Dr. Wagner on the Habits of the Macroscelides Rozeti. 27 



only in the neighbourhood of the towns of Oran, Tlemsan and 

 Arzew. It does not appear to go further eastward than Arzew. 

 It is moreover very rare and difficult to obtain even near these 

 towns. Capt. Rozet who first sent this animal to France pro- 

 cured it through the industrious soldiers of the bataillon 

 d'Afrique^ who with their meagre pay have an insatiable thirst, 

 and grasp after all possible means of gratifying it. Two sol- 

 diers of this famous corps, who were in great renown in Oran 

 as rat and serpent catchers, conducted me to a rocky moun- 

 tain to the west of Oran, whose summit is crowned by a Ma- 

 rabut temple and the Spanish fort Santa Cruz. The Macro- 

 scelides Hves there among the cavities formed by large frag- 

 ments of rock. It seeks out natural places of concealment, 

 and does not excavate any holes ; the female, however, forms 

 a nest for the young among the most dense thickets of the 

 dwarf palm [ChanKsrops humilis), which grows in great plenty 

 on this rock. In the early hours of the day the animal quits 

 its hiding-place and seeks out some sunny spot, but during 

 mid-day hies to the shade of the Chamcerops^ and there lurks 

 for its prey, the insects which settle on the lower plants. 

 The Macroscelides prefers insect larvae, grasshoppers without 

 elytra, and especially snails, in fact all small soft animals. 

 Incapable of breaking the hard house oi Helix lactea, it thrusts 

 its remarkably prolonged narrow mouth into the aperture, and 

 generally tears away a portion of the snail before it has time 

 to draw itself completely into the interior of its shell. I 

 kept my twelve animals for some weeks alive at home, and 

 fed them on small Orthoptera. They would not touch bread, 

 maize, or sugar, although Rozet states that he kept his on 

 bread. 



They are exceedingly gentle animals, which never bite, not 

 even when they are tormented. They do not go on the hinder 

 feet like the species of Dipus, but always on all fours, and 

 when running the prolongation of their posterior feet is not 

 at all perceptible. On the other hand I frequently observed 

 them sitting on the rock raised like a rabbit on their hind 

 feet, either watching their pursuers or spying about for prey. 

 When catching flying or hopping insects they hide them- 

 selves, lurking among the dwarf palm, and then generally en- 



