat, voy. ii. 144. tab. xci.
277. MALACCA, CIVFT.
W. with a long nose: short erect ears: the ground-color of the whole animal perlaceous grey: face black: above each eye sour black spots: from the hind part of the head are three black lines; one passes down the hind part of the neck and one down each side of the neck, and over part of the shoulders: from the breast another extends along the middle of the belly; three others begin at the small of the back, and reach to the tail: on the body and thighs are forty-one round black spots: the tail annulated with black and grey: legs and feet black: size of a common cat.
MANNERS.
This animal lives by the chace: leaps with great agility from tree to tree: is very fierce: emits a strong musky smell, produced from a liquor which exudes from an orifice above the parts of generation. The Malayes collect it, and pretend that it Strengthens the stomach, and excites to love. The Chinese esteem it highly on account of the laft quality; and buy it from the Malayes. Inhabits the peninsula of Malacca.
VOL. II. L
278. GENET.
La Genette. Belon obs. 74.
Genetha, Gesner quad. 549, 550.
Genetta vel Ginetta. Raii syn. quad. 201.
Coati, ginetta Hispanis. Klein quad. 73.
Mustela cauda ex annulis alternatim albidis et nigris variegata. Brisson quad.186.
Viverra Genetta. V. cauda annulata, corpore sulvo-nigricante maculato. Lin. syst. 65.
La Genette. De Buffen, ix. 343. tab. xxxvi. Schreber, cxiii. LEV. MUS.
W. with ears a little pointed: slender body: very long tail: color of the body a pale tawny, spotted with black; and the ridge of the back marked with a black line: the tail annulated with black and tawny: feet black: sometimes the ground color of the hair inclines to grey: about the size of a martin; but the fur is shorter.
PLACE.
Inhabits Turky, Syria, and Spain; frequents the banks of rivers; smells of musk, and, like the civet, has an orisice beneath the tail: is kept tame in the houses at Constantinople, and is as useful as a cat in catching mice.
La Genette de la France, de Buffon, Suppl. iii. tab. xlvii, p. 236.
279. PILOSELLO.
W. with nose a deep brown: face and chin cinereous: a dark line up the forehead: under side of the neck cinereous, mixed with rust: back and whole body of the same color, varied with irregular black spots: outside of the hind legs and thighs dusky: soles of the feet and upper part down to the claws, cloathed with down: tail tawny, annulated with black. Lesser than the common ferret.
Inhabits the rock of Gibraltar, and the mountains of Ronda: called by the Spaniards Piloselio; found also in France. After the famous victory near Tours, gained over the Saracens in 726 by Charles Martel, such quantities of rich garments, made of the skins of these animals, were found, as to give occasion to the hero to establish an order of knighthood called L'Ordre de la Genette. On the first institution there were sixteen knights; among them were the most illustrious princes of the time. Martel himself was the sovereign. The collar consisted of the chains of gold, mixed with enamelled roses of red; pendent was a genet of gold, enamelled with black and red. The order continued during the second race of kings. It is said to have given way afterwards to the Order of the Star.
La Fossane. De Buffon, xiii. 163. tab. xx. Schreber, cxiv. LEV. MUS.
280. FOSSANE.
W. with a slender body: rounded ears: black eyes: body and legs covered with cinereous hair, mixed with tawny: from the hind part of the head, towards the back and shoulders, extend four black lines: the whole under side of the body of a dirty white: tail semi-annulated.
PLACE.
Inhabits Madagascar, and Guinea, Bengal, Cochin-china, and the Philippine isles: is fierce, and hard to be tamed: in Guinea is called Berbe; by the Europeans, Wine-bibber, being very greedy of Palm wine*: destroys poultry: is, when young, reckoned very good to eat †.
* Bosman, 239.
† Flacourt bist. Madagascar, 512; where it is called Fossa.
L 2
The specimen in the Leverian Museum differed in so many respects, that it is necessary to give a full description of it.
W. with a white spot on each side of the nose, and another beneath each eye: the rest of the nose, cheeks, and throat, black: ears very large, upright, rounded, thin, naked, and black: forehead, sides, thighs, rump, and upper part of the legs, cinereous: on the back are many long black hairs: on the shoulders, sides, and rump are dispersed some black spots: tail black towards the end; near the base mixed with tawny, and slightly annulated with black: feet black: claws white.
Size of the Genet, to which it bears a great resemblance: tail of the length of the body.
XXIV. OTTER.
Six cutting teeth, two canine, in each jaw.
Five toes on each foot; each toe connected by a strong web.
281. GREATER.
Lutra. Agricolæ An. Subter. 482. Gesner quad. 687. Raii syn quad 187.
Wydra. Rzcczinski Polon. 221.
Otter. Klein quad. 91.
Mustela Lutra. M. plantis palmatis nudis, cauda corpore dimidio breviore. Lin. syst. 66. Utter. Faun. suec. No. 12.
Lutra castanei coloris. Brisson quad. 201.
Le Loutre. Belon Aquat. 26. De Buffon, vii. 134. tab. xi. Schreber, cxxvi. A. B.
Otter. Br. Zool. i. N° 19. Br. Zool. tllustr. tab. c. LEV. MUS.
O. with short ears: eyes placed near the nose: lips thick: whiskers large: the color a deep brown, except two small spots each side the nose, and another beneath the chin: the throat and breast cinereous: legs short and thick, and loosely joined to the body; capable of being brought on a line with the body, and performing the part of sins; each toe connected to the other by a broad strong web.
SIZE.
The usual length, from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail, is twenty-three inches; of the tail sixteen: the weight of the male otter, from eighteen to twenty-six pounds; of the female, from thirteen to twenty-two. Mr. Ives says that the otters of the Euphrates are no larger than the common cat.
PLACE.
Inhabits all parts of Europe, N. and N. E. of Asia, even as far as Kamtschatka; is found in none of the Aleutian or Fox Islands, except in the casternmost, which are supposed to be near to the new world: is found in Chili*: abounds in North America, particularly
* Molina, 253.
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in Canada, where the most valuable furs of this kind are produced: dwells in the banks of rivers; burrows, forming the entrance of its hole beneath the water; works upwards towards the surface of the earth, and makes a small orifice, or air-hole, in the midst of some bush: is a cleanly animal, and deposits its excrements in only one place: swims and dives with great ease: very destructive to fish; if they fail, makes excursions on land, and preys on lambs and poultry. Sometimes breeds in sinks and drains; brings four or five young at a time: hunts its prey against the stream: frequents not only fresh waters, but sometimes preys in the sea; but not remote from shore: will give a fort of loud whistle by way of signal to one another*: is a sierce animal; its bite hard and dangerous: is capable of being tamed, to follow its master like a dog, and even to fish for him, and return with its prey.
The Latax of Aristotle†; possibly a large variety of Otter ‡.
* Leonard Baldner, iii. 139. fig. This was the person whom Mr. Willughby calls a fisherman on the Rhine, of whom, on his travels in 1663, he bought a most beautiful and accurate collection of drawings of birds, fish, and a few beasts, frequenting that great river about Straslourg, of which city Leonard stiles himfelf, fisherman and burgher. The work is dated in 1653. If I may judge from the elegance of his dress, in the portrait prefixed to the first volume, it should appear that he was a person of considerable wealth. A German MS. description is placed opposite to each drawing. This valuable work is now in the possession of Edward KING, Esq; and had been bought by a relation of his out of the collection of Dr. MEAD.
† Hist. An. hb. viii. c. 5. vide Br. Zool. i. 86. 410.
‡ Sir Joseph Banks, on his return from Newfoundland, was so obliging as to communicate to me the following account of some animals seen by a gentleman who went on that voyage; which I take the liberty of inserting here, as they bear some relation to the Otter in their way of life. He observed, sitting on a rock, near the mouth of a river, five animals, shaped like Italian grehounds, bigger than a fox, of a shining black color, with long legs, and long taper tail. They often leaped into the water and brought up trouts, which they gave to their young which were sitting with them. On his appearing, they all took to the water and swam a little way from shore, kept their heads out of the water, and looked at him. An old Furrier said, that he remembered the skin of one sold for five guineas; and that the French often see them in Hare-Bay.
282. BRASILIAN.
Siya&Cariguibeiu. Marcgrave Brasil. 234. Des Marchais, iii. 306.
Lutra Brasiliensis. Raii syn. quad. 189. Brisson quad. 202.
O. with a round head like that of a cat: teeth feline: eyes small, round, and black: large whiskers: ears round: feet in form of those of a monkey, with five toes; the inner the shortest: claws sharp: tail reaching no lower than the feet; flat and naked*.
Hair soft, and not long; entirely black, excepting the head, which is dusky; and the throat, which is yellow.
SIZE.
Bulk of a middling dog. If the same with the otters of Guiana, mentioned by M. de Buffon, it weighs from forty to a hundred pounds †.
PLACE.
Inhabits Brasil, Guiana, and the borders of the Oronoko, pro-
* Barrere Fr. Æquin. 155.
† Suppl. iii. 158, 159.
vided the Guachi of Gumilla be the same*. Maregrave says that it is an amphibious animal; lives on fish, and crustaceous animals, such as cray-fish; and is very dextrous in robbing the nets and wheels of what it finds in them: makes a noise like a young puppy. The flesh is reckoned delicate eating, and does not taste fishy, notwithstanding its food.
If this is the Guachi, as probably it is, it burrows on the banks of rivers, and lives in society: are extremely cleanly, and carry to a distance the bones and reliques of the fish they have been eating. They go in troops; are very fierce, and make a strong defence against the dogs; but if taken young are soon tamed.
283. LESSER.
Noerza. Agricola An. Subtler. 485. Gesner quad. 768.
Latax. Germ. Nurtz. nobis Nurek. Rzaczinski Polon. 218.
Mustela Lutreola. M. plantis palmatis, hirsutis ore albo. Lin. syst. 66. Fennis, Tichurt; Succis, Mænk. Faun. suec. N° 13.
Norka. Ritchkoff orenb. Topogr. i. 295. Schreber, cxxvi.
O. with roundish ears: white chin: top of the head hoary; in some tawny: body tawny and dusky; the short hairs being yellowish; the long hairs black: the feet broad, webbed,
* Hist. de l'Orenoque, iii. 239. Gumilla calls them also Loups ou Chiens d'Eau, and says they are as large as a setting dog. There is a great disagreement in the form of the feet, with others of the Otter kind. The writers who have had opportunity of examining it, are silent about the webs, the character of the genus. Till that point is settled, I must remain doubtful whether it be the Saricovienne of Andrew Thevet, as M. de Buffon conjectures. The size of the latter is another objection, which will apologize for my making a separate article of that animal till this point is settled.
and covered with hair: tail dusky, and ends in a point: of the form of an otter, but thrice as small.
PLACE.
Inhabits Poland, and the north of Europe; and is found on the banks of all the rivers in the country north of the Yaik. None are found beyond the lake Baikal, or in the north-east parts of Siberia. Lives on fish, frogs, and water-insects: its fur very valuable; next in beauty to that of the sable. Caught in Bashkiria with dogs and traps: is most excessively fœtid.
The Minx of North America is the same animal with this. The late worthy Mr. Peter Collinsin* favored me with the following account he received from Mr. John Bartram, of Pensylvania: 'The Minx,' (says he) 'frequents the water like the Otter, and very much resembles it in shape and color, but is less; will abide longer under water than the musk quash, musk rat, or little beaver: yet it will leave its watery haunts to come and rob our hen-roosts; bites off their heads and sucks their blood: when vexed, it has a strong loathsome smell; so may be called the Water Pole Cat: its length, from nose to tail, twenty inches; the tail four: is of a fine shining dark brown color.'
From the conformity between the names this animal goes by, in America and Sweden (Minx and Mœnk) it seems as if some
* By letter dated June 14, 1764. Lawson also gives some account of it, p. 122, Hist. Carolina: He says it is a great enemy to the Tortoises; whose eggs it scrapes out of the sand and devours: eats fresh-water muscles, whose shells are found in great abundance at the mouth of their holes, high up in the rivers, in whose banks they live: may be made domestic: is a great destroyer of rats and mice. La Hontan, i. 232, seems to mean the same animal, by his Foutereaux, an amphibious sort of little Pole-cats.
VOL. II. M
Swedish colonist, who had seen it in his own country, first bestowed the name it now goes by, a little changed from the original: the skins are often brought over to England.
Molina Chili, 265.
284. CHINCHIMEN.
O. with head, whiskers, ears, eyes, shape, and length of the tail, exactly resembling the domestic cat: feet furnished with five toes, palmated, and with strong and crooked claws: body covered with two sorts of hair, one very short and fine, the other long and rude: length from nose to tail twenty inches.
MANNERS.
Inhabits the sea of Chili, and very seldom quits that element: goes always in pairs: loves to bask in the sun: creeps to the summit of the rocks, where it is taken in traps: has a hoarse voice, and all the fierceness of the wild cat.
285. SARICOVIENNE.
O. of the size of a cat, with a fur fine as velvet, grey and black: web footed.
Lives more in the water than on land: the flesh very delicate, and good to eat.
This appears to me to be the very same with La petite Loutre d'eau douce de Cayenne, described and figured by M. de Buffon*, probably from a young animal.
* Suppl, iii. 159. tab. xxii.
SIZE.
The body, says he, is seven inches (French) in length: the tail six inches and seven lines; flender, taper, tuberculated, convex above, flat beneath: ears rounded, and longer than usual with otters: head, cheeks, and back, dusky; and the sides marked regularly with the same colors, issuing from the back, extending almost to the belly; the spaces between of a yellowish grey: above each eye is a white spot: the throat, and whole under side of the body, of the same color: the toes before are divided; those behind webbed.
M. de la Borde, as quoted by M. de Buffon, mentions another species of Otter frequent in the rivers of Guiana, weighing from twenty to twenty-five pounds, and of a yellowish color.
286. SEA.
Mustela Lutris. M. plantis palmatis pilosis, cauda corpore quadruplo breviore Lin.syst. 66. Schreber, cxxviii.
Lutra marina, Kalan. Nov. Com. Petrop. ii. 367. tab. xvi.
Sea Otter. Hist. Kamtschatka, 122, Muller's voy. 57, 58.
O. with a black nose: upper jaw longer and broader than the lower: long white whiskers: irides hazel: ears small, erect, conic: in the upper jaw are six cutting teeth; in the lower four: the grinders broad, adapted for breaking and comminuting crustaceous animals, and shell-fish: skin thick: hair thick and long, excessively black and gloffy: beneath that a soft down: color sometimes varies to silvery: legs thick and short: toes covered with hair, and joined by a web: the hind feet exactly like those of a seal, and have a membrane skirting the out-
M 2
SIZE.
side of the exterior toe, like that of a goose. Length from nose to tail is usually above three feet; but there have been instances of some being a foot longer: the tail thirteen inches and a half; flat, fullest of hair in the middle; sharp-pointed. The biggest of these animals weigh seventy or eighty pounds.
PLACE.
Inhabits, in vast abundance, Bering's island, Kamtschatka, the Aleutian and the Fox islands between Asia and America, and in the interior sea as far as has been discovered to the east of De Fuca's streights. They are sometimes seen in troops of hundreds, and a hundred leagues from land. They are entirely confined between lat. 49. and 60 north; and between east long, from London 126 to 150. During winter they are brought in great numbers by the eastern winds from the American to the Kurilian islands.
MANNERS.
Are most harmless animals: most affectionate to their young; will pine to death at the loss of them, and die on the very spot where they have been taken from them: before the young can swim, they carry them in their paws, lying in the water on their backs: run very swiftly; swim often on their back, their sides, and even in a perpendicular posture: are very sportive; embrace each other, and even kiss: inhabit the shallows, or such which abound with sea-weeds: feed on lobsters, fish, Sepiæ, and shell-fish: breed once a year; bring but one young at a time; suckle it a year, bring it on shore: are dull lighted, but quick scented: hunted for their skins, which are of great value; sold to the Chinese for seventy or a hundred rubles apiece: each skin weighs three pounds and a half. The young are reckoned very delicate meat, scarcely to be distinguished from a sucking lamb.
4
287. SLENDER.
LENGTH from nose to tip of tail four feet four inches: of the tail about thirteen inches: diameter of body scarcely more than five inches and a half: fore legs about three inches and a half long: hind legs about four inches: head small, eyes small, ears most extremely small, scarce visible: fore feet webbed; hind feet more strongly so: color of the whole animal a rich very deep chesnut or dark brown, rather paler beneath: cheeks and throat paler than the other parts, or more inclining to whitish.
PLACE.
Inhabits Staten-Land.
DIV. II. SECT. III.
DIGITATED QUADRUPEDS.
Without canine teeth; and with two cutting teeth in each jaw.
Generally herbivorous, or frugivorous.
DIV. II. SECT. III. Digitated Quadrupeds.
XXV. CAVY.
Two cutting teeth in each jaw.
Generally four toes on the fore feet, three behind.
Short ears: no tail, or a very short one.
Pace creeping; and flow: numerous breeders: short-lived.
288. CAPIBARA.
Caby-bara. Marcgrave Brasil. 230. Piso Brasil. 99. Raii syn. quad. 126.
River hog. Wafer in Dampier, iii. 400.
Cochon d'Eau. Des Marchais, iii. 314.
Susmaximus palustris. Cabiai, cabionora. Barrere France Æquin. 160.
Capivard. Froger's voy. 99.
Sus hydrochæris. S. plantis tridacylis cauda nulla. Lin. syst. 103.
Hydrochærus, Le Cabiai. Brisson quad. 80. De Buffon, xii. 384. tab. xlix.
Irabubos. Gumilla Orenoque, iii. 238.
C. with a very large and thick head and nose: small rounded ears: large black eyes: upper jaw longer than the lower: two strong and great cutting teeth in each jaw: eight grinders in each jaw; and each of those grinders form on their surface seemingly three teeth, each flat at their ends*: legs short: toes long, connected near their bottoms by a small web; their ends guarded by a small hoof: no tail: hair on the body short, rough, and
* M. de Buffon denies this: his description was taken from a young subject; but Marcgrave and Des Marchais, who had opportunities of examining these animals in their native country, agree in this singular construction of the teeth.
brown; on the nose, long and hard whiskers: grows to the size of a hog of two years old.
PLACE.
Inhabits the country from the Isthmus of Darien to the Brasils, and even to Paraguay; lives in the fenny parts, not remote from the banks of great rivers, such as the Oronoque, Amazons, and Rio de la Plata: runs slowly: swims and dives remarkably well, and keeps for a long time under water: seeds on fruits and vegetables: is very dextrous in catching fish, which it brings on shore, and eats at its ease: it sits up, and holds its prey with its fore feet, feeding like an ape: feeds in the night, and commits great ravages in gardens: keeps in large herds, and makes an horrible noise like the braying of an ass: grows very fat: the flesh is eaten, is tender, but has an oily and fishy taste: is easily made tame*, and soon grows very familiar.
289. RESTLESS.
Cuniculus vel Porcellus Indicus. Gesner quad. 367.
Cavia Cobaya. Marcgrave Brasil. 224. Piso Brasil. 102.
Mus seu cuniculus Americanus et Guineensis, Porcelli piliset voce, Cavia Cobaya. Raii syn. quad. 223.
Cavia Cobaya Brasil. quibusdam mus Pharaonis. Tatu pilosus. Klein quad. 49.
Mus porcellus. M. cauda nulla, palmis tetradactylis, plantis tridactylis. Lin. syst. 79. Amœen. Acad. iv. 190. tab. ii.
Cuniculus ecaudatus, auritus albus, aut rufus, aut ex utroque variegatus. Brisson quad. 102.
Le Cochon d'Inde. De Buffon, viii. I. tab. i. LEV. MUS.
C. with the upper lip half divided: ears very large, broad, and rounded at the sides: hair erect, not unlike that of a young pig; color white, or white varied with orange and black, in irregular blotches: no tail: four toes on the fore feet; three on the hind.
* Muratori hist. Paraguay, 258.
VOL. II. N
PLACE.
Inhabits Brasil: no mention made by writers of its manners in a wild state: domesticated in Europe: a restless, grunting, little animal; perpetually running from corner to corner: feeds on bread, grains, and vegetables: breeds when two months old: brings from four to twelve at a time; and breeds every two months: would be innumerable, but numbers of the young are eaten by cats, others killed by the males: are very tender, multitudes of young and old perishing with cold: are called in England, Guinea Pigs, being supposed to come from that country. Rats are said to avoid their haunts.
290. ROCK.
Aperea. Brasiliensibus, nobis Veldratte, vel Boschratte. Marcgrave Brasil. 223. Piso Brasil. 103. Raii syn. quad. 206.
Cavia Aperea. Klein quad. 50.
Cuniculus ecaudatus auritus, ex cinereo rufus. Brisson quad. 103.
L'Aperea. De Buffon, xv. 160. LEV. MUS.
SIZE.
C. with divided upper lip: short ears: four toes on the fore feet; three on the hind: no tail: color of the upper part of the body black, mottled with tawny: throat and belly white: length one foot.
PLACE.
Inhabits Brasil: lives in the holes or rocks: is driven out, and taken by little dogs: is superior in goodness to our rabbets: its paces like those of a hare.
Narborough's voy. 33. LEV. MUS.
291. PATAGONIAN.
C. with long ears, much dilated near the bottom: upper lip divided: on each side of the nose tusts of soft hairs, and long whiskers: tip of the nose black: face, back, and fore part of the legs, cinereous and rust-colored: breast and sides tawny: belly of a dirty white: on each thigh a white patch: rump black: legs very long: claws long, strait, and black; four on the fore feet; three on the hind: tail a mere naked stump.
This animal is found of the weight of six-and twenty pounds*.
Is found in plenty about Port Desire, in Patagonia: lives in holes of the earth, like the rabbet: the flesh of a snowy whiteness, and excellent flavor †.
Sir John Narborough, and other voyagers, call it a hare.
292. SPOTTED.
Pace. Marcgrave Brasil. 224. Piso Brasil. 101. De Laet, 484.
Mus Brasiliensis magnus, porcelli pilis et voce, Paca dictus. Raii syn. quad. 226.
Cavia Paca. Klein quad. 50.
Cuniculus major, palustris, fasciis albis notatus. Paca Marcgrave. Barrere France Æquin. 152.
Mus Paca. M. cauda abbreviata, pedibus pentadactylis, lateribus flavescenti-lineatis. Lin. syst. 81.
Cuniculus caudatus, auritus, pilis obscurè fulvis, rigidis, lineis ex albo flavescentibus ad latera distinctis. Brisson quad. 99.
Le Paca. De Buffon, x. 269. tab. xliii. Supplem. iii. 203. tab. xliii. LEV. MUS.
C. with the upper jaw longer than the lower: nostrils large: whiskers long: ears short and naked: neck thick: hairs short and hard: color of the upper part of the body dark
* Byron's voy. 18.
† The same, 19.
N 2
brown; the lower part, or sides, marked lengthways with lines of grey spots: the belly white; in some, perhaps young ones, the sides and spots are of a pale yellow: five toes on each foot: only the meer rudiment of a tail: length about ten inches: is made like a pig, and in some parts is called the Hog-Rabbet*.
Inhabits Brasil, and Guiana: lives in fenny places: burrows under ground: grows very fat: is esteemed in Brasil a great delicacy: grunts like a pig: eats its meat on the ground, not fitting up, as some others of this genus do: are discovered by little dogs, who point out the places they lie in: the master digs over them, and when he comes near transfixes them with a knife; otherwise they are apt to escape: will bite dreadfully. There is a variety quite white, found on the banks of the river St. Francis †.
293. BRISTLY.
Agnus filiorum Israel. Prosp. Alp. Ægypt. i 232.
Daman Israel. De Buffon Suppl. vi. 276. tab. xlii.
Ashnoko. Bruce's travels, v. 139.
Hirax Syriacus. Gmel. Lin. syst. 167. Schreber, tab. ccxi. B.
C. with short oval ears, covered within and without with hair: color of the whole animal above grey and ferruginous: from the chin to the extremity of the belly white: on the upper a strong bristly musticho, three inchcs five eighths long; above the eyes another tust, two inches and two eighths long; all over the body are scattered similar bristles, two inches and a quarter in length: the toes are fleshy; the lower part naked, the upper covered with
* Wafer's vay. in Dampier, iii. 401.
† De Laet, 484.
black hairs: the claws somewhat resemble nails, and are ill adapted for burrowing: no tail: the length of the whole animal is about seventeen inches.
This species was first taken notice of by Prosper Alpinus, who calls it Agnus filiorum Israel; the Daman Israel of the Arabs. He says it is larger than a rabbet, an object of the chace, and that the flesh is sweeter than that of the rabbet.
PLACE.
Inhabits, according to Mr. Bruce, mount Libanus, the mountain of the Sun in Abyssinia, and in great numbers Cape Mahomet, on the Arabian gulph, not far to the east of Suez. By Alpinus we find they are also inhabitants of Ægypt. They are gregarious, and fit by dozens on the great stones to bask in the sun, before the mouth of caves, or clefts in the rocks, their places of refuge at the fight of man. They are justly supposed by Mr. Bruce to have been the Saphen (mistranslated the coney) of HOLY WRIT. Solomon says, 'The hills are the refuge for the wild goats, and the rocks for the Conies. See his Saphen. 'The Saphen, adds he, are but a feeble 'folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks*.' They retire into the depths of the clests, and there make themselves a house; i. e. a nest of straw. Neither the Christians of Abyssinia and the Mahometans, eat the flesh of these animals. The Arabs of mount Libanus and of Arabia Petrœa use them as a food. The flesh is as white as a chicken, and free from any rankness.
Mr. Bruce supposes that Doctor Shaw intended this animal by his Fird†; but, as our learned countryman expressly says that his
* Proverbs, ch. xxx. v. 24, 26.
† Shaw's Travels, p. 248.
4
animal has a tail, and that only a little shorter than that of the common rat, we must have recourse to some other species, perhaps genus, for the Fird of Barbary.
294. LONG-NOSE.
Aguti vel Acuti. Marcgrave Brasil. 224. Piso Brasil. 102.
Acuti ou Agoutis. De Laet, 484. Rochefort Antilles, i. 287.
Mus sylvestris Americanus cuniculi magnitudine, pilis et voce Porcelli, Aguti. Raii syn. quad. 226.
Cavia Aguti. M. cauda abbreviata, palmis tetradactylis, plantis tridactylis, abdomine flavescente. Lin. syst. 80.
Cuniculus caudatus, auribus, pilis ex rufoet fusco mixtis rigidis vestitus. Brisson quad. 98.
L'Agouti. De Buffon, viii. 375. tab. 1.
Small Indian Coney. Brown's Jamaica, 484.
Long nosed Rabbet. Waser's voy. in Dampier, iii. 401.
Cuniculus omnium vulgatissimus, Aguti vulgo. Barrere France Æquin. 153*.
C. with a long nose: divided upper lip: short rounded ears: black eyes: hard and shining; on the body mixed with red, brown, and black; on the rump, of a bright orange-color: belly yellow: legs almost naked, slender, and black: four toes on the fore feet; three on the hind; tail short, and naked: size of a rabbet.
Inhabits Brasil, Guiana, &c. Grunts like a pig: is very voracious: sits on its hind legs, and holds its food with the fore feet when it eats: hides what it cannot consume: hops like a hare: goes very fast: when pursued, takes shelter in hollow trees: is capable of being tamed: when angry, sets up the hair on its
* The animal described by Seba under the name of Cuniculus Americanus, i. 67. tab. xli. seems the same with this, notwithstanding he says, that the hind feet are tetradactylous.
back, and strikes the ground with its feet: is eaten by the inhabitants of South America.
295. OLIVE.
Cuniculus minor caudatus, olivaceus, Akouchy. Barrere France Æquin. 153. Des Marchais, iii, 303.
L'Akouchy. De Buffon, xv. 258. Suppl. iii. 211. tab. xxxvi.
A Species of Aguti, less than the former, and of an olive-color: which is the whole account left us by M. Barrere. Des Marchais says, it is more delicate food than the other.
Inhabits Guiana, and the islands of St. Lucia and Grenada: inhabits the woods: lives on fruits: is excellent meat: its flesh is white: easily made tame: makes a cry (but very rarely) like the restless cavy: abhors water.
296. JAVAN.
Java hare. Catesby Carolina, App. tab. xviii.
Cavia Javensis. Klein quad. 50.
Cuniculus caudatus auritus, rufesco admixto. Brisson quad. 98.
Mus leporinus. Lin. syst. 80.
Cuniculu Americanus. Seb. Mus. i. 67. tab. xlii. fig. 2.
C. with a slender small head: prominent naked ears, rounded at the tops: hairs very stiff like bristles, especially on the back: color of the upper part of the body reddish: breast and belly white: legs long: hind parts large: four toes on the fore feet; three on the hind: tail short: size of a hare.
Inhabits Surinam and the hotter parts of South America, where it is a common food: the flesh is white, but dry. It is not
found in Java or Sumatra, as Catesby asserts. Governor Loten assures me, that he made the most diligent enquiry after it in most parts of Java, but could never find the left traces of any such animal.
297. CAPE.
Cavia capensis. Pallas Miscel. Zool. 30. tab. ii. Spicil. 16. tab. ii.
Africaansch basterd-mormeldier. Vosmaer Monogr. De Buffon, Supplem. iii. 177. tab. xxix.
C. with a thick head, and full cheeks: ears oval, half hid in the fur: head of the color of a hare: along the top of the back dusky, mixed with grey; sides and belly of a whitish grey: four toes on the fore feet, three behind: tail scarce visible: size of a rabber, but the shape of the body thick and clumsy.
Inhabits in great abundance the rocky mountains near the Cape of Good Hope, where it is called Kaapsche Dass, Klip Dass*, or Cape Badger: burrows under ground: has a slow creeping pace; a sharp voice, often repeated: is esteemed very good meat.
* Kolben, Dutch edition, as quoted by Dr. Pallas. La Caille mentions this species under the name of Marmot.
298. MUSK.
Les Rats musquès, Piloris. Rochefort Antilles, i. 288. Du Tertre hist. Antilles, ii.
302. De Buffon, x. 2.
C. of a black or tan color on the upper part of its body: white on the belly: tail very short *: almost as big as a rabbet.
Inhabits Martinico and the rest of the Antilles: burrows like a rabbet: smells so strong of musk, that its retreat may be traced by the perfume: an obscure species, never examined by a naturalist.
* Nouv. voy. auxisles de l'Amerique, i. 438.
VOL. II. O
XXVI. HARE.
Two cutting teeth in each jaw.
Short tail: or none.
Five toes before; four behind.
299. COMMON.
Lepus. Plinii lib. viii. c. 55. Gesner quad. 605. Raii syn. quad. 204.
Hase, Klein quad. 51.
Lepus timidus. L. cauda abbreviata auriculis apice nigris? Lin. syst. 77. Hase, Faun. suec. No. 25.
Lepus caudatus ex cinereo rufus. Brisson quad. 94.
Le Lievre. De Buffon, vi. 246. tab. xxxviii. Br. Zool i. N° 20.
Arnæb. Forskal. iv. LEV. MUS. in which are several curious varieties of colored hares.
H. with ears tipt with black: eyes very large and prominent: chin white: long white whiskers: hair on the face, back, and sides, white at the bottom, black in the middle, and tipt with tawny red: throat and breast red: belly white: tail black above, white beneath: feet covered with hair even at the bottom: a large hare weighs eight pounds and a half. I am informed, that in the Isle of Man some have been known to weigh twelve: its length, from the nose to the tail, two feet.
Inhabits all parts of Europe, most parts of Asia, Japan, Ceylon*, Ægypt†, and Barbary‡: a watchful, timid animal: always lean: swifter in running up hill than on even ground: when started, immediately endeavours to run up hill: escapes the hounds by various artful doubles: lies the whole day on its seat: feeds by night: returns to its form by the same road that it had
* Kœmpfer Japan, i. 126. Knox Ceylon, 20.
† Prosp. Alp. i. 232.
‡ Shaw's Travels, 249.
taken in leaving it: does not pair: the rutting-season is in February or March, when the male pursues the female by the sagacity of its nose: breeds often in the year; brings three or four at a time: are very subject to fleas: the Dalecarlians make a cloth of the fur, which preserves the wearer from their attacks: the fur is of great use in the hat manufacture: feeds on vegetables: fond of the bark of young trees: a great lover of birch, parsly and pinks: was a forbidden food among the Britons: the Romans, on the contrary, held it in great esteem.
Inter quadrupedes gloria prima lepus,
was the opinion of Martial; and Horace, who was likewise a Bon vivant, says, that every man of taste must prefer the wing
Fœcundi leporis sapiens sectabitur armos.
HORNED HARES.
There have been several instances of what may be called monsters in this species, horned hares, excresences growing out of their heads, likest to the horns of the roe-buck. Such are those figured in Gesner's history of quadrupeds, p. 634; in the Museum Regium HAFNIÆ, No. 48. tab. iv; and in Klein's history of quadrupeds, 32. tab. iii; and again described in Wormius's Museum, p. 321, and in Grew's Museum of the Royal Society. These instances have occurred in Saxony, and I think in Denmark, to which may be added another near Astracan*.
A farther account of two straw-colored animals like dogs, which run like hares, and were of the same size, seen by the late navigators in New Holland†, will, I fear, be a long desideratum among naturalists.
* Pallas.
† Cook's voy. iii. 565.
O 2
300. VARYING.
Lepus hieme albus. Forster hist. nat. VOLGÆ. Ph. Trans. lvii. 343.
Alpine hare. Br. Zool. i. N° 20.
Lepus variabilis. Pallas. nov. sp. i. LEV. MUS.
H. with soft hair, in summer grey, with a flight mixture of black and tawny: with shorter ears, and more slender legs, than the common hare: tail entirely white, even in summer: the feet most closely and warmly furred. In winter, the whole animal changes to a snowy whiteness, except the tips and edges of the ears, which remain black, as are the soles of the feet, on which, in Siberia, the fur is doubly thick, and yellow. Less than the common species.
PLACE.
Inhabits the highest Scottish Alps, Norway, Lapland, Russia, Siberia*, Kamtschatka, and the banks of the Wolga, and Hudson's Bay. In Scotland, keeps on the tops of the highest hills; never descends into the vales; never mixes with the common hare, which is common in its neighborhood: does not run fast: apt to take shelter in clefts of rocks: is easily tamed: full of frolic: fond of honey and carraway comsits: eats its own dung before a storm: changes its color in September: resumes its grey coat in April: in the extreme cold of Greenland only, is always† white. Both kinds of hares are common in Siberia, on the banks of the Wolga, and in the Orenburg government. The one never changes color: the other, native of the same place, con-
* Vide Pontop. Norway, ii. 9. Scheffer Lapland, 137. Strahlenberg Russia, 370. Ritchkoff Orenberg Topog. i. 287.
† Egede, Greenl. 62. Crantz. Greenl. i. 70.
stantly assumes the whiteness of the snow during winter. This it does, not only in the open air, and in a state of liberty: but, as experiment has proved, even when kept tame, and preserved in houses in the stove-warmed apartments; in which it experiences the same changes of colors as if it had dwelt on the snowy plains*.
MIGRATIONS.
BLACK HARES.
They collect together, and are seen in troops of five or six hundred, migrating in spring, and returning in autumn†. They are compelled to this by the want of subsistence, quitting in the winter the lofty hills, the southern boundaries of Siberia, and seek the plains and northern wooded parts, where vegetables abound; and towards spring seek again the mountainous quarters‡. Mr. Muller says, he once saw two black hares, in Siberia, of a wonderful fine gloss, and of as full a black as jet. Near Casan was taken another in the middle of the winter 1768. These specimens were much larger than the common kind.
α. SPURIOUS.
In the southern and western provinces of Russia is a mixed breed of hares, between this and the common species. It sustains, during winter only, a partial loss of color: the sides, and more exposed parts of the ears and legs, in that season, become white; the other parts retain their colors. This variety is unknown beyond the Urallian chain. It is called by the Russians, Russak; they take them in great numbers in snares, and export their skins to England and other places, for the manufacture of hats║. The Russians and Tartars, like the Britons of old, hold
* Pallas nov. sp. fasc. i. p. 7.
† Bell's Travels, i. 238.
‡ Pallas nov. fp. fafc. i. p. 15.
║ The same, p. 6.
the flesh of hares in detestation, esteeming it impure: that of the VARIABLE, in its white state, is excessively insipid.
Hare, hedge Coney. Lawson, 122. Catesby, App. xxviii.
301. AMERICAN.
H. with the ears tipt with grey: upper part of the tail black; lower white: neck and body mixed with cinereous, rust-color, and black: legs of a pale ferruginous: belly white; fore legs shorter, hind legs longer, in proportion, than those of the common hare.
Length eighteen inches: weighs from three to four pounds and a half.
Inhabits all parts of North America. In New Jersey, and the colonies south of that province, it retains its color the whole year. In New England*, Canada, and about Hudson's Bay, at approach of winter, it changes its short summer's fur for one very long, silky, and silvery, even to the roots of the hairs; the edges of the ears only preserving their color: at that time it is in the highest season for the table†; and is of vast use to those who winter in Hudson's Bay, where they are taken in vast abundance, in springes made of brass wire, to which the animals are led by a hedge made for that purpose, with holes left before the snares for the rabbets to pass through.
They breed once or twice a year, and have from five to seven at a time: they do not migrate, like the preceding, but always haunt the same places: they do not burrow, but lodge under
* Josslyn's Rarities, 22.
† Clerk Californ. i. 156.
fallen timber, and in hollow trees: they breed in the grass; but in spring shelter their young in the trees, to which they also run when pursued; from which, in the southern colonies, the hunters* force them by means of a hooked stick, or by making a fire, and driving them out by the smoke. I have had an opportunity of examining this species in its brown dress from Pensylvania, and its winter's dress from Hudson's Bay.
302. RABBET.
Cuniculus. Plinii, lib. viii. c. 55. Gesner quad. 362. Agricola An. Subt. 482
Rabbet, or Coney. Raii syn. quad. 205.
Lepusculus, cuniculus terram fodiens, Kaninchen. Klein quad. 52.
Lepus cuniculus. L. cauda abbreviata, auriculis nudatis. Lin. syst. 77.
Kanin. Faun. suec. No. 26. Br. Zool. i. N° 22.
Lepus caudatus, obscure cinereus. Brisson quad. 95.
Le Lapin. De Buffon, vi. 303. tab. 1. li. LEV. MUS.
H. with ears almost naked: color of the fur, in a wild state, brown; tail black above, white beneath: in a tame state, varies to black, pied, and quite white: the eyes of the last of a fine red.
Inhabits, in a wild state, the temperate and hot parts of Europe, and the hottest parts of Asia and Africa: not originally British; but succeeds here admirably: will not live in Sweden, or the northern countries, except in houses. Strabo† tells us, that they were first imported into Italy from Spain. Not natives of America; but encrease greatly in S. America.
Most prolific animals: breed seven times in a year: produce eight young at a time: supposing that to happen regularly, one
* Kalm, ii. 45.
† Lib. iii.
8
pair may bring in four years 1,274,840. In warrens, keep in their holes in the middle of the day; come out morning and night: the males apt to destroy the young: the skins a great article of commerce; numbers exported to China the fur of great use in the hat-manufacture.
β. ANGORA RABBET. With hair long, waved, and of a silky sineness, like that of the goat of Angora, vol. i. p. 61. and the Cat, vol. i. p. 296.
γ HOODED RABBET. With a double skin over the back, into which it can withdraw its head: another under the throat, in which it can place its fore feet: has small holes in the loose skin on the back, to admit light to the eyes: color of the body cinereous: head and ears brown.
Described from a drawing, and manuscript account, by Mr. G. Edwards, preserved in the Museum; inscribed "A Russian Rabbet;" but I find that it is unknown in that empire.
303. BAIKAL.
Cuniculus infigniter caudatus, coloris Leporini. Nov. Com. Petrop. v. 357. tab. xi.
Lepus cauda in supina parte nigra in prona alba. Brisson quad. 97.
Le Tolai. De Buffon, xv. 138.
H. with a tail longer than that of a rabbet: ears longer in the male, in proportion, than those of the varying hare: fur of the color of the common hare: red about the neck and feet:
tail black above, white beneath: size between that of the common and the varying hare.
Inhabits the country beyond lake Baikal, and extends through the great Gobèe, even to Thibet. The Tanguts call it Rangwo, and consecrate it among the spots of the moon*: agrees with the common rabbet in color of the flesh; but does not burrow, running instantly (without taking a ring as the common hare does) for shelter, when pursued, into holes of rocks; so agrees in nature with neither that nor the rabbet. Called by the Mongols, Tolai. The fur is bad, and of no use in commerce.
Lepus Capensis. L. cauda longitudine capitis, pedibus rubris. Lin. syst. 78.
304. CAPE.
H. with long ears dilated in the middle: the outsides naked, and of a rose-color: inside and edges covered with short grey hairs: crown and back dusky, mixed with tawny: cheeks and sides cinereous: breast, belly, and legs, rust-colored; tail bushy, carried upwards; of a pale ferruginous color.
Size of a rabbet.
Inhabits the country three days north of the Cape of Good Hope. Is called there the Mountain Hare, for it lives only in the rocky mountains; does not burrow. It is difficult to shoot it, as it instantly, on the sight of any one, runs into the fissures of the rocks.
The same species probably extends as high as Senegal. M. Adanson (44) observes, that the hares of that country are not so large
* Pallas nov. sp. i. 20.
VOL. II. P
as those of France; their color between that of the European kind and a rabbet; and their flesh white.
305. VISCACCIA.
Lepus viscaccia. Molina Chili, 289. Acosia in Purchas's Pilgrims, iii. 966. Feuillée
Peru. 1725. p. 32. Garcilasso de la Vega 331.
H. with the appearance of a rabbet, excepting the tail; in that part and color like a fox: the tail is long, and turned up, and covered with coarse hair: the rest of the hair soft: size superior to that of a rabbet.
MANNERS.
Inhabits Peru and Chili: lives under ground, and forms two boroughs one above the other; in the one it keeps its provisions, in the other sleeps: goes out only in the night: its flesh is white and tender. The antient Peruvians make stuffs of the hair, which were so fine as to be worn only by the nobility. In Chili it goes into the hat-manufactory: its tail is its weapon of defence.
Lepus pusillus. Molina Chili. 288.
306. CUY.
H. with a conoid body: ears small, pointed, and covered with hair: nose long: tail so short as scarcely to be seen: is domesticated and varies in color to white, brown, and spotted with, divers colors: fur very fine: size of a field mouse.
Inhabits Chili: breeds every month, and brings from six to eight young: is delicate eating.
** Without a tail.
307. BRASILIAN.
Tapeti. Marcgrave Brasil. 223. Piso Brasil. 102.
Cuniculus Brasiliensis Tapeti dictus. Raii syn. quad. 205.
Lepus Brasiliensis. L. cauda nulla. Lin. syst. 78.
Lepus ecaudatus. Brisson quad. 97.
Le Tapeti. De Busson, xv. 162.
Collar'd Rabbet. Wafer's voy. in Dampier, iii. 401.
H. with very large ears, like the common kind: a white ring round the neck: face of a reddish color: chin white: black eyes: color of the body like the common hare, only darker: belly whitish: no tail: some want the white ring round the neck.
Inhabit Brasil: live in woods: do not burrow: are very prolific: very good meat: found also in Mexico*, where they are called Citli.
Lepus Alpinus. Pallas, nov. fp. sasc. i. 52. tab. ii. Itin. ii. 701. tab. A. Zimmerman.
308. ALPINE.
H. with short, broad, rounded ears: head long: very long whiskers: two very long hairs above each eye: color of the fur at the bottom dusky, towards the ends of a bright ferruginous; the tips white; intermixed are several long dusky hairs; but on first inspection the whole seems of a bright bay.
Length of that I saw was nine inches.
* Hernandez An. Nov. Hisp. z.
P 2
PLACE.
These animals are first seen on the Altaic chain, and extend to lake Baikal; and from thence to Kamtschatka; and, as it is said, in the new-discovered Fox or Aleutian islands. They inhabit always the middle region of the snowy mountains, in the rudest places, wooded and abounding with herbs and moisture.
VOICE.
They sometimes form burrows between the rocks, and oftener lodge in the crevices; and are found in pairs, or more, according to conveniency: in cloudy weather they collect together, and lie on the rocks, and give a kecn whistle, so like that of a sparrow, as to deceive the hearer. On the report of a gun, they run into their holes; but soon come out again, supposing it to be a clap of thunder, to which they are so much used in their losty habitations.
By wonderful instinct they make a provision against the rigorous season in their inclement seats. A company of them, towards autumn, collect together vast heaps of choice herbs and grasses, nicely dried, which they place either beneath the over-hanging rocks, or between the chasms, or round the trunk of some tree. The way to these heaps is marked by a worn path. In many places the herbs appeared scattered, as if to be dried in the sun and harvested properly. The heaps are formed like round or conoid ricks; and are of various sizes, according to the number of the society employed in forming them. They are sometimes of a man's height, and many feet in diameter, but usually about three feet.
Thus they wisely provide their winter's stock, otherwise they must perish, being prevented by the depth of snow to quit their retreats in quest of food.
8
They select the best of vegetables, and crop them when in the fullest vigor, which they make into the best and greenest hay by the judicious manner in which they dry it. These ricks are the origin of fertility amidst the rocks; for the reliques, mixed with the dung of the animals, rot in the barren chasms, and create a soil productive of vegetables.
These ricks are also of great service to that branch of mankind who devote themselves to the laborious employ of sablehunting: for being obliged to go far from home, their horses would often perish for want, if they had not the provision of these industrious little animals to support them; which is easily to be discovered by their height and form, even when covered with snow. It is for this reason that this little beast has a name among every Siberian and Tartarian nation, which otherwise would have been overlooked and despised. The people of Jakutz are said to seed both their horses and cattle with the reliques of the winter stock of these hares.
These animals are neglected as a food by mankind, but are the prey of sables and the Siberian weesel, which are joint inhabitants of the mountains. They are likewise greatly infested by a sort of gadfly, which lodges its egg in their skin in August and September, which often proves destructive to them.
Lepus Ogotona. Pallas Nov. sp. fasc. i. 59. tab. iii.
309. OGOTONA.
H. with oblong oval ears, a little pointed: shorter whiskers than the former: hairs long and smooth: color of those
on the body, brown at the roots, light grey in the middle, white at the ends, intermixed with a very few dusky hairs: a yellowish spot on the nose: space about the rump of the same color: outside of the limbs yellowish: belly white.
Length about six inches: weight of a male, from six ounces and a half to seven and a quarter; of the female, from four to four and three quarters.
Inhabits only the country beyond lake Baikal, and from thence common in all parts of the Mongolian desert, and the vast desert of Gobce, which extends on the back of China and Thibet, even to India. It lives in the open vallies, and on gravelly or rocky naked mountains. These little creatures are called by the Mongols, Ogotona: are found in vast abundance: live under heaps of stones, or burrow in the sandy soil, leaving two or three entrances. Their holes run obliquely: in these they make a nest of soft grass. The old females make for security many of these burrows near each other, that they may, if disturbed, retreat from one to the other.
They wander out chiefly in the night. Their voice is excessively shrill, a note like that of a sparrow, twice or thrice repeated; but very easily to be distinguished from that of the Alpine hare.
They live in the vallies, principally on the tender bark of a sort of Service and the dwarf elm; in the spring on different herbs. Before the approach of severe cold, in the early spring, they collect great quantities of herbs, and fill their holes with them, which the inhabitants of the country consider as a sure sign of change of weather.
Directed by the same instinct with the former, they form in
autumn their ricks of hay of a hemispherical shape; about a foot high and wide: in the spring these elegant heaps disappear, and nothing but the reliques are seen.
They copulate in the spring, and about the latter end of June their young are observed to be full grown.
They are the prey of hawks, magpies, and owls: but the Cat Manul makes the greatest havock among them: and the ermine and sitchet is equally their enemy.
Lepus pusillus. Pallas Nov. sp. i. 31. tab. i. Nov. Com. Petrop. xiii. 531. tab. xiv. Zimmerman.
310. CALLING.
H. with a head longer than usual with hares, and thickly covered with fur, even to the tip of the nose: numerous hairs in the whiskers: ears large and rounded: legs very short: soles furred beneath: its whole coat very soft, long, and smooth, with a thick long fine down beneath, of a brownish lead-color: the hairs of the same color; towards the ends of a light grey, and tipt with black: the lower part of the body hoary: the sides and ends of the fur yellowish.
SIZE.
Length about six inches: weight from three ounces and a quarter to four and a half; in winter scarcely two and a half.
PLACE.
Inhabits the south-east parts of Russia, and about all the ridge of hills spreading southward from the Urallian chain; also about the Irtish, and in the west part of the Altaic chain; but no
where in the east beyond the Oby. They delight in the most funny vallies, and herby hills, especially near the edges of woods, to which they run on any alarm.
MANNERS.
They live so concealed a life as very rarely to be seen: but are often taken in winter, in the snares laid for the ermines; so are well known to the hunters. About the Volga they are called Semlanoi Saetshik, or Ground Hare: the Tartars, from their voice, style them Tschotschot or Ittsitskan, or the Barking Mouse; the Kalmucs call them Rusla.
They chuse for their burrows a dry spot, amidst bushes covered with a firm sod, preferring the western sides of the hills; in these they burrow, leaving a very small hole for the entrance; and forming long galleries, in which they make their nests: but those of the old ones, and females, are numerous and intricate: their place would be scarcely known but for their extrements, and even those they drop, by a wise instinct, under some bush, least their dwelling should be discovered by their enemies among the animal creation.
VOICE.
YOUNG.
It is their voice alone that betrays their abode: it is like the piping of a quail, but deeper, and so loud as to be heard at the distance of half a German mile. It is repeated by just intervals thrice, four times, and often six. This is wonderful, as this little animal does not appear to be particularly organized for the purpose. The voice is emitted at night and morning: seldom in the day, except in rainy and cloudy weather. It is common to both sexes; but the female is silent for some time after parturition, which is about the beginning of May, N.S. They bring forth six at a time, blind, and naked; which she suckles often, and covers carefully with the materials of her nest.
These most harmless and inoffensive animals never go from their holes: feed and make their little excursions by night: drink often: sleep little: are easily made tame: will scarcely bite when handled. The males in confinement are observed to attack one another, and express their anger by a grunting noise.
VOL. II. Q
XXVII. BEAVER.
Two cutting teeth in each jaw.
Five toes on each foot.
Tail compressed, and covered with scales.
311. CASTOR.
Kασrωξ. Arist. bist. An. lib. viii. c. 5. Oppian. Halieut. i. 398.
Fiber. Plinii lib. viii c. 30. Agricola An. Subt. 482. Belon Aquat. 25.
Castor. Gesner quad. 309. Rondel. 236. Scheneveld Icth. 34.
Beaver. Raii syn. quod. 209.
Bobr. Rzaczinski Polon. 215.
Biber. Klein quad. 91. Kramer Austr. 315.
Castor castanei coloris, cauda horizontaliter plana. Brisson quad. 90.
Castor Fiber. C. cauda ovata plana. Lin syst. 78.
Bafwer, Biur. Faun. suec. N° 27.
Le Castor, ou Le Bievre. De Buffon viii. 282. tab. xxxvi.
Beaver. Br. Zool. i. Pl.. 9. LEV. MUS.
B. with strong cutting teeth: short ears, hid in the fur: blunt nose: hair of a deep chesnut brown: tail broad, almost: oval, compressed horizontally, covered with scales: the fore feet small; the hind large: length from nose to tail, about three feet: tail eleven inches long, three broad.
PLACE.
Inhabits Europe, from Lapland to Languedoc*: in great plenty in the North: a few are yet found in the Rhone†, the Gardon, the Danube, the Rhine, and the Vistula. I have an instance of two old and six young being taken in 1742, at Gornichem, in Holland; another in 1757 in the Yssel, in Guelderland; and another in 1770 in the Maas, near the village Hedel, not far from Bois le duc: this last weighed forty pounds, and had two bags of castoreum, weigh-
* De Buffon, viii. 286.
† Ibid.
ing four ounces, and of excellent quality. It had inhabited the river for some years, and done much damage to the willow-trees, with whose bark its stomach was found full. They are much more frequent in the Lippe, above wesel, from which river they might descend into those of Holland*.
Abound in the Asiatic part of the Russian empire; are found in companies, or associated, about the Konda, and other rivers which flow into the Oby. They are met with dispersed, or in the state of Terriers, in the wooded parts of independent Tartary, and in the chains of mountains which border upon Siberia. None are to be seen in Kamtschatka, by reason of the interruption of the woods beyond the river Kowyma; nor yet in the new-discovered islands west of that country: only in the isle of Kadjak, the nearst to America, some skins have been procured by the Russians, which probably were got by the natives from America, in whose northern parts they are found in prodigious abundance.
MANNERS.
The most industrious of animals: nothing equals the art with which they construct their dwellings. They chuse a level piece of ground, with a small rivulet running through it. This they form into a pond, by making a dam across; first by driving into the ground stakes five or six feet long, placed in rows, wattling each row with pliant twigs, and filling the interstices with clay, ramming it down close. The side nearest to the water is sloped; the other perpendicular. The bottom is from ten to twelve feet thick; but the thickness gradually diminishes to the top, which is about two or three. The length of these dams is sometimes not less than a hundred feet.
* Martine's Katechism. Natur.ii, 143.
Q 2
Their houses are made in the water collected by means of the dam, and are placed near the edge of the shore. They are built on piles; are either round or oval; but the tops are vaulted; so that their inside resembles an oven, the top a dome. The walls are two feet thick; made of earth, stones, and sticks, most artificially laid together; and the walls within as neatly plaistered as if with a trowel. In each house are two openings; one into the water, the other towards the land. The height of these houses above the water is eight feet. They often make two or three stories in each dwelling, for the convenience of change, in case of floods. Each house contains from two to thirty beavers; and the number of houses in each pond is from ten to twenty-five. Each beaver forms its bed of moss; and each family forms its magazine of winter provision, which consists of bark and boughs of trees. This they lodge under water, and fetch it into their apartments as their wants require. Lawson says they are fondest of the sassafras, ash, and sweet-gum. Their summer food is leaves, fruits, and sometimes crabs and craw-fish; but they are not fond of fish.
To effect these works, a community of two or three hundred assembles; each bears his share in the labor: some fall, by gnawing with their teeth, trees of great size, to form beams or piles; these are gnawed all round in as regular a manner as a cutter cuts in falling a tree, bringing the bottom of the wood to a point*: others roll the pieces along to the water; others dive, and with their feet scrape holes, in order to place them in; while others
* This will be best understood by inspecting the specimens in the LEVERIAN MUSEUM.
exert their efforts to rear them in their proper places: another party is employed in collecting twigs, to wattle the piles with; a third, in collecting earth, stones, and clay; a fourth is busied in beating and tempering the mortar; others, in carrying it on their broad tails to proper places, and with the same instrument ram it between the piles, or plaister the inside of their houses. A certain number of smart strokes with their tail, is a signal given by the overseer, for repairing to such or such places, either for mending any defects, or at the approach of an enemy; and the whole society attend to it with the utmost assiduity. Their time of building is early in the summer; for in winter they never stir but to their magazines of provisions, and during that season are very fat. They breed once a year, and bring forth, the latter end of the winter, two or three young at a birth.
Besides these associated beavers, is another sort, which are called Terriers; which either want industry or sagacity to form houses like the others. They burrow in the banks of rivers, making their holes beneath the freezing depth of the water, and work up for a great number of feet. These also form their winter stock of provision.
Beavers vary in their colors: the finest are black; but the general color is a chesnut brown, more or less dark: some have been found, but very rarely, white; others spotted: both varieties are preserved in the LEVERIAN MUSEUM. The skins are a prodigious article of trade; being the foundation of the hat-manufactory. In 1763 were sold, in a single sale of the Hudson's Bay Company, 54, 670 skins. They are distinguished by different names. Coat Beaver is what has been worn as coverlets by the Indians. Parchment Beaver, because the lower side resembles it.
Stage Beaver is the worst, and is that which the Indians kill out of season, on their stages or journies. The valuable drug Castoreum* is taken from the inguinal glands of these animals. The antients had a notion it was lodged in the testicles, and that the animal, when hard pressed, would bite them off, and leave them to its pursuers, as if conscious of what they wanted to destroy him for.
JUVENAL, xii. 34.
Imitatus Castora, qui se
Eunuchum ipse facit, cupiens evadere damro
Testiculorum.
DRYDEN.
Just as the BEAVER, that wise thinking brute,
Who, when hard hunted on a close pursuit,
Bites off the parts, the cause of all the strise,
And leaves them as a ransom for his life.
* The Russian Casloreum is so much better than the American, that we give two guineas a pound for that, and only 8s. 6d. for the last; the first being less waxy, and pulverises readier. Notwithstanding we take this drug from Russia, we export there vast numbers of Beaver skins. The flesh is reckoned good eating, being preserved, after the bones are taken out, by drying it in the smoke.
MS. bist. Hudson's Bay.
312. MUSK.
Mussascus. Smith's Virginia, 27.
Musquash. Josselyn's voy. New England, 86.
Musk Rat. Lawson Carolina, 120.
Castor Zibethicus. C. cauda longa compresso-lanceolata, pedibus fissis. Lin. syst.
Castor cauda verticaliter plana, digitis omnibus a se invicem separatis. Brisson quad. 93.
L'Ondatra. De Buffon, x. i. tab. i.
Rat Musquè. Charlevoix Nouv. France, v. 157. Lescarbot N. Fr. 350. LEV. MUS.
B. with a thick blunt nose: ears short, and almost hid in the sur: eyes large: toes on each foot separated; those behind fringed on each side with strong hairs, closely set together: tail compressed sideways, and very thin at the edges, covered with small scales, intermixed with a few hairs: color of the head and body a reddish brown: breast and belly ash-color, tinged with red: the fur very fine: length, from nose to tail, one foot; of the tail, nine inches: in the form of its body, exactly resembles a beaver.
Inhabits North America: breeds three or four times in a year*, and brings from three to six young at a time: during summer, the male and female consort together: at approach of winter, unite in families, and retire into small round edifices, covered with a dome, formed of herbs and reeds cemented with clay: at the bottom are several pipes, through which they pass in search of food; for they do not form magazines like the beavers: during winter, their habitations are covered many feet deep with snow and ice; but they creep out and feed on the roots that lie
* MS. hist. Hudson's Bay.
5
beneath: they quit their old habitations annually, and build new ones. The fur is soft, and much esteemed: the whole animal, during summer, has a most exquisite musky smell: which it loses in winter: perhaps the scent is derived from the Calamus Aromaticus, a favorite food of this animal. Lescarbot says they are very good to eat.
Castor Huidobrius. Molina Chili, 266.
513. GUILLINO.
B. with a square head: short and round ears: small eyes: color grey; dark on the back, whitish on the belly, It has two sorts of hair, like the common beaver: one short and fine, and susceptible of any dye; the other species of hair long and hard: the toes of the fore feet bordered with a membrane; the hind feet webbed: the back very broad; the tail long and hairy, and length from the nose to the tail three feet; height two feet.
MANNERS.
Inhabits the deepest rivers and lakes of Chili: has the fordmen ovale half closed: can live long under water: feeds on fishes and crabs: is fierce and bold, and will seize its prey in sight of mankind: is killed by the hunters when it comes to discharge its excrements, which it does always in the same place: most beautiful stuffs are made of the fur, resembling velvet; it is also of great use in the manufacture of hats.
M. Molina calls it Huidobrius, from the family name of his patron, the marquiss of Casa Realc.
M. Molina was one of the Jesuits whom the Spaniards expelled out of South America. They robbed him of all his effects and manuscripts: by a singular fortune he found in Italy the manuscript which furnishes us with the valuable natural history of Chili.
VOL. II. R
XXVIII. PORCUPINE.
Two cutting teeth in each jaw.
Body covered with long, hard, and sharp quills.
Upper lip divided.
314. CRESTFD.
Yςδιξ. Aristot. hist. An. lib. i. c. 6. Oppian Cineg. iii. 391.
Hystrix. Plinii l.b. viii. c. 35. G sner quad. 563. Raii syn. quad. 206.
Acanthion cristatus. Klein quad. 66.
Hystrix orientalis cristata. Seb. Mus. i. 79. tab. 1.
Hystrix cristata. H. palmis tetradactylis, plantis pentadactylis, capite cristato, cauda abbreviata. Lin. syst. 76. Hassel-quist. itin. 290.
Hystrix capite cristato. Brisson quod. 85.
Le Porc-epic. De Buffon, xii. 402. tab. li. lii. Faunul. Sinens.
P. with a long crest on the top of the head, reclining backwards, formed of stiff bristles: the body covered with long quills; those on the hind part of the body nine inches in length, very sharp at the ends, varied with black and white; between the quills a few hairs: the head, belly, and legs, are covered with strong bristles, terminated with soft hair, of a dusky color: the whiskers long: ears like the human: four toes before, five behind: tail short, and covered with quills: length, from nose to tail, two feet; tail, four inches.
Inhabits India, the sand-hills on the S. W. of the Caspian sea, southern Tartary, Persia, and Palestine, and all parts of Africa: is found wild in Italy; but is not originally a native of* Europe: is brought into the markets of Rome, where it is eat†. The Italian porcupines have shorter quills, and a lesser crest, than those of Asia and Africa: is an harmless animal: lives on fruits, roots, and vegetables: sleeps by day, feeds by night: the report of its
* Agricola An. Subt. 486.
† Ray's Travels, i. 311. Pb, Tr, abridg. v. 147.
darting its quills sabulous: when angry, retires and runs its nose into a corner, erects its spines, and opposes them to its assailant: makes a snorting noise.
These animals produce a Bezoar; but, according to Seba, only those which inhabit Java, Sumatra, and Malacca. These Bezoars were very highly valued, and have been sold for five hundred crowns apiece. It has also been pretended that a stone was procured from the head of this animal, infinitely more efficacious than other Bezoars*; but this may be placed among the many impositions of oriental empirics.
Erinaceus Malacensis. Gm. Lin. 116. Seb. Mus. i. p. 81. tab. 41. fig. i.
315. MALACCA.
P. with large pendulous ears: no crest: quills like the preceding, with the interstices filled with long hairs, resembling bristles: eyes large and bright: hair on the legs, and belly covered with short reddish prickly hairs: toes five in number, which might determine Linnæus to place this animal among the hedge-hogs.
Inhabits the peninsula of Malacca.
316. LONGTAILED.
Porcus aculeatus sylvestris, seu Hystrix orientalis singularis. Seb. Mus. i. 84. tab. lii.
Acanthion cauda prælonga, acutis pilis horrida, in exitu quasi panniculata. Klein quad. 67.
Hystrix cauda longissima, aculeis undique obsita, in extremo panniculata. Brisson quad. 89.
Hystrix macroura. H. pedibus pentadactylis, cauda longissima: aculeis clavatis. Lin. syst. 77.
P. with long whiskers: short naked ears: large bright eyes: body short and thick, covered with long stiff hairs as sharp
* Tavernier, ii. 154.
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as needles, of different colors, according as the rays of light fall on them: feet divided into five toes; that which serves as a thumb turns backwards: the tail is as long as the body, very slender to the end, which consists of a thick tust: the bristles appearing as if jointed; are thick in the middle, and rise one out of the other like grains of rice; are transparent, and of a silvery appearance.
Inhabits the isles of the Indian Archipelago, and lives in the forests.
317. BARIILIAN.
Tlaquatzin. Hernandez, Mex. 330.
Cuandu. Brasiliensibus, Lusitanis.
Ourico cachiero. Marcgrave Brasil. 233. Piso Brasil. 99. 325.
Iron Pig. Nieuboss, 17.
Hystrix Americanus. Raii syn. quad. 208.
Hystrix prehenfilis, H. pedibus tetradactylis, cauda elongata prehensili seminuda. Lin. syst. 76.
H. cauda longissima, tenui, medietate extrema aculeorum experte, 87.
H. Americanus major, 88.
Hystrix longius caudatus, brevioribus aculeis. Barrere France Æquin. 153.
Hystrix minor leucophæus, Gouandou. ibid.
Chat epinaux. Des Marchais, iii. 303.
P. with a short blunt nose: long white whiskers: beneath the nose a bed of small spines: top of the head, back, sides, and base of the tail, covered with spines; the longest, on the lower part of the back and tail, are three inches in length, very sharp, white, barred near their points with black; adhere closely to the skin, which is quite naked between them; are shorter and weaker as they approach the belly: on the breast:, belly, and lower part of the legs, are converted into dark-brown bristles: feet divided into four toes: claws very long; on the place of the thumb a great protuberance: tail eighteen inches long, slender, and taper towards the end; the last ten inches is almost naked, having
only a few hairs on it; has, for that length, a strong prehensile quality.
Inhabits Mexico and Brasil: and extends to Chili: lives in the woods: preys not only on fruits, but poultry: sleeps in the day, preys by night: makes a noise with its nostrils as if out of breath: grunts like a sow*: grows very fat: its flesh white, and very good: climbs trees, but very slowly; in descending, twists its tail round the branches, for fear of falling: is no more capable of shooting its quills than the first: may be tamed. Piso says there is a greater and lesser kind.
This species is very rarely brought into Europe. I had opportunity of describing it from a specimen some time in possession of Mr. Greenwood; who was so obliging as to permit me to have a drawing made of it, from which a very faithful figure is here given. M. de Buffon† has made mention of this animal in his work; but unjustly reproaches Marcgrave with confounding it with the Mexican species.
318. MEXICAN.
Hoitzlacuatzin, feu Tlacuatzin spinosus, Hystrix novæ Hispaniæ. Hernandez, Mex. 322.
Hystrix novæ Hispaniæ. H. aculeis apparentibus, cauda brevi et crasso. Brisson quad. 86.
Le Coendu De Buffon, xii. 421. tab. liv.
P. of a dusky color, with very long bristles intermixed with the down: the spines three inches long, slender, and varied with white and yellow; scarcely apparent, except on the tail,
* Vocem edit ut Sut, iii. Marcgrave, 233.
† Under the name of Le Coendou, xii. 421. tab. liv.
which is, according to Hernandez, thicker and shorter than that of the preceding species. He adds, that the tail, from the middle to the end, is free from spines.
SIZE.
According to Hernandez, it grows to the bulk of a middle-sized dog. M. de Buffon says, its length is sixteen or seventeen inches from the nose to the tail; the tail nine, French measure, but taken from a mutilated skin.
PLACE.
Inhabits the mountains of Mexico: lives on the summer fruits, and may be easily made tame. The Indians pulverise the quills, and say they are very efficacious in gravelly cases; and, applied whole to the forehead, will relieve the most violent head-ach. They adhere till filled with blood, and then drop off.
319. CANADA.
Porcupine from Hudson's Bay. Edw. 52. Ellis's voy. 42. Clerk's voy. i. 177. 191.
Cavia Hudsonis. Klein quad. 51.
Hystrix dorsata. H. palmis tetradactylis, plantis pentadactylis, cauda mediocri, dorso solo spinoso. Lin. syst. 76.
Hystrix aculeis sub pilis occultis, cauda brevi et crassa. Brisson quad. 87.
L'Urson. De Buffon, xii. 426. tab. Iv. LEV. MUS.
P. with short ears, hid in the fur: head, body, legs, and upper part of the tail, covered with soft, long, dark brown hair: on the upper part of the head, back, body, and tail, numbers of sharp strong quills; the longest on the back, the left towards the head and sides; the longest three inches; but all are hid in the hair: intermixed, are some stiff straggling hairs, three inches longer than the rest, tipt with dirty white: under side of the tail white: four toes on the fore feet, five behind, each armed with long claws, hollowed on their under side: the form of the body is exactly that of a beaver; but is not half the size:
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one, which Mr. Banks brought from Newfoundland, was about the size of a hare, but more compactly made: the tail about six inches long.
These animals vary in color. Sir Ashton Lever had one, which is entirely white.
PLACE.
Inhabits N. America, as high as Hudson's Bay: makes its nest under the roots of great trees, and will also climb among the boughs, which the Indians cut down when one is in them, and kill the animal by striking it over the nose: are very plentiful near Hudson's Bay, and many of the trading Indians depend on them for food, esteeming them both wholesome and pleasant: feed on wild fruits and bark of trees, especially juniper: eat snow in winter, drink water in summer; but avoid going into it: when they cannot avoid their pursuer, will sidle towards him, in order to touch him with the quills, which seem but weak weapons of offence; for, on stroking the hair, they will come out of the skin, sticking to the hand. The Indians stick them in their noses and ears, to make holes for the placing their ear-rings and other finery: they also trim the edges of their deer-skin habits with fringes made of the quills, or cover with them their bark-boxes.
XXIX. MARMOT.
Two cutting teeth in each jaw.
Four toes before, five behind.
Short ears, or none.
Tail covered with hair, and of a middling length; in some very short.
320. ALPINE.
Mus Alpinus. Plinii lib, viii. c. 37. Agricola An. Subter. 484. Gesner quad. 743. Raii syn. quad. 221.
Glis marmota. Klein quad. 56. Hist. Mur. Alp. 230.
Murmelthier. Kramer Austr. 317.
Mas marmota. M. cauda abbreviata subpilosa, auriculis-rotundatis, buccis gibbis. Lin. syst. 81.
Glis pilis e fusco et flavicante mixtis vestitus. Glis slavicans, capite rufescente. Brisson quad. 116, 117.
La Marmotte. De Buffon, viii. 219. tab. xxviii.
M. with short round ears, hid in the fur: cheeks large: color of the head and upper part of the body brownish ash, mixt with tawny: legs and lower part of the body reddish: tail pretty full of hair: length, from nose to tail, about sixteen inches; tail six: body thick.
PLACE.
Inhabits the lostiest summits of the Alps and Pyrenœan mountains: feeds on infects, roots, and vegetables: while they are at food, place a centinel, who gives a whistle on seeing any sign of danger, on which they instantly retire into their holes: form holes under ground, with three chambers of the shape of a Y, with two entrances; line them well with moss and hay; retire into them about Michaelmas, and, slopping up the entrances with earth, continue in a torpid state till April: when taken out remain insensible, except brought before a fire, which revives
5
them: they lodge in society, from five to a dozen in a chamber: will walk on their hind feet: list up their meat to their mouth with their fore feet, and eat it sitting up: bring three or four young at a time: are very playful: when angry, or before a storm, make a most strange noise; a whistle so loud and so acute, as quite to pierce the ear: grow very fat about the backs: are sometimes eaten; but generally taken in order to be shewn, especially by the Savoyards: grow very soon tame, and will then eat any thing: are very fond of milk, which they lap, making at the same time a murmuring noise, expressive of their satisfaction: very apt to gnaw any cloaths or linen they find: will bite very hard.
321. QUEBEC.
M. with a blunt nose: short rounded ears: cheeks pussed, and of a grey color: face dusky: nose black: hair on the back grey at bottom, black in the middle, and the tips whitish: belly and legs of an orange-color: toes black, naked, and quite divided; four, and the rudiments of another, on the fore feet; five behind: tail short, and of a dusky color: was rather larger than a rabbet.
PLACE.
Inhabits Hudson's Bay and Canada. Mr. Brooks had one alive a few years ago; it was very tame, and made a hissing noise: perhaps is the species which the French of Canada call Siffleur.
It has lately been described by Dr. Pallas, under the name of Mus empetra*.
* Nov. sp. quadr. fasc. i. 75.
VOL. II. S
322. MARYLAND.
Bahama Cony. Catesby Carolina, ii. 79.
Monax, Catesby Carolina App. xxviii.
Monax, or Marmotte of America. Edw. 104.
Glis Marmota, Americanus. Klein quad. 56. De Buffon, Suppl. iii, 175.
Glis fuscus. Glis fuscus, rostro e cinereo cærulescente. Brisson quad. 115.
Mus Monax. M. cauda med ocri pilosa, corpore cinereo, auricuiis subrotundis, palmistetradactylis, plantis pentadactylis. Lin. syst. 81.
M. with short rounded ears: black prominent eyes: nose sharper than that of the last: nose and cheeks of a blueish ash-color: back of a deep brown color: sides and belly paler: tail half the length of the body, covered with pretty long dusky hair: toes divided, and armed with sharp claws: four toes before, five behind: feet and legs black: is about the size of a rabbet.
PLACE.
Inhabits Virginia and Pensylvania: during winter sleeps under the hollow roots of trees: is found also in the Bahama isles: lives on wild fruits and other vegetables: its flesh is very good, tasting like that of a pig: when surprized, retreats to holes in the rocks: whether it sleeps, during winter, in the climate of those isles, is not mentioned.
323. HOARY.
M. with the tip of the nose black: ears short and oval: cheeks whitish: crown dusky and tawny: hair universally rude and long; that on the back, sides, and belly, cinereous at the root, black in the middle, whitish at the tip, so that the animal has a hoary appearance: legs black: claws dusky; four before, five behind: tail black, mixed with rust color.
About the size of the former.
Inhabits the northern parts of North America. Described from a specimen in the LEVERIAN MUSEUM.
324. BOBAK.
Bobak Swistch. Rzaczinski Polon. 233.
Bobak. Beauplan hist. Ukrain, Churchill's coll. i. 600. Forster hist. Velgœ, Phil. Trans, lvii. 343. De Buffon, xiii. 136. tab. xviii.
Sogur. Rubruquis's Travels in Purchas. iii. 6.
Arctomys. Pallas nov. sp. fasc. i. 9. tab. v.
M. with small oval thick ears, covered with greyish white down; with longish hairs on the edges: eyes small: whilkers small: color about the eyes and nose dusky brown; among the whiskers ferruginous: upper part of the body greyish, intermixed with long black or dusky hairs, tipt with grey: throat rust-colored: rest of the body, and the inside of the limbs, of a yellowish rust-color: four toes on the fore feet, with a short thumb furnished with a strong claw: five toes behind: tail short, flender, full of hair.
SIZE.
Length from nose to tail sixteen inches; of the trunk of the tail, about four: the hairs extend an inch beyond the end of the trunk.
PLACE.
Inhabits the high but milder and funny sides of mountanous countries, which abound with fissile or free-stone rocks: seek dry situations, and such which are full of springs, woods, or sand. They are found in Poland, and the south of Russia, among the Carpathian hills; they swarm in the Ukraine, about the Boristhenes, especially between the Sula and Supoy;, and again between the Boristhenes and the Don, and along the range of hills which extend to the Volga;, they are found about the Yaik and other
S 2
neighboring rivers. Inhabit the southern desert in Great Tartary, and the Altaic mountains east of the Irtis; cease to appear in Siberia, on account of its northern situation; but are found again beyond lake Baikal, and about the river Argun and lake Dalay; in the sunny mountains about the Lena, and very common in Kamtschatka, but rarely reach as high as lat. 55.
MANNERS.
They burrow extremely deep, and obliquely, to the depth of two, three, or four yards: they form numbers of galleries with one common entrance from the surface; each gallery ends in the nest of the inhabitant. Sometimes the burrows consist of only one passage. They are found in great abundance about the sepulchral tumuli, as they find they can penetrate with great facility in the soft dry earth; but they are very common in the rocky strata; and in the mineral part of the Urallian chain, often direct the miners to the veins of copper, by the fragments which appear at the mouth of their holes, slung out in the course of their labors. In very hard and rocky places, from twenty to forty of these animals join together to facilitate the work, and live in society, each with its nest at the end of its respective gallery; but the fewest galleries are found in the softest ground, and very frequently only a single one. In each nest they collect, especially towards autumn, the finest of hay, and in such plenty, that sufficieat is found in one nest for a night's food for a horse.
During the middle and sunny part of the day they sport about the entrance of their holes, but seldom go far from them; on the sight of man they retire with a slow pace, and fit upright near the mouth, and give a frequent whistle, listening at the approach. In places where they live in large families, they al-
4
ways place a centinel to give notice of any danger, during the time the rest are feeding.
They are very fond of oleraceous plants: in a state of confinement eat cabbage and bread very greedily, and drink milk with great eagerness; but refuse water, and seem never affected with thirst: they are mild and good natured; never quarrel or fight about their food in a wild state, and when confined, and placed with others, caught in distant parts, and strangers to them, grow instantly familiar with them: then very soon become tame, even when taken in full age; but the young immediately become familiar.
The number produced at a birth is not certainly known, probably at times eight; the females being furnished with that number of teats: they breed early, for in June the young are observed to be of half the size of the old.
They lie torpid during winter, except those which are kept tame in the stove-warmed rooms of the country; and even then, finding a defect of that warmth which the fnug nest of their subterraneous retreat would afford, in cold nights creep for shelter into the very beds of the inhabitants. In that state they will not absolutely refuse food, but eat very little, and that with a seeming disgust; nature allotting for them, in the wild state, a long sleep and cessation from food, the result of plenitude previous to its commencement. They sometimes escape from confinement, find a retreat, and get their winter's sleep, and return to their master in the spring; but lose much of their gentle manners.
They grow very fat: the fat is used for softening of leather: the skins are used by the Koreki, people of Jakutks, and the Rus-
sians, for cloathing. The Calmucs take them in small nets with large meshes, placed before their holes. The inhabitants of Ukraine catch them in May or June, by pouring water into the holes, which forces them into the nets. In South Russia they are destroyed by means of a log of wood with a weight at top; the end directed into a wooden box placed at the mouth of the hole, which falls as soon as the animal comes out, and oppresses it by the weight. Their flesh tastes like that of a hare, but is rank.
The Calmucs are very fond of the fat ones, and even esteem them medicinally: on the contrary, the Mahometan Tartars not only abstain from their flesh, but even give them protection; so that near the hords they are extremely numerous: these Tartars esteem a warren of Bobaks near them to be very fortunate, and think it a sin to kill one of them, a swallow, or a dove; but at the same time abominate the following animal.
In Chinese Tartary they are the propagators of Rhubarb, which grows among their burrows: the manure which they leave about the roots contributes to its increase; and the loose soil they fling up, proves a bed for the ripe feed; which, if scattered among the long grass, perishes without ever being able to reach the ground.
Mus Maulinus. Molina Chili, 284.
325. MAULINE.
M. with pointed ears: elongated nose: whiskers disposed in four rows: the tail longer than that of the common kind: five toes on each foot; an anomalous distinction: hair like the common: in size twice as large.
MANNERS.
Discovered in the province of Maule in Chili, in 1764, and inhabits the woods: makes a stout defence against the dogs, which conquer it not without difficulty.
326. EARLESS.
Mus Noricus aut Citellus. Agricola An. Subter. 485. Gesner quad. 737. Raii syn. quad. 220.
Ziesel. Schwenkfelt. Thriotraph. 86.
Mus citellus. M. cauda abbreviata, corpore cinereo, auriculis nullis. Lin. syst. 80.
Tsitsjan. Le Bruyn voy. Musc. ii. 402*.
Cuniculus caudatus, auriculis nullis, cinereus. Brisson quad. 101.
Le Zisel. De Buffon, xv. 139.
Le Souslik—144. 195. Supplem. iii. 191. tab. xxxi.
Mus Marmotta. Forster hist. nat. Volgœ. Ph. Trans. lvii. 343.
Mus Citillus. Pallas nov. sp. fasc. i. 119. tab. vi. vii. B. Nov. com. Petrop. xiv. 549. tab. vii.
Earless Marmot. Syn. quad. 276. Casan M.— 276.
M. with a cinereous face: over each eye a white line: teeth yellow; whiskers black and long: no ears: hind part of
* Un chien courant que j'avois, y prit dans la plaine un petit animal nommé Zits-jan, qu'il m'apporta en vie, et un autre peu après, lesquels je fis eventrer, pour les conserver. C'est un espece de rat de campagne, de la grosseur d'un écureuil, qui a la queuë courte, et le poil et la couleur d'un lapreau, aussi bien que la forme, hors qu'il a la tête plus grosse, et les deux dents de dessous la moitié plus longues que celles de dessus. ll a aussi et les pattes de devant plus courtes que celles de derriere, avec quatre grifes, et une plus petite, et cinque à celles de derriere, ressemblant assez à celles d'un finge.
8
the head, and whole back, of a pale yellowish brown; often distinctly spotted with white; sometimes undulated with grey: under side of the body, and legs, of a yellowish white.
Tail covered with long hair; brown above, bordered with black on each side; each hair tipped with white: under part of a bright rust-color: three middle toes of the fore feet long: claws long and sharp: exterior and interior toes short; the last remote from the others: its claws short and blunt.
SIZE.
Length one foot; of the tail, to the end of the hairs, four inches and a half.
Inhabits Bohemia, Austria, Hungary, and from the banks of the Volga to India and Persia; through Siberia, and Great Tartary, to Kamtschatka*; some of the intervening isles, such as Kadjak; and even the continent of America itself.
Burrows, and forms its magazine of corn, nuts, &c. for its winter food†: sits up like a squirrel while it eats: some inhabit the fields in Siberia, others penetrate into the granaries; the first form holes under ground, with a double entrance, where they sleep during winter: those which inhabit granaries, are in motion during the cold season. They couple the beginning of May, about the Lena, but about Astracan earlier, and bring from five to eight young, which they bring up in their burrows, and cover with hay: only one animal inhabits each burrow: the females are always separate from the males, except in the coupling season: whistle like the marmot: are very irascible; quarrelsome among themselves, and bite very hard: fit in multitudes near their holes: are very fond of salt: taken in numbers on board the barges
* Yevrashka, or Marmotte minor. Gmelin voy. Siberia, ii. 448.
† Raii syn, quad. 220,
which are loaden with that commodity at Solikamsky, and fall down into the Volga below Casan.
Are both herbivorous and carnivorous; feed on plants, and destroy the young of small birds, and the lesser mice.
The Bohemian ladies were wont to make cloaks of the skins; we see them at this time made use of for linings, and appear very beautiful for that purpose, especially the spotted kind.
327. GUNDI.
M. with truncated ears, the apertures large: short tail: upper fore teeth truncated; lower, slender and pointed: four toes on every foot, each furnished with claws: walks on the whole hind feet as far as the heel: color, testaceous red.
Size of a small rabbet.
Inhabits Barbary towards Mount Atlas, near Massesin. Described by the late Mr. Rohtman, a Swede. This account was communicated to me by Mr. Zimmerman. Gundi is its Arabic name, which I retain.
328. TAILLESS.
M. with short ears: head and body of a cinereous brown; the ends of the hairs white: two cutting teeth above; four below: no tail.
I communicated a drawing of this species to Mr. Bewick, who has given an engraving of it at p. 374 of his ingenious performance. Inhabits Hudson's Bay. In the LEVERIAN MUSEUM.
VOL. II. T
XXX. SQUIRREL.
With two cutting teeth in each jaw.
Four toes before, five behind.
Long tail, cloathed with long hair.
329. COMMON.
Sciurus. Gesner quad. 845. Raii syn. quad. 214.
Wièwiorka Rzaczinski Polon. 225.
Eichhorn. Klein quad. 53.
sciurus vulgaris. Sc. auriculis apice barbatis, palmis tetradactylis, plantis pentadactylis. Lin. syst. 86.
Ikorn, Graikin Faun. fuec. N° 37.
Sciurus rufus quandoque griseo admixto. Brisson quad. 104.
L'Ecureuil. De Buffon, vi. 258. tab. xxxii. Br. Zool. i. 93. LEV. MUS.
S. with ears terminated with long tusts of hair: large lively black eyes: head, body, legs, and tail, of a bright reddish brown: breast and belly white: hair on each side the tail lies flat. In Sweden, and Lapland* changes in winter into grey. In many parts of England is a beautiful variety with milk-white tails.
Inhabits Europe;, the northern and temperate parts of Asia; and a variety is even found as far south as the isle of Ceylon: is a neat, lively, active animal: lives always in woods: in the spring, the female is seen pursued from tree to tree by the males, feigning an escape from their embraces. Makes its nest of moss and dried leaves, between the fork of two branches: brings three or four young at a time: has two holes to its nest: stops up that on the side the wind blows, as Pliny† justly remarks: lays in a hoard of
* Faun. Suec. and Schesser Lapl. 135.
† Lib. viii. c. 38.
8
winter provision, such as nuts, acorns, &c.; in summer, seeds on buds and young shoots: is particularly fond of those of fir, and the young cones: fits up to eat, and uses its fore-feet as hands: covers itself with its tail: leaps to a surprising distance: when disposed to cross a river, a piece of bark is its boat; its tail the fail*.
A large kind of grey squirrel is found about the upper parts of the river Obi, in the district of Kuznetsk, and is called Teleutskaya Belka, or the squirrel of the Teleutian Tartars: it is as large again as the common grey squirrels of those parts, and is preferred to them, on account of the silvery gloss of the skin. Few are sent into Russia, the greatest part being sent into China, and sell for 6l. or 7l. Sterling per thousand†.
A white variety is found common in Siberia.
A beautiful black variety about lake Baikal. In the LEVERIAN MUSEUM is a most elegant specimen of this kind.
α. WHITE-LEGGED SQUIRREL. The head, whole upper part of the body, sides, and toes, of a reddish brown: face, nose, under side of the neck, belly, fore legs, inside of the ears and thighs, white: ears slightly tusted with black: tail long, covered with dusky hairs, much shorter than those in the European kind. Br. Mus.: by the catalogue, said to be brought from Ceylon.
* Rzaczinski, Klain, Sebesser, Linnœus.
† Memorabalia Russ. Asiat. in Muller's samlung. Russ. vii. 124.
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330. CEYLON.
Sciurus Zeylanicus, pilis in dorso nigricantibus, Rukkaia dictus a sono. Raii syn. quad. 215.
Sciurus macrourus, long-tailed Squirrel. Ind. Zool. tab. i.
S. with ears tusted with black: nose flesh-colored: cheeks, legs, and belly, of a pale yellow: between the ears a yellow spot: forehead, back, sides, haunches, black: checks marked with a bisurcated stroke of black; under side red: tail twice as long as the body, of a light grey, and very bushy: the part next the body quite surrounded with hair: on the rest the hairs are separated, and lie flat. Is thrice the size of the European squirrel.
Inhabits Ceylon: is called there Dandoelana: also Roekea, from the noise it makes.
331. ABYSSINIAN.
S. with a round flesh-colored nose: hair on the upper part of the body of a rusty black: tail a foot and a half long: belly and fore feet grey: soles of the feet flesh-colored. Thrice the size of an European squirrel.
Described from Thevenot*, who says it was bought at Moco from an Abyssinian; that it was very good-natured, and sportive like a squirrel; would eat any thing except flesh, and would crack the hardest almonds. A variety of the above?
* Voyage des Indes Orientales, v. 34.
332. MALABAR.
Sciurus maximus. Gmelin Lin. i. 149. Grand Ecureuil. Sonnerat, voy. ii. 139.
S. with short tusted ears: five toes to each foot: instead of a thumb to the hind foot, is a short excrescence, with a flat nail; all the other nails strong and crooked: tail very full of hair, and as long as the body: hair long, of a reddish color, reflecting gold; a beard of the same begins under each ear, and turns towards the body: all the hind part of the body and tail black: is of the size of a cat.
PLACE.
Inhabits the mountains of Cardomone which form part of the Gauts: is very fond of the milk of the coco nut, which it will pierce and suck out on the tree. Its cry is sharp and piercing.
Sonnerat voy, ii. 140.
333. GINGI.
S. of a dirty grey color; brightest on the belly: eyes encompassed with a whire circle: on each side of the belly is a white line which extends along the shoulders and thighs: tail black: rather larger than the European kind.
Inhabits Gingi.
334. AYE. AYE.
Sonntrat, ii. 142. lxxxviii.
S. with large broad ears, smooth, shining, and with several long hairs scattered over them: sur soft and fine; of a tawny white, intermixed with some long black hairs: the tail is very bushy, covered with long hairs, black at their ends, white at their bottoms: five toes to each foot: the two joints of the middle finger of the fore feet very slender; the thumb of the hind foot furnished with a flat nail.
SIZE.
Length eighteen inches; tail of the same length: burrows under ground: goes out only in the night: the eyes fixed: is very slothful, and of gentle manners: very fearful: much inclined to sleep; and rests with its head between its legs.
PLACE.
Inhabits Madagascar: is a very rare animal: takes its name from its cry, the note of astonishment of the natives of that island.
335. JAVAN.
S. black on the upper part of the body; of a light brown on the lower: end of the tail black: on the thumb a round nail.
This brief account leaves me uncertain whether this is not also a variety.
Inhabits Java: discovered by Mr. Sparman. Memoirs society at Gothenburgh. Dr. PALLAS.
336. BOMBAY.
S. with tusted ears: head, back, sides, upper part of the legs and thighs, and tail, of a dull purple: the lower part of the legs, and thighs, and the belly, yellow: end of the t il orange: length, from nose to tail, near sixteen inches; tail seventeen.
Inhabits Bombay. Described from a stuffed skin in Doctor Hunter's cabinet.
This species extends to Balisere, the opposite part of the peninsula of Indostan.
M. de la Cepede* gives the description and figure of a large squirrel which agrees so much with this, that I suspect it to be only a variety. He says on one front of the face is a chesnut spot, surrounded with orange: in other respects, there is much agreement, only he makes no mention of the orange at the end of the tail.
337. RUDDY.
Sciurus Erythræus. Pallas Nov. sp. sasc. i. 377. Miller's plates, tab. xlvi.
S. with the ears slightly tusted: color above yellow, mixed with dusky: below of a blood red inclining to tawny: tail slender; of the same color, marked lengthways with a black stripe.
* See M. de Buffon, Suppl. vi. 254. tab. lxii.
Four toes on the fore feet; with a remarkable protuberance instead of a thumb: five toes on the hind.
Rather larger in size than a common squirrel.
Inhabits India.
338. GREY.
Grey Squirrel. Josselyn's voy. Cattsby Carolina, ii. 74. Smith's voy. 27. Kalm's voy. 95. 310.
Fox Squirrel. Lawson's Carolina, 124.
Sciurus cinereus Virginianus major. Raii syn. quad. 215.
Sciurus cinereus. Lin. syst. 86.
Sciurus cinereus. Auriculis ex albo fiavicantibus. Brisson quad. 107.
Le Petit-Gris. De Buffon, x. 116. tab. xxv. LEV. MUS.
S. with plain ears: hair of a dull grey color, mixed with black, and often tinged with dirty yellow: belly and insides of the legs white: tail long, bushy, grey, and striped with black. Size of a half-grown rabbet.
Inhabits the woods of North America, Peru*, and Chili†; are very numerous in North America; do incredible damage to the plantations of Mayz; run up the stalks, and eat the young ears; descend in vast flocks from the mountains, and join those that inhabit the lower parts; are proscribed by the provinces, and a reward of three pence per head for every one that is killed; such a
* Chinchilles are small beasts, like squirrels, with wonderful smoothe and soft skins, which they weare as a healthfull thing to comfort the stomacke; they make coverings and rugs of the haire of these Chinchilles, which are found on the Sierre of Peru. Acosta in Purchas's Pilg. iii. 966.
† Ovalle, in his history of Chile, says, that the grey or ash-color'd squirrels, of the valley of Guasco, are valuable for the surs. Clurchill's Coll. vol. iii. 44.
number was destroyed one year, that Pensylvania alone paid in rewards 8000l. of its currency.
Make their nests in hollow trees, with moss, straw, wool, &c. Feed on the mayz in the season, and on pine-cones, acorns, and masts of all kinds Form holes under ground, and there deposit a large stock of winter provision. Descend from the trees and visit their magazines when in want of meat; are particularly busy at the approach of bad weather; during the cold season keep in their nests for several days together; seldom leap from tree to tree, only run up and down the bodies; their hoards often destroyed by swine; when covered with deep snow, the squirrels often perish for want of food; are not easily shot, nimbly changing their place, when they see the gun levelled; have the actions of the common squirrel; easily tamed; their flesh esteemed very delicate. The surs which are imported under the name of petitgris are valuable, and used as linings to cloaks.
339. BLACK.
Quahtechalotl-thlitic. Hernandez Mex. 582. Hernandez Nov. Hisp. 8.
Black Squirrel. Catesby Car. ii. 73.
L'Ecureuil noir. Briffon quad. 105.
Sciurus niger. Lin. syst. 86. LEV. MUS.
S. with plain ears: sometimes wholly black, but often marked with white on the nose, the neck, or end of the tail: the tail shorter than that of the former: the body equal.
Inhabits the North of Asia, North America, and Mexico. I should have placed it as a variety of the last species, did not Mr.
VOL. II. U
Catesby expressly say, that it breeds and associates in separate troops; is equally numerous with the former; commits as great ravages among the Mayz; makes its nest in the same manner, and forms, like them, magazines for winter food.
A squirrel of a most beautiful shining black color, is found at the Pulo Condore, in lat. 8. 40.
β SQUIRREL, with plain ears: coarse fur, mixed with dirty white, and black, but varies to white: throat, and inside of the legs and thighs, black: tail much shorter than those of squirrels usually are: of a dull yellow color, mixed with black: body of the size of the grey squirrel. LEV. MUS.
Inhabits Virginia; described from Mr. Knaphan's collection; who told me that the planters called it the Cat Squirrel.
340. MADAGASCAR.
S. with plain ears: color of the face, back, sides, tail, and outside of the limbs, of a dark glossy black: ears, end of the nose, cheeks, and all the under side of the limbs, yellowish white. The length of this species from the tip of the nose to the origin of the tail, is about eighteen inches: the tail is longer than the body, slender, and ends in a point.
Inhabits Madagascar: described by M. de la Cepede, in his supplement to M. de Buffon, vii. 256. tab. lxxiii.
3
341. HUDSON'S BAY.
S. with plain ears: smaller than the European: marked along the middle of the back with a ferruginous line from head to tail: the sides paler: belly of a pale ash-color, mottled with black: tail not so long, or so full of hair, as the common kind; of a ferruginous color, barred with black, and towards the end is a broader band of the same color. LEV. MUS.
Inhabits the pine-forests about the Bay, and Terra de Labrador.
α. CAROLINA* SQUIRREL, with the head, back, and sides grey, white, and rust-colored intermixed: belly white, divided from the colors of the sides by a ferruginous line: lower part of the legs red: tail brown, mixed with black, and edged with white.
These are rather lesser than the European squirrels: vary in the colors: in most the grey predominates.
342. VARIED.
Quauhtecollotlquapachtli. Hernandez Nov. Hisp. 8.
Le Coquallin. De Buffen, xiii. 109. tab. xiii.
S. with plain ears: upper part of the body varied with black, white and brown: the belly tawny†: twice the size of the common squirrel.
* Lesser Grey Squirrel of the old edition.
† Called by the Indians, Coztiocotequallin, or Yellow Belly.
U 2
Inhabits Mexico: lives under ground, where it brings forth its young, and lays in a stock of winter food: lives on mayz: is never to be tamed.
These probably vary in size: I have seen one that seemed to be of this species, but not superior in size to the common squirrel: the colors were brown, orange, and cinereous: the belly orange.
343. FAIR.
Sciurus slavus. Sc. auriculis subrotundis, pedibus pentadactylis, corpore luteo. Lin. syst. 86. Amœn. Acad. i. 561.
S. with the body and tail of a slaxen color: of a very small size, with plain round ears, and rounded tail.
Inhabits the woods near Amadabad, the capital of Guzarat, in great abundance, leaping from tree to tree*. Linnœus says it is an inhabitant of South America.
344. BRASILIAN.
Sciurus Brasiliensis? Marcgrave Brasil. 330.
Sciurus coloris ex slavo et fusco mixti tæniis in lateribus albis. Brissn quad. 107.
Sciurus coloris ex slavo et fusco mixti tæniis in lateribus albis. Brissn quad. 107.
Sciurus æstuans. Sc. grifeus, subtus flavescens. Lin. syst. 88.
S. with plain ears, and rounded tail: head, body, and sides, covered with soft dusky hairs, tipt with yellow: tail rounded: the hairs annulated with black and yellow: throat cincre-
* L'Ecureuil blond. Della Valle, p. 84.
ous: inside of the legs, and the belly, yellow: the belly divided lengthways with a white line; which begins on the breast, is interrupted for a small space in the middle, and is then continued to the tail: length, from nose to tail, eight inches one quarter: tail ten.
Inhabits Brasil and Guiana. Mr. Vandeck, captain of a man of war in the Portuguese service, who procured them from their settlements in S. America, favored me with two.
345. MEXICAN.
Tlalmototli. Hernandez Nov. Hisp. 9.
Sciurus rarissimus ex Nov. Hispania. Seb.
Mus. i. 76. tab xlvii. fig. 2, 3. Brisson quad. 108.
S. of a mouse-color: the male marked on the back with seven white lines, which extend along the tail; the female, with only five: the tail of the male divided into four parts at the end: perhaps accidentally: its scrotum pendulous, like a goat's.
Inhabits New Spain. Seba, in tab. xlviii. fig. 5 has the figure of another, of an uniform color, distinguished also by its vast serotum.
346. PALM.
Mustela Africana. Clus. Exot. 112. Raii syn. quad. 216.
Sciurus palmarum. Sc. subgriseus striis tribus slavicantibus, caudaque albo nigroque lineata. Lin. syst. 86.
Sc. palmarum. Sc. coloris ex ruso et nigro mixti, tæniis in dorso flavicantibus. Brisson quad. 109.
Le Palmiste. De Buffon, x. 126. tab. xxvi.
S. with plain ears: an obscure pale yellow stripe on the middle of the back, another on each side, a third on each side of
the belly; the two last at times very saint: rest of the hair on the sides, back, and head, black and red, very closely mixed; that on the thighs and legs more red: belly, pale yellow: hair on the tail does not lie flat, but encircles it; is coarse, and of a dirty yellow, barred with black. Authors describe this kind with only three stripes: this had five, so possibly they vary.
Governor Loten did me the favor of informing me that it lived much in the Coco trees, and was very fond of the sury, or palm-wine, which is procured from the tree; from which it obtained, among the Indians, the name of Suricatsje, or the little cat of the Sury*.
According to Clusuis and Mr. Ray, this species does not erect its tail like other squirrels, but has the faculty of expanding it sideways.
347. WHITE-STRIPED.
β. BARBARY. Sciurus getulus. Caii opuse. 77. Gesner quad. 847.
Sc. getuius. Sc. fuscus striis quatuor albis longitudinalibus. Lin. syst. 87. Klein quad. 84. Brisson quad. 109.
Barbarian squirrel Edw. 198.
Le Barbaresque. De Buffon, x. 126. tab. xxvii.
S. with full black eyes and white orbits: head, body, feet, and tail, cinereous, inclining to red: lightest on the legs: sides, marked lengthways with two white stripes: belly white: tail bushy, marked regularly with shades of black, one beneath the other: size of the common squirrel.
* See the process of obtaining this liquor in Rumphius's herbarium Amboinense, vol. i. p. 5. The tree is engraved in tab. i. ii.
Both these squirrels inhabit Barbary and other hot countries: live in trees, especially palms, from which one takes its name.
348. PLANTANE
THIS species resembles much the common squirrel, but is lighter colored, and has a yellow line extending along the sides, from leg to leg.
Common in Java and Prince's island; is called by the Malayes, Ba-djing; lives much on Plantanes; is very shy; retreats at the sight of mankind, and clatters over the dry leaves of the Pitang or Plantanes with vast noise. It also is common on the tamarind trees.
A. with membranes from fore leg to hind leg.
349. SAILING.
Sciurus Sagitta. Sc. hypochondrias prolixis volitans, cauda plano-pinnata lanceolata. Lin. syst. 88.
Sciurus petaurista. Pallas Misel. Zool. 54. tab. vi.
Sciurus maximus volans, seu felis volans. Sc. castanei coloris, in parte corporis superiore, in inferiore vero eximié flavescentis; cute ab anticis cruribus ad postica membranæ in modum extensa volans. Brisson quad. 12.
Le Taguan ou grand Ecureuil volant. De Buffon, Suppl. iii. 150. tab. xxi. Mus. Roy. Society*.
S. with a small rounded head: cloven upper lip: small blunt ears: two small warts at the outmost corner of each eye,
* Where there is the skin of one in fine preservation.
with hairs growing out of them: neck short: four toes on the fore feet; and instead of a thumb, a slender bone, two inches and a half long, lodged under the lateral men brane, serving to stretch it out: from thence to the hind legs extends the membrane, which is broad, and a continuation of the skin of the sides and belly, the membrane extends along the fore legs, and stretches out near the joint in a winged form: five toes on the hind feet, and on all the toes sharp, compressed, bent claws: tail covered with long hairs, disposed horizontally: color of the head, body, and tail, a bright bay; in some parts inclining to orange: breast and belly of a yellowish white: length, from nose to tail, eighteen inches; tail fifteen.
Inhabits Java*, and others of the Indian islands: leaps from tree to tree as if it flew: will catch hold of the boughs† with the tail. Differs in size: that described by Linnœus was the size of our squirrel: that killed by Sir Edward Michelbourne, in one of the Indian isles, was greater than a hare. Nieuhoff describes this species under the name of the Flying Cat, and says the back is black: he has given two very good figures of it; one in his frontispiece, the other in the page he describes it in‡.
* Hamilton's voy. ii. 131.
† Sir Edward Michelbourne's voy. in Purchas's Pilgrim. i. 134.
‡ Churchill's coll. ii. 354.
Greater Flying Squirrel. Ph. Tr. lxii. 379.
350. SEVERN RIVER.
S. with back and sides of a deep cinereous color at the bottom; end ferruginous: under side of the body of a yellowish white; the hair every where long and full: tail covered with long hairs, disposed in a less flat way than those of the European kind; brown on the upper part, darker at the end, yellowish beneath the skin: the instrument of flying disposed from leg to leg; but does not border the fore-legs.
SIZE.
Size equal to the European squirrel.
PLACE.
Inhabits the southern parts of Hudson's Bay, about Severn river. Mus. Roy. Society.
351. FLYING.
Assapanick. Smith's Virginia, 27. Josselyn's voy. 86. De Laet, 88.
Sciurus Americanus volans. Raii syn. quad. 215. Lawson's Carolina, 124. Catesby Carolina, ii. 76, 77. Edw. 191. Kalm, i. 321. tab. i. Da Pratz. ii. 69.
Sciurus volans. Sc. hypochondriis prolixis volitans, cauda rotundata. Lin. syst. 88.
Sciurus volans. Brisson quad. 110. iii. No. 12. LEV. MUS.
S. with round naked ears: full black eyes: a lateral membrane from fore to hind legs: the fore legs for the most part clear of the membrane: tail with long hairs disposed horizontally, longest in the middle, and ending in a point: color above, a brownish ash: beneath white, tinged with yellow. Much less than the common squirrel.
VOL. II. X
Inhabits North America and New Spain*: lives in hollow trees: sleeps in the day; during the night very lively; is gregarious, numbers being found in one tree: leaps from bough to bough sometimes at the distance of ten yards: this action improperly called flying, for the animal cannot go in any other direction than forward; and even then cannot keep an even line, but finks considerably before it can reach the place it aims at: sensible of this, the squirrel mounts the higher, in proportion to the distance it wishes to reach: when it would leap, it stretches out the fore legs, and extending the membranes, becomes specifically lighter than it would otherwise be; and thus is enabled to spring further than other squirrels that have not this apparatus. When numbers leap at a time, they seem like leaves blown off by the wind. Their food the same as the other American squirrels: are easily tamed: bring three or four young at a time.
Stockdale's Bot. Bay, 151. White, 288.
352. NORPOLK-ISLE.
S. with very short ears, almost hid in the fur: color very much resembling that of the American grey squirrel: a black line extends from the head along the middle of the back to the tail: the flying membrane black, edged with white: two thirds of the tail are of an elegant ash-color; the rest black: size of the American grey squirrel.
Inhabits Norfolk isle.
* Where it is called Quimichpatlan. Hernandez, Nov. Hisp. 8.
In the isle of Pulo Condore is a flying squirrel striped with brown and white: possibly a new species.
Sciurus Virginianus volans. Seb. Mus. i. tab. xliv. Brisson quad. iii. Mus volans. Lin. syst. 85.
353. HOODED.
S. with the lateral membrane beginning at the chin and ears, and extending like the former from fore to hind leg: reddish above; cinereous, tinged with yellow, beneath: ears large and oval.
Inhabits Virginia, according to Seba; who is the only author who has described it. Linnœus's synonyms, from Ray and Edwards, erroneous.
354. EUROPEAN FL. SQ.
Mus Ponticus vel Scythicus. Gesner quad. 743.
Sciurus Petaurista volans. Klein quad. 54.
Flying squirrel. Ph. Trans. abr. ix. 76. tab. v.
Sciurus volans. Faun. suec. No. 38. Palias, nav. sp. fasc. i. 355.
Sc. volans Sc. hypochondriis prolixis volitans, cauda rotundata. Lin. syst. 88.
Sciurus Sibiricus volans. Brisson, 110. No. 13.
Le Poulatouche. De Buffon, x. 95. tab. xxii.
Quadrupes volatilis Russiœ. Com. acad. Petrop. v. 218. LEV. MUS.
S. with naked ears, indented on the exterior side: full eyes: eyelids bordered with black: membranes extend to the very base of the fore feet, and form a large wing on the exterior side: tail full of hair, and round at the end: color of the
X 2
upper part of the body a fine grey, like that on a gull's back: lower part of a pure white.
SIZE.
From nose to tail four inches and a quarter; of the tail to the tip of the hair, five.
PLACE.
Inhabits Finland and Lapland, and the Russian dominions, from Livonia to the river Kolyma or Kowyma, in the N. E. part of Siberia, and is common in all the mountanous wooded tracts of that cold region: lives usually on birch-tree buds and fructifications, and on the cones of the pines and cedars: is not gregarious, and leads a solitary life, and wanders about even in winter: lives in hollow trees, and makes its nest in the moss of birchtrees: when at rest, it slings its tail over its back; but in leaping, extends it.
NAMES.
The Germans call it Konige der Grauzwerke*, or King of the Squirrels; the Russians, Polatucha, and Letaga; the Poles, Wieiviorka Lataiaca.
* Klein.
XXXI. DORMOUSE.
Two cutting teeth in each jaw.
Four toes before: five behind.
Naked ears.
Long tail, covered with hair.
355. STRIPED.
Mouse squirrel. Josselyn's voy. 86.
Ground squirrel. Lawson Carolina, 124. Catesby Carolina, ii. 75. Edw. 181. Kalm, i. 322. tab. i.
Sciurus Listeri. Raii syn. quad. 216.
Sciurus minor virgatus. Nov. Com. Petrop. v. 344.
Boern-doeskie. Le Brun, voy. Moscov. ii. 342.
Sciurus striatus. Sc. flavus striis quinque fuscis longitudinalibus. Lin. syst. 87. Klein quad. 53. Pallas nov. sp. fasc. i. 378.
Sciurus Carolinenfis. Brisson quad.
Le Suiffe. De Buffon, x. 126. tab. xxviii. Charlevoix Nouv. France, v. 198. LEV. MUS.
D. with plain ears: ridge of the back marked with a black streak: each side with a pale yellow stripe, bounded above and below with a line of black: head, body, and tail, of a reddish brown; the tail the darkest: breast and belly white: nose and feet pale red: eyes full.
PLACE.
MANNERS.
MAGAZINES.
Inhabits the north of Asia, beginning about the river Kama, and grows more and more frequent in the woody parts of Siberia; but found in the greatest abundance in the forests of North America: they never run up trees except pursued, and find no other means of escaping: they burrow, and form their habitations under ground with two entrances, that they may get access to the one, in case the other is stopped up. Their retreats are formed with great skill, in form of a long gallery, with branches on each side, each of which terminates in an enlarged chamber, as a magazine
4
to store their winter provision in; in one they lodge the acorns, in another the mayz, in a third the hickery nuts, and in the last, their favorite food, the chinquapin chesnut. They very seldom stir out during winter, at left as long as their provisions last; but if that fails, they will dig into cellars where apples are kept, or barns where mayz is stored, and do a great deal of mischief; but at that time the cat destroys great numbers, and is as great an enemy to them as to mice.
During the mayz harvest, these animals are very busy in biting off the ears, and filling their mouths so full with the corn, that their cheeks are quite distended, having pouches in their jaws like the hamster. It is observable, that they give great preference to certain food; for if, after filling their mouths with rye, they happen to meet with wheat, they fling away the first, that they may indulge in the last. They are very wild, bite severely, and are scarcely ever tamed: the skins are of little use; but are sometimes brought over to line cloaks.
356. FAT.
Glis. Gesner quad. 550. Raii syn. quad. 229.
Glis vulgaris. Klein quad. 56.
Glis supra obscurè cinereus, infra ex albo cinerescente. Brisson quad. 113.
Sciurus Glis. Sc. canus snbtus albidus. Lin. syst. 87.
Le Loir. De Buffon, viii. 158. tab. xxiv.
Mus Glis. Pallas nov. sp. sasc. i. 88.
D. with thin naked ears: body covered with soft ash-colored hair: belly whitish: tail full of long hair: from nose to tail, near six inches; tail four and a half: thicker in the body than the squirrel.
Inhabits France and the south of Europe. Is found in the woods in the south-west parts of Russia, and was discovered by
Doctor Pallas in the rocky caverns about the rivers Samara and Volga. The late Doctor Kramer favored me with one from Austria. Lives in trees, and leaps from bough to bough: feeds on fruits and acorns: lodges in the hollows of trees: remains in a torpid state during winter, and grows very fat,
Tota mihi dormitur hyems, et pinguior illo
Tempore sum, quo me nil nisi somnus alit*.
Was esteemed a great delicacy by the Romans, who had their Gliraria, places constructed to keep and feed them in. I think that the Italians at present eat them.
357. GARDEN.
Mus avellanarum major. Gesner quad. 735.
Greater Dormouse, or Sleeper. Raii syn. quad. 219.
Glis supra obscurè cinereus, infra ex albo cinerescens, macula ad oculos nigra. Brisson quad. 114.
Mus quercinus. M. cauda elongata pilosa, macula nigra sub oculos. Lin. syst. 84.
Le Lerot. De Buffon, viii. 181. tab. xxv.
Mus nitedula. Pallas, nov. sp. fasc. i. 88.
D. with the eyes surrounded with a large spot of black, reaching to the base of the ears, and another behind the ears: head and whole body of a tawny color: the throat and whole under side of the body white, tinged with yellow: the tail long: the hairs at the beginning very short; at the end bushy: length, from nose to tail, not five inches: the tail four.
Inhabits France and the south of Europe: is found in magpies nests and hollow trees about the Volga, and other temperate
* Martial Epig. Lib. xiii. Ep. 59.
and southern parts of the Russian dominions. Neither this nor the former species extend beyond the Uralian mountains: infests gardens, and is very destructive to fruits of all kind: is particularly fond of peaches: lodges in holes in the walls: brings five or six young at a time: like the former, remains torpid during winter; has a strong smell, like a rat.
Sciurus Degus. Molina Chili, 284.
358. DEGUS.
D. of a dull white color, and with a blackish line cross the shoulders, reaching to the elbows: the tail ending in a tust: ears rounded: larger than the common rat.
MANNERS.
Inhabits Chili, and lives under ground, near the hedges and bushes; and forms its retreat into various galleries communicating with each other: feeds on roots and fruits, and lays up a large provision of them for winter food. Is not torpid during that season like our dormouse.
359. COMMON.
Mus avellanarum minor, the Dormouse or Sleeper. Raii syn. quad. 220.
Rothe Wald Maufs. Kramer Austria, 317.
Glis supra rufus, infra albicans. Brisson quad.
Mus avellanarius. M. cauda elongata pilosa, corpore ruso, gula albicante, pollicibus posticis muticis. Lin. syst. 83. Faun. suec. No. 35. Pallas nov. sp. sasc. i. 89.
Le Muscardin. De Buffon, viii. 193. tab. xxvi.
Dormouse. Edw. 266. Br. Zool. i. 95. LEV. MUS.
D. with round naked ears: full black eyes: body of a tawny red: throat white: size of a mouse, but plumper: tail two
inches and a half long, and pretty hairy, especially towards the end.
Inhabits Europe: lives in thick hedges: makes its nest in the hollow of a low tree, or in a thick bush near the bottom, of grass, moss, or dead leaves: brings three or four young at a time: seldom appears far from its retreat: forms magazines of nuts: eats its food sitting up, like a squirrel: at approach of winter, retires and rolls itself up, lying torpid: sometimes in a warm day revives, takes a little food, and relapses into its former state.
360. EARLESS.
D. with a flat head, obtuse nose, eyes full and black, upper lip bisid.
Auricles very minute, scarcely apparent: long whiskers.
Head, back, sides, and front of the fore legs, pale ferruginous, mixed with black: from shoulder to hind parts, on each side, a white line: above each eye another: belly and feet of a dirty white.
Tail black in the middle; hoary on the sides.
Toes long and distinct: the knob on the fore feet large: claws very long.
Hind legs black behind, and naked.
SIZE.
Size of a common squirrel, but much broader and flatter.
PLACE.
800 miles above the Cape of Good Hope, about the mountain Sneeburgh. Communicated by Sir Joseph Banks.
VOL. II. Y
MANNERS.
Never climbs trees: burrows, seeds on bulbous roots, and is particularly fond of potatoes: walks often on its hind feet; and often lies flat on its belly: very tame, and never offers to bite: frequently flirts up its tail: makes a warm nest, and forms in it a round hole, in which it lodges, and pulls to the orifice a quantity of materials, in order to close it: keeps sometimes in its retreat for three entire days.
Le Lerot a queue dorce. Allamand Supplem. iv. 164. tab. lxvii.
361. GILT-TAIL.
SIZE.
PLACE.
D. with short broad ears, great whiskers, the face marked lengthways with a gold color line extending from the nose to the space between the ears. The rest of the head and whole body and beginning of the tail are a purplish chesnut color, the remaining half of the tail is black: the rest of a beautiful gold color. The tail is thick about the base.
Length from nose to tail is five inches; of the tail six and nine lines.
Inhabits Surinam. Lives on fruits and climbs up the trees.
GUERLINGUETS.
M. de la Cepede* gives ns the description of two species cf animals, which he calls Guerlinguets. He denies that they are true squirrels: the ears are naked, and the tail grows taper, yet is covered with long hair, but by no means disposed like
* Supplem. &c vii. 261. tab. lxv. lxvi.
that on the tail of the squirrel: they may come into this genus; at left let them remain here till we are better informed.
362. GREATER.
The larger is between seven and eight inches long, exclusive of the tail: the tail is of equal length: the hair on the body is very short, and at its extremity a bright bay. The tail is rayed with brown and tawny.
363. LESSER.
The lesser is little more than four inches long: the tail little more than three: the body, legs, and tail, are clouded with olive and ash-color: o the face, lower part of the belly, and sides of the legs are tawny.
Y 2
XXXII. JERBOA.
Two cutting teeth in each jaw.
Two very short fore legs: two very long hind legs, resembling those of cloven-footed water-fowl.
Very long tail, tusted at the end.
364. ÆGYPTIAN.
Muζ διπες. Theophr. opusc. 295. Ælian hist. an. lib xv. c. 26.
Mus bipes. Plinii lib. x. c. 65. Texeira's Travels, 21.
Gerbua. Edw. 219. Plaifted's journal, 59.
Mus jaculus. M. cauda elongata floccosa, palmis subpentadacty lis, femoribus longiffimis, brachiis brevissimis. Lin. syst. 85. Hasselquist itin. 198.
Le jerbo. De Buffen, xiii. 141.
Mus sagitta. Pallas nov. sp. fasc. i. 306. tab. xxi.
J. with thin, erect, and broad ears: full and dark eyes: long whiskers: fore legs an inch long; five toes on each; the inner, or thumb, scarce apparent; but that, as well as the rest, furnished with a sharp claw: hind legs two inches and a quarter long, thin, covered with short hair, and exactly resembling those of a bird; three toes on each, covered above and below with hair; the middle toe the longest; on each a pretty long sharp claw: length, from nose to tail, seven inches and one quarter: tail ten inches, terminated with a thick black tust of hair; the tip white; the rest of the tail covered with very short coarse hair: the upper part of the body thin, or compressed sideways: the part about the rump and loins large: the head, back, sides, and thighs, covered with long hair, ash-colored at the bottom, pale tawny at the ends: breast and belly whitish: across the up-
per part of the thighs is an obscure dusky band: the hair long and soft.
PLACE.
Inhabits Ægypt, Barbary, Palestine, the deferts between Bassora and Aleppo, the sandy tracts between the Don and Volga, the hills south of the Irtish, from fort Janiyschera to the seven palaces, where the Altaic mountains begin: as singular in its motions as in its form: always stands on its hind feet; the fore feet performing the office of hands: runs fast; and when pursued, jumps five or six feet from the ground: burrows like rabbets: keeps close in the day: sleeps rolled up: lively during night: when taken, emits a plaintive feeble note: feeds on vegetables: has great strength in its fore feet. Two, which I saw living in London, burrowed almost through the brick wall of the room they were in; came out of their hole at night for food, and when caught, were much fatter and sleeker than when confined to their box.
This is the Daman Israel, or the Lamb of the Israelites of the Arabs, and is supposed to be the Saphan*, the concy of HOLY WRIT: our rabbet being unknown in the Holy Land. Dr. Shaw met with this species on mount Libanus, and distinguishes it from the next species†. It is also the mouse of Isaiah‡, Achbar in the original signifying a male Jerboa.
This and the following species, which is found to extend to the
* Bochart displays a vast deal of learning on the subject. Vide Hierozoicon, lib iii. c. 33. p. 1001.
† Travels, 376.
‡ Chap. lxvi. 17. Bochart, 1015. This animal was a forbidden food with the Israelites.
colder regions, on any approach of cold grow torpid, and remain so till they are revived by a change of weather. Pallas calls this class the Species Lethargicœ.
365. SIBERIAN.
Cuniculus pumilio saliens cauda longissima. Nov. Com. Petrop. v. 351. tab. ix. fig. 1.
Cuniculus pumilio saliens, cauda anomala lorgissima. Brisson quad. 103.
Dipus Jaculus. Gm. Lin. 157.
Flying hare. Strahlenberg's hist. Russ. 370.
Mus jaculus. Pal'as nov. sp. fasc. i. 275. tab. xx. MUS. LEV.
α. GREAT.
NOSE truncated; end edged with white: lower teeth slender; twice as long as the upper.
Ears large, pointed, tipt with white, naked within: hairs on the back tawny, of a dark grey beneath, very soft: legs and whole under side of the body white: half the tail next to the body covered with short whitish hairs; from thence, with long black hairs; the end has a large white feathered tust an inch long.
Five toes on the fore feet; the toe without a nail.
On the hind legs, an inch above the feet, are two long toes armed with nails: the back part of the legs naked.
Leneth eight inches and a half; of the tail ten.
PLACE.
This variety is no where very frequent, but is chiefly found from the Caspian sea to the river Irtish.
β. MIDDLE.
Of the size of a rat: of the color of the former, except that the rump on each side is crossed with a white line.
This middle species is found only in the eastern deserts of Siberia and Tartary, beyond lake Baikal; also in Barbary* and Syria†, and even as far as India‡.
* Shaw's Travels.
† Haym's Tesoro Brit. ii. p. and tab. 124.
‡ Pallas.
γ. PYGMY.
Differs from the Great, in wanting the white circle round the nose, in having a less tust to the tail, and the end just tipt with white: agrees entirely in form; but is far inferior in size to even the Middle. Inhabits the same places with the Great.
MANNERS.
These three agree in manners: burrow in hard ground, clay or indurated mud: not only in high and dry spots, but even in low and salt places. They dig their holes very speedily, not only with their fore feet but with their teeth, and fling the earth back, with their hind feet, so as to form a heap at the entrance. The burrows are many yards long, and run obliquely and winding, but not above half a yard deep below the surface. They end in a large space or nest, the receptacle of the purest herbs. They have usually but one entrance; yet by a wonderful sagacity they work from their nest another passage to within a very small space of the surface, which in case of necessity they can burst through, and so escape.
It is singular, that an animal of a very chilly nature, should keep within its hole the whole day, and wander about only in the night.
GREAT LEAPS.
They sleep rolled up, with their head between their thighs: and when kept in a stove, and taken suddenly out, they seem quite stupified, and for a time scarcely find the use of their limbs: perhaps this arises from an excess of heat; for when an attempt is made to take them out of their burrows, they are quickly alarmed on the noise of digging, and attempt their escape. At sun-set they come out of their holes, clear them of the fifth, and keep abroad till the sun has drawn up the dews from the earth. On approach of any danger, they immediately take to flight, with leaps a fathom in height, and so swiftly that a
man well mounted can hardly overtake them. They spring so nimbly, that it is impossible to see their feet touch the ground. They do not go strait forwards, but turn here and there, till they gain a burrow, whether it is their own, or that of another. In leaping, they carry their tails stretched out: in standing, or going or walking, they carry them in form of an S, the lower part touching the ground, so that it seems a director in their motions. When surprized, they will sometimes go on all fours, but soon recover their attitude of standing on their hind legs like a bird: even when undisturbed, they use the former attitude; then rise erect, listen, and hop about like a crow. In digging or eating they drop on their fore legs: but in the last action will often fit up and eat like a squirrel.
EASILY TAMED.
They are easily made tame: seek always a warm corner: foretell cold or bad weather by wrapping themselves close up in hay; and those which are at liberty stop up the mouths of their burrows.
FOOD.
In a wild state they are particularly fond of the roots of tulips: live much on oleraceous plants: the small stature of the pygmy kind is attributed to their feeding on saline plants. Those of the middle size, which live beyond the lake Baikal, live on the bulbs of the Lilium Pomponium, and they gnaw the twigs of the Robinia Carugana. When confined, they will not refuse raw meat, and the entrails of fowls.
They are the prey of all lesser rapacious beasts. The Arabs, who are forbidden all other kinds of mice, esteem these the greatest delicacies: as those people often are disappointed in digging after them, they have this proverb, "To buy a hole instead "of a Jerboa."
4
The Mongols have a notion that they suck the sheep: certain it is, they are during night very frequent among the flocks, which they disturb by their leaps.
NAMES.
The Mongols call this animal Alagb-Daagba. Alagh signifies variegated, Daagha, a foal. The Calmucs call it Jalma: the great fort they style Morin Jalma, or the Horse Jerboa; the lesser fort, Choïn Jalma, or the Sheep.
They breed often in the summer; in the southern parts, in the beginning of May: beyond Baikal, not till June. They bring perhaps eight at a time, as they have so many teats. They sleep the whole winter without nutriment. About Astracan, they will sometimes appear in a warm day in February: but return to their holes on the return of cold.
Animals of this genus were certainly the two-footed mice, and the Ægyptian mice, of the ancients, which were said to walk on their hind legs; and use the fore instead of hands. These, with the plant Silphium, were used to denote the country of Cyrene, where both were found, as appears from the figures on a beautiful gold coin preserved by Mr. Haym*, and which I have caused to be copied above the animal, in the plate.
Dipus sagitta. Gm. Lin. 158. Pallas nov. sp. 87, 206. tab. xxi. Edw. tab. 219.
366. ARROW.
J. with ears shorter and broader than the preceding: nose longer and less obtuse: toes before, three behind: coat thicker
* Tesoro Brit. ii. 124.
VOL. II. Z
and longer; a white band from the base of the tail to the junction of the thighs with the body: length from the tip of the nose to the rump, little more than five inches; of the tail six.
Inhabits Barbary, and all the north of Africa, Ægypt, Arabia, and Syria; and lives in the sandy deserts.
367. CAPE.
Grand Gerbo. Allamand de Buffon, xv. 118. Journal Hisiorique, 59.
Dipus Cafer. Gm.Lin. 159.Miller's plates.tab. xxxi.
J. with a short head: broad between the ears: mouth placed far below the upper jaw: lower very short: two great teeth in each: ears one-third shorter than those of the common rabbet, thin and transparent: eyes large: whiskers great.
Fore legs short, five toes on each, with a great protuberance next to the inner toe: claws of the fore toes crooked, and two-thirds longer than the toes themselves: claws of the hind toes short.
Color above tawny; cinereous below, mixed with long hairs pointed with black: two-thirds of the tail tawny, the rest black.
Length from nose to tail one foot two inches; of the tail near fifteen inches; the ears near three.
Inhabits the great mountains far north of the Cape of Good Hope. It is called by the Hottentots, Aerdmannetje; and by the Dutch, Springen Haas, or the Jumping Hare.
It is very strong; will leap twenty or thirty feet at a time: its voice a grunting: when it eats, sits upright, with the legs extended horizontally, and with a bent back: uses its fore feet to bring the food to its mouth; burrows with them, which it does
so expeditiously as quickly to bury itself. In sleeping, it sits with its knees separate, puts its head between its hind legs, and with the fore legs holds its ears over its eyes.
368. TORRID.
Mus longipes. M. cauda elongata vestita, palmis tetradactylis, plantis pentadactylis, femoribus longissimis. Lin. syst. 84.
Mus cauda longa vestita, pedibus posticis longitudine corporis, flavis. Mus. Ad. Fr. 9.
J. with naked oval ears: long whiskers: four toes on the fore feet: the hind feet the length of the body, thick, strong and thinly haired: five toes on each foot: scarcely any neck: tail the length of the body, with very little hair on it: color of the upper part of the body yellow; the lower white: size of a common mouse.
Inhabits, according to Linnœus, the torrid zone*: mentioned by no other writer.
* Habitat in torridis regionibus.
Z 2
XXXIII. RAT.
Two cutting teeth in each jaw.
Four toes before; five behind.
Very slender taper tail; naked, or very slightly haired.
* Jerboid.
369. CANADA.
R. with the upper jaw projecting far beyond the lower: upper cutting teeth deeply divided by a longitudinal furrow: ears small, and hid in the sur, and placed far back: the three middle hind toes very long; those on each side very short: color of the fur on the upper part of the head and body, light rust; towards the bottom of the sur iron grey: belly whitish: length from nose to the tip of the tail scarcely two inches: tail very slender; three inches and a half long.
MANNERS.
This animal inhabits the woods of Canada. Its hind legs have more of the Jerboas, than any of the rest of this genus; are very long: it goes upright on these, like the Jerboa; and its pace is leaping like that animal: is exceeding nimble, and is with difficulty caught, except it can be forced into the open grounds: is torpid during winter: wraps itself up like the dormouse, and coils up its long tail; previously rolling itself into a round ball of clay, which it forms for its winter retreat.
I am indebted to Col. Davies, of the artillery, for the fight and the account of this curious animal.
370. LABRADOR.
R. with a blunt nose: mouth placed far beneath: upper lip bifid: ears large, naked, rounded; fore legs short, furnished with four toes, and a tubercle instead of a thumb: hind legs long and naked, like some of the Jerboas: thumb short: toes long, slender, and distinct; the exterior the shortest.
The whole length of the animal eight inches: of which the tail is four and three quarters.
Color deep brown above, white beneath, separated the whole length on each side by a yellow line.
PLACE.
Inhabits Hudson's Bay, and the Labradore coast. Sent by Mr. Graham, and deposited in the Museum of the Royal Society.
Since I wrote the above, I find that Doctor Pallas has described this species under the title of Mus Longipes*. It inhabits also the sandy desert of Naryn, or Ryn Pesky, between the Volga and the Yaik, near the Caspian Sea, in lat. 46 ½. In this tract scarcely any thing grows except the Torlok, or Pterococcus Aphyllus, and a few other poor plants on which it feeds. Two were then taken sporting in the mid-day sun; they were both males, and attempted to escape to different holes. The burrows had three entrances running obliquely, and were about a yard deep; lined or plaistered with mud. In the bottom was neither nest nor provision of grass.
The Asiatic animal differed in color from the American, being above of a light grey mixed with tawny, white below: these colors divided lengthways by a stripe of dusky red. The tail
* Nov.sp.sasc. i. 314. tab. xviii. B. Mus mindianus? Itin. ii. 702.
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covered with longer and looser hair at the end than in the other parts: the soles of the feet clad with hair. This I could not well observe in the specimen from Hudson's Bay, as it was preserved in spirits. Linnœus describes this species under the title of Mus longipes, Syst. nat. 84. Doctor Pallas, with great reason, supposes it to be the same with the Jird of Doctor SHAW, which our learned countryman describes with the Jerboa. It agrees in colors with the above; in its long tail being better cloathed than that of a rat; and in its burrowing under ground. This is frequent in Barbary, and is reckoned there a good food*.
371. A. CIRCASSIAN.
To this I join, on the judgment of Doctor Pallas, another animal, which I described at N° 205 of the Synopsis of Quadrupeds, under the title of Circassian Marmot, or
M. with ears like those of mice: red sparkling eyes: sharp teeth: body long, and of an equal thickness: chesnut-colored hair, long, especially on the back: has sharp claws: tail long and bushy: fore feet shorter than the hind feet: size of the Hamster, N° 324.
Inhabits the neighborhood of the river Terek, which flows out of Circassia and falls into the Caspian Sea: runs fast up hill, very slowly down: burrows, and lives under ground†.
* Shaw's travels, 248.
† Schober's memorab. Asiat. Russiæ in Muller's Samlung Russ. viii. 124.
Mus Tamaricinus. Pallas, nov. sp. i. 322. tab. xix. Itin. ii. 702.
372. TAMARISK.
R. with an oblong head: great whiskers: nose blunt: nostrils covered with a slap: teeth yellow: eyes large and brown: ears large, naked, and oval: neck short: space round the nose and eyes, and beyond the ears, white: sides of the head and neck hoary: back and sides of a yellowish grey: tips of the hairs brown: breast and belly white: tail cinereous; above half annulated with brown: hind legs long: on the fore feet a warty tubercle instead of a thumb.
SIZE.
PLACE.
Length to the tail above six inches: tail not quite so long.
Inhabits the lower salt-marshes about Saritschikofka, on the Lower Yaik or Ural, where they burrow beneath the knotty roots of the tamarisk bushes; each burrow has two entrances, and is very deep: they feed only at night: out of numbers which were taken in traps placed before their holes, not a female was taken. Their food is the succulent maritime tribe of plants, such as Nitraria, Salsola, and others, with which those deserts abound.
To this division of Rats I give the title of Jerboid, from the affinity it has to that genus in the length of the hind legs. To the other, Murine, as comprehending all the common species of Rats and Mice.
** Murine.
373. BLACK.
Mus domesticus major, quem vulgò Rattum vocant.Gesner quad. 731. Raiisyn. quad. 217.
Mus Rattus Mus Cistrinarius. Khin quad. 57.
Ratze. Kramer Austr. 316.
Mus cauda longissima obseurè cinerea. Briffon quad. 118.
Mus Rittus. M. cauda elongata subnuda, palmis tetradactylis cum unguiculo pollicari, plantis pentadactvlis. Lin syst.
Ratta. Faun. suec. N° 33 Br. Zocl. i. N° 27.
Le Rat. De Busson, vii. 278. tab. xxxvi. Pallas Lov. sp. sasc. i. 93. LEV. MUS.
R. of a deep iron-grey color, nearly black: belly cinereous: legs dusky, almost naked: a claw, in the place of a fifth toe, on the fore feet: length, from nose to tail, seven inches; tail near eight.
PLACE.
Inhabits most parts of Europe: of late, the numbers much lessened, and in many places extirpated, by the next species: very destructive to corn, furniture, young poultry, rabbets, and pigeons: will gnaw the extremities of infants when asleep: breeds often in a year: brings six or seven young at a time: makes its nest, in a hole near a chimney, of wool, bits of cloth, or straw: will destroy and devour one another: its greatest enemy is the weesel. First introduced by the Europeans into South America*, about the year 1544, in the time of the Viceroy Blasco Nunnez. Is now the pest of all that continent.
The word Rattus is modern. The Romans probably comprehended all kinds under the word Mus. The Welsh call this Llygoden Frengig, or the French Mouse, which evinces it not to be a native
* Garcilasso de la Vega, 384. Ovalle. Churchill's coll. iii. 43.
of our island. There is a very minute variety of this kind about the Volga, in the deserts of the lower part (for they have not reached the upper) which scarcely weighs seven drachms.
I cannot trace the original place of the black rat: none are found in Siberia or Kamtschatka.
SOUTH-SEA ISLANDS.
Rats (I know not of what species) are found in the Papuas islands, off New Guinea* but according to the account given by Doctor Forster†, the common black rats swarm in Otaheite, and other of the Society islands, and are also met with in the other groupes of islands, in New Zealand, and in New Holland. They feed in Otaheite on the fruits of the country, and are so bold as even to attack the inhabitants when they are asleep. The natives hold them in the utmost detestation, as unclean animals, and will even avoid killing them, least they should be polluted by the touch. They will not even eat the bread-fruit these animals should happen to run over.
Le Coypu. Molina Chili. 268. Mus Coypus. Gm. Lin. 125.
374. COYPU.
R. with round ears: nose elongated, covered with whiskers: legs short: tail thick, and of a moderate length, well covered with hairs: two very sharp cutting teeth in each jaw: on the fore feet are five toes, all separated; on the hind feet five, palmated: has the appearance of the otter in hair and size.
MANNERS.
This animal lives equally well in the water as on the land; and
* Captain Forrest.
† Observations, &c. 185, 187.
Vol. II. A a
frequents also houses: is easily tamed, and very content in the domestic state: attaches itself to those who treat it kindly: has a piercing cry on being abused: the female brings forth five or six young, which always follow her.
375. BROWNS.
Muscauda longissima, supra dilutè sulvus, infra albicans. Le Rat de Bois. Briffon quad. 120.
Le Surmulot. De Buffon, viii, 206. tab. xxvii.
Norway Rat. Br. Zool. i. N° 26.
Mus Decumanus. Pallas nov. sp. sasc. i. 91. LEV. MUS.
R. with the head, back, and sides, of a light brown color, mixed with tawny and ash-color: breast and belly dirty white: feet naked, and of a dirty flesh-color: Sore feet furnished with four toes, and a claw instead of the fifth: length, from nose to tail, nine inches; tail the same: weight eleven ounces: is stronger made than the last.
IN EUROPE.
Inhabits most parts of Europe: but was a stranger to that continent 'till the present century: came into Great Britain about fifty years ago: not known in the neighborhood of Paris half that time. This rat is common in India, both on the land and in ships. May we not go to Indostan for their origin? They swarm in Petersburg: have reached Prussia, but not the opposite side of the Baltic, at lest Linnœus takes no notice of them.
ASIA.
Are numerous in Persia, where they burrow in the fields*. In Hyrcania they occupy the deserted holes of the porcupine.
* Doctor Pallas, among his other epistolary communications.
Some years ago an immense migration anived from the west at the town of Jaik; and in the year 1727 an equal number appeared about Astracan, filled the whole bed of the Volga, and infested the houses to that degree, that nothing could be preserved from them. They have not yet reached Siberia. These probably were the Mures Caspii of Ælian, which he says were little less than Ichneumons; and made periodical visits in infinite multitudes to the countries bordering on the Caspian Sea: swimming boldly over the rivers, holding by one another's tail*.
Burrow, like the water-rat, on the sides of ponds and ditches: swim well and dive readily: live on grain and fruits, and will destroy poultry and game: encrease fast; bring from fourteen to eighteen young at a time: are very bold and fierce; will turn when closely pursued, and fasten on the stick or hand of those who offer to strike them: have destroyed the common black rat in most places. Inhabit fields part of the year, but migrate in great numbers into houses, and do infinite mischief.
Le Rat Perchal, De Buffon, Supplem. vii. 276. tab. Ixix.
376. PERCHAL.
R. with ears rounded on the top: nose long and turning up: body longer than that of common rats: hair on the upper parts deep brown: hind legs larger than the fore: tail naked and scaly: length from nose to tail above a foot; tail between eight and nine inches.
PLACE.
Common in India, and infests the houses in Pondicherry,
* Æliani bift. ar. xvii. c. 17.
A a 2
as our rats do those of Europe: are very numerous: the inhabitants use them for food.
377. BANDICOTE.
At p. 440 of the former edition I imagined that the Brown rat was the same as the Bandicote of the East Indies. My good and intelligent friend Doctor Patrick Russel, who has made a long residence on the eastern coast of lndostan, convinces me of my mistake. His remarks are such that do not at present enable me to give so full a description of this species as I could wish. It is generally agreed that the Bandicote is at left five times the weight of the Brown rat: that, comparative with that kind, it has a shorter and thicker tail: that its general form is much thicker, and the back arched; so that, at first fight, it looks like a little pig: it is less active and alert than the brown-rat: is infinitely mischievous in gardens: burrows under the houses, and will even undermine them so as to cause them to fall: never go on board ships. The Palinquin-boys eat this kind, but will reject the common rat. A more satisfactory account of the Bandicote may be expected in the course of a year.
LEVERIAN MUSEUM.
Mus Caraco? Pallas nov. sp. sasc. i. 335. tab. xxiii.
378. AMERICAN.
R. with the upper jaw much longer than the lower: head long: nose narrow and pointed: ears large and naked: whiskers fine, but long: tail naked, and like that of the black rat, but not so long.
Color a deep brown; on the belly inclines to ash-color: hair ruder than in the preceding species.
In size larger than the black, lesser than the brown rat.
Inhabits North America; but I am uncertain whether it is entirely wild, or whether it has yet found its way into houses and out-houses. Mr. Bartram* mentions the rat (but does not determine the species) which lives among the stones and caverns in the Blue Mountains, far from mankind: comes out at night, and makes a terrible noise; but in very severe weather keeps silent within its holes.
β. CARACO.
The MUS CARACO of Doctor Pallas is so nearly allied to this species, that I do not at this time venture to separate them: the whiskers of the former seem rather shorter, and the tail, in proportion to its length, thicker; but the thinness of that part might, in the specimen in the LEVERIAN MUSUEM, arise from its being dried; neither could I examine it thoroughly, as it was within a glass case. The Caraco has not as yet appeared to the west of the Jenesei, but swarms about and beyond lake Baikal. It has much agreement with the last kind, being, as the Mongals report, conversant among lakes and waters, and is called by them Characho, and Jike-Cholgonach or the Great Mouse. It burrows in the banks of rivers: is supposed to extend to China, and to be very noxious there.
* In Kalm's trav. ii. 48.
379. SCHERMAN.
Le Scherman. De Buffon, Supplem, vii. 278. tab. lxx.
R. with a short head and thick nose: small eyes: ears so very small as to be scarcely visible: color of the hair dusky, mixed with grey and tawny: edges of the mouth bordered with white: body six inches long; tail above two.
Common about Strosbourg, in the gardens and places near the water: make great havoc among the plants and the cultivated grounds: swim and dive very well, and are often taken by the fishermen in their weels: burrow under ground, and are frequently caught in the traps ufed by the people who are employed in taking the Hamster rat.
380. WATER.
Le Rat d'Eau. Belon, Aquat. 30. tab. xxxi.
Mus aquatilis. Agricola An. Subter. 488. Gesuer quad. 732. Raii syn. quad. 217. Klein quad. 57.
Wasser-maus Kramer Austr. 316.
Mus Amphibius. M. cauda elongata pilosa, plantis palmatis. Lin. syst. 82. Faun. suec. N° 32. Pallas Nov. sp fasc. i. 20.
M. cauda longa pilis supra ex nigro et flavescente mixtis, infra cinereis vestitus. Brisson quad. 124.
Le Rat d'Eau. De Buffon, vii. 348. tab. xliii.
Water Rat. Br. Zool. i. N° 27. LEV. MUS.
R. with a thick blunt nose: ears hid in the sur: eyes small: teeth yellow: on each foot five toes; inner toe of the fore foot very small; the first joint very flexible: head and body covered with long hairs, black mixed with a few ferruginous hairs: belly of an iron grey: tail covered with short black hairs; the tip whitish: weight nine ounces: length, from nose to tail, seven
inches; tail only five: shape of the head and body more compact than the former species*.
Inhabits Europe, the north of Asia, and North America†; burrows in the banks of rivers, ponds, and wet ditches: feeds on small fish, and the fry of greater; on frogs, insects, and roots: is itself the prey of pike: swims and dives admirably, though it is not web-footed, as Mr. Ray supposed, and Linnœus copied after him: brings six young at a time. This animal and the Otter are eaten in France on maigre days.
381. SKY-COLORED.
Le Guanque. Molina, 281. Mus Cyanus. Gmelin, 132.
R. with rounded ears: fur of a blue color: size and appearance of my field rat.
Inhabits Chili: burrows a gallery ten feet long, with seven correspondent chambers on each side of a foot in depth: these are the magazines for winter provision, which are of roots, most nicely laid in order one upon the other: at the approach of the rainy season retire to the burrows: breed twice in the year, and bring forth six
* It has some resemblance to the Beaver, which induced Linnœus, in the first edition of his Fauna Suecica, to style it Castor cauda lineari tereti.
† Lawson bist. Carolina, 122. He also mentions another, which he calls the Marsh Rat, being more hairy than the common rat; but apparently is the same with this. Those of Canada vary to tawny and white. Vide De Buffon, xiv. 401. xv. 146.
at a time: the first brood is left to provide for itself; the second retires under ground with the parents: are very timid, and very cleanly in their retreats: the peasants hunt for the hoards, and by robbing them leave the family to perish.
382. MOUSE.
Mus domesticus communis seu minor. Gesner quad. 714. Raii syn. quad. 218.
Mus minor, musculus vulgaris. Klein quad.
Mauss. Kramer Austr. 316.
Mus musculus. M. cauda elongata, palmis tetradactylis, plantis pentadactylis. Lin. syst. 83. Pallas Nov. sp. sasc. i. 95.
Mus. Faun. suec. N° 34.
Mus cauda longissima, obseurè cinereus, ventre subalbescente. Brisson quad. 119.
La Souris. De Buffon, vii. 309. tab. lix. Br. Zool. i. N° 30. LEV. MUS.
AN animal that needs no description: when found white, is very beautiful, the full bright eye appearing to great advantage amidst the snowy fur.
Inhabits all parts of the world, except the Arctic: follows mankind.
383. FIELD.
Mus agreftis minor. Gesner quad. 733.
Mus domesticus medius. Raii syn. quad. 218.
Mauss mit weissen bauch. Kramer Austr, 317.
Mus cauda longa supra e susco flavescens, infra ex albo cinerescens. Brisson quad. 123.
Mus sylvaticus. M. cauda longa, palmis tetradactylis, plantis pentadactylis, corpore griseo pilis nigris abdomine albo. Lin. syst. 84. palla. Nov. sp. sasc. i. 94. Faun. Suec. N°36.
Le Mulot. De Baffon, vii. 325. tab. xli.
Long-tailed Field-mouse. Br. Zool. i. N°28. LEV. MUS.
R. with full and black eyes: head, back, and sides of a yellowish brown, mixed with some dusky hairs: breast of an ochrecolor: belly white: length, from the tip of the nose to the tail,
5
four inches and a half; tail four inches, slightly covered with hair.
Inhabits Europe: found only in fields and gardens: feeds on nuts, acorns, and corn: forms great magazines of winter provision: hogs, tempted by the smell, do much damage in the fields by rooting up the hoards: makes a nest: for its young very near the surface, and often in a thick tust of grass: brings from seven to ten at a time: called, in some parts of England, Bean Mouse, from the havock it makes among the beans when just sown.
Is common in Russia, and about the Urallian chain, but not beyond.
α AMERICAN R. with very long whiskers, some white, others black: ears large, naked, and open: from the head to the tail, along the middle of the back, a broad dark stripe, ferruginous and dusky: the cheeks, space beneath the ears, and sides, quite to the tail, orange-colored: under side, from nose to tail, of a snowy whiteness: feet white: hind legs longer than those of the European kind: tail dusky above, whitish beneath. New York.
The less long-tailed Field-Mouse. Br. Zool. ii. App. 498. LEV. MUS.
384. HARVEST.
R. with eyes less prominent than those of the former: ears prominent: of a full ferruginous color above, white beneath: a strait line along the sides divides the colors: tail a little hairy: length, from nose to tail, two inches and a half: tail two inches: weight one-sixth of an ounce.
VOL. II. B b
Inhabits Hampshire; where it appears in greatest numbers during harvest: never enters houses; but is carried into the ricks of corn in the sheaves; and often hundreds are killed on breaking up the ricks: during winter, shelters itself under ground: burrows very deep, and forms a warm bed of dead grass: makes its nest for its young above ground, between the straws of standing corn; it is of a round shape, and composed of blades of corn: brings about eight young at a time.
385. ORIENTAL.
Mus orientalis. Seb. Mus. ii. 22. tab. xxi. fig. 2.
M. cauda mediocri subnuda, palmis tetradactylis, plantis pentadactylis, corporis striis punctatis. Lin. syst. 84.
M. cauda longa, striis corporis longitudinalibus & punctis albis. Mus. Ad. Fred. 10.
Mus cauda longa, rufus, lineis in dorso albicantibus, margaritarum æmulis. Brisson quad. 124.
R. with round naked ears: of a grey color: the back and sides elegantly marked with twelve rows of small pearl-colored spots, extending from the head to the rump: tail the length of the body: in size, half that of a common mouse.
Inhabits India. In the same country, and in Guinea, is another very small species, which smells of musk. The Portuguese living in India call it Cheroso, and say its bite is venomous. Boullaye la Gouz. 256. Barbot's Guinea, 214.
386.BAREARY.
Mus Barbarus. M. cauda mediocri corpore susco, striis decem pallidis, palmis tridactylis, plantis pentadactylis. Lin. syst. tom. i. pars ii. addenda.
LESS than the common mouse: of a brown color: marked on the back with ten slender streaks: three toes with claws on the fore feet, with the rudiments of a thumb; tail of the length of the body.
Inhabits Barbary.
387. MEXICAN.
Mus Mexicanus maculatus. Seb. Mus. 74. tab. xlv. fig. 5.
R. of a whitish color, mixed with red: head whitish: each side of the belly marked with a great reddish spot.
According to Seba inhabits Mexico.
388. VIRGINIAN.
Mus agrestis Americinus albus. Seb. Mus. i. 76. tab. xlvii. fig. 4.
R. with pointed ears and nose; the last black: whiskers long: fur very short: limbs very weak and slender: tail at the base thick, growing gradually so from the rump, so that the junction cannot be distinguished; decreases gradually, and becomes very long and slender; ends in a point, and is in all parts beset with long hair.
Color of this animal universally white.
PLACE.
According to Seba, found in Virginia. The thickness at the base of the tail is its specific difference.
B b 2
389. WANDERING.
Mus Vagus. Pallas Nov. sp. fasc. i. 327. tab. xxii. fig. 2.
R. with an oblong head: blunt nose, with a red tip: cutting teeth yellow; the upper truncated: eyes placed midway between the nose and the ears: ears large, oval, naked; the tip dusky and downy: limbs slender: instead of a thumb, on the fore feet, is a conic wart: tail longer than the body, and very slender.
Color above a pale ash, mixed and undulated with black: along the back to the tail is a black line: ends of the limbs whitish.
Length, from nose to tail, between two and three inches; the tail near three.
Inhabits the whole Tartarian desert; and at certain times wanders about in great slocks, and migrating from place to place during night. Observed as high as lat. 57, about the Irtish, and between the Oby and Jenesei, in birch woods: is of a very chilly nature; soon becomes torpid, and sleeps rolled up in the cold night, even of the month of June. Lives in fissures of rocks, under stones, and in hollow fallen trees: has carnivorous inclinations; for on being placed in a box with a mouse of another species, it killed and devoured part, notwithstanding it had feeds to feed on. Is called by the Tartars, Dshickis-sit skan, or gregarious Mouse.
390. BEECH
Mus Betulinus. Pallas Nov. sp. sasc. i. 322. tab. xxii. fig. 1.
R. with a sharp nose, with the end red: ears smaller than those of the former, brown; bristly at the end: limbs very slender: toes long, slender, and very separable: tail very long and slender, much exceeding the length of the body; brown above, white below.
Color of the head and body a cinereous rust, with a few dusky hairs interspersed: breast and belly, pale ash: along the top of the back is a dusky line.
SIZE.
Less than the former.
PLACE.
Inhabits the birch woods about the plains of Ischim and Baraba, and between the Oby and Jenesei: lives in the hollows of decayed trees: very tender, and soon grows torpid in cold weather: runs up trees, and fastens to the boughs with its tail; and, by assistance of its slender fingers, adheres to any smooth surface: emits a weak note.
391. RUSTIC.
Mus Agrarius. Pallas nov. sp sasc. 1. 341.tab. xxiv. A. Itin. i. 454.
Mus Rubeus. Scbwenkfeldt Amm. Siles. 114.
R. with a sharp nose: oblong head: small ears lined with fur: color of the body and head ferruginous, with a dusky line along the back: belly and limbs whitish: above each hind foot is a dusky circle.
A little less than the field mouse. The tail only half the length of the body.
4
PLACE.
Inhabits the temperate tract of Russia, and Siberia, as far as the Irtish: in the former, chiefly about villages and corn-fields; in the latter, in woods. In Russia is often migratory, and often very noxious to the grain: it is called there Shitnik, or the Corn Mouse, for it abounds in the sheass and ricks. At times they wander in vast multitudes, and destroy the whole expectations of the farmer. This plague did in particular, in the years 1763 or 1764, make great ravages in the rich country about Casan and Arsk; but came in such numbers as to fill the very houses, and became through hunger so bold as to steal even the bread from the table before the very faces of the guests. At approach of winter they all dis-appeared.
They make their retreats a little below the surface, which in those places appears elevated: each has a long gallery, with a chamber at the end, in which they place their winter food, which consists of various sorts of seeds.
392. SORICINE.
Mus Soricinus. Schreber, tab. clxxxiii, Gm. Lin. 130.
R. with an elegant slender head: ears rounded and covered with hair: tail long and slender: hair on the head and upper part of the body cinereous, mixed with yellow: belly white: length two inches.
PLACE.
Inhabits the neighborhood of Strasburg: discovered by Professor Herman.
Mus pumilio. Gmel. Lin. syst. 130. Sparman's voy. ii. 349. tab. vii.
393. LINEATED.
R. with black forehead and hind part of the head: from the last extend along the back to tail four black lines: color of the rest of the animal a cinereous brown: tail of a light color, very small: not superior in size to the following.
PLACE.
Inhabits the forest of Sitsicamma on the Slangen river, at a vast distance to the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope.
Mus minutus. Pallas Nov. sp. sose. i. 345. tab. xxiv. B. Itin. i. 454.
394. LITTLE.
R. with a sharpish nose: dusky, with a whiteness at the corner of the mouth: ears small, half hid in the sur: body more slender than that of the common mouse; tail shorter and more slender.
Color, a deep tawny above, white below: feet grey.
SIZE.
The left of the genus; little more than two inches long from nose to tail; weight not half a dram.
PLACE.
Inhabits the temperate parts of Russia and Siberia, in corn-fields and barns; is also plentiful in the birch-woods. More males among them than females. Seem to wander without any certain places for their nests.
395. Rock.
** With tails of middle length.
Mus Saxatilis. Pallas Nov. sp. sasc. i. 255. tab. xxiii. B.
R. with an oblong head; nose rather pointed: ears rising above the sur; oval, downy, at the edges brown: whiskers short: limbs strong: tail not half so long as the body, with a few hairs scattered over it.
Color above, brown slightly mixed with grey: sides incline more to the last color: belly of a light cinereous: snout dusky, surrounded with a very slender ring of white.
SIZE.
Length four inches: tail one and a half.
PLACE.
Inhabits the country beyond lake Baikal, and the Mongolian desert: makes its burrows in a wonderful manner, considering the weakness of its feet, between the crannies of the rocks which had been forced open by violence of frost, or the insinuation of roots of plants: it chuses its habitation amidst the rudest rocks, and lives chiefly on the feeds of Astragali. The burrows consist, firstly, of a large winding oblique passage, through which the animal slings out the earth; secondly, of one or more holes pointing downwards, which likewise wind among the rocks; and at their bottom is the nest, formed of soft herbs.
396. INDIAN.
Viverra sasciata. Gmelin Lin.i. 92.
Chat sauvage, &c. Sonnerat voy. ii. 143. tab. lxxix.
R. with short pointed ears: sharp nose: two cutting teeth in each jaw, and fourteen grinders in each: five toes to each foot: claws strong and crooked: color grey, tinged on the lower part of the head and neck with red: belly white: back and sides marked with four black lines, commencing near the hind part of the head, and ending at the rump: on each thigh is a bisurcated black stroke, the forks pointing backwards.
Length two feet; tail nine inches. Inhabits India No further account is given by M. Sonnerat of this and the following obscure species. I place them in this genus, as they have no canine teeth, and only two incisores in each jaw.
397. ZENIK.
Le Zenik des Hottentots. Sonnerat voy.
Viverra Zenik. Gmelin Lin. i. 84. ii. 145. tab. xcii.
R. with short ears: very long sharp nose: two cutting teeth; sixteen grinding teeth: four toes on each foot: claws on the fore feet very long, and almost strait: color of a reddish grey, striped transversely with ten black lines falling from the back almost to the belly.
Size of a water rat: tail not so long as the body; of a gilded red on three parts of its length; the rest black.
Inhabits the land of the Hottentots.
VOL. I. C c
398. ŒCONOMIC.
Mus Œconomus. Pallas Nov. sp. sasc. i. 234. tab. xiv. A. Itin. iii. 692.
Tegoulichitck. Deser. Kamtschatka, Engled. 104
R. with small eyes: ears naked, and usually hid in the sur: limbs strong: teeth very tawny: color black and yellow, intimately mixed; dusky on the back; from throat to tail hoary; beneath the hair a dark down; ends of the feet dusky.
SIZE.
Length four inches and a quarter; of the tail, more than an inch: in form of body like the meadow mouse, but is rather longer, and the belly bigger. The females are far superior to the males in size, as on the former rests the chief labor of providing the food.
PLACE.
Inhabits in vast numbers all Siberia, especially the eastern parts, and Kamstschatka; and even found within the Arctic circle.
MANNERS.
They are called by Doctor Pallas, Mures Œconomi or Œconomic Mice, from their curious way of living. They inhabit damp soils, and shun the sandy; form burrows beneath the upper crust of the tursy ground; and have in them many chambers, and several entrances. Never more than two animals are found in these extensive nests, and those fondly attached to each other; sometimes only one inhabits these dwellings, except towards autumn, when the whole family make it their residence. In the first they form magazines for winter food, consisting of various sorts of plants, which they collect in summer with great pains; and in funny days draw them out of their nests, in order to give them a more effectual drying. During summer they never touch their hoards, but live on berries, and other vegetable productions.
3
Twenty, and even thirty pounds of fresh roots, have been sound in one hoard. Besides man, these mice find a cruel animal in the wild boars, which ransack the magazines, and devour the little defenceless owners.
They in certain years make great migrations out of Kamtschatka; they collect in the spring, and go off in incredible multitudes. Like the Lemmus, they go on in a direct course, and nothing stops their progress, neither rivers nor arms of sea: in their passage they often fall a prey to the ravenous fishes and birds; but on land are safe, as the Kamtschatkam pay a superstitious regard for them; and when they find them lying, weak or half dead with satigue, on the banks, after passing a river, will give them all possible assistance. They set out on their migration westward. From the river pengin they go southward, and about the middle of July reach Ochotska and Judoma, a tract of amazing extent. They return again in October. The Kamtschatkans are greatly alarmed at their migrations, as they presage rainy seasons, and an unsuccessful chace; but on their return, expresses are sent to all parts with the good news.
Many sables are related of them, such as that they cover their provisions with poisonous herbs before their migrations, in order to destroy other rats which may attempt to plunder their magazines; and if by chance they should be pillaged, they will strangle themselves through vexation, by squeezing their necks between the forks of shrubs; for this reason the natives never take away all their shore, but leave part for their subsistence, or leave in its place some caviare, or any thing that will serve for their support. It is certain that the roots of certain poisonous plants are
C c 2
often sound in their nests half eaten: but this is no wonder, as it is well known that divers animals will feed on noxious vegetables, which would prove the certain bane of others.
399. WOOLLY.
La Chinchilla. Molina Chili. 283 Mus laniger. Gm. Lin. 134.
R. with very small ears: short nose: tail of a middling length; whole body covered with long wool of exquisite sineness, grey, and long enough to be spun. The length of this species is six inches.
These animals live in society under ground, and seed on the bulbous roots of the country. It breeds twice a year, and brings five or six at a time: it is a very gentle tame animal: very fond of being caressed, and will lie down without fear by mankind: it is often domesticated. The antient Peruvians manufactured many small articles from the wool, which they sold at a great price.
400. RED.
Mus Rutilus. Pallas Nov. sp.sasc. i. 146. tab. xiv. B.
R. with the nose and face very bristly: ears, like those of the former, naked, except the tip, on which is a rusty down: tail full of hair: color, from the middle of the forehead, along the back, to the rump, an uniform pleasant tawny red: the sides light grey and yellow: under side of the body whitish feet, white: tail dusky above, light below.
SIZE.
Length not four inches; tail above one.
Inhabits Siberia, from the Oby eastward to Kamtschatka, in woods and mountains; and also within the Arctic circle. Creeps sometimes into houses and granaries; lives abroad under logs of wood, or trunks of trees: they wander out the whole winter, and are very lively even amidst the snows: eat any thing which comes in their way; even flesh.
A variety is sound about Casan, a little lesser than the Siberian. kind, and the tail longer and more slender: the red on the back is not so much dissused as in the other. The same kind has also been discovered ia the botanical garden at Gottengen.
Mus Alliarius. Pallas nov. sp. sase. i. 252. tab, xiv. C.
401. GARLIC.
R. with great open naked ears, very apparently out of the sur: tail clothed with hair: color on the back cinereous, mixed with longer hairs tipped with dusky grey: sides of a whitish: ash: breast, belly, and feet white: tail marked along the top with a dusky line, the rest white.
SIZE.
Length a little above sour inches; tail one and a half.
PLACE.
Inhabits the country about the Jenesei and Lena: is frequent in the subterraneous magazines of bulbous roots, especially the Allium angulatum, or angular garlic, formed by the Siberian peasants.
402 SORICINE.
R. with the nose a little extended; four toes on the fore feet, with a tubercle instead of a thumb: five toes on the hindfeet: round ears covered with sur: tail of a middling length, and
hairy: color of the upper part of the body yellowish grey: belly white.
PLACE.
Inhabits the neighborhood of Strasbourg. Discovered by Prosessor Herman.
*** With short tails.
403.LEMMUS.
Lemmar vel Lemmus. Olaus magmus de gent. Septentr. 358.
Leem vel Lemmer. Gesner quad. 731.
Mus Norvegicus vulgò Leming. Worm Mus. 321, 325. Schesser Lapland, 136.
Pontop. Norwy, ii. 30. Strom. Sandmor. 154. Raii syn. quad. 227.
Sable-mice. Pb. Tr. abridg. ii. 875
Cuniculus caudatus, auritus, ex slavo, ruso et nigro variegatus. Brisson quad. 100.
Mus Lemmus M. cauda abbreviata, pedibus pentadastylis, corpore sulvo nigro vario. Lin syst. 80. Pallas nov.sp. f sc i. 186. tab. xii. A.& B.
Fial-Mus, Sabell-Mus. Lappis.
Lummick. Faun. Suec. N° 29.
Le Leming. De Buffon, xiii. 314.
R. with two very long cutting teeth in each jaw: head pointed: long whiskers; six of the hairs on each side longer and stronger than the rest: eyes small and black: mouth small: upper lip divided: ears small, blunt, and reclining backwards: fore legs very short: four slender toes on the fore feet, covered with hairs; and in the place of the thumb a sharp claw, like a cock's spur: five toes behind: the skin very thin: the color of the head and body black and tawny, disposed in irregular blotches: belly white, tinged with yellow.
SIZE.
Length, from nose to tail, about five inches: in large specimens a little more: the tail about half an inch. Those of Russian Lapland are much less than those of the Norwegian or Swedish.
PLACE.
Inhabits Norway and Lapland, the country about the river
Oby, and the north extremity of the Uralian chain. They appear in numberless troops, at very uncertain periods, in Norway and Lapland: are the pest and wonder of the country: they march like the army of locusts, so emphatically described by the prophet Joel: destroy every root of grass before them, and spread universal desolation: they insect the very ground, and cattle are said to perish which taste of the grass which they have touched: they march by myriads, in regular lines: nothing stops their progress, neither fire, torrents, lake, or morass. They bend their course strait forward, with most amazing obstinacy; they swim over the lakes; the greatest rock gives them but a flight check, they go round it, and then resume their march directly on, without the left deviation: if they meet a peasant, they persist in their course, and jump as high as his knees in defence of their progress: are so fierce as to lay hold of a stick, and suffer themselves to be swung about before they quit their hold: if struck, they turn about and bite, and will make a noise like a dog.
They feed on grass, on the rein-deer liverwort, and the catkins of the dwars birch. The first they get under the snow, beneath which they wander during winter; and make their lodgements, and have a spiracle to the surface for the sake of air. In these retreats they are eagerly pursued by the Arctic foxes.
They make very shallow burrows under the turf; but do not form any magazines for winter provision: by this improvidence it seems that they are compelled to make these numerous migrations, in certain years, urged by hunger to quit their usual residences.
They breed often in the year, and bring five or six young at a
time: sometimes they bring forth on their migration; some they carry in their mouths, and others on their backs.
They are not poisonous, as is vulgarly reported; for they are often eaten by the Laplanders, who compare their flesh to that of squirrels.
Are the prey of foxes, lynxes, and ermines, who follow them in great numbers: at length they perish, either through want of food, or by destroying one another, or in some great water, or in the sea. They are the dread of the country: in former times spiritual weapons were exerted against them; the priest exorcited, and had a long form of prayer to avert the evil*: happily it does not occur frequently; once or twice in twenty years: it seems like a vast colony of emigrants, from a nation over-stocked; a discharge of animals from the great Northern hive, that once poured out its myriads of human creatures upon Southern Europe. Where the head quarters of these quadrupeds are, is not very certainly known; Linnœus says, the Norwegian and Lapland Alps; Pontoppidan seems to think, that Kolens rock, which divides Nordland from Sweden, is their native place: but wherever they come from, none return: their course is predestinated, and they pursue their fate.
* Worm. Mus. 333. where the whole form is preserved. It was once seriously believed that these animals were generated in the clouds,-and fell in showers upon the ground: Per tempestates et repentinos imbres e cœlo decidant, incompertum unde, an ex xsmotioribus insulis, et buc vento delatœ, an ex nubibus fœculentis natœ deferantur. Olaus Magnus de Gent. Septentr. 358.
404. RINGED.
Mus torquatus. Pallas Nov. sp. sasc. i. 205.
R. with a blunt nose: ears hid in the sur: legs strong and short: soles covered with hair: claws very strong, hooked at the end: the hair on the whole body very fine.
Color of the upper part of the body ferruginous, mixed with grey and yellow; sometimes pale grey, clouded with undulated lines of dusky rust-color: from the ears, down each side of the cheeks, is a bed of the same color, and behind that a stripe of white, so that the neck appears encircled with a collar; behind these again is another bed of the former color.
SIZE.
Length to the tail little more than three inches; of the tail one; at its end is a hard tust of bristles.
PLACE.
Inhabits the northern parts about the river Oby. Makes its burrows, with many passages, beneath the tursy soil. The nests are filled with rein-deer and snowy liverworts. They are said to migrate at the same seasons with the Lemmus.
Mus Hudsonius. Pallas Nov. sp. sasc. i. 203.
405. HUDSON's.
R. with slender brown whiskers: very fine long soft hair: cincreous, tinged with tawny, on the back, with a dusky stripe running along its middle: along each side a pale tawny line: belly pale cinereous: limbs very short: fore feet very strong: the two middle claws of the male very strong, thick, and compressed; divided at the end: those of the supposed females (of the
VOL. II. D d
lesser skins) small: tail very short, terminated by some stiff bristles.
SIZE.
Length about five inches. Describcd by Doctor Pallas, from some skins sent to him from Labrador, one of which he favored me with.
406. HARE. TAILED.
Mus Lagurus. Pallas Nov. si. sasc. i. 210. tab. xiii. A. Itln. ii. App. 704.
R. with a long head, and blunt nose: rough lips, and swelling out: ears short, round, flat, just appearing out of the sur: limbs short and slender: tail the shortest of all the genus, scarcely appearing out of the hairs: sur very soft and full, cinereous on the upper part, mixed with dusky: along the back is a dark line: belly and feet of a pale ash-color.
SIZE.
Length between three and four inches.
PLACE.
MANNERS.
Inhabits the country above the Yaik, Irtish, and Jenesei. They love dry soils, but firm; in which they make burrows with two entrances; one oblique, leading to the nest, the other perpendicular, but both end at it, or unite beyond; the nest is formed of grass. Usually the male has a different habitation, but sometimes they live together. When more males than one get together, they sight, and the conqueror devours the vanquished; the mate of the deceased instantly submits to the embraces of the former, even though pregnant. They are very salacious, and bring their young frequently in the air: they bring six at a time: emit often a musky smell when in heat: the males fight fitting up, and bite very hard, and make a noise by striking their teeth together. They sleep very much, and like the Marmots, rolled
up; and, like them, are flow in their motions: are very fond of the dwarf iris, but feed on all forts of feeds: they have also carnivorous appetites, for they will devour one another, and even others of different species, of the same size with themselves; for which reason few other kinds live near them. They migrate in great troops; therefore are called by the Tartars, Dshilkis-Zizchan, the Rambling Mouse.
Mas socialis. Pallas Nov. sp. sasc, i. 218. tab xiii. B. Itin. ii. App. 705.
407. SOCIAL.
R. with a thick head and blunt nose: whiskers white: ears oval, naked: limbs short and strong: tail slender: nose dusky: upper part of the body a light grey; palest on the sides: sides, shoulders, and belly, white.
SIZE.
Length above three inches; tail an inch.
PLACE.
MANNERE.
Inhabits the Caspian desert, between the Volga and the Yaik, and the country of Hircania. They live in sandy, low, and herby places, in large societies; and in many places the whole ground is covered with the little hills formed by the earth they cast out of their burrows: the burrows are about a span in depth, with eight or more passages. They are always found to live in pairs, or with a family. They live much on tulip-roots. They rarely appear in autumn, but swarm in the spring. They are said either to migrate or change their places in autumn, or to conceal themselves among the bushes; and in the winter to shelter in hay-ricks. They breed later than other kinds. Are the prey of weesels, sitchets, crows, and vipers.
D d 2
Mus Gregalis. Pallas nov. sp. 238. Gmel. Lin. syst. 133.
408. BAIKAL.
R. with large thin ears appearing above the sur: whiskers black; hair rough and hard; color above a pale grey: the back darkened with dusky hairs, which gradually decline into the lighter color: body below of a dirty white: the legs stronger, the tail thicker, than in the SOCIAL species: about the size of that kind.
Inhabits Siberia, but not like the country beyond the Oby: most plentiful about the Baikal lake and Trans-Baikal region; especially those places which abound most with the Lilium pomponium and allium tenuissimum; and Siberia and Hircania. They collect the roots of these and of the Trisolium Lupinastrum, for winter food. They form their lodge beneath the turf, and have many minute entrances: the earth that they fling out is carefully heaped above their lodge, in form of a hillock, to divert the rain. In this retreat the male, female, and the progeny of one year, reside. This species is never, observed to migrate.
409. MEADOW.
Mus agrestis capite grandi brachiurus. Raii syn. quad. 218.
Mus terrestris. M. cauda mediocri subpilosa, palmis subtetradactylis, plantis pentadactylis, auriculis vellere brevioribus. Lin. syst. 82.
Molle. Faun. suec. N° 31*.
Mus cauda brevi, pilis e nigricante & fordidè luteo mixtis in dorso, & faturatè cinereis in ventre vestitis. Brisson quad. 125.
Le Campagnol. De Buffon, vii. 369. tab. xlvii.
The short-tailed Field-mouse. Br. Zool. i. N° 31.
Erdzeisl. Kramer Austr. 316.
Mus arvalis. Pallas Nov. sp. sasc. i. 78. LEV. MUS.
R. with a large head: blunt nose: ears short, and hid in the sur: eyes prominent: tail short: color of the head and upper part of the body ferruginous, mixed with black: belly deep ash-color: feet dusky.
SIZE.
Length, from nose to tail, six inches; tail only one and a half, thinly covered with hair, terminated by a small tust.
PLACE.
Inhabits Europe, Siberia and Hircania; also in great abundance in Newfoundland, where it does much mischief in the gardens: in England, seldom insests gardens: makes its nest in moist meadows: brings eight young at a time: has a strong affection for them; resides under ground: lives on nuts, acorns, and corn.
* The species, N° 30. Faun. suec. described by the style of Mus cauda abbreviata, sorpore nigro suso, abdomine cinerescente, seems the same with this.
410. GREGARIOUS.
Mus gregarius. M. cauda corpore triplo breviore subpilosa, corpore griseo subtus pedibusque albi. Lin. syst. 84.
R. with a small mouth and blunt nose: ears naked, and appearing above the sur: hair on the upper part of the body black at the roots and tips, ferruginous in the middle: throat, belly, and feet whitish: tail thrice as short as the body, covered with thin white hairs; the end black and ash-color: is a little larger than the common mouse.
Inhabits Germany and Sweden: eats sitting up: burrows, and lives under ground.
***** Short-tailed.
With pouches in each jaw.
411. HAMSTER.
Hamester, Cricetus. Agricola An. Subter. 486. Gesucr quad. 738. Raii syn. quad. 221. Mayer An. i. tab. lxxxi. lxxxii.
SKIZECZEK, Chomik. Rzaczinski Po'on. 232.
Porcellus frumentarius. Schwenkfelde Theriotroph. 118.
Krietsch, Hamster. Kramer Austr. 317. Pallas Nov. sp. sasc. i. 83. Zimmerman. 343. 511.
Mus cricetus. M. cauda mediocri, auriculis rotundatis, corpore subtus nigro, lateribus rusescentibus maculis tribus albis. Lin. syst. 82.
Glis ex cinereo rusus in dorso, in ventre niger, maculis tribus ad latera albis. Brisson quad. 117.
Le Hamster. De Buffon, xiii. 117. tab. xiv. xvi. Suppl. iii. 183.
German Marmot. Syn. quad. N° 200. LEV. MUS.
R. with large rounded ears: full black eyes: color on the head and back, reddish brown: cheeks red: beneath each ear a white spot, and another behind; a fourth near the hind
5
legs: breast, upper part of the fore legs, and the belly, black: tail short, almost naked: four toes, and a fifth claw, on the fore feet, five behind: about nine inches long; tail three.
SIZE.
The males are always bigger than the females; some weigh from twelve to sixteen ounces: the females seldom exceed four or six. They vary sometimes in color. About Casan is found frequently a family entirely black.
PLACE.
Inhabits Austiria, Silesia, and many parts of Germany, Poland, and Ukraine; in all the southern and temperate parts of Russia and Siberia; and even about the river Jenesei, but not farther to the cast. They are also found in the Tartarian deserts, in sandy soil, disliking moist places. They are very fond of such spots which abound with liquorice, whose feeds they feed on. They swarm so in Gotha, that in one year 11,564, in another 54,429, and in a third 80,139 their skins were delivered at the Hotel de Ville of the capital*, these animals being proseribed on account of their vast devastations among the corn.
MANNERS.
They are very destructive to grain; eating great quantities, and carrying still more to its board: within its cheeks are two pouches, receptacles for its booty, which it fills till the checks seem ready to burst: the Germans therefore say of a very greedy fellow, Er frisst uuie ein Hamster.
They live under ground; first form an entrance, burrowing down obliquely: at the end of that passage the male sinks one perpendicular hole; the female several: at the end of these are formed various vaults, either as lodges for themselves and young, or store-houses for their food each young has its different apart-
* De Buffon, Suppl. iii. 185. quoted from Mr. Sulzer.
ment; each sort of grain its different vault; the first they line with straw or grass: these vaults are of different depths, according to the age of the animal; a young Hamster makes them scarcely a foot deep; an old one sinks them to the depth of four or five; and the whole diameter of the habitation, with all its communications, is sometimes eight or ten feet.
The male and female have always separate burrows; for excepting their short season of courtship, they have no intercourse. The whole race is so malevolent as to constantly reject all society with one another. They will fight, kill, and devour their own species, as well as other lesser animals; so may be said to be carnivorous as well as granivorous. If it happens that two males meet in search of a female, a battle ensues; the female makes a short attachment to the conqueror, after which the connexion ceases. She brings forth two or three times in a year, and brings from sixteen to eighteen at a birth. Their growth is very quick; and at about the age of three weeks, the old one forces them out of the burrows to take care of themselves: the shews little affection for them; for if any one digs into the hole, she attempts to save herself by burrowing deeper into the earth, and totally neglects the safety of her brood: on the contrary, if she is attacked in the season of courtship, she defends the male with the utmost sury.
They lie torpid from the first colds to the end of the winter; and during that time are seemingly quite insensible, and have the appearance of being dead; their limbs stiff, and body cold as ice: not even spirits of wine, or oil of vitriol, poured in to them, can produce the left mark of sensibility. It is only in places beyond the reach of the air in which it grows torpid; for the severest
4
cold on the surface does not affect it, as has been proved by experiment.
In its annual revival, it begins first to lose the stiffness of its limbs; then breathes deeply, and by long intervals: on moving its limbs, it opens its mouth, and makes a rattle in the throat; after some days it opens its eyes, and tries to stand; but makes its efforts like a person much concerned in liquor; at length, when it has attained its usual attitude, it rests for a long time in tranquillity, to recollect itself, and recover from its fatigue.
They begin to lay in their provisions in August; and will carry grains of corn, corn in the ear, and peas and beans in the pods, which they clean in their holes, and carry the husks carefully out: the pouches above-mentioned are so capacious as to hold, a quarter of a pint English. As soon as they have finished their work, they stop up the mouth of their passage carefully. As they lie torpid during the whole severe season, these boards are designed for their support on their first retreat, and in the spring and beginning of the summer, before they can supply themselves in the fields. In winter, the peasants go what they call a Hamster-nesting; and when they discover the retreat, dig down till they discover the board, and are commonly well paid; for, besides the skins of the animals, which are valuable surs, they find commonly two bushels of good grain in the magazine. These animals are very sierce; will jump at a horse that happens to tread near them, and hang by its nose, so that it is difficult to disengage them: they make a noise like the barking of a dog. In some seasons are so numerous as to occasion a dearth of corn. Pole-cats are their greatest enemies; for they pursue them into their holes, and destroy numbers.
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It is remarkable, that the hair sticks so close to the skin, as not to be plucked off without the utmost difficulty.
412. VORMELA.
In my former edition I supposed the Vormela of Agricola* to have been a variety of this kind. He says it is less; the whole body marked with yellow and tawny spots; the tail cinereous, and white tipped with black; but as he adds that it is a palm and a half long, I must refer it to another species, or perhaps genus; for it is not unlikely but that it is the same with the Sarmatian Weesel, N° 239.
413. YAIR.
Mus accedula. Pallas Nov. sp. sasc. i. 257. tab. xviii. A.
Mus migratorius. Pallas Itin. ii. App. 703.
413. YAIK.
R. with a thick snout: blunt nose: very fleshy lips: upper lip deeply divided: upper fore teeth small, yellow, convex outwards, truncated; the lower slender, pointed: eyes large: ears great, oblongly oval, high above the sur, naked: tail very short, cylindrical: color about the face white: upper part of the body of a cinereous yellow, mixed with brown; below of a hoary whiteness.
SIZE.
Length near four inches.
PLACE AND MANNERS.
Inhabits the deserts about the Yaik: runs about during night, when it quits its burrow. It is said by the Cossacks to migrate in great numbers out of the deserts, and to be followed by multitudes of foxes, presaging a good hunting-season: but Doctor Pallas doubts whether this species, or any of the pouched kinds,
* De anim. subter. 486.
5
go far from their homes, as those receptacles for provision are calculated only for short excursions.
414. ZARIZYN.
Mus Phæus. Pallas Nov. sp. fasc. i. 261. tab. xv. A.
R. with the forehead much elevated: edges of the eyelids black: ears naked, oval, standing far out of the sur: tail very short, slightly furred: color above, a hoary ash-color, with long dusky hairs, running from the neck, along the middle of the back, to the tail: the sides whitish: the circumference of the mouth, under side of the body, and the extremities of the limbs, of a snowy whiteness.
SIZE.
Length about three inches and a half.
PLACE.
Inhabits the deserts of Afiracan, about Zarizyn; and is taken in traps frequently in winter, in places near to stables and out-houses. It is also common among the Hyrcanian mountains, about the Persian villages, where it commits great ravages among the rice. It does not grow torpid during winter, as is proved by the stomachs of such which are taken in that season, being found full of food.
415. SAND.
Mus arenarius. Pallas Nov. sp. sasc, i. 266. tab. xvi. A. Itin. ii. App. 704
R. with a longish head and snout, and sharp nose: the pouches very large: ears great, oval, brownish: body short: nails white: color of the upper part of the body hoary: sides, belly, limbs, and tail, of a pure white.
E e 2
SIZE.
Length near four inches; tail above one.
PLACE.
Inhabits the sandy plains of the Baraba, not far from the river Irtish. The males inhabit a very deep burrow, with a single entrance, at the bottom of which is the nest, made of the Elymus arenarius, and other plants: other burrows, perhaps of the females, had three entrances: in another, discovered in May, were five young in three nests; two were preserved alive; were untameable, very fierce, and would fling themselves on their back, and defend themselves by biting: they went out only in the night, and hid themselves during day in their fodder.
416. SONGAR.
Mus songarus. Pallas Nov. sp. sasc. i. 269. tab. xvi. B. Itin. ii. App. 703.
R. with a thick head and blunt nose: ears oval, very thin, appear above the sur, are very slightly cloathed with hoary down: tail very short, blunt, thick, and hairy: color above, a cinereous grey, marked along the back, from head to tail, with a black line: sides of the head and body marked with great white spots in certain parts, running into one another, in others bounded with brown: belly and less white.
SIZE.
Length three inches.
PLACE.
Inhabits, with the former, the Baraba, usually in the dry sandy saline places: dwells during summer in the shallow new begun, burrows; those of the females have a very deep oblique passage at the end of it: the nest formed of herbs; in one of which were seven young; from this nest ran another deep hole, perhaps the winter retreat. The young were much grown, yet blind. Doctor Pallas preserved them long: they grow soon familiar, contrary
4
to the nature of other mice; would feed from his hand, lap milk, and when placed on a table, shew no desire of running away; but were flower in all their motions than the other species. They washed their faces with their paws, and eat fitting up: wandered about in the day and morning: slept all night rolled up: seldom made any cry, and when they did, it was like that of a bat.
417. BARABA.
Mus furunculus. Pallas Nov. sp. sasc. i. 273.
Mus Barabensis. Itin. ii. App. 704.
R. with a sharp nose: large broad naked ears, dusky edged with white: tail longer than that of the preceding: color of the upper part of the body cinereous yellow, growing paler towards the sides: below of a dirty white: from the hind part of the neck extends a black line, reaching not quite to the tail: tail white, marked above with a dusky line.
SIZE.
Length about three inches and a quarter: tail near one inch.
PLACE.
Inhabits the sandy plain of Baraba, towards the Ob; and between the Onon and Argun, and about the lake Dalai in the Chinese empire. Nothing is known of their manners: the specimens from whom the descriptions were formed, were taken running about the fields.
The last division of mice is of those which lead a subterraneous life, like the Mole, which I take the liberty of naming
***
*** Mole-Rat.
418. BLIND.
Mus Typhlus. Pallas Nov. sp. sasc. i.
Lemni. Rzaczinsk. Aust. Polon. 325. De Buffon, xv. 142.
Slepez. Gmelin Itin. i. 131. tab. xxii.
Spalax microphthalmus. Gueldenst. Nov. Com. Petrop. xiv. 411. tab. viii. ix.
Mus oculis minutissimis, auriculis caudaque nullis. Lepeehen. ibid. 509. tab. xv.
Podolian Marmot. Syn. quad. N° 204.
R. with a great head broader than the body: not the left aperture for the eyes; yet beneath the skin are the rudiments of those organs, not bigger than the feed of a poppy: no external ears; the end of the nose covered with a thick skin: nostrils very remote, and placed below: the mouth gaping, and the teeth exposed: upper fore teeth short, lower very long, and none of them hid by the lip; ends quite even: body cylindrical: limbs very short: five toes on each foot, all separated, except by a thin membrane near the base: claws short: hair universally short, thick, and very soft; dusky at the bottom, at the ends of a cinereous grey: the space about the nose, and above the mouth, white.
SIZE.
Length between seven and eight inches: weight of a male above eight ounces.
PLACE.
Inhabits only the southern parts of Russia, from Poland to the Volga, but is not found any where to the east of that river; but is very common from the Sysran to the Sarpa: is frequent along the Don, even to its origin, and about the town of Rœsk, excepting the sandy parts, for it delights in moist and tursy soils.
It lives in great numbers in the same places with the EARLESS MARMOTS.
It forms burrows beneath the turf for a very considerable extent, with several lateral passages made in quest of roots, on which it seeds. At the interval of some yards, there are openings to the surface to discharge the earth, which forms in those places hillocks of two yards in circumference, and of a great height. It works its way with its great teeth, and casts the earth under its belly with the fore feet, and again behind it, with its hind feet: it works with great agility; and on any apprehension of an enemy, it forms instantly a perpendicular burrow. The bite of this animal is very severe. It cannot see its assailant, but lifts up its head in a menacing attitude. When irritated, it snorts, and gnashes its teeth, but emits no cry. It often quits its hole, especially in the morning, and during the amorous season basks with the female in the sun. It does not appear that it lies torpid during winter, nor whether it lays in provision for that season. It is particularly fond of the bulbous Chœrophyllum.
The Russians call it Slepez, or the blind: the Cossacks, for the same reason, style it Sfochor Nomon. In Ukraine, the vulgar believe that the touch of a hand, which has suffocated this animal, has the same virtue in curing the king's-evil, as was once believed to be inherent in the abdicated family of Great Britain.
419. DAUURIAN.
Mus Aspalax. Pallas Nov. sp. sasc. i. 165.tab. x. Itin. iii. 692.
Mus Myospalax. Laxman.
R. with a thick flat head: short snout: blunt nose, fit for digging: upper fore teeth naked; lower covered with a moveable lip: no external ears: eyes very small, yet visible, lodged deeply in their sockets, which are so minute as scarcely to admit a grain of millet: body short, and depressed: limbs very strong, especially the fore legs: fore feet large, and adapted for digging; naked, and furnished with five toes, and very long and strong claws, slightly bent, on the three middle: hind feet naked to the heel; on each are five toes with small claws: tail short: hair soft, and loose: color at bottom dusky, outwardly of a dirty cinereous grey; in some is a white line on the hind part of the head.
SIZE.
Differs in size. Those of the Altaic chain are near nine inches from nose to tail: those about lake Baikal not six: the tail of the former is near two inches long.
PLACE.
Inhabits, first, the Altaic mountains; and again beyond lake Baikal, and from thence for some space fouthward; but none are found to the north. In the former it lives on the bulbs of the Erythronium; in the latter on those of the Lilium Pomponium.
It burrows like the former, a little below the surface, and spreads over an extent of a hundred fathoms; and the direction it takes is known by the number of hillocks.
Its voice is weak and plaintive. It digs with both nose and fore feet; but less than the preceding with the teeth: by comminuting the earth, and flinging it up in hillocks, it prepares the
ground for the reception of various kinds of rare seeds; which grow usually in greater plenty about such places than any others.
The Tangusi, about lake Baikal, call this species Monon Zokor, or blind; yet it is not quite deprived of fight. The Russians style it Semiunaja Medwedka, or Earth Bear.
420. AFRICAN.
R. with a large head: nose black; end flatted and corrugated: eyes minute, much hid in the sur: no ears: upper teeth one-third of an inch long, sulcated lengthways; lower, one inch and a quarter, exposed to view: legs short: on the fore legs are four toes and a thumb, detached and free: inmost toe the longest, the others gradually shorten: on the thumb is a short claw; the other claws are very long, and flightly bent: the foles are naked, and distinguished by two great tubercles: hind feet very long, large, and naked, which the animal rests on even to the heel: they have five toes with short claws.
Tail compressed, and covered above and below with short hairs: on the sides beset with very long bristles disposed horizontally.
Color a cinereous brown, palest on the lower parts.
SIZE.
Length to the tail thirteen inches: tail two.
PLACE.
Inhabits the sandy country near the Cape of Good Hope, where it is called Sand Moll. It burrows, and flings up hillocks, like the former; and renders the ground so hollow, as to be very inconvenient to travellers; for it breaks every six or seven minutes under the horses feet, and lets them in up to the shoulders. This animal feeds on the roots of Ixiœ, Gladioli, Antholyzœ, and Irides;
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grows to the size of a rabbet, and is by some esteemed a good dish*. This, from its superior size, I suppose to be the Sand Moll of Mr.Masson.
421. CAPE.
Mus Capensis. Pallas Nov. sp. sasc. i. 172. tab. vii.
Long-toothed Marmot. Brown's Zool. tab. xlvi.
La Taupe du Cap. Journal hist. fig. 64.
R. with a blunt nose: minute round nostrils: eyes small, but larger than those of the preceding: no ears: upper fore teeth contiguous, truncated; lower, an inch long, not contiguous, bend upwards, excavated on the upper surface: end of the nose naked and black, the rest white: chin, and lower sides of the cheeks, of the same color: space round the ears and eyes white: on the hind part of the head is a white spot; rest of the head, cheeks, back, and sides, of a rusty brown, and cinereous: belly cinereous: five slender toes on each soot, furnished with small claws: tail very short, beset with bristles.
SIZE.
Length, from nose to tail, about seven inches.
Is very common about the Cape, and very destructive to gardens; flings up hillocks, and eats roots of various kinds.
* Masson's trav. Ph. Trans. lxvi, 304. De la Caille. 299.
422. TALPINE.
Mus Talpinus. Pallas Nev. sp. sasc. i. 176. tab. xi. B. Nov. Com. Petrop. xiv. 568. tab. xxi.fig. 3.
R. with a large short head: thick snout: nose truncated: upper teeth extending out of the mouth, long and flat: lower longer, rounded at the ends: eyes small, hid in the sur: no ears: the aperture bounded behind by a small rim: body snort: fore feet strong: on those, and on the hind feet, five toes furnished with small claws: tail very short, scarcely appearing beyond the sur: color of the head, nose, back, and sides, dusky: cheeks greyish: chin white: belly and limbs whitish.
SIZE.
Length near four inches.
PLACE.
Inhabits all the open grounds and commons of the temperate parts of Russia and western Siberia, but scarcely any beyond the Irtish, and none as far as the Oby.
MANNERS.
Loves a black tursy soil, and is frequent in meadows near villages: seldom in sandy or mudded tracts: always abound where there is plenty of Phlomis tuberosa, and Lathyrus esculentus. Its place is known by the little hillocks it slings up along the course of its burrow, which is of great extent; for this reason the Russians call it Semleroika, or Earth-digger. In these burrows it lurks all the day, but in evening and morning renews its labors; nor does it quit its hole unless to fling out the earth, or in the season of love to seek a mate, or to change the place of its habitation. It does not bear the full light of day; therefore its few excursions are usually in the evenings.
It does not grow torpid in winter; but makes its nest beneath some shrub or hay-rick, and deep in the ground, and keep them-
F f 2
selves warm by lining it with soft grass: and often make a lodge, which they fill with tuberous roots. During the cold season their sur grows universally thicker and longer.
It is very easily taken: but soon grows sick in confinement, unless a quantity of earth is put into the place. They emit a puling note, but that rarely: they often gnash, and, as it were, whet their teeth against each other.
They are in heat the end of March, or beginning of April; at that time the females have a strong musky smell. They bring three or four at a time.
They sometimes vary in color, and are found quite black.
XXXIV. SHREW.
Two cutting teeth in each jaw, pointing forward.
Long slender nose: small ears.
Five toes on each foot.
423. MUSKY.
Mus aquaticus. Clusii exot. 373. Worm. Mus. 334.
Muscovy or Musk rat. Raii syn. quad. 217. Nov. Com. Petrop. iv. 383.
Castor moschatus. C. cauda longa compresso-lanceolata, pedibus palmatis. Lin. syst. 79.
Dæsman, Faun. suec. No. 28. De Buffon, x. 1.
Castor cauda verticaliter plana, digitis omnibus membranis inter se connexis. Brisson quad 92
Long-nosed Beaver. Syn. quad. N° 192.
S. with a long slender nose, like that of a shrew-mouse: no external ears: very small eyes; tail compressed sideways: color of the head and back dusky; the belly whitish ash-color: length, from nose to tail, seven inches; tail eight.
Inhabits the river Volga and lakes adjacent, from Novogorod to Saratof; never found in Russia, and its existence in Lapland doubted*. Never goes upon dry land, but wanders from lake to lake, only in fortuitous floods: is often seen swimming or walking under the water: comes up for air to the surface, or in clear weather sporting on the surface: loves stagnating waters with high banks, in which it makes burrows twenty feet long: feeds on leeches, and the larvœ of water insects: a few fragments of roots have also been found in the stomach. Is not torpid during winter, being often in that season taken in nets†. Is very slow in its pace: makes holes in the cliffs, with the entrance far beneath the lowest fall of the
* Dr. Pallas, MSS.
† The same.
water; works upwards, but never to the surface, only high enough to lie beyond the highest slow of the river: feeds on fish: is devoured by the Pikes and Siluri, and gives those fish so strong a flavor of musk, as to render them not eatable: has the same scent as the former, especially about the tail: out of which is expressed a fort of musk, very much resembling the genuine kind*. The skins are put into chests among cloaths, to drive away moths†, and to preserve the wearers from pestilence and fevers.
At Orenburg, the skins and tails fell for fifteen or twenty copecs per hundred. They are so common near Nizney Novogorod, that the peasants bring five hundred apiece to market, where they are sold for one ruble per hundred. The German name for these animals is Biesem-ratze; the Russian, Wychozhol.
424. PERFUMING.
Mus Pilorides? Pallas Nov. sp. sasc. i. 91.
Mus albus Ceylonicus? Brisson, 122. LEV. MUS.
S. with a long slender nose: upper jaw extending far beyond the lower: upper fore teeth short: lower long, slender, incurvated: whiskers long and white: eyes small: ears transparent, broad, and round: hair short and close, on head and body, of a fine pale cærulean: the belly lighter: feet naked and pink-colored.
Length from nose to tail near eight inches; tail three and a
* Schober in Muller's Samlung Russ. vii. 41. 42.
† Rtckkoff Orenb. Topogr. i. 286.
half: quite naked, round, thick at the base, tapering to a point; and of the same color with the feet.
Inhabits Java, and others of the East Laiian islands; eats rice; has so strong a scent of musk as to perfume every thing it runs over. I have it from the most undoubted authority, that it will render the wine in a well-corked bottle not drinkable, by merely passing over it. Cats will not touch them.
Tucan. Hernandez Nov. Hisp. 7.
Le Tucan. De Buffon, xv. 159.
425. MEXICAN.
S. with a sharp nose: small round ears: without fight: two long fore teeth above and below: thick, fat, and fleshy body: short legs, so that the belly almost touches the ground: long crooked claws: tawny hair: short tail: length, from nose to tail, nine inches.
Inhabits Mexico: burrows, and makes such a number of cavities, that travellers can scarcely tread with safety: if it gets out of its hole, does not know how to return, but begins to dig another: grows very fat, and is eatable: feeds on roots, kidney-beans, and other seeds. M. de Buffon thinks it is a Mole; but by the ears, it should be classed here.
Mus araneus figura muris. Marcgrave Brasil. 229.
La musaraigne de Brasil. De Buffon, xv. 160.
426. BRASILIAN.
S. with a sharp nose and teeth: pendulous scrotum: of a dusky color, marked along the back with three broad black strokes: length, from nose to tail, five inches; tail two.
5
Inhabits Brasil: does not fear the cat: neither does that animal hunt after it.
427. MURINE.
S. murinus. S. cauda mediocri, corpore fusco, pedibus caudaque cinereis. Lin. syst 74.
427. MURINE.
S. with a long nose, hollowed beneath: very long hairs about the nostrils: ears rounded, and rather naked: of an ash-color: body of the size of a common mouse: tail a little shorter than the body, and not so hairy.
Inhabits Java.
428. FŒTID.
Muγαλη. Ælian hist. An. lib. vi. c. 22.
Muoγαλη. Dioscorid. lib. ii. c. 42.
Mus araneus. Agricola An. Subter. 485. Gesner quad. 747.
Mus araneus, mus cæcus. Gesner icon. 116.
Mus araneus, Shrew, Shrew-mouse, or hardy Shrew. Raii syn. quad. 233.
Mus araneus rostro productiore Spitsmaus. Klein quad. 57. Kramer Austr. 317.
Sorex araneus. S. cauda mediocri, corpore subtus albido. Lin. syst. 74,
Nabbmus. Faun. suec. No. 24.
Mus araneus supra ex susco rufus, infra albicans. Brisson quad. 126.
La Musaraigne. De Buffon, viii. 57. tab. x.
Shrew-mouse. Br. Zool. I. 112.
S. with short rounded ears: eyes small, and almost hid in the sur: nose long and slender, upper part the longest: head and upper part of the body of a brownish red: belly of a dirty white: length, from nose to tail, two inches and a half; tail one and a half.
PLACE.
Inhabits Europe, Siberia, and even the Arctic flats, and Kamtschatka; it is also found about the Caspian sea; lives in old walls,
heaps of stones, or holes in the earth: is frequently near hayricks, dunghills, and necessary-houses: lives on corn, insects, and any filth: is often obferved rooting in ordure, like a hog: from its food, or the places it frequents, has a disagreeable smell: cats will kill, but not eat it: brings four or five young at a time. The antients believed it was injurious to cattle, an error now detected. There seems to be an annual mortality of these animals in August, numbers being then found dead in the paths.
429.WATER
Mus araneus dorso nigro, ventreque albo. Merret Pinax, 167.
Sorex sodiens. Pallas*.
La Musaraigne d'Eau. De Busson, viii. 64. tab. xi.
Water Shrew-mouse. Br. Zool. illuster. tab. cii. LEV. MUS.
S. with a long slender nose: very minute ears; and within each a tust of white hairs: very small eyes, hid in the sur: color of the head and upper part of the body black: throat, breast, and belly, of a light ash-color: the feet white: beneath the tail a triangular dusky spot: much larger than the last: length, from nose to tail, three inches three quarters; tail two inches.
PLACE.
Inhabits Europe and Siberia, as far at left as the river Jenefei; long since known in England, but lost till May 1768, when it was discovered in the sens near Revesby Abby, Lincolnshire: burrows in the banks near the water; and is said to swim under wa-
* Doctor Pallas favored me with several prints of this animal in 1765, but never published them: he discovered it near Berlin: it is called there Grœber, or The Digger.
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ter*: is called by the Fen-men the Blind Mouse: chirrups like a grasshopper, and its note often mistaken for one.
430. ELEPHANT.
S. with a very long, slender and little nose: the whole animal of a deep brown color.
PLACE.
Inhabits the neighborhood of the Cape of Good Hope: called the Elephant, from its proboscis-like snout: engraven from a drawing by Mr. Paterson. This animal has been very ill represented by Petiver in his Gazoph. Dec. iii. tab. xxiii. fig. 9. under the title of Mus araneus maximus Capensis.
Sorex marinus. Gm. Lin. 114.
431. MARINE.
S. with elongated snout, channel'd below: ears rounded, and naked: sur of a dusky color; whiskers grey: tail a little shorter than the body: size of the common mouse.
Inhabits Java.
432. SURINAM.
S. with the upper part of the body bay; the lower pale ash, mixed with yellow: tail one half shorter than the body.
Inhabits Surinam.
* L. Baldner, iii. 137.
8
Sorex pusillus, Erxlelen, 122. Gm. Lin. 114.
433. PERSIAN.
S. with the body hoary above, cinereous beneath: tail (subdisticha) short, and whitish: length of the body three inches seven lines; tail one inch one line.
Inhabits the north of Persia: burrows and lives below ground.
Sorex minutus. S. rostro longissimo. Lin. syst. 73.
434. MINUTE.
S. with a head near as big as the body: very slender nose: broad short naked ears: whiskers reaching to the eyes: eyes small, and capable of being drawn in: hair very fine and shining; grey above, white beneath: no tail.
Inhabits Siberia, about the Oby and near the Kama: lives in a nest made of lichens, in some moist place beneath the roots of trees: lives on seeds: digs: runs swistly: has the voice of a bat.
Sorex exilis. Gm. Lin. 115.
435. PYGMY.
S. with a very long slender nose: in shape and color like the FOETID, but paler: the tail very slender near the roots, then suddenly grows remarkably thick and round; and again grows gradually less to the end.
LINNÆUS imagines that the last is the left of. quadrupeds. Doctor PALLAS, who communicated this species, thinks this has
G g 2
a better clame to that title, as its weight is only equal to, or very little above half a drachm.
Is very common between, and about the rivers Jenefei and Oby.
436. WHITETOOTHED.
S. of a dusky cinereous color: belly white: cutting teeth white: tail slender and hairy.
437. SQUARETAILED.
S. of a dusky cinereous color: belly paler: cutting teeth brownish: tail inclines to a squared form.
This species has no bad smell.
438. CARINATED.
S. of a dusky cinereous whitish on the belly, with brownish fore teeth: a white spot beyond each eye: tail slender and taper, carinated or ridged below.
439. UNICOLOR.
S. of an uniform dusky cinereous color: base of the tail narrow, or compressed.
PLACE.
The above four species inhabit the neighborhood of Strasbourg, and were discovered by Professor Herman.
XXXV. MOLE.
Long nose: upper jaw much longer than the lower.
No ears.
Fore feet very broad, with scarcely any apparent legs before hind feet small.
440. EUROPEAN.
Talpa. Agricola An. Subter. 490. Gesner quad. 931. Klein quad. 6
Talpa, the Mole. Mold-warp, or Want. Raii syn. quad. 236.
Kret. Rzaczinski Polon. 236.
Scheer, Scheer-mauss. Maul-wurf. Kramer Austr. 314.
Talpa buropæsus. T. caudata, pedibus pentadactylis. Lin. syst. 73.
Mullvad, Surk. Faun. fuec. No. 23. Br. Zool. i. 108.
Talpa caudata, nigricans pedibus anticis et posticis pentadactylis. Brisson quad. 203.
La Taupe. De Busson, viii. 81. tab. xii. LEV. MUS.
M. with very minute eyes, hid in the sur: long snout: six cutting teeth in the upper, eight in the lower jaw, and two canine in each: no external ears, only an orifice: fore part of the body thick and muscular; hind part taper: fore feet placed obliquely, broad, and like hands: five toes, each terminated by strong claws: hind feet very small, with five toes to each: tail short: skin very tough, so as scarcely to be cut through: hair short, close set, softer than the finest velvet: usually black, sometimes spotted* with white; sometimes quite white: length five inches three quarters; tail one.
PLACE.
Inhabits Europe, and the temperate or fouthern parts of Russia and Siberia, as far as the River Lena. The Siberian is much larger than the European Mole.
* Spotted Mole, Edw. 268.
MANNERS.
It lives under ground; burrows with vast rapidity with its fore feet; flings the earth back with its hind feet: has the sense of smelling exquisite, which directs it to its food—worms, insects, and roots: does vast damage in gardens, by flinging up the soil and loosening the roots of plants: is most active before rain, and in winter before a thaw, worms being then in motion: breeds in the spring: brings four or five young at a time: makes its nest of moss, a little beneath the surface of the ground, under the greatest hillock: raises no hillocks in dry weather, being then obliged to penetrate deep after its prey: makes a great scream when taken. Palma Christi and white hellebore, made into a paste, and laid in their holes, destroys them. None in Ireland.
β. YELLOW M. in form resembling the European, but larger, being six inches two-tenths long; the tail one inch: hair soft, silky, and glossy, of a yellowish brown color at the ends; dark grey at the roots: brightest about the head; darkest about the rump: belly of a deep cinereous brown: feet and tail white.
Inhabits N. America. Described from a skin in which the jaws were taken out.
441. SIBERIAN.
Talpa Sibiricus versicolor, Aspalax dictus. Seb. Muf. i. 51. tab. xxxii. fig. 4, 5. Klein quad. 62
Talpa Asiatica. T. ecaudata, palmis tridactylis. Lin. syst. 73.
Talpa ecaudata, ex viridi aurea, pedibus anticis tridactylis, posticis tetradactylis. Buffon quad. 06.
La Taupe dorèe. De Buffon, xv. 145.
Variable Mole. Brown's Zool. 118. tab. 44.
TEETH.
M. with the nose short and blunt: space between the tip, and corner of the mouth covered with pale brown hair: from the corner of the mouth, a broad whitish bar points upwards along the sides of the head: color of the hair on the upper part of the body varied with glossy green and copper-color: below is of a cinereous brown: in the upper jaw are two sharp cutting teeth; in the lower the same, with a sharp canine tooth contiguous to them on each side.
On the fore feet three toes with vast claws; that on the outmost toe exceedingly large: on the hind feet five small toes and weak claws: no tail: rump round.
SIZE.
Length four inches.
PLACE.
Inhabits the Cape of Good Hope, not Siberia, as Seba supposes: Whether this is the Bles Moll of the Dutch, which lives in the harder grounds about the Cape*, I cannot determine.
* Masson's Trav. Ph. Trans. lxvi, 305.
Sorex crisatus. S. naribus carunculatis, cauda breviore. Lin. syst. 73. LEV. MUS.
442. RADIATED.
M. with small but broad fore legs; five long white claws on each: nose long; the edges beset with radiated rendrils: hair on the body dusky, very short, fine, and compact; on the nose longer: the hind legs scaly: five toes on each foot: length, from nose to tail, three inches three quarters: tail slender, round, and taper; one inch three-tenths long.
PLACE.
Inhabits N. America. Forms subterraneous passages, in different directions, in uncultivated fields; raises walks about two inches high and a palm broad: the holes often give way and let in the walkers. Feeds on roots: has great strength in its legs.
443. LONG-TAILED.
M. with a radiated nose: the fore feet pretty broad, hind feet very scaly, with a few shurt hairs on them: the claws on the fore feet like those of the common Mole; on the hind very long and slender: hair on the nose and body soft, long, and of a rusty brown color: tail covered with short hair; the length two inches; that of nose and body four inches six-tenths.
PLACE.
Inhabits N. America. LEV. MUS.
Sorex aquaticus. S. plantis palmatis, palmis caudaque breviore albis. Lin. syst. 74. LEV. MUS.
444. BROWN.
M. with a slender nose: upper jaw much longer than the lower; two cutting teeth in the upper, four in the lower, the two middle of which are very small; no canine teeth: fore
feet very broad: nails long: hind feet small; five claws on each: hair very soft and gloffy, brown at the ends, deep grey at the bottom: tail and feet white: length, from nose to tail, five inches and a half: tail very slender, not an inch long.
PLACE.
Inhabits N. America: called there the Brown Mole: sent from New York by Mr. A. Blackburne, with β. Yellow Mole, and No. 442 and 443. The black and shining purple Virginian Mole, described by Seba* as the same with the common kind, was not among those that gentleman favoured us with. Linnœus places this, and our radiated Mole, in his class of SOREX, or SHREW, on account of the difference of the teeth; but as these animals possess the stronger characters of the MOLE, such as form of nose and body, shape of feet, and even the manners, we think them better adapted to this genus than to the preceding.
Talpa rubra Americana. Seb. Mus. i. 51. tab. xxxii. fig. 2.
445. RED.
M. of a cinereous red color: three toes on the fore feet, four on the hind: form of the body and tail like the European kind.
According to Seba, it inhabits America; but he does not inform us whether it is North or South.
* I. 51. tab. xxxii. fig. 4.
VOL. II. H h
XXXVI. HEDGE-HOG.
Five toes on each foot.
Body covered with strong short spines.
416. COMMON.
Erinaceus. Agricola An. Subter. 481.
Echinus terrestris. Gesuer quad. 368.
Echinus sc. Erinaceus terrestris. Urchin, or Hedge-hog. Raii. syn. quad. 231.
Jez. Rzoczinski Polen. 233.
Acanthion vulgaris nostras. Klein quad. 66.
Igel. Kramer Austr. 314.
Erinaceus Europeus. E. auriculis rotundatis naribus cristatis. Lin. syst. 75.
Igelkott. Faun. suec. N° 22. Br. Zool. i. 106.
Erinaceus auriculis erectis. Brisson quad. 128. Seb. Mus. i. 78. tab. xlix.
L'Herisson. De Buffon, viii. 28. tab. vi.
Hærbe, vel Ganfud. Forjkal, iii. LEV. MUS.
H. with a long nose: nostrils bordered on each side with a loose slap: ears rounded, short, broad, and naked: eyes small: legs short, naked, and dusky: inner toe the shortest: claws weak: upper part of the face, the sides, and rump, covered with strong coarse hair of a yellowish and cinereous color; the back, with strong sharp spines of a whitish color, with a bar of black through their middle: tail an inch long: length, from nose to tail, ten inches.
PLACE.
Inhabits Europe and Madagascar*; is common in many parts of Russia, but scarcely or ever found in Siberia: is in motion during night; keeps retired in the day: feeds on roots, fruits, worms, and insects: erroneously charged with sucking cows and hurting their udders: resides in small thickets, in hedges, and at the bottom of dirches covered with these; lies good up in
* Ei. court voy. M. dag ser, 52, much y are sna.
moss, grass, or leaves, and during winter rolls itself up and sleeps out that dreary season: a mild and helpless animal; on approach of an enemy, rolls itself into the form of a ball, and is then invulnerable.
447. SIBERIAN.
Erinaceus Auritus. Pallas & Gmelin, in Nov. com. Petrop. xiv. 519. 573. tab. xvi. and xxi. fig. 4.
H. with the upper jaw long and slender: with very large open oval ears, naked, brown round the edges, with soft whitish hairs within: tail shorter than that of the common hedge-hog: upper part of the body covered with slender brown spines, encompassed at the base, and near the ends, with a ring of white: the limbs and belly cloathed with a most elegant soft white fur.
Generally much inferior in size to the common kind; but beyond Baikal is found much larger than that species.
PLACE.
Is very common in all the southern deserts, from the Don to the Oby.
Grows very fat: sleeps all the winter, lodged in a hole a few inches deep: lives on insects, even the most caustic, and will eat (as experiment has been made) above a hundred Cantharides without any injury: rolls itself up, and has all the manners of the common kind.
H h 2
418. ASIATIC.
Le petit Tandrek. Sonnerat, voy. ii. 146. tab. xcviii.
Le Tendrac, et Le Tanrec. De Buffon, xii. 438.
H. with a long slender nose: short rounded ears: short legs: the body marked longitudinally with five broad lines of black, and the same of white; which are continued over the shoulders and thighs: the white marks consist of short spines; the black marks are furnished with long loose hairs, which fall quite to the ground: head and face quite black: no tail: length seven inches. M. de Buffon has given the figure of a young one.
The other, or the Tanrec, is rather larger: covered with spines only on the top and hind part of the head, the top and sides of the neck, and the shoulders; the longest were on the upper part of the neck, and stood erect: the rest of the body was covered with yellowish bristles, among which were intermixed some that were black, and much longer than the others. Each of these animals, which are varieties or young of the same species, had five toes on each foot.
PLACE.
Inhabit the isles of India, and that of Madagascar: are, when of their full growth, of the size of* rabbets: grunt like hogs: grow very fat: multiply greatly: frequent† shallow pieces of fresh or salt water: they burrow on land: lie torpid during six months, during which time their old hair falls off. Their flesh is eaten by the Indians, but is very flabby and insipid.
* Dutch voy. East Indies, 203. Those in the cabinet of the French King were much smaller; probably young.
† Cauche voy. Madagascar, 53. Flacourt hist. Madagascar, 152.
449. GUIANA.
American Hedge-hog. Bancroft Guiana, 144.
Erinaceus inauris. E. auriculis nullis. Lin. syst. 75. Brisson quad. 131.
Erinaceus Americanus albus. Seb. Mus. i. 78. tab. fig. 3.
H. without external ears, having only two orifices for hearing: has a short thick head: back and sides covered with short spines of an ash-color, tinged with yellow: face, belly, legs, and tail, covered with soft whitish hair: above the eyes, of a chesnut color; the hind part and sides of the head of a deeper color: length, from nose to tail, eight inches: tail short: claws long and crooked.
PLACE.
Inhabits Guiana.
DIV. II. SECT. IV.
DIGITATED QUADRUPEDS:
Without Cutting Teeth.
DIV. II. SECT. IV. Digitated Quadrupeds.
XXXVII. SLOTH.
Without cutting teeth in either jaw.
With canine teeth and grinders.
Fore legs much longer than the hind.
Long claws.
450. THREE-TOED.
Arctopithecus. Gesner quad. 869. Icon. quad. 96.
Ignavus five per αζιρxσα Agilis. Clus. exot. 110. 372.
Ai, five Ignavus. Maregrave Brasil. 221.
Sloth. Raii syn. quad. 245. Edw 310.
Ignavus Americanus, risum sletu miscens. Klein quad. 43.
Tardigradus pedibus anticis & posticis tridactylis. Brisson quad. 21.
Ai, five Tardigradus gracilis Americanus. Seb. Mus. xxxiii. fig. 2. Schreber, ii. 7. tab. lxiv.
Ouaikarè, Paresseux. Barrere France Æquin, 154.
Bradypus tridactylus. B. pedibus tridactylis cauda brevi. Lin. syst. 50.
L'Ai. De Buffon, xiii. 44. tab. v. vi. Br. Mus. Lev. MUS.
S. with a blunt black nose, a little lengthened: very small external ears: eyes small, black, and heavy; from the corner of each a dusky line: color of the face and throat a dirty white: hair on the limbs and body long and very uneven, of a cinereous brown color, with a black line along the middle of the back: each side, about the shoulders, is dashed with rust-color; the rest of the back and limbs spotted irregularly with black. The young, such as I suspect that to be in the British Museum, have few or no spots. Tail short, a meer stump: legs thick, long, and
3
aukwardly placed: face naked: three toes, and three very long claws on each foot.
SIZE.
It grows, as Nieuhoff remarks, to the bulk of a middle-sized fox*.
PLACE.
MANNERS.
Inhabits most parts of the eastern side of South America: the most sluggish and most slow of all animals; seems to move with the utmost pain; makes a great progress if it can go a quarter of a league in a day†: ascends trees, in which it generally lives, with much difficulty: its food is fruit, or the leaves of trees; if it cannot find fruit on the ground, looks out for a tree well loaded, and with great pains climbs up: to save the trouble of descending, flings off the fruit, and forming itself into a ball, drops from the branches; continues at the foot till it has devoured all; nor ever stirs, till compelled by hunger‡: its motion is attended with a most moving and plaintive cry, which at once produces pity and disgust, and is its only defence; for every beast of prey is so affected by the noise, as to quit it with horror║: its mouth is never without foam: its note, according to Kircher, is an ascending and descending hexachord§, which it utters only by night: its look is so piteous as to move compassion; it is also accompanied with tears, which dissuade every body from injuring so wretched a being: its abstinence from food is remarkably powerful; one that had fastened itself by its feet to a pole, and was so suspended cross two beams, remained forty days without meat,
* Nieuhoss's trav. Churchill's collect. ii. 18.
† Gumilla Orenoque, ii. 13.
‡ Ulloa's voy. i. 103.
║ Ibid.
§ Kircher's Musurgia, as quoted by Mr. STILLINGFLEET, in his miscellaneous tracts, p. 100.
VOL. II. I i
drink, or sleep*: the strength in its feet is so great, that there is no possibility of freeing any thing from its claws, which it happens to seize on. A dog was let loose at the above-mentioned animal, when it was taken from the pole; after some time the Sloth layed hold of the dog with its feet, and held him four days, till he perished with hunger†.
451. TWO-TOED.
Tardigradus Ceilonicus fæmina. Seb. Mus. i. tab. xxxiv.
Bradypus didactylus. Br. manibus didactylis cauda nulla. Lin. syst. 51. Schreber, ii. 10. tab. lxv.
Tardigradus pedibus anticis didactylis, posticis tridactylis. Brisson quad. 22.
L'Unau. De Buffon, xiii, 34. tab. i. Br. Mus.
S. with a round head: short projecting nose: ears like the human, lying flat to the head: two long strong claws on the fore feet, three on the hind: hair on the body long and rough; on some parts curled and woolly: in some, of a pale red above, cinereous below; in others, of a yellowish white below, cinereous brown above. No tail. Length of that in the British Museum eleven inches: I believe a young one.
PLACE.
Inhabits South America and the isle of Ceylon. The last is strenuously denied by M. de Buffon, who has fixed the residence of this genus to America only: but, besides the authority of Seba, who expressly says his specimen was brought from Ceylon, a gentleman, long resident in India, and much distinguished in the literary world, has informed me he has seen this animal brought from the Paliacat mountains that lie in sight of Madrass; which satisfies me that it is common to both continents. Farther enquiry is desired into the identity of this specics.
* Kircher.
† Ibid.
There is reason to think that it is met with also in Guinea, or at lest some species of this genus; for Barbot and Bosman describe an animal by the name of Potto, to which they give the attributes of the former, and describe as being grey when young, red, and covered with a sort of hair as thick set as flocks of wool. Both these writers were sensible men, and, though not naturalists, were too observant of the animals of Guinea to mistake one whose characters are so strongly marked as those of the Sloth*.
Bradypus ursiformis. Naturalists Miscellany. tab. 58.
452. URSIFORM.
HAIR.
S. with a long and strong nose, truncated at the end: the forehead rises suddenly above it: that and the nose whitish, and almost naked: eyes very small; above is a black line: ears short, and lost in the hair: the hair on the top of the head points forward, that in the neck is parted in the middle; on head and neck, back and sides, is extremely long, shaggy and black; in most parts twelve inches long, and on the upper part of the body shines in the sun with a most brilliant purple gloss; on the breast and belly short; across the first is a line of white: the tail is only five inches long, and is quite hid in the hair: the limbs are very strong and bear-like: on each foot are five toes: on those of the fore feet the claws are three inches long, pointing forward, and slightly incurvated; pointing forward and admirably adapted for digging or burrowing: the claws of the hind feet are very short: the bottoms
* Bosman, 237. Barbot, 212.
I i 2
TEETH.
of the feet are black and naked. This animal wants the incisores, or cutting teeth, above and below. In each jaw are two canine teeth, remote from the grinders: the roof of the mouth is marked with transverse sulci: the tongue is smooth, and not so long as the mouth.
LIPS.
FOOD.
The nostrils are transverse, and appear like a narrow slit: the lips are very loose, and capable of being protruded to a great length, and drawn in again; they serve the use of a hand, and by their means it conveys apples or any sort of food, into its mouth: its principal food was vegetables, and also milk: it was very fond of honey, sugar, and other sweets; but did not willingly eat any animal food.
MANNERS.
In its manners it was gentle, and very good natured; it suffered me to put my hand far down its mouth to examine the inside, and to tumble it up and down, to examine the different parts; nor did it ever offer to bite: it did no more than emit a short abrupt roar when I had provoked it highly.
I class it, from the teeth, among the Bradypi, or Sloths, not from its inactivity, or any of its natural properties: it was neither slow nor languid, but was moderately lively: it appeared to have a habit of turning itself round and round, every now and then, as if for amusement, in the manner of a dog about to lie down to sleep: it is said to have a strong propensity to burrowing; and that it was first dug out of its retreat by those who discovered it.
PLACE.
It inhabits Bengal, and lives in certain sand hills not remote from Patna. It was about the size of a black American bear, not half grown. When I saw this animal in 1790 it was between four and five years old, so probably had attained its full growth.
I saw it in company with the ingenious Doctor Shaw, of the
British Museum. My figure is copied from his Naturalists Miscellany: but it was before engraved by Mr. Catton in his book of Quadrupeds. Mr. Bewick has also given a very good figure of it at p. 266 of his beautiful History of Quadrupeds with wooden plates.
XXXVIII. ARMADILLO.
Without either cutting teeth or canine teeth.
Head, and upper part of the body, guarded by a crustaceous covering; the middle with pliant bands, formed of various segments, reaching from the back to the edges of the belly.
453. THREE-BANDED.
Tatu apara. Maregrave Brasil. 232. Raii syn. quad. 234.
Armadillo seu Tatu genus alterum. Clus. Exot. 109. Klein quad. 48.
Tatu sen Armadillo orientalis. Seb. Mus. i. tab. xxxviii. fig. 2, 3.
Dasypus tricinctus. D. cingulis tribus, pedibus pentadactylis. Lin. syst. 53.
Cataphractus scutis duobus cingulis tribus. Brisson quad. 24.
L'Apar, ou le Tatou a trois bandes. De Buffon, x. 206. Schreber, ii. 28. tab. lxxii. A. lxxvi. fig. 1. 2.
A. with short but broad rounded ears: the crust on the head, back, and rump, divided into elegant pentangular tuberculated segments: three bands in the middle: five toes on each foot: short tail.
PLACE AND MANNERS.
The whole genus inhabits South America: the manners of all much the same: burrows under ground; the smaller species in moist places, the larger in dry, and at a distance from the sea: keeps in its hole in the day, rambles out at night: when overtaken, rolls itself into the form of a ball, which it does by means of the pliant bands on its middle, and thus becomes invulnerable: when surprized, runs to its hole, and thinks itself secure if it can hide its head and some part of its body. The Indians take it by the tail, when the animal fixes its claws in the earth so strongly that there is no moving it till the Indian tickles
5
it with a stick: is hunted with little dogs, who give notice to their master of its haunts by barking, who digs it out; to take it out incautiously is very dangerous, on account of the snakes that commonly lurk in the burrows. Feeds on potatoes, melons, and roots, and does great damage to plantations: drinks much: grows very fat, and is reckoned very delicious eating when young; but when old, has a musky disagreeable taste: is very numerous; breeds every month, and brings four at a time: is very inoffensive*.
454. SIX-BANDED.
Tatou. Belon obs. 211. Portraits, 106.
Tatu & Tatu paba Brasil: Armadillo Hispanis, Lusitanis Encuberto. Marcgrave Brasil. 131.
Cataphractus scutis duobus, cingulis sex. Brisson quad. 25.
Dasypus sex cinctus. D. cingulis senis, pedibus pentadactylis. Lin. syst. 54.
L'Encourbert, ou Le Tatou a six bandes. De Buffon, x. 209. tab. xlii. Supplem. iii. 285. tab. lvii. Schreber, ii. 31. tab. lxi. B. LEV. MUS.
A. with the crust of the head, shoulders, and rump, formed of angular pieces: the bands on the back fix; between which, also on the neck and belly, are a few scattered hairs; tail not the length of the body, very thick at the base, tapering to a point: five toes on each foot.
Inhabits Brasil and Guiana.
PLACE.
* The authorities for the natural history: Marcgrave, 231. Dampier, ii. 61. Gumilla Orenoque, iii. 223 to 226. Nieuhoff, 19. Bancrost's Guiana, 145. Rochefort Antilles, i. 286.
455. EIGHT-BANDED.
Ayotochtli? Herrandez Mex. 314.
Tatuete Brasiliensibus, Verdadeiro Lusitanis. Marcgrave Brasil. 231. Clus. exot. 330.
Cataphractus scutis duobus cingulis octo. Brisson quad. 26.
Erinaceus loricatus cingulis septenis palmis tetradactylis, plantis pentadactylis. Amœn. Acad. i. 560.
Dasypus septem cinctus. Lin. syst. 54.
Le Tatuete. ou Tatou a huit bandes. De Buffon, x. 212. Schreber, ii. 34, 36. tab. lxxii. lxxvi. fig. 3, 4.
A. with upright ears, two inches long: small black eyes: eight bands on the sides: four toes on the fore feet, five on the hind: length, from nose to tail, about ten inches; tail nine.
PLACE.
Inhabits Brasil. Reckoned more delicious eating than the others.
456. NINE-BANDED.
Armadillo. Worm. Mus. 335.
Tatu porcinus, Schildverkel. Klein quad. 48.
Pig-headed Armadillo. Grew's rarities, 18. Raii syn. quad. 233.
Tatu five Armadillo Americanus. Seb. Mus. tab. xxix. fig. 1.
Dasypus novem cinctus. D. cingulis novem, palmis tetradactylis, plantis pentadactylis. Lin. syst. 54. Phil. trans. liv. 57. tab. vii.
Cataphractus scutis duobus, cingulis novem. Brisson quad. 2.
Le Cachichame, ou Tatou a neuf bandes. De Buffon, x. 215. tab. xxxviii. Supplem. iii. 287. tab. lviii. Schreber, i. 37. tab. lxxiv. lxxvi. fig. 7. 10.
American Armadillo. Phil. Trans. liv. 57. tab. vii. LEV. MUS.
A. with long ears: crust on the shoulders and rump marked with hexangular figures; the crust on the head marked in the same manner: nine bands on the sides, distinguished by transverse cuneiform marks: breast and belly covered with long hairs: four toes on the fore feet, five on the hind: tail long and taper: length of the whole animal three feet: the tail a little longer than the body.
In the LEVERIAN MUSEUM is a specimen of the same form, number of bands, and proportions, with this; but the crusts on the head, and other parts, are covered with large scales not angular.
PLACE.
Inhabits South America. One was brought a few years ago to England, from the Mosquito shore, and lived here some time: it was fed with raw beef, and milk, but refused our grains and fruit*.
457. TWELVE-BANDED.
Tatu five Armadillo Africanus. Seb. Mus. i. tab. xxx. fig. 3, 4.
Le Kabassou, ou Tatou a douze bandes. De Buffon, x. 218. tab. xl.
Cataphractus scutis duobus, cingulisduodecim. Brisson quad. 27. Schreber, ii. 40. tab. lxxv. lxxvi. fig. 11. 12.
A. with broad upright ears: the crust on the shoulders marked with oblong pieces; that of the rump with hexangular: twelve bands on the sides: five toes, with very large claws, on the fore feet; five lesser on the hind: tail shorter than the body: some hairs scattered over the body.
M. de Buffon† mentions another of twelve bands, with a tail covered with rhomboid figures, which he is doubtful whether to refer to this species. It is the largest I ever heard of, being from nose to tail two feet ten inches long; the tail about one foot eight: by the figure (for I never saw the animal) it varies greatly from the other.
* This corroborates what Marcgrave says of one of these animals, Cuniculos, aves mortuas aliaque devorant; which is very extraordinary in quadrupeds which want both cutting and canine teeth.
† P. 256. tab. xli.
VOL. II. K k
458. EIGHTEEN-BANDED.
Weesle-headed Armadillo. Grew's rarities, 19.
Tatu Mustelinus. Raii syn. quad. 235.
Dasypus unicinctus. D. tegmine tripartito, pedibus pentadactylis. Lin. syst. 53.
Cataphractus scuto unico, cingulis octodecim. Brisson quad. 23.
Le Cirquinçon, ou Tatou a dixhuit bandes. De Buffon, x. 220. tab. xlii. Schreber, ii. 42.
A. with a very slender head: small erect ears: the crust on the shoulders and rump consisting of square pieces: eighteen bands on the sides: five toes on each foot: length, from nose to tail, about fifteen inches; tail five and a half.
PLACE.
Inhabits South America.
DIV. II. SECT. V.
DIGITATED QUADRUPEDS:
Without Teeth.
K k 2
DIV.II. SECT. V. Digitated Quadrupeds.
XXXIX. MANIS.
Back, sides, and upper part of the tail, covered with large strong scales.
Small mouth: long tongue: no teeth.
459. LONG-TAILED.
Lacertus peregrinus squamosus. Clus. exot. 374. Raii syn. quad. 274.
Scaly Lizard. Grow's rarities. 46.
Manis tetradactyla. M. pedibus tetradactylis. Lin. syst. 53. Schreber, ii. 23. tab. lxx.
Pholidotus pedibus anticis et posticis tetradactylis, squamis mucronatis, cauda longissima. Brisson quad. 19.
Le Phatagin. De Buffon. x. 180. tab. xxxiv. Ash. Mus. LEV. MUS. BR. MUS.
M. with a slender nose; that and the head smooth: body, legs, and tail, guarded by large sharp-pointed striated scales: the throat and belly covered with hair: short legs: four claws on each foot, one of which is very small: tail a little taper, but ends blunt. The color of the whole animal, chocolate.
PLACE.
Inhabits the islands of India. These animals approach so nearly the genus of Lizards, as to be the links in the chain of beings which connect the proper quadrupeds with the reptile class.
They grow to a great length: that which was preserved in the Museum of the Royal Society, was a yard and a half long*: from the tip of the nose to the tail, was only fourteen inches; the tail itself a yard and half a quarter.
* Grew.
460. SHORT-TAILED.
Lacertus squamosus. Bontius Java, 60. Pet. Gaz. tab. xx. fig. 11.
Armadillus squamatus major. Ceilanicus, seu Diabolus Tajovanicas dictus. Seb. Mus. i. tab. liii. liv. Klein quad. 47. Schreber, ii. 22. tab. lxix.
Pholidotus pedibus anticis et posticis pentadactylis, squamis subrocundis. Brisson quad. 18.
Manis pentadactyla. Lin. syst. 52.
Le Pangolin. De Buffon, x. 180. tab. xxxiv. Ash. Mus. LEV. MUS. BR. MUS.
M. with back, sides, and legs, covered with blunt scales, with bristles between each: five toes on each foot: tail not longer than the body: ears not unlike the human: chin, belly, and inside of the legs, hairy: tail broad; much shorter in proportion to the body than that of the preceding, and obtuse at the end: the color of the whole animal a pale yellow.
PLACE.
Inhabits the islands of India, and that of Formosa. The Indians call it Pangoelling; and the Chinese, Chin Chion Seick*. Feeds on lizards and insects: turns up the ground with its nose: walks with its claws bent under its feet: grows very fat: is esteemed very delicate eating: makes no noise, only a snorting.
It is also found in Bengal, where it is called in the Sanskrit language, Vajracite, or the Thunderbolt reptile, from the excessive hardness of its scales: in its stomach is found a number of small stones, probably taken in to help the digestion. In the second volume of the Asiatic Researches, p. 376, published under the direction of the able and learned Sir WILLIAM JONES, is a very good account of this animal; under the direction of that gentleman, a
* Dalhman in Act. Stocks. 1749, 265.
4
second inundation of knowledge is pouring upon the western world from its primeval seat, the East.
Perhaps is a native of Guinea: the Zuogelo of the Negroes; which Des Marchais* says grows to the length of eight feet, of which the tail is four: lives in woods and marshy places: feeds on ants, which it takes by laying its long tongue cross their paths, that member being covered with a sticky saliva, so the insects that attempt to pass over it cannot extricate themselves: walks very slowly: would be the prey of every ravenous beast, had it not the power of rolling itself up, and opposing to its adversary a formidable row ot erected scales. In vain does the leopard attack it with its vast claws, for at last it is obliged to leave it in safety†. The Negroes kill these animals for the sake of the flesh, which they reckon excellent.
A new Manis. Phil. Trans. vol. lx. p. 36. tab. II.
461. BROAD TAILED.
M. with five toes on the fore feet, and four on the hind: scales of the shape of a muscle: belly quite smooth: the exterior scales end in a sharp point somewhat incurvated: tail very broad, decreasing to a point: whole length of the animal a German ell and five eighths: the tail half an ell and a span broad in the broadest part.
* Voyage du des Marchais, i. 200. Barbot, 114.
† Is said to destroy the Elephant, by twisting itself round the trunk, and compressing that tender organ with its hard scales.
PLACE.
This species was found in the wall of a merchant's house at Tranquebar: when pursued it would roll itself up so that nothing but the back and tail could be seen: it was with great difficulty killed, although it was often struck with rice-stampers, or poles armed with iron: a blow on the belly deprived it of life. The scales of this genus are so hard as to strike fire.
XL. ANT-EATER.
Body covered with hair.
Small mouth: long cylindric tongue.
No teeth.
462. GREAT.
Tamandua-guacu. Marcgrave Brasil. 225.
Tamandua-guacu five major. Piso Brasil. 320.
Pismire-eater, Nieuhoss, 19.
Tamandua major cauda panniculata. Barrere France Æquin. 162.
Mange-fourmis. Des Marchais, iii. 307.
Great Ant-Bear. Raii syn. quad. 241.
Myrmecophaga rostro longissimo, pedibus anticis tetradactylis, posticis pentadactylis, cauda longiffimis pilis vestita. Brisson quad. 15.
Myrmecophaga jubata. M. palmis tetradactylis, plantis pentadactylis. Lin. syst. 52. Klein quad. 45. tab. v.
Le Tamanoir. De Buffon, x. 141. tab. xxix. Suppl. iii. 278. tab. lv. Schreber, ii. 14. tab. lxvii. Br. Mus.
A. E. with a long slender nose: small black eyes: short round ears: slender tongue, two feet and a half long, which lies double in the mouth: legs slender: four toes on the fore feet, five on the hind: the two middle claws on the fore feet very large, strong, and hooked: the hair on the upper part of the body is half a foot long, black mixed with grey: from the neck, cross the shoulders, to the sides, is a black line bounded above with white: the fore legs are whitish, marked above the feet with a black spot: the tail is cloathed with very coarse black hairs a foot long: length, from nose to tail, about three feet ten inches; the tail two and a half: weight about a hundred pounds.
PLACE AND MANNERS.
Inhabits Brasil and Guiana: runs slowly: swims over the great rivers; at which time it slings its tail over its back: lives on ants; as soon as it discovers their nests, overturns them, or digs
them up with its feet; then thrusts its long tongue into their retreats, and penetrating all the passages of the nest, withdraws it into its mouth loaded with prey: is fearful of rain, and protects itself against wet by covering its body with its long tail. This (as well as every species of this genus) brings but one young at a time, at which season it is dangerous to approach the place: it does not arrive at its full growth under four years. The flesh has a strong disagreeable taste, but is eaten by the Indians. Not-withstanding this animal wants teeth, it is fierce and dangerous; nothing that gets within its fore feet can disengage itself. The very Panthers of America* are often unequal in the combat; for if the Ant-eater once has opportunity of embracing them, it fixes its talons in their sides, and both fall together, and both perish, for such is the obstinacy and stupidity of this animal, that it will not extricate itself even from a dead adversary†: sleeps in the day; preys by night.
The following history of this animal is given in Dillon's Travels through Spain, p. 76, in his account of the Royal Cabinet of Natural History at Madrid. "The Great Ant-bear from Buenos Ayres, the Myrmecophaga Jubata of Linnœus, called by the Spaniards Osa Palmera, was alive at Madrid in 1776, and is now stuffed and preserved in this cabinet. The people who brought it from Buenos Ayres say, it differs from what they call the Ant-eater, which only feeds on emmets, and other insects; whereas this would eat flesh, when cut in small pieces, to the amount of four or five pounds. From the snout to the extremity of the tail, this animal is two yards in length, and his height is about two feet: the head very
* Gumilla Orenoque, iii. 232.
† Piso Brasil. 320.
VOL. II. L l
narrow; the nose long and slender. The tongue is so singular, that it looks more like a worm, and extends above sixteen inches. His body is covered with long hair, of a dark brown, with white stripes on the shoulders; and when he sleeps, he covers his body with his tail."
The specimen of the Great Ant-eater in the LEVERIAN Museum, is superior in size to any we have before heard of.
| Feet. | Inches. | |
| Its whole length is | 7 | 4 |
| Tail | 2 | 9 |
| From tip of he nose to the ears | 1 | 0 |
| Length of the hairs of the mane | 1 | 0 |
| ————of the tail | 1 | 2 |
| Height to the top of the shoulders | 2 | 0 |
Both of the above are extremely rare, and in an uncommon fine state of preservation.
463 MIDDLE.
Tamandua-i. Marcgrave Brasil. 225. Raii syn. quad. 742.
Tamandua minor. Piso Brasil. 320. Barrore France Æquin. 162.
Tamandua-guacu. Nieuhoff, 19.
Myrmecophaga rostro longissimo, pedibus anticis tetradactylis, posticis pentadactylis, cauda ferè nuda. Brisson quad. 16.
Myrmecophaga tetradactyla. Lin. syst. 52. Zooph. Gronov. No. 2.
Le Tamandua. De Buffon, x. 144. Schreber, ii. 16. tab. lxviii.
A. E. with a long slender nose, bending a little down: small black mouth and eyes: small upright ears: bottoms of the fore feet round; four claws on each, like those of the former;
five on the hind feet: hair shining and hard, of a pale yellow color: along the middle of the back, and on the hind legs, dusky: each side of the neck is a black line, that crosses the shoulders and meets at the lower end of the back: the tail is covered with longer hair than the back, is taper, and bold at the end: length, from nose to tail, one foot seven inches; the tail ten inches.
PLACE.
Inhabits the same country with the last: its manners much the same: when it drinks, part spurts out of the nostrils: climbs trees, and lays hold of the branches with its tail.
Le Tamandua. De Buffon, Supplem. iii. 281. tab. lvi.
464. STRIPED.
A. E. with a taper nose, the upper mandible extending very far beyond the lower: eyes exceedingly small: ears round and short: tail covered equally with long hairs: five toes on the fore feet.
Body and tail tawny; the first marked downwards with broad stripes of black; the last annulated: legs and nose striped in the same manner: belly of a dirty white.
Length from nose to tail thirteen inches French; of the tail seven and a half.
M. de Buffon speaks of one, which he supposes to be the same with this; but the difference in size and colors forbid us to subscribe to his opinion. The account was transmitted to him by M. de la Borde, physician at Cayenne. The hair, says he, is whitish, and about two inches long: it has very strong talons; eats only
L l 2
in the day-time; keeps in the great woods: the flesh is good: it is much more rare than the great Ant-eater.
Weighs sixty pounds.
PLACE.
Both these inhabit Guiana.
465. LEST.
Tamandua minor flavescens; Ouatiriouaou. Barrere France Æquin 163.
Tamandua five Coati Americana alba. Seb. Mus. i. tab. xxxvii
Myrmecophaga rostro brevi, pedibus anticis didactylis, posticis tetradactylis. Brisson quad. 17.
Myrmecophaga didactyla. M. palmis didactylis, plantis tetradactylis, cauda villosa Lin. syst. 51. Zooph. Gronov. No. 1.
Little Ant-eater. Edw. 220.
Le Fourmillier. De Buffon, x. 144 tab. xxx. Schreber, ii. 17. tab. lxvi.
A. E. with a conic nose, bending a little down: ears small, and hid in the fur: two hooked claws on the fore feet, the exterior much the largest; four on the hind feet: head, body, limbs, and upper part and sides of the tail, covered with long soft silky hair, or rather wool, of a yellowish brown color: from nose to tail seven inches and a half; tail eight and a half, the last four inches of which, on the under side, naked: the tail is thick at the base, and tapers to a point.
Inhabits Guiana: climbs trees, in quest of a species of ants which build their nests among the branches: has the same prehensile power with its tail as the former.
PLACE.
There is a fourth species found at the Cape of Good Hope, and in Ceylon; but being described from a mere fœtus*, we shall avoid giving a transcript of Dr. Pallas's account of it, but wait for further information. We shall only say, that it has four toes
* Pallas Miscel. Zoel. 64.
5
on the fore feet, and pendulous ears, which distinguishes it from other kinds. Kolben* describes their manners particularly, and says they have long heads and tongues, and are toothless; and that they sometimes weigh l00lb.†: that if they fasten their claws in the ground, the strongest man cannot pull them away: that they thrust out their clammy tongue into the ants nest, and draw it into their mouth covered with insects. That the African species agrees with the American in every external particular, is confirmed; but that the last is furnished with grinding teeth, like the Armadillo, in the lower end of the jaws, is a discovery proved from the remarks of Doctor Camper, a celebrated zoologist in Holland. Mr. Strachan, in his account of Cylon‡, gives the same account of the manners of what the natives call the Talgoi, or Ant Bear. It is not therefore to be doubted, but that these animals are common to the old and new continents.
Fourmillier d'Afrique. Allamand Suppl. V. 26. tab. xi.
466. CAPE.
DESCRIP.
A. E. with a long nose, truncated at the end like that of a hog; and the nostins resembling those of that animal: ears six inches long, than as parchment, and covered with very fine hairs: tongue very long and slender: the hairs on the head and upper part of the body and tail very short, and so closely adhering to the skin as if they were glued to it, their color a
* Hist. Cape, 118; where they are called Earth Hogs.
† As quoted by Dr. Pebar; I suppose from the Dutch edition.
‡ Phi. Trans. ab tdg. v. 180.
dirty grey; those on the sides and belly long and of a reddish hue; those on the legs still longer, black and straight: the tail thick near the base, and tapering to a point: on the fore feet are four toes; on the hind five; all armed with strong claws: those behind equal even the length of the toes: all are blunted at the end and calculated for burrowing.
SIZE.
The length is three feet five to the origin of the tail, the tail one foot nine.
This species inhabits the neighborhood of the Cape of Good Hope.
MANNERS.
It lives under ground; feeds on ants like the other species; but when it has found an ants nest it looks carefully around to see whether it can feed in safety, then puts out its long tongue to catch its prey. Is an object of chace among the Hottentots, and is reckoned good food.
Porcupine Ant-eater. Naturalist's Miscellany, pl. 109.
467. ACULEATED.
PLACE.
A. E. Length about a foot: coated on the upper parts with spines resembling those of a porcupine, being whitetipped with black; the two colors separated by a ring of tawny or dull orange: spines on the back and sides somewhat recumbent, over the tail perpendicularly erect: snout long, naked, black and tubular, opening very small: tongue lumbriciform; forehead, cheeks, and whole under parts of the body, coated with dark brown stiff hairs: legs very short, toes short, broad rounded: claws on the fore-feet, five very strong, somewhat obtuse; on the hind-feet four, of which the two first are much longer, and sharper than the others: thumb unarmed: tail very short. Inhabits New South Wales: preys on ants, and is
found about ant-hills. A most extraordinary quadruped, connecting in some measure the two very distant genera of Porcupine, and Ant-Eater. This singular animal is more fully described by Dr. Shaw in the Naturalist's Miscellany, and from the figure in that work the representation here given is faithfully copied. Dr. Shaw is of opinion that the genera of Manis, and Myrmecophaga, ought to be either united, or else that this animal should form a distinct genus.
DIV. III.
PINNATED QUADRUPEDS:
Having fin-like feet: fore legs buried deep in the skin: hind legs pointing quite backwards.
VOL. II. M m
DIV. III. Pinnated Quadrupeds.
XLI. WALRUS.
With two great tusks in the upper jaw, pointing downwards.
Four grinders on both sides, above and below.
No cutting teeth.
Five palmated toes on each foot.
468. ARCTIC.
Rosmarus. Gesner Pisc. 211. Klein quad. 92.
Walrus, Mors, Rosmarus. Worm. Mus. 289. Raii syn. quad. 191.
Sea horse, or Morse. Marten's Spitzberg, 107, 182. Egede Greenland, 82.
Sea-cow. Crantz Greenl, i. 125. Schreber, ii. 88.
Odobenus. La Vache marine. Brisson quad. 30.
Trichecus Rosmarus. T. dentibus laniariis superioribus exsertis. Lin. syst. 49.
Le Morse. De Buffon, xiii. 358. tab. liv. Br. Mus. Ash. Mus. LEV. MUS.
W. with a round head: small mouth: very thick lips, covered above and below with pellucid bristles as thick as a straw: small fiery eyes: two small orifices instead of ears: short neck: body thick in the middle, tapering towards the tail: skin thick, wrinkled, with short brownish hairs thinly dispersed: legs short; five toes on each, all connected by webs, and small nails on each: the hind feet very broad: each leg loosely articulated; the hind legs generally extended on a line with the body: tail very short: penis long.
SIZE.
Length, from nose to tail, sometimes eighteen feet, and ten or
twelve round in the thickest: part: the teeth have been sometimes found of the weight* of 20 lb. each.
PLACE.
MANNERS.
Inhabit the coast of Spitzbergen, Nova Zembla, Hudson's Bay, and the Gulph of St. Laurence, and the Icy Sea, as far as Cape Tschuktschi, and the islands off it; but does not extend southward as far as the mouth of the Anadyr, nor are any seen in the islands between Kamtschatka and America. Are gregarious: in some places appear in herds of hundreds: are shy animals, and avoid places which are much haunted by mankind†: are very fierce; if wounded in the water, they attempt to sink the boat, either by rising under it, or by striking their great teeth into the sides; roar very loud, and will follow the boat till it gets out of fight. Numbers of them are often seen sleeping on an island of ice; if awakened, sling themselves with great impetuosity into the sea; at which time it is dangerous to approach the ice, least they should tumble into the boat and overset it: do not go upon the land till the coast is clear of ice. At particular times, they land in amazing numbers: the moment the first gets on shore, so as to lie dry, it will not stir till another comes and forces it forward by beating it with its great teeth; this is served in the same manner by the next, and so in succession till the whole is landed, continuing tumbling over one another, and forceing the foremost, for the sake of quiet, to remove further up.
* Teeth of this size are only found on the coast of the Icy Sea, where the animals are seldom molested, and have time to attain their full growth. Hist. Kamtschatka, 120.
† In 1608, the crew of an English vessel killed on Cherry Isle above 900 Walruses in seven hours time; for they lay in heaps, like hogs huddled one upon another. Marten's Spitzberg. 181, 182.
M m 2
CHACE.
The method of killing them on the Magdalene isles, in the gulph of St. laurence, as I am informed, is thus:—The hunters watch their landing, and as soon as they find a sufficient number for what they call a cut, go on shore, each armed with a spear sharp on one side like a knife, with which they cut their throats: great care must be taken not to stand in the way of those which attempt to get again to sea, which they do with great agility by tumbling headlong; for they would crush any body to death by their vast weight. They are killed for the sake of their oil, one Walrus producing about half a tun. The knowledge of this chace is of great antiquity; Octher, the Norwegian, about the year 890, made a report of it to King Alfred, having, as he says, made the voyage beyond Norway, for the more commoditie of fishing of horse-whales, which have in their teeth bones of great price and excellencie, whereof he brought some at his returne unto the King*. In fact, it was in the northern world, in early times, the substitute to ivory, being very white and very hard. Their skins, Other says, were good to cut into cables. I do not know whether we make any use of the skin; but M. de Buffon says, he has seen braces for coaches made of it, which were both strong and elastic.
They bring one, or at most two, young† at a time: feed on sea herbs and fish; also on shells, which they dig out of the sand with their teeth: are said also to make use of their teeth to ascend rocks or pieces of ice, fastening them to the cracks, and drawing their bodies up by that means. Besides mankind, they seem to have no other enemy than the white Bear, with whom they have
* Hakluyt's coll. Voy. i. 5.
† Barentz voy. 4.
terrible combats; but generally come off victorious, by means of their great teeth.
Le Dugon. De Buffon, xiii. 374. tab. lvi. Schreber, ii. 93.
469. INDIAN.
W. with two short canine teeth, or tusks, placed in the upper jaw pretty close to each other: in the upper jaw four grinders on each side, placed at a distance from the tusks; in the lower, three on each side.
PLACE.
Inhabits the Cape of Good Hope and the Philippine isles. The head described above being supposed to belong to an animal resembling a Walrus, found in the seas of Africa and India, as appears from some citations from travellers, too unsatisfactory to merit repetition. It is said by one, that it goes upon land to feed on the green moss; and that it is called in the Philippines, the Dugung*.
* De Buffon, xiii. 377. the note.
XLII. SEAL.
Cutting teeth, and two canine teeth in each jaw.
Five palmated toes on each foot.
Body thick at the shoulders, tapering towards the tail.
470. COMMON.
φωχη Arist, bist. An. lib. vi. c. 12. Oppian Halieut. v. 376.
Vitulus Oceani. Rondeletii, 453. 458.
Le Veau Marin, ou Loup de Mer. Belon Poissons, 25.
Phoca. Gesner Pisc. 830. Worm. Mus. 289. Klein quad. 93. Brisson quad. 162.
Seal, Seoile, or Sea Calf; Phoca five Vitulus Marinus. Raii syn. quad. 189. Phil, trans. abridg. vol. xlvii. 120. tab. vi. fig. 3.
Kassigiak. Crantz hist. Greenl. i. 123.
Phoca vitulina. Ph. capite lævi inauriculato. Lin. syst. 56.
Sial. Faun. suec. N° 4.
Le Phoque. De Buffon, xiii. 333. tab. xlv. Schreber, cxxxiv.
Seal. Br. Zool. i. 71, Br. Zool. illustr. xlviii. LEV. MUS.
S. with large black eyes: large whiskers: oblong nostrils: flat head and nose: tongue forked at the end: two canine teeth in each jaw: six cutting teeth in the upper jaw; four in the lower: no external cars: body covered with thick short hair: short tail: toes furnished with strong sharp claws: usual length from five to six feet: color very various, dusky, brinded, or spotted with white or yellow.
PLACE.
Inhabit most quarters of the globe, but in greatest multitudes towards the North and the South; swarm near the Arctic circle, and the lower parts of South America*, in both oceans; near the
* Dampier says, that they are seen by thousands on the isle of Juan Fernandez; that the young bleat like lambs; that none are found in the South Sea, north of the equator, till lat. 21; that he never saw any in the West Indies, except in the Bay of Campeachy; nor yet in the East Indies. i. 88, 89.
southern end of Terra del Fuego; and even among the floating ice as low as south lat. 60. 21*. Found in the Caspian† Sea, in the lake Aral, and lakes‡ Baikal and Oron, which are fresh waters. They are lesser than those which frequent salt waters; but so fat that they seem almost shapeless. In lake Baikal some are covered with silvery hairs; others are yellowish, and have a large dark-colored mark on the hind part of the back, covering almost a third of the body.
They are found in the Caspian sea, in most amazing multitudes: they vary infinitely in their colors: some are wholly white; others wholly black; others of a yellowish white; others mouse colored; and others again spotted like a leopard: they creep out of the sea on the shores, and are killed as fast as they come; and are followed by a vast succession of others, who undergo the same fate. It is singular that the seals of the Caspian are very tenacious of life; it is well known that the smallest blow on the nose kills those of Europe. At approach of winter they go up the Jaik, and are killed in great numbers on the ice: they are sought for the skins and the oil: numbers are destroyed by the wolves and jackals; for which reason the seal-hunters watch most carefully the haunts of the seals in order to drive away their enemies. The seasons for hunting the seals are spring and autumn║.
Seals bring two young at a time, which for some short space are white and woolly; bring forth in autumn, and suckle their young in caverns, or in rocks, till they are six or seven weeks old,
* Cook's voy. i. 34.
† Bell's travels, i. 49.
‡ The same, 280.
║ Decouvertes, &c. faites par les Russes. ii. 36. 4 to. ed.
4
when they take to sea: cannot continue long under water; are therefore very frequently obliged to rise to take breath, and often float on the waves. In summer, sleep on rocks, or on sand-banks: if surprized, precipitate into the sea; or if at any distance, scramble along, and sling up the sand and gravel with great force with their hind feet, making a piteous moaning: if overtaken, will make a vigorous defence with their feet and teeth: a flight blow on the nose kills them, otherwise they will bear numbers of wounds. I imagine that the Caspian seal-hunters are not acquainted with the method.
Swim with vast strength and swiftness; frolic greatly in their element, and will sport without fear about ships and boats; which may have given rise to the fable of Sea-nymphs and Sirens. Their docility is very great, and their nature gentle: there is an instance of one which was so far tamed as to answer to the call of its keeper, crawl out of its tub at command, stretch at full length, and return into the water when directed; and extend its neck to kiss its master as often and as long as required*.
They never go any great distance from land: feed on all sorts of fish: are themselves good food, and often eaten by voyagers: killed for the sake of the oil made from their fat; a young seal will yield eight gallons: their skins very useful in making waist-coats, covers for trunks, and other conveniences: those of the lake Baikal are sold to the Chinese, who dye, and sell them to the Mongals† to face their fur-coats: are the wealth of the Greenlanders, supplying them with every necessary of life.
* Dr. Parsons in Ph. trans. xlvii. 113.
† Muller's Russ. Samlung. iii. 559.
471. PIED.
Br. Zool. i. p. 122.
Le Phoque a ventre blanc. De Buffon, Supplem. vi. 310. tab. xliv.
S. with the nose taper and elongated: fore feet furnished with five toes, inclosed in a membrane, but very distinct; the claws long and strait: the hind feet very broad; five distinct toes, with the claws just extending to the margin of the membrane, which expands into the form of a crescent.
PLACE.
This I saw at Chester; it was taken near that city in May 1766. On the first capture its skin was naked, like that of a porpoise; and only the head, and a small spot beneath each leg, was hairy. Before it died the hair began to grow on other parts: the fore part of the head was black, hind part of the head and the throat white; beneath each fore leg a spot of the same color; hind feet of a dirty white; the rest of the animal of an intense black. I believe they vary in the disposition of the colors: that given by M. de Buffon had only the belly white. These species, according to that great writer, frequent the coast of the Adriatic: the length of that described by M. de Buffon was seven feet and a half; that which I saw was very much less, and probably a young one.
472. MEDITERRANEAN.
Vitulus Maris Medilerranei. Rondel.
Phoca Monachus, capite inauriculato, dentibus incis: utriusque maxillæ quatuor, palmis indivisus plantis exunguiculatis. Herman.
S. with a small head: neck longer than that of the common seal: orisices of the ears not larger than a pea: hair short
VOL. II. N n
and rude: color dusky, spotted with ash-color: above the navel, of the specimen described by Mr. Herman, was a tawny spot: the toes on the fore feet furnished with nails: the hind feet pinniform, and without nails.
When the animal is placed on its back, the skin of the neck folds like a monk's hood.
SIZE.
Length of the specimen described by Mr. Herman was eight feet seven inches: the greatest circumference above five feet.
PLACE.
Inhabits the Mediterranean Sea, and as yet not discovered in the ocean. The common, or oceanic species, is probably an inhabitant of the same sea, for the species described by Aristotle* is of that kind; he minutely describes the feet, and attributes to the hind, as well as the fore feet, five toes, every one furnished with nails: that species therefore is the Phoca of the antients, not the kind just under consideration.
Long necked Seal. Grew's Museum, 95.
473. LONG-NECKED.
S. with a slender body: length from the nose to the fore legs as great as from the fore legs to the tail: no claws on the fore feet, which resemble fins.
This was preserved in the Museum of the Royal Society.
Doctor Parsons has given a figure of it in the xlviith vol. of Pb. Tr. tab. vi. but we are left uninformed of its place.
* Hist. an. lib. ii. c. 1.
474. FALKLAND ISLE.
ALLIED to this is another SEAL in the same Museum, sent of late years from the Falkland isles: its length is four feet: hair short, cinereous tipped with dirty white.
Nose short, beset with strong black bristles: short, narrow, pointed auricles.
Upper cutting teeth sulcated transversely; the lower in an opposite direction: on each side of the canine teeth, a lesser, or secondary one: grinders conoid, with a small process on one side near the base.
No claws on the fore feet; but beneath the skin evident marks of the bones of five toes: the skin extends far beyond their ends. On the toes of the hind legs are four long and strait claws; but the skin stretches far beyond, which gives them a very pinniform look.
PLACE.
This species probably inhabits also the seas about Juan Fernandez; for Don Ulloa* informs us of one kind, which is not above a yard long. The small Seals inhabit from the Falkland Islands, round Cape Horn, even as far as New Zealand; and are seen further from shore than any other kind. They are very sportive, dipping up and down like porpoises, and go on in a progressive course like those fish. When they sleep, one sin generally appears above the water. They perhaps extend as far as the Society Islands, at left the natives have a name for the Seal, which they call Humi.
* Ulloa says, the first species of Seal found near that isle, is not above a yard long. ii. 226.
N n 2
Tortoise-headed Seal. Ph. Trans. xlvii. 120. tab. vi.
475. TORTOISE-HEADED.
S. with a head like that of a tortoise: neck slenderer than head or body: feet like those of the common Seal.
We are indebted to Doctor Parsons for the account of this species, who says it is found on the shores of many parts of Europe.
476. RUBBON.
S. with very short fine glossy bristly hair, of an uniform color, almost black; marked along the sides, and towards the head and tail, with a stripe of a pale yellow color, exactly resembling a rubbon laid on it by art; words cannot sufficiently convey the idea, the form is therefore engraven on the title of Division III. Pinnated Quadrupeds, from a drawing communicated to me by Doctor Pallas, who received it from one of the remotest Kuril islands.
Its size is unknown, for Doctor Pallas received only the middle part, which had been cut out of a very large skin, so that no description can be given of head, feet or tail: a. shews the part supposed to be next to the head; b. that to the tail.
OBSCURE SPECIES.
Other obscure species in those seas, which are mentioned in Steller's MSS. are, I. A middle-sized Seal, elegantly speckled in all parts: II. One with brown spots, searcer than the rest: III. A black species with a peculiar conformation of the hind legs.
Phoca Leporina. Lepechin. act. acad. Petrop. pars i. 264. tab. viii. ix.
477. LEPORINE.
S. with fur, soft as that of a hare, upright and interwoven; of a dirty white color: whiskers long and thick, so that the animal appears bearded: head long: upper lip thick: four cutting teeth above; the same below: nails on fore and hind feet.
SIZE.
Usual length six feet and a half; greatest circumference five feet two.
PLACE.
Inhabits the White sea during summer; ascends and descends the rivers in quest of prey; sound also off Iceland, and from Spitsbergen to the Tchutkinoss.
478. GREAT.
Sea Calf. Phil. Trans. ix. 74. tab. v.
Le grand Phoque. De Buffon, xiii. 345.
Utsuk? Crantz Greenl. i. 125. Schreber Cab. i. 43. LEV. MUS.
S. resembling the common, but grow to the length of twelve*. feet: that described in the Phil. Trans. was seven feet and a half long, yet so young as to have scarce any teeth; the common Seal is at full growth when it has attained the length of six.
PLACE.
Inhabits the coast of Scotland, and the south of Greenland. The skin is thick, and is used by the Greenlanders to cut thongs out of for their Seal fishery. Perhaps is the same with the great Kamtschatkan Seal, called by the Russians, Lachtach, weighing 800lb.†, whose cubs are black.
* A gentleman of my acquaintance shot one of that size in the north of Scotland.
† Muller's Voy. Kamtschatka, Co.
Neitsek. Crantz. Greenl, i. 124. Schreber, clxxxvi.
479. ROUGH.
S. with rough bristly hair, intermixed like that of a hog; of a pale brown color.
PLACE.
Inhabits Greenland: the natives make garments of its skin, turning the hairy side inmost. Perhaps what our Newsoundland Seal-hunters call Square Phipper; whose coat, they say, is like that of a water-dog, and weighs sometimes 500 lb.
Phoca porcina. Molina Chili. 260.
480. PORCINE.
s. agreeing in general form with the Ursine, N° 485, but the nose is longer, and resembles a hog's snout; it has also the vestiges of ears: the feet have five distinct toes, covered with a common membrane.
PLACE.
Inhabits the coast of Chili, but is a rare species.
481. EARED.
S. with conoid head: nose rather pointed: ears an inch long, very narrow and pointed: whiskers very long and white: fore feet pinniform; neither toes nor nails apparent, terminated membraneously: in the hind feet the toes apparent, and each furnished with its nail; the membrane extends beyond, and then divides in o five narrow divisions, correspondent to each too: the tail a
little more than an inch long: the whole body is covered with longish hair of a whitish or creme-color: the length from nose to tail is rather more than two feet.
PLACE.
Inhabits the streights or Magellan. This species is finely preserved in Mr. Parkinson's Museum, on the southward side of Black-friars Bridge. That gentleman has very properly placed seizing on it the Condor vulcure, the vast co-inhabitant of the Magellanie regions. Every one knows that Mr. Parkinson is now possissed of the late Sir Ashton Lever's Museum; I have therefore still retained the words LEV. MUS. to the description of every animal contained in that matchless collection.
482. HOODED.
Clap-myss, Egede Greenl. 84.
Neitsersoak. Crantz Greenl. i. 124.
S. with a strong folded skin on the forehead, which it can sting over its eyes and nose, to defend them against stones and sand in stormy weather: its hair white, with a thick coat of thick black wool under, which makes it appear of a fine grey.
PLACE.
Inhabits only the south of Greenland, and Newfoundland: in the last is called the Hooded Seal: the hunters say they cannot kill it till they remove the integument on the head.
483. HARP.
Black-sided Seal. Egede Greenl. plate iii.
Attarfoak. Crantz, Greenl. i. 124. Schreber, Cah. i. 39.
Phoca oceanica Krylatca Ruff. Lepechin act. acad. Petrop. pars i. 259. tab. vi. vii.
S. with a pointed head and thick body, of a whitish grey color, marked on the sides with two black crescents, the horns
pointing upwards towards each other; does not attain this mark till the fifth year; till that period, changes its color annually, and is distinguished by the Greenlanders by different names each year.
PLACE.
Inhabits Greenland and Newfoundland, Iceland, the White Sea, and Frozen Ocean, and passes through the Asiatic strait, as low as Kamtschatka: is the most valuable kind; the skin the thickest and best, and its produce of oil the greatest: grows to the length of nine feet. Our Fishers call this the Harp, or Heart Seal, and style the marks on the sides the saddle. There is a blackish variety, which they say is a young Harp, called Bedlemer.
484. LITTLE.
Le petit Phoque. De Buffon, iii. 341. tab. liii. Schreber, cxxxv. LEV. MUS.
SIZE.
S. with the four middle cutting teeth of the upper jaw bifurcated; the two middle of the lower jaw slightly trifurcated: a rudiment of an ear: the webs of the feet extending far beyond the toes and nails: hair soft, smooth, and longer than in the common Seal: color dusky on the head and back; beneath brownish: length two feet four inches.
Our Seal-hunters affirm, that they often observe, on the coast of Newfoundland, a small species, not exceeding two feet, or two feet and a half, in length. M. de Buffon says the specimen in the cabinet of the French king came from India; but from the authority of Dampier, and of modern voyagers to the East Indies,
4
who have assured me they never saw any Seals* there, I suspect he was imposed on.
Captain Abraham Dixon assured me that he saw off the coast of North America, in his voyages of 1785 to 1788, multitudes of small Seals, not exceeding a foot in length: they were perpetually dipping and rising again, but were so active that he never could procure a specimen.
485. URSINE.
Ursus Marinus. Steller. Nov. Com. Petrop. ii. 331. tab. xv.
Sea Cat. Hist. Kamtschatka, 123. Muller's Exped. 59.
Phoca Ursina. Ph. capite auriculato. Lin. syst. 55.
L'Ours Marin. Brssion quad. 166. Schreber, cxxxii.
PLACE.
THERE are three marine animals, which keep a particular situation, and seem divided between the N. E. of Asia, and N. W. of America, in the narrow seas between those vast continents. These are what are called the Sea Lion and Sea Bear, and the Manati. They inhabit, from June to September, the isles that are scattered in the seas between Kamtschatka and America, in order to copulate, and bring forth their young in full security. They never land upon Kamtschatka. The accurate and indesatigable naturalist Steller was the first who gave an exact description of them; he and his companions, in the Russian expedition of 1742, were in all probability the first Europeans who gave
* A gentleman, the most curious, and greatest navigator of the Indian seas now living, informed me, that he not only never met with any Seals in those seas, but even none nearer than the isles of Gallopagos, a little north of the line, on the coast of America.
VOL. II. O o
them any disturbance in those their retreats. In September, these animals quit their stations, vastly emaciated; some return to the Asiatic, others to the American shores; but, like the Sea Otters, are confined in those seas between lat. 50 and 56.
They are not, as far as I can discover, found from those places, any where nearer than New Zealand*, where they are very common, and again about Staten Land†, the frozen island of New Georgia‡, and the Falkland islands║. I suspect that they are also found in the island of Juan Fernandez; for, among the Seals so imperfectly described by Don Ulloa§, his second kind seems to be of this species. I may add, that Alexander Selkirk speaks of Seals which come on shore in that island in November to whelp† which nearly corresponds with the time our late circumnavigators saw them in New Year's islands, where they found them and their young in December. Lastly, I may mention the isles of Gallopagos, where Captain Woodes Rogers says he was attacked by a fierce Seal, as big as a bear, and with difficulty escaped with his life**.
The Ursine Seal, a name we substitute for the sea-bear, leads, during the three months in summer, a most indolent life: it arrives at the islands vastly fat; but during that time they are scarce ever in motion: confine themselves for whole weeks to one spot, sleep a great part of the time, eat nothing, and, except the employment the females have in suckling their young, are totally inactive. They live in families; each male has from eight to fifty females, whom he guards with the jealousy of an eastern monarch; and though they lie by thousands on the shores, each family
* Forster's obs. 189.
† Cook's voy. ii. 203.
‡ Cook's voy. ii. 213. Forster's voy, ii. 529.
║ Pernetti, Engl. ed. 187. tab. xvi.
§ Voy. ii. 226.
† In Woodes Rogers's voy. 136.
** The same, 265.
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keeps itself separate from the rest, and sometimes, with the young and unmarried ones, amount to a hundred and twenty. The old animals, which are destitute of females, or deserted by them, live apart, and are excessively splenetic, peevish, and quarrelsome: are excessively fierce, and so attached to their old haunts, that they would die sooner than quit them. They are monstrously fat, and have a most hircine smell. If another approaches their station, they are rouzed from their indolence, and instantly snap at it, and a battle ensues; in the conflict, they perhaps intrude on the seat of another: this gives new cause of offence, so in the end the discord becomes universal, and is spread thro' the whole shore.
The other males are also very irascible: the causes of their disputes are generally these:—The first and the most terrible is, when an attempt is made by another to seduce one of their mistresses, or a young female of the family. This insult produces a combat, and the conqueror is immediately followed by the whole feraglio, who are sure of deserting the unhappy vanquished. The second reason of a quarrel is, when one invades the seat of another. The third arises from their interfering in the disputes of others. These battles are very violent; the wounds they receive are very deep, and resemble the cuts of a fabre. At the end of a fight they fling themselves into the sea, to wash away the blood.
The males are very fond of their young; but very tyrannical towards the females: if any body attempts to take their cub, the male stands on the defensive, while the female makes off with the young in her mouth; should she drop it, the former instantly quits his enemy, falls on her, and beats her against: the stones,
O o 2
till he leaves her for dead. As soon as she recovers, she comes in the most suppliant manner to the male, crawls to his feet, and washes them with her tears: he, in the mean time, stalks about in the most insulting manner; but in case the young one is carried off, he melts into the deepest affliction, and shews all signs of deep concern. It is probable that he feels his misfortune the more sensibly, as the female generally brings but one at a time; never more than two. Even the cubs of those on the island of New Georgia* are very fierce, barking at our sailors as they passed by, and biting at their legs. The breeding time in this island is in the beginning of January.
They swim very swiftly, at the rate of seven miles an hour. If wounded, will seize on the boat, and carry it along with vast impetuosity, and oftentimes sink it. They can continue a long time under water. When they want to climb the rocks, they fasten with the fore paws, and so draw themselves up. They are very tenacious of life, and will live for a fortnight after receiving such wounds as would immediately destroy any other animal.
DESCRIPTION.
The male of this species is vastly superior in size to the female. The bodies of each are of a conic form, very thick before, and taper to the tail. The length of a large one is eight feet; the greatest circumference five feet; near the tail, twenty inches. The weight 800 lb. The nose projects like that of a pug dog, but the head rises suddenly: nostrils oval, and divided by a septum: the lips thick; their inside red and serrated: whiskers long and white.
The teeth lock into each other when the mouth is closed. In
* Forster's voy. ii. 516. 529.
the upper jaw are four cutting teeth, each bifurcated; on both sides is a small sharp canine tooth bending inwards; near that another, larger: the grinders resemble canine teeth, and are six in number in each jaw: in the lower jaw are also four cutting teeth and two canine: but only four grinders in each jaw: in all, thirty-six teeth.
Tongue bisid: eyes large and prominent: iris black: pupil smaragdine: the eyes may be covered at pleasure with a fleshy membrane: the ears are small, sharp-pointed; hairy without, smooth and polished within.
The length of the fore-legs is twenty-four inches; like those of other quadrupeds, not immersed in the body like those of Seals: the feet are formed with toes, as those of other animals, but are covered with a naked skin, so that externally they seem a shapeless mass, and have only the rudiments of nails to five latent toes: the hind legs are twenty two inches long, are fixed to the body quite behind, like those of Seals, but are capable of being brought forward, so that the animal makes use of them to scratch its head: these feet are divided into five toes, each divided by a great web, and are a foot broad: the tail is only two inches long.
The hair is long and rough; beneath which is a soft down, of a bay-color: on the neck of the old males the hair is erect, and a little longer than the rest. The general color of these animals is black, but the hairs of the old ones are tipt with grey. The females are cinereous. The skins of the young, cut out of the bellies of their dams, are very useful for cloathing, and cost about 3s. 4d. each; the skin of an old one, 4s.
The fat and flesh of the old males is very nauseous; but the
flesh of the females resembles lamb; and the young ones roasted are as good as fucking-pigs.
486. BOTTLE-ROSE.
Sea Lion. Dampier's voy. i. 90. iv. 15. Rogers's voy. 136. Ansen's vey. 122.
Phoca Leonina. Ph. capite anticè cristato. Lin. syst. 55.
Le Lion Marin. Brisson quad. 167. De Buffon, xiii. 351. Schreber, cxxxiii.
Le Lame. Phoca elephantina. Molina Chili. 261.
SIZE.
S. (the male) with a projecting snout, hanging five or six inches below the lower jaw: the upper part consists of a loose wrinkled skin, which the animal, when angry, has the power of blowing up, so as to give the nose an hooked or arched appearance: the feet short and dusky; five toes on each, furnished with nails: the hind feet have the appearance of great laciniated fins: large eyes: great whiskers: hair on the body short, and of a dun color; that on the neck a little longer: the skin very thick. Length of an old male twenty feet; greatest circumference, fifteen.
SIZE.
Female. Nose blunt, tuberous at the top: nostrils wide: mouth breaking very little into the jaws; two small cutting teeth below, two small and two larger above; two canine teeth, remote from the preceding; five grinders in each jaw; all the teeth conic: eyes oblique and small: auricles none: fore legs twenty inches long: toes furnished with flat oblong nails: hind parts, instead of legs, divided into two great bifurcated fins: no tail: the whole covered with short rust-colored hair. Length, from nose to the end of the fins, four yards: greatest circumference two yards and a half*.
* Described from a well-preserved specimen in the Museum of the ROYAL SOCIETY. This is the animal called by Dr. Parsons, a Manati.
PLACE.
Inhabits the seas about New Zealand*, the island of Juan Feruandez† and the Falkland islands‡ and that of New Georgia║, S. lat. 54—40. Are seen in great numbers, in June and July, the breeding-season, on the island of Juan Fernandez, which they resort to for the purpose of suckling their young on shore, and continue there till September. They bring two at a time. The female, during that season, is very sierce: one of Lord Anson's sailors was killed by the enraged dam of a whelp, which he had robbed her of. The male shews little attachment to its young, but the female is excessively fond of it: the former will suffer it to be killed before his face without shewing any resentment. Towards evening, both male and female swim a little way to sea, the last with the young on its back, which the male will push off, as if to teach it to swim.
They arrive on the breeding-islands very sat and full of blood: when they are in motion, they seem like a great skin full of oil, from rhe tremulous movement of the blubber, which has been found to be a soot thick. The Spaniards very properly call these, and the Urigne lobos de Aceyte, or oil wolves, from their looking like a skin full of oil, from the motion of the vast quantity of sat or blubber, of which their bodies consist§. One has been known to yield a butt of oil; and so full of blood, that what has run out of a single animal† has silled two hogsheads. The flesh is eatable: Lord Anson's people eat it under the denomination of bees, to distinguish it from that of Seal, which they called lamb.
* Forster's obs. 190.
† Anson's voy. 122.
‡ Pernetti 202.
║ Cook's vey. ii. 213. Forster's vey. 527.
§ Ullea's vey. ii. 227.
† Anson's voy. 123.
The old animals have a tremendous appearance, yet are excessively timid, except at the breeding-season, when they seem to lose their apprehensions, and are less disturbed at the sight of man. At other times, they hurry into the water; or, if awakened out of their Deep by a loud noise, or blows, fall into vast confusion, tumble down, and tremble in every part, thro' fear.
These animals associate in families, like the former, but not in such great numbers: the males shew equal jealousy about their mistrsses, and have bloody combats on their accounts: ost times there is one of superior courage to the rest, and procures by dint of valour a greater number of females than others. They are of a very lethargic nature, sond of wallowing in miry places, and will lie like swine on one another: they grunt like those animals, and will sometimes short like horsess in full vigor. They are very inactive on land: to prevent surprize, each herd places a centinel, who gives certain signals at appearance of danger: during the breeding-season, they abstain from food, and before that is elapsed become very lean; at other times they seed on fish and the smaller Seals.
487. LEONINE.
Bestia Marina, Kurillis, Kamtschadalis et Russis, kurilitco nomine Siwutscha dicta. Nov. Com. Petrop. ii. 360.
Phora Leonina. Mohna Chili. 262.
Sea Lion.Cook's voy. ii. 203. Forster's Voy. ii. 513. Pernetti's voy. 240. tab. xvi.
S with a short nose turning a little up: great head: eyes large: whiskers long and thick, and strong enough to serve for pick-tooths: on the neck and shoulders of the MALE is a great
mane of coarse, long, waving hair, not unlike the shaggy appearance of a lion: the rest of the body covered with a very short, smooth, and glossy coat. The whole color is a deep brown: those of the Kamtschatkan islands are reddish; the females tawny.
The fore seet are like those of the Ursine Seal, resembling a flat sin, formed of a black coriaceous substance, without the lest external appearance of toes, as most erroneously represented by Pernetti: the hind seet are very broad, furnished with very small nails, with a narrow stripe of membrane extending far beyond each: tail very short: hind parts vastly large, swelling out with the vast quantity of sat.
SIZE.
The old males are from ten to fourteen feet long, and of great circumference about the shoulders; they weigh from twelve to fifteen hundred pounds: the females are from six to eight feet in length, of a more slender form than the males, and are quite smooth.
Penrose and Pernetti ascribe a much greater size to those of the Falkland isles. The former says, that some of the males are twenty-six feet long* and the latter affirms that their length is twenty-five feet, and their girth round the shoulders from nineteen to twenty†.
PLACE.
They inhabit in vast numbers Pinguin and Seal islands, near Cape Desire, on the coast of Patagonia‡; are sound within the straits of Magellan, and on Falkland isles: they have not yet been discovered in any other part of the southern hemisphere, or in any other place nearer than the sea between Kamtschatka and America. The inhabitants of Chili call them Thapel lame, or the Seal with a mane.
* Exped. Falkland Isles, 28.
† Vey, Malouiness, 240.
‡ Narborough, 31.
VOL, II. P p
MANNERS.
They live in families separate from the Ursine and other Seals: these possess the beach nearest to the sea: they have much of the lethargic nature of the former; and, like them, are polygamous: they have from two to thirty females apiece: they have a fierce look; the old ones snort and roar like enraged bulls; but on the approach of mankind, fly with great precipitation: the females make a noise like calves: the young bleat like lambs.
The old males lie apart, and possess some large stone, which no other dare approach; if they do, a dreadful combat ensues, and the marks of their rage appear in the deep gashes on various parts of their bodies. The males frequently go into the water, take a large circuit, land, and caress their females with great affection, put snout to snout as if they were kissing one another. The females, on seeing their male destroyed, will sometimes attempt to carry away a cub in their mouth, but ostener desert them through fear.
The food of these animals is the lesser Seals, Pinguins, and fish; but while they are ashore they keep, in the breeding-time, a fast of three or four months; but to keep their stomachs distended, will swallow a number of large stones, each as big as two fists.
L'Urigne. Phoca lupina. Molina Chili. 255.
488. URIGNE.
S. with the body very thick at the shoulders, gradually lessening to the hind legs: head like a dog, with the ears close cut: nose short and blunt: upper lip cunilineated: six cutting teeth above; four below: fore foot has four toes inclosed in a membranous sheath, so as to resemble fins: the hind feet are hid in a
continuation of the skin of the back, and have five toes of unequal length, like those of the human hand: tail three inches long: the skin is covered with two sorts of hairs, one like that of an ox, the other more hard: the colors various: length from three to eight feet.
PLACE.
These are the Sea walves which navigators speak of off the island of Lobos, near the river Plata. They appear in vast multitudes, meet the ships, and will even hang by the sides with their paws, and seem to stare at and admire the crew: then drop off and return to their haunts*. They swim with incredible swiftness. The natives of Chili kill them for the skins, and for the oil.
* Father Cattaneo's first Letter in the missons of Paraguay, p. 227.
P p 2
XLIII. MANATI.
Pinniform fore-legs: hind parts ending in a tail, horizontally flat. Two teats between the legs.
489. WHALETAILED.
Manati. Russorum Morskuia Korowa. Steller in Nov. Cam. Petrop. ii. 294. Schreber, ii. 95. Hist. Kamtscbatka, 132.
De Buffon, Supplem. vi. 393.
Trichecus Borealis. Gm. Lin. i. 61. β
THIS animal in nature so nearly approaches the cetaceous tribe, that it is merely in conformity to the systematic writers, that I continue it in this class: it scarce deserves the name of a biped; what are called feet are little more than pectoral fins; they serve only for swimming; they are never used to assist the animal in walking, or landing; for it never goes ashore, nor ever attempts to climb the rocks, like the Walrus and Seal. It brings forth in the water, and, like the whale, suckles its young in that element: like the whale, it has no voice; and, like that animal, has an horizontal broad tail in form of a crescent, without even the rudiments of hind feet.
PLACE.
Inhabits the seas about Bering's and the other Aleutian islands, which intervene between Kamtschatha and America, but never appears off Kamtschatka, unless blown ashore by a tempest. Is probably the same species which is found above Mindanao*; but is certainly that which inhabits near Rodriguez, vulgarly called Diego Reys, an island to the east: of Mauritius, or the isle of
* Dampier's voy. i. 321.
3
France, near which it is likewife found*: Sir Joseph Banks favored me with the sketch of one drawn off this island in 1761, by Ulrike Mole, of the Norfolk man of war. It is likely that this species extends to New Holland, where Dampier says he has seen it†.
MANNERS.
They live perpetually in the water, and frequent the edges of the shores; and in calm weather swim in great droves near the mouths of rivers; in the time of flood they come so near the land that a person may stroke them with his hand: if hurt, they swim out to the sea: but presently return again. They live in families, one near another, each consists of a male, a female, a half-grown young one, and a very small one. The females oblige the young to swim before them, while the other old ones surround, and, as it were, guard them on all sides. The affection between the male and female is very great; for if she is attacked, he will defend her to the utmost, and if she is killed, will follow her corpse to the very shore, and swim for some days near the place it has been landed at.
They copulate in the spring, in the same manner as the human kind, especially in calm weather, towards the evening. The female swims gently about; the male pursues, till, tired with wantoning, she flings herself on her back, and admits his embraces‡. Steller thinks they go with young above a year: it is certain that they bring but one young at a time, which they fuckle by two teats placed between the breast.
They are vastly voracious and gluttonous, and feed not only on the fuci that grow in the sea, but such as are slung on the
* Voy. de la Caille, 229.
† Voy. i. 33.
‡ The Leonine and Urfine Seals copulate in the same manner, only, after sporting in the sea for some time, they come on shore for that purpose.
edges of the shore. When they are filled, they fall asleep on their backs. During their meals, they are so intent on their food, that any one may go among them and chuse which he likes best.
Their back and their sides are generally above water; and as their skin is filled with a species of louse peculiar to them, numbers of gulls are continually perching on their backs and picking out the insects.
They continue in the Kamtschatkan and American seas the whole year; but in winter are very lean, so that you may count their ribs. They are taken by harpoons fastened to a strong cord, and after they are struck it requires the united force of thirty men to draw them on shore. Sometimes, when they are transfixed, they will lay hold of the rocks with their paws, and stick so fast as to leave the skin behind before they can be forced off. When a Manati is struck, its companions swim to its assistance; some will attempt to overturn the boat, by getting under it; others will press down the rope, in order to break it; and others will strike at the harpoon with their tails, with a view of getting it out, which they often succeed in. They have not any voice, but make a noise by hard breathing, like the snorting of a horse.
DESCRIPTION.
They are of an enormous size: some are 28 feet long, and 8000 lb. in weight; but if the Mindanao species is the same with this, it decreases greatly in size as it advances southward, for the largest which Dampier saw there, weighed only six hundred pounds*. The head, in proportion to the bulk of the animal,
* Dampier, i. 321. Voyagers are requested to observe, whether there are not the two species about this and the other islands of the Indian ocean.
is small, oblong and almost square: the nostrils are filled with short bristles: the gape, or rictus, is small: the lips are double: near the junction of the two jaws the mouth is full of white tubular bristles, which serve the same use as the laminæ in whales, to prevent the food running out with the water: the lips are also full of bristles, which serve instead of teeth to cut the strong roots of the sea-plants, which floating ashore are a sign of the vicinity of these animals. In the mouth are no teeth, only two flat white bones, one each jaw; one above, another below, with undulated surfaces, which serve instead of grinders.
SIZE.
TAIL.
The eyes are extremely small, not larger than those of a sheep: the iris black: it is destitute of ears, having only two orifices, so minute that a quill will scarcely enter them: the tongue is pointed, and small: the neck is thick, and its junction with the head scarce distinguishable; and the last always hangs down. The circumference of the body near the shoulders is twelve feet; about the belly twenty; near the tail only four feet eight: the head thirty-one inches: the neck near seven feet: and from these measurements may be collected the deformity of this animal. Near the shoulders are two feet, or rather fins, which are only two feet two inches long, and have neither fingers nor nails; beneath are concave, and covered with hard bristles: the tail is thick, strong, and horizontal, ending in a stiff black sin, and like the substance of whalebone, and much split in the fore part, and slightly forked; but both ends are of equal lengths, like that of a whale.
The skin is very thick, black, and full of inequalities, like the bark of oak, and so hard as scarcely to be cut with an ax, and has no hair on it: beneath the skin is a thick blubber, which tastes like oil of almonds. The flesh is coarser than beef, and will not
soon putrify. The young ones taste like veal. The skin used for shoes, and for covering the sides of boats.
The Russians call this animal Morskaia korowa, or Sea-cow; and Kapustnik, or Eater of herbs.
Adansen's Senegal. 259. LEV. MUS.
490. ROUND-TAlLED.
M. with thick lips: eyes as minute as a pea: two very small orisices in the place of ears: in each jaw are nine grinding teeth; in all thirty six: neck short, and thicker than the head; the greatest thickness of the body is about the shoulders, from which it grows gradually smaller to the tail: the tail lies horizontally, is broad, and thickest in the middle, growing thinner to the edges, and quite round.
The feet are placed at the shoulders: beneath the skins are bones for five complete toes, and externally are three or four nails flat and rounded: near the base of each leg, in the female, is a small teat.
The skin is very thick and hard, having a few hairs scattered over it.
SIZE.
The length of the specimen in the LEVERIAN MUSEUM is six feet and a half; the greatest circumference, three feet eight inches; that near the tail, two feet two. This was taken near the Marigot of Kantai, in the river Senegal: they grow to the length of fourteen or fifteen feet: they are very fat, and both fat and lean resemble veal: but the fat adheres to the skin, in form of blubber: the negroes take them by harpooning, and fell them at the rate of
two long bars of iron apiece. The season is only in the months of December and January. Manati are found in most of the African rivers to the south of the Niger, and possibly to those on the eastern coast. The woman-fish taken off the isles Boçicas, to the south of the river Cuama, is seemingly of this species, notwithstanding the pious describer, Father Jonanes dos Sanctos, furnishes it with four tremendous tushes*.
491. GUIANA.
De Buffon, xiii. 425. tab. lvii. Raii syn. quad. 193.
Trichechus Manatus. Lin. syst. 49. Schreber, tab. lxxx.
M. with a head hanging downward; the feet furnished with five toes: body almost to the tail of an uniform thickness; near its junction with that part grows suddenly thin: tail flat, and in form of a spatula; thickest in the middle, growing thinner towards the edges.
Inhabits the rivers and sea of Guiana: it grows to the length of sixteen or eighteen feet: is covered with a dusky skin with a few hairs† Those measured by Dampier were ten or twelve feet long: their tail twenty inches in length; fourteen in breadth; four or five thick in the middle; two at the edges: the largest (according to the same voyager) weighed twelve hundred pounds. But they arrive at far greater magnitude: Clusius examined one which was sixteen feet and a half long; and Gomora speaks of them as sometimes of the length of twenty feet.
* Purchas. ii. 1446.
† Bancrost's Guiana, 186.
VOL. II. Q q
492. MANATI CLUSII.
CLUSIUS, in his Exotics, p. 132, gives a print and description of a Manati brought from the West Indies: but neither one or the other enables us to define the species. He says that it had short nails and broad feet; and that the tail was broad and shapeless. Till we are better informed we shall suppose it to be the same with the Guiana. M. de Buffon, in his Supplement, vi. 396, makes it a distinct species, under the title of Le grand Lamantia des Antilles.
493. ORONOKO.
THIS is the species to which M. de Buffon has in his Supplement, p. 400, given the name of Le petit Lamantia de L'Amerique, and says it is found in the Oronoko, Oyapoc, and the rivers of Amazons. This pushes its way to the amazing distance we have mentioned. By the description Gumilla has given of the tail, it is circular*, and probably must be referred to this species. I do not understand why M. de Buffon calls it Le petit, for it grows to a vast size. Father Gumilla had one taken in a distant lake, near the Oronoko, which was so large that twenty-seven men could not draw it out of the water: on cutting it open, he found two young ones, which weighed twenty-five pounds apiece.
We suspect that the Manati of the Amazons, &c. never visit the sea, but are perpetually resident in the fresh waters.
PLACE.
These animals abound in certain parts of the eastern coasts and rivers of South America, about the Bay of Honduras, some of the greater Antilles† the rivers of Oronoque‡, and the lakes formed by it; and lastly, in that of the Amazons, and the
* Gumilla, 54.
† Dampier, i. 33.
‡ Gumilla, ii. 43.
Guallaga, the Pastaça, and most of the others which fall into that vast river: they are found even a thousand leagues from its mouth, and seem to be stopt from making even an higher advance, only by the great cataract, the Pongo of Borja*. They sometimes live in the sea, and often near the mouth of some river, into which they come once or twice in twenty-four hours, for the sake of brouzing on the marine plants which grow within their reach: they altogether delight more in brackish or sweet water, than in the salt; and in shallow water near low land, and in places secure from surges, and where the tides run gently†. It is said, that at times they frolick and leap to great heights out of the water‡. Their uses were very considerable to the privateers or buccaneers in the time of Dampier. Their flesh and fat are white, very sweet and salubrious; and the tail of a young female was particularly esteemed. A suckling was held to be most delicious, and eaten roasted, as were great pieces cut out of the belly of the old animals.
The skin cut out of the belly (for that of the back was too thick) was in great request for the purpose of saftening to the sides of canoes, and forming a place for the insertion of the oars. The thicker part of the skin, cut fresh into lengths of two or three feet, serves for whips, and become, when dried, as tough as wood.
In the head, it was pretended that there were certain stones, or bones of great value, on account of their virtues in curing the gravel and colic ║.
* Condamine, 77.
† Dampier, i. 34.
‡ Gumilla, ii, 55.
║ Clusii Exot. 233. Monardus simp. Med. 326.
Q q 2
They are taken by an harpoon stuck in the end of a staff, which the Indians use with great dexterity. They go in a small canoe with the utmost silence, as the animal is very quick of hearing. The harpoon is loose, but fastened to a cord of some fathoms in length; for as soon as the Manati is struck, it swims away with the barb infixed in its body, attended by the canoe, till spent with pain and fatigue: in some places the lesser are taken in nets. If a female, which has a young one, is struck, she takes it under its fins or feet, if not too large, and shews, even in extremity, the greatest affection for its offspring; which makes an equal return, never forsaking the captured parent, but is always a sure prey to the harpooner*.
The Indians of the Maragnon, or the river of Amazons, take them by the means of intoxicating herbs, or by shooting them with those poisoned arrows†, whose left touch is fatal, yet imparts no degree of venom to the thing stricken, whose flesh is eaten with the utmost safety ‡.
At the time the waters of the Oronoque (which annually overflow the banks) begin to return into the bed of the river, the Indians make dams across the mouths of the shallow lakes formed by the floods, and in that manner take vast numbers of Manati, or Pexi-buey, or Fish-cows, as the Spaniards call them, together with tortoises, and variety of fish ║.
I conclude this account with the extraordinary history of a tame Manati, preserved by a certain prince of Hispaniola, at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards, in a lake adjoining to his re-
* Dampier, i. 37.
† Ulloa, i. 412. Gumilla, ii. 46.
‡ Condamine's Trav. 34. Ph. Tr. xlvii. 81.
║ Gumilla, ii. 43.
4
sidence. It was, on account of its gentle nature, called in the language of the country Matum. It would appear as soon as it was called by any of its familiars; for it hated the Spaniards, on account of an injury it had received from one of these adventurers. The fable of Arion was here realised. It would offer itself to the Indian favorites, and carry over the lake ten at a time, singing and playing on its back; one youth it was particularly enamoured with, which reminds me of the classical parallel in the Dolphin of Hippo, so beautifully related by the younger Pliny. The fates of the two animals were very different; Matum escaped to its native waters, by means of a violent flood; the Hipponensian fish sell a sacrifice to the poverty of the retired Colonists*.
494. SEA APE.
MR. Steller saw on the coast of America† another very singular animal, which he calls a Sea Ape; it was five feet long: the head like a dog's: ears sharp and erect: eyes large; on both lips a sort of beard: the form of its body thick and round, thickest near the head, tapering to the tail, which was bifurcated, the upper lobe the longest: the body covered with thick hair, grey on the back, red on the belly. Steller could discover neither feet nor paws. It was full of frolick, and played a
* See both relations; the first in Peter Martyr's Decades of the Indies, Dec. iii. book 8; the other in lib. ix. epist. 33, of Pliny. The elder Pliny also relates the same story, lib. ix. c. 8.
† The Beluga, which I placed here in my former edition, from the misrepresentation of other writers, is an animal of the cetaceous tribe, called by the Germans, Witsish. See Pallas Itin. iii. 84, tab. iv. and Crantz Greenland, i. 114. N° 10.
thousand monkey tricks; sometimes swimming on one side, sometimes on the other side of the ship, looking at it with greas amazement. It would come so near the ship, that it might be touched with a pole; but if any body stirred, would immediately retire. It often raised one-third of its body above the water, and flood erect for a considerable time; then suddenly darted under the ship, and appeared in the same attitude on the other side; and would repeat this for thirty times together. It would frequently bring up a sea-plant, not unlike the bottle gourd, which it would toss about, and catch again in its mouth, playing numberless fantastic tricks with it.
DIV. IV.
WINGED QUADRUPEDS.
DIV. IV. Winged Quadrupeds:
XLIV. BAT.
With long extended toes to the fore feet, connected by thin broad membranes, extending to the hind legs.
* Without Tails.
495. TERNATE.
Vespertilio ingens. Clus, exot. 94.
Canis volans ternatanus orientalis. seb. Mus. i. 91. tab. lvii.
Vespertilio Vampyrus. V. ecaudatus, naso simplici, membrana inter femora divisa. Lin. syst.46.
La Roussette&la Rougette. De Buffon, x. 55. tab. xiv. xvii*. Schreber, l85. tab. xliv.
Pteropus rusus aut niger auriculis brevibus acutiusculis. Briffon quad. 153,&154. No. 2. Shaw Spec. Lin. viii.
Great Bat. Edw. 180. Br. Mus. Ash. Mus. LEV. MUS.
THE ROUSETTE.
SIZE.
B. with large canine teeth: four cutting teeth above, the same below: sharp black nose: large naked ears: the tongue is pointed, terminated by sharp aculeated papiliœ: exterior toe detached from the membrane: the claw strong, and hooked: five toes on the hind feet: talons very crooked, strong, and compressed sideways: no tail: the membrane divided behind quite to the rump: head of a dark ferruginous color: on the neck, shoulders, and under side, of a much lighter and brighter red: on the back the hair shorter, dusky, and smooth: the membranes of the wings dusky: varies in color; some entirely of a reddish brown; others dusky. This now described was one foot long: its extent from tip to tip of the wings four feet; but they are found vastly larger.
* The History of these bats has been greatly elucidated by M. De la Nux, who resided fifty years in the Isle de Bourbon, where they are found. See M. de Buffon, Suppl. iii. 253.
This species is not gregarious, yet they are found in numbers on the same tree, by accidentally meeting there in search of food: they fly by day, and are seen arriving one by one to the spot which furnishes subsistence. If by any accident they are frighted, they will then quit the tree in numbers, and thus fortuitously form a flock. It is different with the other species.
THE ROUGETTE.
The Rougette*, or BAT, with the same kind of teeth as the other, and the shape of head and body the same: the whole body and head cinereous, mixed with some black; but on the neck is a great bed of lively orange, or red.
SIZE.
The size is much less; the extent of wings being little more than two feet.
They are both inhabitants of the same countries, agree in their food, but differ in some of their manners, which I shall distinguish in the following history of them.
These monsters inhabit Guinea, Madagascar, and all the islands from thence to the remotest in the Indian ocean. They are found again, in New Holland†, the Friendly islands, the New Hebrides, and New Caledonia‡ The Rougettes fly in slocks, and perfectly obseure the air with their numbers: they begin their slight from one neighboring island to another immediately on sun-set, and return in clouds from the time it is light till sun-rise ║, and lodge during day in hollow trees: both live on fruits; and are so fond of the juice of the palm-tree, that they will intoxicate themselves with it till they drop on the ground §.
Notwithstanding the size of their teeth, they are not carnivorous. Mr. Edwards relates, that they will dip into the sea for
* LEV. MUS.
† Cook's voy. iii. 626.
‡ Forster's obs. 187.
║ Dampier's voy. i. 381.
§ Museum Hafniœ, Pars i. Sect, 2. No. 18.
VOL. II. R r
fish. I suspect that fact; but it is known that they skim the water with wonderful ease, perhaps in sportive moods. They also frequent that element to wash themselves from any vermin which might adhere to them*. They swarm like bees, hanging near one another from the trees in great clusters†; at left five hundred were observed hanging, some by their fore, others by their hind legs, in a large Casuarina-tree, in one of the Friendly islands. When shot at, they flew from the boughs very heavily, uttering a shrill piping note; others again, arrived at intervals from remote places to the tree‡. In New Caledonia, the natives use their hair in ropes, and in the tassels of their clubs, interweaving it with the threads of the Cyperus squarrosus. The Indians eat them, and declare the flesh to be very good: they grow excessively fat at certain times of the year. The French, who live in the Isle de Bourbon, boil them in their bouillon, to give it a relish ║. The Negroes have them in abhorrence §. Many of the Roussettes are of an enormous size: Beeckman ** measured one, whose extent from tip to tip of the wing was five feet four inches; and Dampier†† another, which extended further than he could reach with stretched-out arms. Their bodies are from the size of a pullet to that of a dove: while eating, they make a great noise: their smell rank; their bite, resistance, and fierceness great when taken.
They bring but one young at a time.
The antients had some knowledge of these animals. Herodotus†
* Forster's obs. 188.
† Argensola Philip, isles, 158. Des Marchais, ii. 261.
‡ Forster's voy. i. 450.
║ Voy. de la Caille, 233.
§ Des Marchais, ibid.
** Voy. to Borneo, 39.
†† i. 381.
† Sηζια, w⌠εζωτα τησι vυχτεζισ πζoσωχελα. Lib. iii.
mentions certain winged wild beasts, like bats, that molested the Arabs, who collected the Cassia, to such a degree that they were obliged to cover their bodies and faces, all but their eyes, with skins. It is very probable, as M. de Buffon remarks, it was from such relations the Poets formed their fictions of Harpies.
Linnœus gives this species the title of Vampyre, conjecturing it to be the kind which draws blood from people in their sleep. M. de Buffon denies it, ascribing that faculty to a species only found. in S. America: but there is reason to imagine, that this thirst after blood is not confined to the bats of one continent, nor to one species; for Bontius and Nieuhoff inform us, that they of Java* seldom fail attacking those who lie with their feet uncovered, whenever they can get access; and Gumilla†, after mentioning a greater and lesser species, found on the banks of the Orenoque, declares them to be equally greedy after human blood. Persons thus attacked, have been known to be near passing from a found sleep into eternity. The Bat is so dextrous a bleeder as to insinuate its aculeated tongue into a vein without being perceived, and then suck the blood till it is satiated; all the while fanning with its wings, and agitating the air, in that hot climate, in so pleasing a manner, as to fling the sufferer into a still founder sleep‡. It is therefore very unsafe to rest either in the open air, or to leave open any entrance to these dangerous animals; but they do not confine themselves to human blood; for M. Con-
* Bontius India, 70. Nieuboff, 255. These writers say that this kind is as big as a pigeon. I suspect that the species just described is common to India and S. America; Mr. Greenwood, painter, long resident at Surinam, informing me that there is in that colony a fox-colored bat, whose extent of wings is above four feet.
† Hist, Orenoque, iii. 100.
‡ Ulloa's voy. i. 61.
R r 2
damine* says, that in certain parts of America they have destroyed all the great cattle introduced there by the missionaries.
β. LESSER. B. with head like a grehound: large teeth like the former: ears long, broad, and naked: whole body covered with soft short hair of a straw-color: shaped like the other in all respects: length, eight inches three quarters; extent, two feet two inches. Place unknown to the gentleman who favored me with it. LEV. MUS.
496. SPECTRE.
Andira-gnacu, vespertilio cornutus. Piso Brasil. 190. Marcgrave Brasil. 213.
Canis volans maxima aurita fæm. ex Nov. Hispania. Seb. Mus. i. tab. lvii.
Vespertilio spectrum. V. ecaudatus, naso infundibulisotmi lanceolato. Lin. syst. 46. Klein quad. 62.
Pteropus auriculis longis, patulis, naso membrana antrorsum inflexa aucto. Brisson quad. 54.
Le Vampire. De Buffon, x. 55. Schreber, 192. tab. xlv.
SIZE.
B. with a long nose: large teeth: long, broad, and upright ears: at the end of the nose a long conic erect membrane, bending at the end, and flexible: hair on the body cinereous, and pretty long: wings full of ramisied fibres: the membrane extends from hind leg to hind leg: no tail; but from the rump extend three tendons, terminating at the edge of the membrane. By Seba's figure, the extent of the wings is two feet two inches; from the end of the nose to the rump seven inches and a half.
PLACE.
Inhabits South America: lives in the palm-trees: grows very fat: called Vampyre by M. de Buffon, who supposes it to be the species that sucks human blood: but neither Piso, or any other writers who mention the fact, give the left description of the kind.
* Voy. S. Amcrica, 85.
497. JAVELIN.
Vespertilio Americanus vulgaris. Seb. Mus. i. tab. lv. fig. 2.
Vespertilio pe V. ccudatus naso soliato acu. Lin. syst.4
V. murina color pedibvs antici tetradactylis, posticis pent-dactylis. Brasson quad. l61.
La chauve fouris fer de Lance. D Buffon, xiii. i 26. tab. xxxiii Sez em. vii 202 tab. lxxiv. Schreber, 194. tab. xlvi. B.
SIZE.
B. with large pointed ears: an erect membrane at the end of the nose, in form of the head of an antient javelin, having on each side two upright processes: no tail: fur cinereous: size of a common bat.
PLACE.
Inhabits the warm parts of America.
The bat described by Mr. Schreber, p. 193. tab. xlvi. A. under the title of La Chauve souris pelle, has so much resemblance, that I place it here as a variety of the former: the nasal membrane being nearly of the same form; the color differs, the fur being ferruginous.
498. LEAF.
Vespertilio, rostro appendice auriculæ forma donata Sloane Jam. ii. 330.
Small bat. Edw. 201. fig. 1.
La Feuille. De Buffon, xiii. 227.
Vespertilio foricinus. Pallas Miscel. 48. tab. v.* Schreber, 195. tab. xlvii. LEV. MUS.
SIZE.
B. with small rounded ears: membrane on the nose of the form of an ovated leaf: no tail: a web between the hind legs: fur of a mouse-color, tinged with red: size of the last.
* This seems to be one of the blood-sucking species, the tongue being furnished with aculeated papillœ, and is twice the length of the nose; so is well adapted for that purpose.
PLACE.
Inhabits Jamaica, Surinam, and Senegal: in the first lives in caves in woods, which are found full of its dung, productive of falt-petre: feeds on the prickly pear.
499. CORDATED.
Glis volans Ternatanus. Seb.Mus. i tab. lvi. fig. 1. Schreber, 191. tab. xlviii.
Vespertilio spasina. V. ecaudatus naso saliato obcordato. Lin. syst. 47.
B. with very broad and long ears: at the end of the nose a heart-shaped membrane: no tail: a web between the hind legs: color of the face a very light red; that of the body still paler.
PLACE.
Inhabits Ceylon, and the isle of Ternate, one of the Moluccas.
** With tails.
500. PERUVIAN.
Chauve souris de la Vallée d'Ylo. Feuillée obs, Peru, 1714. p. 623. Schreber 196. tab. lx.
Vespertilio Leporinus. Gm. Lin. 47.
SIZE.
B. with a head like a pug-dog: large strait ears, sharp at the ends and pointing forwards: two canine teeth, and two small cutting teeth between each, in each jaw: tail enclosed in the membrane which joins to each hind leg, and is also supported by two long cartilaginous ligaments involved in the membrane: color of the fur iron-grey; but erroneously colored in the print, of a straw color: body equal to that of a middle-sized rat: extent of wings two feet five inches.
SIZE.
β. With a large head and hanging lips, like the chops of a mastiff: nose bilobated: upper lip divided: strait, long, and narrow ears, sharp-pointed: teeth like the former: tail short; a few joints of it stand out of the membrane, which extends far beyond it; is angular, and ends in a point: claws on the hind feet large, hooked, and compressed sideways: membranes of the wings dusky, very thin: fur on the head and back brown; on the belly, cinereous. Length, from the nose to the end of the membrane, above five inches; extent of wings, twenty.
PLACE.
Inhabits Peru and the Mosquito shore: the last was given me by John Ellis, Esq; F.R.S. It differed from the former in size, being less; in all other respests agreed.
Linnœus, carried away by love of system, places this, on account of its having only two cutting teeth in each jaw, among the Glires, next to the squirrels, under the name of Noctilio Americanus. But such is the variety in the numbers and disposition of the teeth in the animals of this genus, that he might form almost as many genera out of it as there are species. But as the Bats have other such striking characters, it is unnecessary to have recourse to the more latent marks to form its definition. The same may be said of several other animals.
Autre Chauve souris. De Buffon, x. 84, 87. tab. xix. fig. 1, 2. Schreber, 207. tab. xlix. LEV. MUS.
501. BULL-DOG.
SIZE.
B. with broad round ears, the edges touching each other in front: nose thick: lips pendulous: upper part of the body of a deep ash-color; the lower paler: tail long; the five last
7
joints quite disengaged from the membrane. Length above two inches; extent nine and a half.
PLACE.
Inhabits the West Indies.
502. SENEGAL.
Chauve-souris etrangere. De Buffon, x. 82. tab. xvii. Schreber, 206. tab. lviii. LEV, MUS.
Vespertilio nigrita. Gm. Lin. 49.
SIZE.
B. with a long head: nose a little pointed: ears short, and pointed: head and body a tawny brown mixed with ashcolor: belly paler: two last joints of the tail extend beyond the membrane. Length from nose to rump, above four inches; extent 21.
PLACE.
Inhabits Senegal.
La Chauye-souris a bourse. Schreber, 209. tab. lvii.
503. POUCH.
WITH the nose somewhat produced: the end thickest, and beset with fine whiskers: the chin divided by a sulcus: ears long, rounded at their ends: on each wing, near the second joint, is a small purse, or pouch: the tail is only partly involved in the membrane; the end hanging out: color of the body a cinereous brown: the belly paler.
SIZE.
Leneth an inch and a half.
PLACE.
Inhabits Surinam.
Autre Chauve-souris de la Guyanne. De Buffon, Supplem. vii. 214. tab. Ixxv.
504. SLOUCHEARED.
B. with large pendulous ears, pointed at the ends: nose obtuse at the end: tail long, included in the membrane, and ending with a hook: color above, a deep chesnut; lighter on the belly, and cinereous on the sides: length three inches and four lines: extent of wings fifteen inches.
PLACE.
Inhabits Guiana.
Autre Chauve-souris. De Buffon, x. 92. tab. xx. fig. 3. Schreber, 204. tab. lvi LEV. MUS.
505. BEARDED.
B. with the nostrils open for a great way up the nose: hair on the forehead and under the chin very long: ears long and narrow: upper part of the head and body of a reddish brown; the lower of a dirty white tinged with yellow: tail included in a membrane very full of nerves. A small species.
506. NEW YORK.
B. with a head shaped like that of a mouse: top of the nose a little bisid: ears short, broad, and rounded: no cutting teeth; two canine in each jaw: tail very long, inclosed in the membrane, which is of a conic shape: head, body, and the whole upper side of the membrane which incloses the tail, covered with long very soft hair of a bright tawny color, lightest on the head and beginning of the back; the belly paler: at the base of each wing a white spot: wings thin, naked, and
VOL. II. S s
SIZE.
dusky: bones of the hind legs very slender. Length, from nose to tail two inches and a half; tail one inch eight-tenths; extent of wings ten and a half.
PLACE.
Inhabits North America. Communicated by Mr. Ashton Black burne*. It is also found in New Zeland†. Mr. Schreber describes it from me, in p. 212. LEV. MUS.
Autre Chauve-souris. De Buffon, x. 92. tab. xx. fig. 3. Zooph. Gronov. No. 25. Schreber, 205. tab. xlix.
507. STRIPED.
SIZE.
B. with a small short nose; ears short, broad, and pointing forward: body brown: wings striped with black, and sometimes with tawny and brown. Length, from nose to the end of the tail, two inches: varies in color; the upper part of the body being sometimes of a clear reddish brown, the lower whitish.
PLACE.
Inhabits Ceylon; called there, Kiriwoula ‡. I may add to this little species of Bat, the mention of a minute kind seen and heard in myriads of numbers in the isle of Tanna, one of the New Hebrides, but which escaped every attempt of our voyagers to obtain a near examination ║.
* The Rev. M. Clayton mentions another species of North American Bat; large, with great ears, and long straggling hairs. Phil. Trans. abridg. iii. 594.
† Forstler's observ. 189.
‡ Pallas Miscel. 49.
║ Forster's obs. 188.
Vespertilio Cephalotes. Pallas Spicil. Zool. fasc. iii. 10. tab.i. Schreber, 208. tab. lxi. LEV. MUS.
503. MOLUCCA.
SIZE.
B. with a large head; thick nose: small ears: tubular nostrils, terminating outwards in form of a screw: upper lip divided: tongue covered with papillæ and minute spines: claw, or thumb, joined to the wing by a membrane: first ray of the wing terminated by a claw: end of the tail reaches beyond the membrane: color of the head and back greyish ash-color; that in the LEVERIAN MUSEUM of a fine straw-color: the belly dull white. Length, from nose to rump, three inches three quarters; extent of wings about fifteen.
PLACE.
Inhabits the Molucca isles. Described first by that very able naturalist Doctor Pallas.
Vespertilio Lepturus. Schreber, tab. lvii. Gm. Lin. 50.
509. SLENDERTAILED.
B. with tubular nostrils: long erect ears: color dusky above, cinereous beneath.
PLACE.
Inhabits Surinam.
Vespertilio Lasiurus. Schreber, tab. lxii. Gm. Lin. 50.
510. ROUGHTAIL'D.
B. with upright small ears: tail broad at the base, terminating in a point thickly covered with hair: color a reddish brown: a small species.
Place unknown.
S s 2
Vespertilio Lascopterns. Schreber, tab. lviii. B. Gm. Lin. 50.
511. LASCOPTERUS.
B. with a most prominent rounded forehead: short nose: color a bright rust: upper part of the wings of a paler rust: ends and lower parts of the wings black. By Mr. Schreber's figure it seems a large species.
Place unknown.
La Chauve-souris fer a Cheval. De Buffon, viii. 131, 132. tab. xvii. xx. Schreber, 210. tab. lxii. Br. Zool. i. 129.
512. HORSE-SHOE.
SIZE.
B. with a membrane at the end of the nose in form of a horse-shoe: ears large, broad at their base, and sharp-pointed, inclining backward: wants the little or internal ear: color of the upper part of the body deep cinereous; of the lower, whitish. There is a greater and lesser variety; the greater is above three inches and a half long from the nose to the tip of the tail: its extent above fourteen. This and all the following have the tail inclosed in the membrane.
PLACE.
Inhabits Burgundy; and has lately been discovered in Kent, by Mr. Latham, of Dartford; found also about the Caspian sea. The long-eared Bat, N° 519, has also been observed there, and at Petersburg. This and the four next were first discovered by M. de Buffon, whose names I retain.
513. NOCTULE.
La Noctule. De Buffon, viii. 128. tab. xviii. Schreber, 200. tab. lii.
Great Bat. Br. Zool. illustr. tab. ciii. Br. Zool. i. 128.
SIZE.
B. with the nose flightly bilobated: ears small and rounded: on the chin a minute verruca: hair of a reddish ash-color. Length to the rump two inches eight-tenths; tail one sevententh; extent of wings thirteen inches.
PLACE.
Inhabits Great Britain and France; very common in the open differ or Russia, wherever they can find shelter in caverns: flies last in search of food, not skimming near the ground. A g informed me of the following fact, relating to those a, which he was witness to:—that he faw taken under the ea Queen's College, Cambridge, in one night, one hundred and ghey-five; the second night fixty-three; the third night two; and that each that was measured had fifteen inches extent of wings*.
La Serotine. De Buffon, viii. 129, tab. xviii. Schreber, 201. tab. liii.
514. SEROTINE.
SIZE.
B. with a longish nose: ears short, but broad at the base: hair on the upper part of the body brown, mixed with ferruginous; the belly of a paler color. Length from nose to rump, two inches and a half: no tail.
* No notice was taken of the species; but, by the size, it could be neither of the common kinds. I never saw but one specimen of the Nectule, which was caught during winter in Flintshire.
PLACE.
Inhabits France; found in caverns of rocks upon the river Argun, beyond lake Baikal; but as yet not discovered in any other part of the vast Russian dominions.
La Grande Serotine de la Guyanne. De Buffon Supplem. vii. 289. tab. lxiii.
515. GREATER SEROTINE.
B. with a very long, strait and strong nose, sloping down at the end: ears long, erect, dilated towards the bottom, rounded at the end: color of the upper parts of a reddish chesnut; sides a clear yellow, rest of a dirty white. Length five inches eight lines: extent of wings two feet: no tail.
PLACE.
Inhabits Guiana: assembles in vast numbers in open places, particularly meadows; and flies in company with the goat suckers, and both together, in such numbers as to darken the air.
La Pipistrelle. De Buffon, viii. 129. tab. xix.fig. 2. Schreber, 202. tab. liv.
516. PIPISTRELLE.
SIZE.
B. with a small nose: the upper lip swelling out a little on each side: the ears broad: the forehead covered with long hair: color of the upper part of the body a yellowish brown; the lower part dusky; the lips yellow. The left of Bats; not an inch and a quarter long to the rump: extent of wings fix and a half.
PLACE.
Inhabits France: common in the rocky and mountanous parts of Russia and Siberia.
5
La Barbastelle. De Buffon, viii. 130. tab. xix. fig. 1. Schreber, 203. tab. lv.
517. BARBASTELLE.
SIZE.
B. with a sunk forehead: long and broad ears; the lower part of the inner sides touching each other, and conceal the face and head when looked at in front: the nose short; the end flatted: cheeks full: the upper part of the body of a dusky brown; the lower, ash-colored and brown. Its length to the rump about two inches; its extent ten and a half.
PLACE.
Inhabits France.
518. COMMON.
Nιχτεξις. Arist bist. an. lib. i. c. 5.
Vespertilio. Plinii lib. x. c. 61. Gesner quad. 766. Agricola Anim. Subter. 483.
Bat, Flitter mouse. Raii syn. quad. 243.
Rear-mouse. Charlton Ex. 80.
Vespertilio major. Speck maus, Fledermaus. Klein quad. 61.
Vespertilio murinus. V. caudatus naso oreque simplici, auribus capite minoribus. Lin. syst. 47.
Laderlap, Fladermus. Faun. suec. No. 2.
La grande Chauve-fouris de notre pais. Brisson quad. 158. De Buffon, viii. 113. tab. xvi.
Short-eared Bat. Br. Zool. i. 130. Edw. 201. Schreber, 199. tab. li. LEV. MUS.
SIZE.
B. with short ears: mouse-colored fur tinged with red. Length two inches and a half; extent of wings nine.
PLACE.
Inhabits Europe: the most common species in England.
519. LONG-EARED
Souris. Chauve, Rattepenade. Belan oys. 147.
Vespertiiio auritus. V. naso oreque simplici, auriculis duplicatis, capite majoribus. Lab. syst 47. Faun. suse. No. 3. Klein quad. 61.
La petite Chauve-souris de noire pais. Brisson quad. 160. Shaw spec. Lin. vii.
L'Oreillar. De Buffon, viii. 118. tab. xvii. Schreber, 197. tab. 1.
Long-eared Bat. Edw. 201. Br. Zool. i. 129. Br. Zool. iilustr. tab. ciii. LEV. MUS.
SIZE.
B. with ears above an inch long, thin, and almost pellucid: body and tail only one inch three quarters long. This and all other Bats, except the Ternate and the Horse-shoe, have a lesser or internal ear, serving as a valve to close the greater when the animal is asleep.
PLACE.
Inhabits Europe, and is found in Great Britain. Bats appear abroad in this country early in the spring; sometimes are tempted by a warm day to sally out in winter; fly in the evenings; live on moths and other nocturnal insects; skim along the water in quest of gnats; fly by jerks, not with the regular motion of birds, for which the antients mistake them; frequent glades and shady places; will go into larders, and gnaw any meat they find: bring two young at a time, which they suckle at their breast: retire at the end of summer into caves, the eaves of houses, and into ruined buildings, in vast multitudes, where they generally remain torpid, suspended by the hind legs, enveloped in their wings: are the prey of owls: their voice weak. Ovid takes notice both of that and the origin of the Latin name.
Minimum pro corpore vocem
Emittunt; peraguntque leves stridore querelas.
Tectaque, non sylvas celebrant: lucemque perosœ
Nocte volant: seroque trahunt a vespere nomen.
6
ADDITIONS.
MULES. page 8.
A PROOF of their being prolific was produced by Mr. Tullo, in the parish of Newtyle, in the shire of Forfar, about twenty years ago, when a she-mule, which he turned to a horse, brought a foal which much resembled the female parent. But as there is a superstition in Scotland about these productions, the foal was put to death, being considered as a monster.
SUMATRAN ANTELOPE,
ANTELOPE. p. 104.
As communicated by Doctor Shaw.
Cambing ootan, or Goat of the woods, Marsden's Sumatra, 93.
SIZE of a common goat, but stands considerably higher on its legs: color an uniform black, but each hair when narrowly examined is grey towards the base: on the top of the neck just above the shoulders a patch of whitish, bristly, long strait hair, much stronger than the rest, and having somewhat the appearance of a partial mane: on each side of the lower jaw a longitudinal patch of yellowish white: ears moderate, marked internally with three obscure longitudinal bands of white, as in some of the antelopes: horns six inches long, bending slightly backwards, sharp-pointed, black and annulated near half their length with
VOL. II. T t
prominent rings: tail about the length of horns, and sharpish: hoofs rather small and black: hair on the whole animal rather harsh, and not lighter-colored below, or on the belly, than above.
In its disposition it is wild and fierce, and is said by the natives to be remarkably swift: we are obliged to the author of the elegant history of Sumatra for the discovery of this animal.
MONKEY. p. 226.
PROBOSCIS MONKEY.
La Guenon a long nez. De Buffon Supplem. vii. 53. tab. xi. xii.
SIZE.
M. with the nose projecting very far beyond the mouth, like the human, but divided in the middle by a shallow furrow: in the profile it exactly resembles a long proboscis, and makes a ridiculous appearance: the forehead hangs far over the base of the nose: the face is hooked, of a brown color, marked with blue and red: the head covered with thick hair of a chesnut brown: the ears broad, thin, and naked, hid in the fur: the body is large, cloathed with hair of a brown chesnut color; orange on the breast: round the throat, neck, and shoulders, the hair is longer than that on the rest of the body, and forms a sort of short cloak, of a color contrasting that of the face: the legs are covered with short tawny hair: the length from the tip of ihe nose to the base of the tail is two feet: of the tail, above two feet.
PLACE.
Inhabits the East Indies; but the particular part is not mentioned.
THE HEART-MARK'D MAUCAUCO.
MAUCAUCO. P. 234.
I HAVE totally forgotten the friend who obliged me with the drawing of this animal, and the place it came from; but probably from Madagascar, or the neighboring isles, the seat of most of the congenerous species.
All the upper parts of the body are of a deep cinereous brown: the face marked with large white heart-shaped spots: the broader part extends between the ears; the point reaches almost to the nose: the belly, legs, and feet, are white. I am at a loss for the size; but possibly the gentleman from whom I received the drawing may reveal himself, and communicate the wanted particulars.
WILD DOGS. P. 236.
ONE which was examined at the Cape of Good Hope, by Captain Blanket, had ears like those of a lurcher, but larger, and more on the top of the head. It could turn them on all sides with great facility: feet flatter than those of other dogs. It could not bark or howl, but only cried: was very sierce, and mastered the tame dogs it was with, though it was only a young one.
SLENDER TOED WEESEL.
W. with short rounded ears: fur soft and fine, grizzled minutely with black and rufous: toes very long and slender; five in number; each lobated at the bottom of the first
T t 2
joint: claws small: the upper part of the toes and part of the legs covered with short velvet-like down.
Length from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail seven inches: tail about the same length; bushy or covered with long hairs of the same color with the rat.
PLACE.
A native of Cochin China.
THE ERMINED WEESEL.
W. with ears short, round and naked: within of a fine pink color: tip of the nose black: head white and plain; the rest of the body and tail white: the first spotted with ermine-like black spots, disposed in rows from neck to tail, on the sides as well as back: the tail annulated with black: the hairs on all parts of the tail short, only the end is tufted with black.
The legs remarkably strong, and thick covered to the very claws with long bright ferruginous hairs: claws sharp and white: length of the head three inches and a half; of the neck and body from head to tail sixteen inches and a half; of the tail eleven and a half.
This elegant animal is likewise a native of Cochin China, and with the former, communicated to us by the friendship of Lieut. Col. Davies, of the artillery.
INDEX.*
| A | ||
| Vol. | Page | |
| ANT-EATER, or Ant-Bear ANTELOPES, their general | II. | 256 |
| history | I. | 68 |
| — —Species of | I. | 70 |
| APES, their general history | I. | 178 |
| — Sea | II. | 301 |
| ARMADILLO | II. | 246 |
| Ass | I. | 8 |
| — Wild | I. | 8 |
| Axis | I. | 117 |
| — Greater | I. | 118 |
| B | ||
| Baboons | I. | 188 |
| Baby-roussa | I. | 148 |
| BADGER | II. | 14 |
| BATS | II. | 304 |
| BEAR | II. | 1 |
| — Polar | II. | 5 |
| BEAVER | II. | 114 |
| — Its wondrous œconomy | II. | 115 |
| — Sea, vide Sea Otter. | II. | 83 |
| Beaver-Eater | II. | 9 |
| Beluga | II. | 301 |
| Bezoar | I. | 58 |
| Bison, Scottish | I. | 17 |
| Buck | I. | 113 |
| Buffalo, Indian | I. | 28 |
| — When introduced into Europe | I. | 29 |
| — American | I. | 23 |
| — Dwarf, or Anoa | I. | 30, 36 |
| — Naked, or Bonasus | I. | 30 |
| — Ceylon | I. | 31 |
| Bull | I. | 16 |
| Bull-Dog | I. | 242 |
| C | ||
| CAMEL, Arabian | I. | 129 |
| — Bacttrian | I. | 132 |
| — Peruvian, or Llama | I. | 133 |
| — The only native beast burden in America | I. | 134 |
| — Vicunna | I. | 136 |
| — Paicos | I. | 137 |
| — Guanaco | I. | 138 |
| — Chilihucque | I. | 138 |
| Camelopard | I. | 65 |
| Castoreum | II. | 118 |
| CAT, Common | I. | 295 |
| — Wild | I. | 296 |
| — Tiger | I. | 277 |
| — Mountain | I. | 300 |
| — Civet | II. | 70 |
| — Angora | I. | 296 |
| CAVY, various species of | II. | 88 |
| Chamois | I. | 72 |
| Chimpanzee | I. | 180 |
| Civet | II. | 70 |
| D | ||
| DEER, | I. | 105 |
| — Elk, or Moose | I. | 105 |
| — Rein | I. | 111 |
| — Fallow | I. | 113 |
| — Mexican | I. | 122 |
| — Porcine | I. | 119 |
| — Grey | I. | 123 |
| — Virginian | I. | 116 |
| — Red, Stag, or Hart | I. | 114 |
* In this Index very few of the Species are enumerated, that having been amply done under the INDEX OF GENERA; to which the Reader is referred, the Genera being here printed in capitals for that purpose, under which he will find all the Species belonging to each.
| DEER, Axis | I. | 117, 118 |
| — Rib-faced | I. | 119 |
| — Roe | I. | 120 |
| Tail-less | I. | 121 |
| DOGS, the different varieties | I. | 235 |
| — Wild | I. | 236 |
| Dormouse, Common | II. | 157 |
| Dromedary | I. | 129 |
| Dshikketaei | I. | 4 |
| E | ||
| ELEPHANT | I. | 165 |
| — Teeth | I. | 172 |
| — American | I. | 174 |
| Elk | I. | 105 |
| Ermine | II. | 35 |
| F | ||
| Ferret | II. | 40 |
| Fisher | II. | 50 |
| Fitchet | II. | 37 |
| Flitter-Mouse | II. | 319 |
| Fossane | II. | 75 |
| Foumart | II. | 33 |
| Fox | I. | 251 |
| — Cross | I. | 251 |
| — Brant | I. | 252 |
| — Corsak | I. | 253 |
| — Arctic | I. | 255 |
| — Grey | I. | 259 |
| — Silvery | I. | 260 |
| G | ||
| Gazelle, vide Antelope | I. | 89 |
| Genet | II. | 74 |
| GIRAFFE | I. | 65 |
| Glutton | II. | 10 |
| Gnou | I. | 70 |
| GOAT, Wild, or Ibex | I. | 55 |
| — Domestic | I. | 60 |
| — Angora | I. | 61 |
| — Syrian, or long-eared | I. | 63 |
| — African | I. | 64 |
| — Caucasan | I. | 57 |
| — Whidaw | I. | 63 |
| Capricorn | I. | 64 |
| GOAT, Pudu | I. | 64 |
| Greyhound | I. | 241 |
| Guanaco | I. | 138 |
| H | ||
| Hamster | II. | 206 |
| HARE | II | 98 |
| — Alpine | II. | 107 |
| — Baikal | II. | 104 |
| Hart | I. | 114 |
| HEDGE-HOG | II. | 234 |
| HIPPOPOTAME | I. | 157 |
| HOG | I. | 140 |
| HORSE | I. | 1 |
| — Wild | I. | 2 |
| — Sea, vide Hippopotame. | ||
| Hound | I. | 239 |
| HYÆNA | I. | 270 |
| — Spotted | I. | 272 |
| I | ||
| Jackal | I. | 272 |
| Ibex | I. | 55 |
| Ichneumon, destroyer of serpents | II. | 54 |
| Jerboa | II. | 164 |
| K | ||
| Kangaru | II. | 29 |
| Karagan | I. | 252 |
| L | ||
| Lamantia | II. | 298 |
| Leming | II. | 198 |
| Leopard | I. | 282 |
| Lion | I. | 274 |
| Lizard, Scaly | II. | 252 |
| Llama | I. | 133 |
| Lynx | I. | 301 |
| — Bay | I | 303 |
| — Caspian | I. | 304 |
| M | ||
| Mammouth's bones | I. | 172 |
| Man of the Wood | I. | 191 |
| Manipouris | I. | 163 |
| MANATI | II. | 292 |
| Mandrill | I. | 190 |
| Manis | II. | 252 |
| MARMOTS | II. | 128 |
| Martin | II. | 41 |
| — Pine | II. | 42 |
| MAUCAUCOS. | I. | 227 |
| Minx | II. | 81 |
| Mococo | I. | 230 |
| Mole Rats | II. | 214 |
| MOLES | II. | 229 |
| Mongooz | I. | 229 |
| MONKIES | I. | 199 |
| Moose | I. | 105 |
| MORSE | II. | 266 |
| Mouse | II. | 184 |
| MULL, Wild | I. | 4 |
| Mule | I. | 8 |
| Musimon | I. | 44 |
| MUSK. Animal | I. | 124 |
| — Rat | II. | 221 |
| N | ||
| Norway Rat | II. | 178 |
| O | ||
| Once | I. | 285 |
| OPOSSUM | II. | 18 |
| Orang Outang | I. | 180 |
| OTTER | II. | 77 |
| Otter, Sea | II. | 83 |
| Ox | I. | 16 |
| — Great Indian | I. | 20, 21 |
| — Abyssinian | I. | 21 |
| — Madagascar | I. | 21 |
| — Tinian | I. | 21 |
| — Lant or Dant | I. | 21 |
| — Holstein and Jutland | I. | 21 |
| — Podolian an'd Hungarian | I. | 22 |
| — Grunting | I. | 24 |
| — Musk | I. | 31 |
| — Cape | I. | 32 |
| — American | I. | 23 |
| P | ||
| Pacos | I. | 137 |
| Panther | I. | 280 |
| Pecary | I. | 147 |
| Pekan | II. | 51 |
| Pig, Guinea | II. | 90 |
| Pole-cat | II. | 37 |
| — American | II. | 64 |
| PORCUPINE | II. | 122 |
| — incapable of darting its quills | II. | 123 |
| Potto | II. | 59 |
| Puma | I. | 289 |
| Pygmies, what | I. | 183 |
| Q | ||
| Quagga | I. | 14 |
| Quick-hatch | II. | 8 |
| Quojas Morrou | I. | 180 |
| R | ||
| Rabbet | II. | 103 |
| Raccoon | II. | 12 |
| RAT | II. | 172 |
| — Norway | II. | 178 |
| — Water | II. | 182 |
| — Musk | II. | 221 |
| Ratel | II. | 66 |
| Rein Deer | I. | 111 |
| RHINOCEROS | I. | 150 |
| River Hog | II. | 88 |
| Roebuck | I. | 120 |
| S | ||
| Sable | II. | 43 |
| Schakal | I. | 261 |
| Sea Bear | II. | 281 |
| — Ape | II. | 301 |
| — Calf | II. | 270 |
| — Cow | II. | 266 |
| — Horse | II | 266 |
| — Lion | II. | 286 |
| SEAL | II. | 270 |
| SHEEP | I. | 37 |
| — Cretan | I. | 38 |
| — Hornless | I. | 39 |
| — Many-horned | I. | 39 |
5
| SHEEP, African | I. | 40 |
| — Broad-tailed | I. | 41 |
| — Sibirian | I. | 44 |
| — Corsican | I. | 45 |
| — Bearded | I. | 52 |
| SHREW MOUSE | II. | 221 |
| Siyah Ghush | I. | 305 |
| Skunk | II. | 65 |
| SLOTH | II. | 240 |
| SQUIRRELS | II. | 138 |
| Stag | I. | 114 |
| Stoat | II. | 35 |
| Strepsiceros | I. | 38, 88 |
| Sukotyro | I. | 175 |
| T | ||
| Tapiir | I. | 163 |
| Tiger | I. | 277 |
| — Hunting | I. | 284 |
| U | ||
| Unicorn | I. | 155 |
| Urchin | II. | 234 |
| V | ||
| Vampire | II | 307 |
| Vansire | II. | 51 |
| Vicunna | I. | 136 |
| Vison | II. | 51 |
| W | ||
| WALRUS | II. | 266 |
| Warree | I. | 141 |
| Water Elephant | I. | 157 |
| WEESEL | II. | 33 |
| Wolf | I. | 248 |
| Wolverene | II. | 8 |
| Y | ||
| Ysarus | I. | 72 |
| Z | ||
| Zebra | I. | 13 |
| Zerda | I. | 267 |
| Zibet | II. | 72 |
| Zorrina | II. | 66 |
INDEX
OF THE
NAMES of QUADRUPEDS,
IN THE
ANCIENT CLASSIC WRITERS,
IN THE
WORKS of M. DE BUFFON,
AND IN OTHER AUTHORS.
| Vol. | Page | |
| A | ||
| ABBADOS | I. | 154 |
| Acanthion | II. | 122 |
| Addax | I. | 89 |
| Adil | I. | 261 |
| Adimain | I. | 40 |
| Adive | I. | 261 |
| Æegagrus | I. | 57 |
| Agouti | II. | 94 |
| Ahu | I. | 93 |
| Aï | II. | 240 |
| Aigrette | I. | 207 |
| Akouchy | II. | 95 |
| Alagh-daagha | II. | 169 |
| Alce | I. | 105 |
| Algazel | I. | 77 |
| Allo-camelus | I. | 133 |
| Allouatte | I. | 215 |
| Alpaco | I. | 137 |
| Amboimenes | I. | 230 |
| Anak el Ard | I. | 306 |
| Andira-guacu | II. | 308 |
| Ane | I. | 8 |
| Anta | I. | 163 |
| Antelope | I. | 68 |
| Apar | II. | 246 |
| Aper | I. | 140 |
| Aperea | II. | 90 |
| Aquiqui | I. | 214 |
| Arabata | I. | 215 |
| Arctomys | II. | 131 |
| Arctopithecus | II. | 240 |
| Argali | I. | 44 |
| Arnæb | II. | 98 |
| Aρ xτΘ | II. | 1 |
| Armadillo | II. | 246 |
| Ashnoko | II. | 92 |
| Aspalax | II. | 216 |
| Assapanick | II. | 153 |
| Attarsoak | II. | 279 |
| Aurochs | I. | 17 |
| Axis | I. | 117 |
| Aye, Aye | II. | 142 |
VOL. II. U U
| Ayotochtli | II. | 248 |
| B | ||
| Babouin | I. | 194 |
| Baby-roussa | I. | 148 |
| Bafwer | II. | 114 |
| Baieu | I. | 122 |
| Bar | II. | 1 |
| Baraba | II. | 213 |
| Barbaresque | II. | 150 |
| Barbastelle | II. | 319 |
| Barrys | I. | 180 |
| Becheti | I. | 132 |
| Behemoth | I. | 157 |
| Bekker el Wash | I. | 102 |
| Belette | II. | 33 |
| Belier | I. | 40 |
| Beluga | II. | 301 |
| Bey | I. | 212 |
| Biber | II. | 114 |
| Bievre | II. | 114 |
| Biggel | I. | 83 |
| Biorn | II. | 1 |
| Bison d'Amerique | I. | 23 |
| Biur | II. | 114 |
| Blaireau | II. | 14 |
| Bobak | II. | 131 |
| Bobr | II. | 114 |
| Bocht | I. | 132 |
| Boern-doeskie | II. | 157 |
| Bœuf | I. | 16 |
| Bonnet Chinois | I. | 209 |
| Boschratte | II. | 90 |
| Bεξ xλΘ | I. | 102 |
| Bouc | I. | 60 |
| d'Angora | I. | 61 |
| d'Afrique | I. | 63 |
| d'Juda | I. | 63 |
| Baumriitter | I. | 295 |
| Bouquetin | I. | 55 |
| Boury | I. | 21 |
| Bες αγριoς | I. | 28 |
| Bradypus | II. | 240 |
| Brandhirtz | I. | 116 |
| Brebis | I. | 37 |
| Bubalus | I. | 28, 102 |
| Bubel | I. | 24 |
| Bucula | I. | 103 |
| Buffle | I. | 28 |
| Buselaphus | I. | 102 |
| C | ||
| Caaigora | I. | 147 |
| Cabiai | II. | 88 |
| Cabionora | II. | 88 |
| Cachicame | II. | 248 |
| Cagui | I. | 222, 224 |
| Caitaia | I. | 220 |
| Callitriche | I. | 203 |
| Callitrichus | I. | 203 |
| Camelus | I. | 132 |
| Camelo pardalis | I. | 65 |
| Campagnol | II. | 205 |
| Cani-apro-Iupo-vulpes | I. | 272 |
| Capesch | I. | 265 |
| Capibara | II. | 88 |
| Caprea | I. | 96, 120 |
| Capreolus | I. | 120 |
| Capricorne | I. | 55 |
| Caracal | I. | 305 |
| Caraco Mus | II. | 181 |
| Carcajou | II. | 8 |
| Cariacou | I. | 122 |
| Caribou | I. | 111 |
| Carigueya | II. | 20 |
| Cariguibeiu | II. | 79 |
| Castor | II. | 114 |
| Cataphractus | II. | 246 |
| Cavia, cobaya | II. | 89 |
| Cavia, genus | II. | 88 |
| Cay | I. | 219 |
| Cayopollin | I. | 24 |
| Cemas | I. | 85 |
| Cerf | I. | 114 |
| Chacal | I. | 261 |
| Chameau | I. | 132 |
| Chamois | I. | 44 |
| Chat | I. | 295 |
7
| Chat d'Angora | I. | 296 |
| d'Espagne | I. | 296 |
| Chat-pard | I. | 300 |
| Chaus Phnii | I. | 301 |
| Chauve-souris | II. | 311 |
| Cheropotamus | I. | 156 |
| Cheroso | II. | 186 |
| Cheval | I. | 1 |
| Chevre | I. | 60 |
| Chevreuil | I. | 120 |
| Chevrotain d'Afrique | I. | 81 |
| de Guinèe | I. | 82 |
| des Indies | I. | 127 |
| Chien | I. | 235 |
| Chimpanzee | I. | 180 |
| Chinchè | II. | 65 |
| Chinchimen | II. | 82 |
| Chinchilla | II. | 196 |
| Chomik | II. | 206 |
| Choras | I. | 188 |
| Cirquinçon | II. | 250 |
| Citillus | II. | 135 |
| Civette | II. | 70 |
| Clap-Myss | II. | 279 |
| Coaita | I. | 216 |
| Coase | II. | 62 |
| Coati | II. | 12, 61 |
| Cochon | I. | 140 |
| Cochon d'Inde | II. | 89 |
| Coendu | II. | 125 |
| Coymad | I. | 147 |
| Colus | I. | 98 |
| Condoma | I. | 88 |
| Conepate | II. | 64 |
| Coquallin | II. | 147 |
| Corine | I. | 101 |
| Coudous | I. | 78 |
| Couguar | I. | 289, 290 |
| Coyotl | I. | 257 |
| Coypu | II. | 177 |
| Crabier | II. | 24 |
| Cricetus | II. | 206 |
| Crocuta | I. | 272 |
| Cuandu | II. | 124 |
| Cuetlatchtli | I. | 250 |
| Cuguaca-apara | I. | 122 |
| Cugacuara | I. | 289 |
| Cuguacu ete | I. | 126 |
| Cugacuarana | I. | 289 |
| Culpeu | I. | 258 |
| Cuniculus | II. | 173 |
| Cynocephalus | I. | 186 |
| D | ||
| Dachs | II. | 14 |
| Dain | I. | 113 |
| Dama, Antelope | I. | 85 |
| Daman Israel | II. | 92 |
| Dam-tanhirsch | I. | 113 |
| Dandoelana | II. | 140 |
| Daniel | I. | 113 |
| Dant | I. | 21 |
| Dæsman* | II. | 221 |
| Dasypus | II. | 246 |
| Djammel | I. | 129 |
| Diane | I. | 201 |
| Dof, Dos-hiort | I. | 113 |
| Dorcas | I. | 92, 102, 120 |
| Douc | I. | 211 |
| Dromedaire | I. | 129 |
| Dseren | I. | 96 |
| Dshikketaei | I. | 4 |
| Dubha | I. | 270 |
| Dugon | II. | 269 |
| Dzik | I. | 140 |
| E | ||
| Echinus Terrestris | II. | 234 |
| Ecureuil | II. | 138 |
| Eichhorn | II. | 138 |
| Elan | I. | 105 |
| Elephant, Elephas | I. | 165 |
| Elk | I. - | 105 |
| Encourbert | II. | 247 |
| Engalla | I. | 144 |
| Erdzeisl | II. | 205 |
| Erinaceus | II. | 234, 248 |
| Exquima | II. | 201 |
* De Buffon, x. I. tab, II.
U U 2
| F | ||
| Fara | II | 18 |
| Felis Catus | I. | 295 |
| Feuille | II. | 309 |
| Fial racka | I. | 255 |
| Fiber | II. | 114 |
| Filander | II. | 22 |
| Filsress | II. | 10 |
| Fiskatta | II. | 65 |
| Fishtal | I. | 53 |
| Flader-mus | II. | 319 |
| Fong kyo fo | I. | 133 |
| Fossane | II. | 75 |
| Fouine | II. | 41 |
| Fourmillier. | II. | 260 |
| Foyna | II. | 41 |
| Fret | II. | 40 |
| Fuchs | I. | 251 |
| Furo | II. | 40 |
| G | ||
| Ganfud | II. | 234 |
| Galera | II. | 53 |
| Galgopithecus | I. | 234 |
| Gazelle | I. | 75, 77, 89 |
| Gemse | I. | 72 |
| Genette | II. | 74 |
| Gerbo | II. | 170 |
| Ghainoûk | I. | 27 |
| Gibbon | I. | 184 |
| Giraffe | I. | 65 |
| Glis | II. | 158 |
| Glutton | II. | 10 |
| Glouton | II. | 8 |
| Gnou | I. | 70 |
| Gornostay | II. | 35 |
| Graskin | II. | 138 |
| Grimme | I. | 81 |
| Grison | II. | 52 |
| Guachi | II. | 80 |
| Guanaco | I. | 138 |
| Guanque | II. | 183 |
| Guareba | I. | 214 |
| Guepard * | I. | 284 |
| Guerlinguets | II. | 162 |
| Guevei | I. | 82 |
| Guib | I. | 81 |
| Guillino | II. | 120 |
| Gulo | II. | 10 |
| Gundi | II. | 137 |
| H | ||
| Hamster | II. | 206 |
| Handl | I. | 150 |
| Hardlooper | I. | 144 |
| Hase | II. | 98 |
| Hærbe | II. | 234 |
| Herisson | II. | 234 |
| Hermine | II. | 35 |
| Hippelaphus | I. | 115 |
| Hippopotamus | I. | 157 |
| Hirax | II. | 92 |
| Hirco cervus | I. | 52 |
| Hiort | I. | 114 |
| Hirsch | I. | 114 |
| Hoang yang | I. | 96 |
| Huanucu-Llama | I. | 133 |
| Hugiun | I. | 129 |
| Hyæna | I. | 270 |
| Hydrochærus | II. | 88 |
| Hysirix | II. | 122 |
| I | ||
| Jæerven | II. | 10 |
| Jaguar | I. | 284, 286 |
| Jaguarete | I. | 290 |
| Jagura | I. | 286 |
| Jarf | II. | 10 |
| Javaris | I. | 147 |
| Ibex | I. | 55 |
| Ichneumon | II. | 54 |
| Jelen | I. | 114 |
| Jez | II. | 234 |
| Jerboa | II | 164 |
| Igel, Igelkott | II. | 234 |
| Ignavus | I. | 240 |
| Indri | I. | 228 |
| Jocko | I. | 180 |
*De Buffon, xiii, 254. The same with the Hunting Leopard, No. 184.
| Iππoς πoταμιoς | I. | 157 |
| Irabubos | II. | 88 |
| Isatis | I. | 255 |
| K | ||
| Kabarga | I. | 124 |
| Kabassou | II. | 249 |
| Kalan | II. | 83 |
| Kangaru | II. | 29 |
| Kanin | II. | 103 |
| Karagan | I. | 252 |
| Kassigiak | II. | 270 |
| Kattlo | I. | 301 |
| KηζΘ | I. | 210 |
| Kenlie | I. | 265 |
| Kevel | I. | 92 |
| Kidang | I. | 119 |
| Kinkajou | II. | 60 |
| Kob | I. | 104 |
| Koba | I. | 103 |
| Kolonnok | II. | 39 |
| Kot drki | I. | 295 |
| Koulan | I. | 8 |
| Kret | II. | 229 |
| Kron-hiort | I. | 114 |
| Krietsch | II. | 206 |
| Krylatca | II. | 279 |
| Kuna | II. | 41 |
| L | ||
| Llama | I. | 133 |
| Lacertus | II. | 252 |
| Laderlap | II. | 319 |
| Lame | II. | 286 |
| Lant | I. | 21 |
| Lapin | II. | 103 |
| d'Angora | II. | 104 |
| Lar | I. | 185 |
| Latax | II. | 80 |
| Lemur | I. | 227 |
| Lemmar, Leming | II. | 198 |
| Lemni | II. | 214 |
| Leo | I. | 274 |
| Leopard | I. | 282 |
| Lepus | II. | 98 |
| Lerot | II | 159 |
| Lerwee | I. | 53 |
| Leucoryx | I. | 76 |
| Levrier | I. | 241 |
| Lidmeè | I. | 91 |
| Lievre | II. | 98 |
| Lion | I. | 274 |
| Loir | II. | 158 |
| Loris | I. | 228 |
| Loup | I. | 248 |
| de Mexique | I. | 250 |
| Loup-Cervier | I. | 301 |
| Loup-Renard | I. | 257 |
| Loutre | II. | 77 |
| Lowe | I. | 274 |
| Lupus | I. | 248 |
| Lummick | II. | 198 |
| Lutra | II. | 77 |
| Lux | I. | 301 |
| λνγξ | I. | 301 |
| Lynx | I. | 301 |
| M | ||
| Maucauco | I. | 227 |
| Machlis | I. | 105 |
| Mafutiliqui | II. | 66 |
| Magot | I. | 186 |
| Magu | I. | 213 |
| Maimon | I. | 190 |
| Malbrouck * | I. | 201 |
| Mammouth | I. | 172 |
| Manati | II. | 292 |
| Mandril | I. | 190 |
| Mangabey | I. | 204 |
| Mangouste | II. | 54 |
| Manicou | II. | 18 |
| Manipouris | I. | 163 |
| Manis | II. | 252 |
| Manul | I. | 294 |
| Mapach | II. | 12 |
| Maraguao | I. | 295 |
| Mard | II. | 41 |
| Margay | I. | 292 |
| Marikina | I. | 225 |
| Mariputa | II. | 66 |
*De Buffon, xiv. 224. tab, xxix. A variety of our Egret, No. 119.
| Marmose | II. | 23 |
| Marmotte | II. | 128 |
| Martes, Marte | II. | 41, 42 |
| Mejangan Banjoe | I. | 118 |
| Meles | II. | 14 |
| Meminna | I. | 127 |
| Mico | I. | 226 |
| Mocawk | I. | 230 |
| Mococo | I. | 230 |
| Molle | II. | 205 |
| Monax | II. | 130 |
| Mone | I. | 210 |
| Monèa | I. | 207 |
| Mongooz | I. | 229 |
| Moose | I. | 107 |
| Morse | II. | 266 |
| Morskuia Korawa | II. | 292 |
| Mouffettes* | II. | 62 |
| Mouflon | I. | 44 |
| Moustac | I. | 205 |
| Mouton de Barbarie | I. | 41 |
| Mufro | I. | 46 |
| Mulet | I | 8 |
| M uγαλη | II. | 224 |
| Mullvad | II. | 229 |
| Mulet | II. | 184 |
| Munt-jak | I | 119 |
| Murmelthier | II. | 128 |
| Mus Alpinus | II. | 128 |
| Mus | II. | 134 |
| Musaraigne | II. | 224 |
| Mus Araneus | II. | 224 |
| Musc | I. | 124 |
| Muscardin | II. | 160 |
| Musimon | I. | 44 |
| Musquash | II. | 119 |
| Mussascus | II. | 119 |
| Mustela | II. | 33 |
| Myrmecophaga | II. | 256 |
| N | ||
| Nabbmus | II. | 224 |
| Nagor | I. | 86 |
| Nanguer | I. | 85 |
| Neitsek | II. | 278 |
| Nems | II. | 54 |
| Niedzwiedz | II. | 1 |
| Nietsersoak | II. | 279 |
| Nil-ghau | I. | 83 |
| Noctule | II. | 317 |
| Noerza | II. | 80 |
| Norka | II. | 80 |
| N uχτεςις | II. | 319 |
| O | ||
| Ocelot | I. | 287 |
| Ochs | I. | 16 |
| Odobenus | II. | 266 |
| Ogotona | II. | 109 |
| Onager | I. | 11 |
| Once | I. | 285, 290 |
| Ondatra | II. | 119 |
| Opeagha | I. | 14 |
| Ophion | I. | 44 |
| Orang Outang | I. | 180 |
| Oreillar | II. | 320 |
| Oreotragus | I. | 79 |
| Orignal. See Elk. | ||
| Oryx | I. | 76 |
| Ostrowidz | I. | 301 |
| Ouaikarè | II. | 240 |
| Ouanderou | I. | 198 |
| Ouarine | I. | 214 |
| Ouistiti | I. | 224 |
| Ourebi | I. | 79 |
| Ourico | II. | 124 |
| Ours | II. | 1 |
| Ours blanc de mer | II. | 5 |
| Ours marin | II. | 281 |
| Ovis | I. | 37 |
| P | ||
| Paca | II. | 91 |
| Pacasse | I. | 78 |
| Paco, Pacos | I. | 136 |
| Palatine | I. | 200 |
* M. De Buffon's generic name for the Polecats which exhale so pestilential a vapour.
| Palmiste | II. | 149 |
| Pangolin | II. | 253 |
| Panthera, Panthere | I. | 280 |
| Papio | I. | 188 |
| IIαςδαλις | I. | 280, 285 |
| Pardus | I. | 280 |
| Paresseux | II. | 240 |
| Pasan, Pasan | I. | 57, 75 |
| Patas | I. | 208 |
| Pecary | I. | 147 |
| Pekan | II. | 51 |
| Pelander Aroe | II. | 21 |
| Perchal | II. | 179 |
| Pere | I. | 12 |
| Perugusna | II. | 38 |
| Petit Gris | II. | 144 |
| Phalanger | II. | 27 |
| Phatagin | II. | 252 |
| Philandre | II. | 27 |
| Philodotus | II. | 252 |
| Phoca | II. | 270 |
| Phoque | II. | 270 |
| Pichou | I. | 292 |
| Piloris | II. | 97 |
| Pilosello | II. | 74 |
| Pinche | I. | 25 |
| Pipistrelle | II. | 318 |
| Pissay | I. | 127 |
| IIιθηχαΘ Pitheque | I. | 183 |
| Platogna | I. | 113 |
| Platyceros | I. | 113 |
| Poephagus | I. | 27 |
| Poulatouche | II. | 155 |
| Pongo | I. | 180 |
| Porc-epic | II. | 122 |
| IIρoξ | I. | 113 |
| Przewiaska | II. | 38 |
| Pteropus | II. | 304, 308 |
| Puma | I. | 289 |
| Putois | II. | 37 |
| Putorius | II. | 37 |
| Q | ||
| Quagga | I. | 14 |
| Quahtechalotl-thlitic | II. | 145 |
| Quapizotl | I. | 147 |
| Quato | I. | 216 |
| Quauhtla | I. | 147 |
| Quil, Quirpele | II. | 54 |
| Quojas Morrou | I. | 180 |
| Quoll | II. | 69 |
| Quouata | I. | 216 |
| Quumbengo | I. | 272 |
| R | ||
| Radjur | I. | 120 |
| Raef | I. | 251 |
| Rangier | I. | 111 |
| Rangwo | II. | 105 |
| Rat | II. | 176 |
| d'Eau | II. | 182 |
| de Madagascar | I. | 233 |
| Ratel | II. | 66 |
| Raton | II. | 12 |
| Rattepenade | II. | 320 |
| Rein Deer | I. | 111 |
| Renard | I. | 251 |
| Renne | I. | 111 |
| Rennthier | I. | 111 |
| Rhen | I. | 111 |
| Rhinoceros | I. | 150 |
| Rillow | I. | 209 |
| River Paard | I. | 157 |
| Roloway | I. | 200 |
| Root | I. | 213 |
| Roselet | II. | 35 |
| Rosmarus | II. | 266 |
| Rosomak | II. | 10 |
| Rougette | II. | 304 |
| Roussette | II. | 304 |
| Rukkaia | II. | 140 |
| Rupicapra | I. | 44, 72 |
| Rusla | II. | 112 |
| Rys | I. | 301 |
| S | ||
| Saca | I. | 294 |
| Saccawinkee | I. | 222 |
| Sagouin | I. | 224 |
| Sai | I. | 218 |
| Saiga | I. | 98 |
| Saimiri | I. | 220 |
| Sajou | I. | 217 |
| Saki | I. | 222 |
| Sanglier | I. | 140 |
| de Capvert | I. | 144 |
| Sanglin | I. | 224 |
| Sapajou | I. | 222 |
| Saragoy | II. | 20 |
| Saricovienne | II. | 82 |
| Sarigue | II. | 20 |
| Sarlyk | I. | 27 |
| ║χθερι ov | II. | 45 |
| Satyrus | I. | 180 |
| Scenoontung | I. | 122 |
| Schakal | I. | 261 |
| Schwcin | I. | 140 |
| Sciurus | II. | 138 |
| Semlanoi Saeshik | II. | 112 |
| Serotine | II. | 317 |
| Serval | I. | 301 |
| Shitnik | II. | 190 |
| Sial | II. | 270 |
| Siegen Bock | I. | 60 |
| Sifac | I. | 211 |
| Simia | I. | 183 |
| Siwutscha | II. | 288 |
| Siya | II. | 79 |
| Siyah Ghush | I. | 305 |
| Skrzeczek | II. | 206 |
| Slepez | II. | 214 |
| Sno-mus | II. | 33 |
| Sobol | II. | 47 |
| Sogur | II. | 131 |
| Songar | II. | 212 |
| Sorex | II. | 224 |
| Souris | II. | 184 |
| Souslik | II. | 135 |
| Speck-maus | II. | 319 |
| Spring-bock | I. | 94 |
| Springen Haas | II. | 170 |
| Squilachi | I. | 261 |
| Squinaton | I. | 122 |
| Steinbock | I. | 55 |
| Stink bingsem | II. | 66 |
| Stock | I. | 150 |
| Strepsiceros | I. | 38, 88 |
| Suhak | I. | 98 |
| Suiffc, Ecureuil | II. | 157 |
| Sumxi | I. | 296 |
| Surikate | II. | 57 |
| Surk | II. | 229 |
| Surmulot | II. | 178 |
| Sus | I. | 140 |
| Sus Aquaticus | I. | 163 |
| Swistch | II. | 131 |
| T | ||
| Taguan | II. | 151 |
| Tajacu | I. | 147 |
| Tajibi | II. | 18 |
| Taison | II. | 14 |
| Talapoin | I. | 206 |
| Talpa | II. | 229 |
| Tamandua | II. | 256 |
| Tamanoir | II. | 256 |
| Tamarin | I. | 223 |
| Tanrec | II | 236 |
| Tapeti | II. | 107 |
| Tapir | I. | 163 |
| Tapoa Tasa | II. | 69 |
| Tarandus | I. | 111 |
| Tardigradus | II. | 240 |
| Tarsier | I. | 231 |
| Tartarin | I. | 194 |
| Tatou | II. | 248 |
| Tatu apara | II. | 246 |
| Tatuete | II. | 248 |
| Taupe | II. | 229 |
| Taupe dorèe | II. | 231 |
| Taureau | I. | 16 |
| Taxus | I. | 270 |
| Tayra | II | 53 |
| Tchoiz | II. | 37 |
| Tegoulichitck | II. | 194 |
| Tegul | ||
| Temamaçama | I. | 103 |
| Tendrac | II. | 236 |
| Tenlie | I. | 265 |
| Tepe Maxlaton | I. | 292 |
| Teutlalmaçama | I. | 122 |
| Tgao | I. | 157 |
| Thous | I. | 267 |
| Tigris, Tigre | I. | 277 |
| Tlaloceloti | I. | 287 |
| Tla-coozelotl | I. | 287 |
| Tlalmototli | II. | 149 |
| Tlaquatzin | II. | 18. 124 |
| Tolai | II. | 104 |
| Touan | II. | 34 |
| Tragelaphus | I. | 52 |
| Trago-Camelus | I. | 83 |
| Tragulus | I. | 124 |
| Tretretretre | I. | 191 |
| Trichechus Rosmarus | II. | 266 |
| — — Manatus | II. | 297 |
| Tschotschot | II. | |
| Tsitsjan | II. | 135 |
| Tucan | II. | 223 |
| Tzeiran | I. | 74 |
| V | ||
| Vache Marine | II. | 266 |
| de Tartarie | I. | 24 |
| Yαlvα | I. | 270 |
| Vampire | II. | 308 |
| Vansire | II. | 51 |
| Vary | I. | 229 |
| Varia | I. | 280 |
| Vavi | I. | 261 |
| Veldratte | II. | 90 |
| Verdadeiro | II. | 248 |
| Vespertilio | II. | 304 |
| Vigogne, Vicunna | I. | 136 |
| Vison | II. | 51 |
| Viverra | II. | 40 |
| Viverra tigrina | I. | 298 |
| Ulf | I. | 248 |
| Unau | II. | 242 |
| Uncia | I. | 282 |
| Vormela | II. | 210 |
| Urigne | II. | 290 |
| Urson | II. | 126 |
| Ursus | II. | 1 |
| Urus | I. | 16 |
| Yς τετραχερoς | I. | 148 |
| Yςριξ | II. | 122 |
| Vulpes | I. | 251 |
| Utsuk | II. | 277 |
| Utter | II. | 77 |
| W | ||
| Walrus | II. | 266 |
| Warg | I. | 248 |
| Warglo | I. | 301 |
| Warree | I. | 141 |
| Weesel | II | 33 |
| Wettsk | I. | 150 |
| Whang, Yang | I. | 96 |
| Wha Tapoua Row | II. | 13 |
| Wiewiorka | II. | 138 |
| Wirrebocarra | I. | 126 |
| Whydra | II. | 77 |
| X | ||
| Xoιρoπιθηχoς | I. | 187 |
| Xoloitzcuintli | I. | 250 |
| Y | ||
| Yerboa | II. | 29 |
| Yltis | II. | 37 |
| Ysard, Ysarus | I. | 72 |
| Yzquiepatl | II. | 62 |
| Z | ||
| Zbik | I. | 295 |
| Zebre, Zebra | I. | 13 |
| Zebu | I. | 21 |
VOL. II. X x
| Zecora | I. | 13 |
| Zenik | II. | 193 |
| Zerda | I. | 267 |
| Zibeline | II. | 43 |
| Zibet | II. | 72 |
| Zizel | II. | 135 |
| Zobela | II. | 43 |
| Zorrina* | II. | 66 |
* De Buffon, xiii. 302. tab. xli.
THE END.
ERRATUM.
Nos. 273 and 276, Pages 70 and 72, being the same animal, the reader is desired to correct this mistake.