RODKNTIA. 



119 



inferior value to that of the preceding, an<l which occasionally turns white in winter*; the Variable Hare (L. varia- 

 bilii),& mountain species, larger than either of thi _, with still shorter ears and limba than the Irish Hare, 



and brown for in summer, which always changes to white at the approach of winter; ami the Babbit i /.. cuniciUui), 

 remarkable for its burrowing habits, and for bringing forth its young blind and naked, while the Leverets of the 

 three others see and run from birth. Not less than sixteen species of Leput are already known in North 

 America ; and many others exist in Asia and Africa.] 



The Pikas (Lagomys, Cuv.) — 



Have ears of moderate length, the limbs nearly equal, the antorbital foramen simple, almost perfect 

 clavicles, and no tail whatever. They often utter a very sharp cry. They have hitherto been found 

 only in Siberia [since, however, at a considerable altitude on the Ilimmalayas, and in North America], 

 and Pallas was the first to make them known. 



[The largest of them] Lepus alpinxu, Pallas, is the size of a Guinea-pig, and yellowish-red. It inhabits the most 

 elevated mountain summits, where it passes the summer in selecting and drying the herbage for its winter pro- 

 vision. Its hay-stacks, which are sometimes six or seven feet high, are a valuable resource for the Horses of the 

 Sable-hunters. 



Some fossil remains have been discovered of an unknown species of Pika, in the accumulations of osseous 

 breccia in the island of Corsica. 



After the two genera of Porcupines and Hares, come the rodents which Linnaeus and Pallas 

 brought together under the name of Cavia, but for which it is impossible to assign any other 

 constant and positive character than the imperfection of their clavicles, though the various 

 species are not without analogy in the aspect of their body and manners. They are all from 

 the New Coutiuent. 



The Capybara (Ilydroc/uerus, Erxleben) — 

 Has four toes before, and only three behind, all of them armed with stout claws, and connected 

 together by membranes; four grinding teeth above and below, the last of which [especially in the 

 lower jaw] are the longest, all composed of numerous simple and parallel laminae ; the anterior of 

 these lamina 1 forked towards the outer edge in the upper, and towards the inner one in the lower 

 teeth. Only one species is known. 



The Capybara (Cavia capvbaro, Lin.), as large 



as a Siamese Pig, with very thick muzzle, short 



, coarse yellowish-brown hair, and no tail. 



Inhabits the rivers of Guiana and the Amazons, 

 where it lives in troops: is a good swimmer, and 

 the largest [existing] sjiecies of the Rodentia, 

 The Beaver alone approaches it in size. 



i ;, i 



Tiir Cavies, popularly termed Gvinea-jrigt, 

 (Ancema, V. Cuv.; Cavia, Illig.), — 



Are miniatures of the Capybara, except that 

 their toes are separated, ami their molars 

 have each only a simple lamina, together 

 with a forked one externally in those above, 

 and on the inside in the lower. 



The speries best known is the common domestic Cavy, "r Guinea-pig (i -'. Pallas; Mtu porcellut, 



Lin.), extremely common now in Europe, where it is bred in bouses, under the [mistaken] supposition that us 



odour drives away Rats, it varies in colour like other domestic animals. [Six or seven species are now known, 



if which, the Patagonian Cavj (C. patachonica, Pen.), i^ much larger than the rest, with remarkably long 



limbs: the author Suspected it tO be an \_ lit i. Some separate it by the appellation D.'liihntts.] 



The Mocos (Krrodon, F. Cuv.) — 



Have grinders rather more simple than those of the Cavies, each being formed of two triangulat 



•ii .. 



The only known species Is also from Brazil, somewhat surpassing the Guinea-pig in size, ami "f an nii\ 

 colour. 



• The Iri.h lUrc h»« onlr rrri-ntlf bttn dlitlnguUhrd. «n.l h«i i COfBBOn HtfS in anknowi imhrri of Ikt Ulltr, boarrrr, 



biUicrto been rail with only in that iiUnd, when-, until I itrly, the | bin btlO tUDl .-.luring Ihc U.l l»cl>cn 



