192 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS 



was described from Peru ; it is at best doubtfully dis- 

 tinct from the present species. Cuvier's chinchilla 

 (Lagidiunt cuvieri) on the other hand is quite a 

 separate animal, and was perhaps the Copiapo of the 

 older writers. It is as large as a rabbit, with long 

 ears and tail, and occurs in Chili, Peru and Bolivia ; 

 it is variously known as the lagidium, the lagotis and 

 the Bolivian chinchilla. 



The common chinchilla appears to have become 

 known to Europeans soon after the Spanish conquest 

 of Peru. Father Acosta in his "Natural and Moral 

 History of the East and West Indies," published at 

 Barcelona in 1591, gives as a locality "The Sierre 

 of Peru." It appears at first to have been excessively 

 rare, owing to imperfect knowledge of its haunts. 

 Alonso de Ovalle even states ("Historical Relation 

 of the Kingdom of Chili," Rome, 1646) that the 

 Valley of Guasco was the only known locality for 

 the Arda or ash-coloured squirrel. In 1776 the 

 present species was mentioned by an anonymous 

 writer (perhaps the Abbe Vidaure), while in 1789 

 Molina gave a good description of the M2is laniger 

 in his account of the natural history of Chili, and 

 related that the ancient Peruvians used to employ its 

 fur in the manufacture of wool coverlets for beds and 

 valuable stuffs. Although imperfectly known from 

 trade skins which found their way into Europe via 

 Santiago, Valparaiso, and Buenos Ayres, it was not 

 until 1827 that the chinchilla was definitely described 



