196 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS 



it seems reasonable to suppose that under a similar 

 7'dgmie the chinchillas would flourish quite as well as 

 the hyraxes and armadillos so successfully exhibited 

 in the open air in London and Paris. Normally 

 tame even to stupidity, it is curious that the two 

 classical specimens, presented to the Zoological Gar- 

 dens in 1827-31, fought so fiercely that they had 

 nolens volens to be separated. Those who have 

 kept pet rodentSj as squirrels or rabbits, will remem- 

 ber the occasional fights that take place amongst the 

 meekest individuals, sharp bites being inflicted with 

 an animosity quite at variance with their timid 

 demeanour towards man. A female chinchilla, 

 forniL-rly living at the Zoological Gardens, gave 

 birth to four young ones on May 21, 1875. 



Pelts of the chinchilla figure largely to-day at the 

 London fur auctions, from 5,000 to 80,000 being 

 annually imported; the best skins come from the 

 mountains of Arica. Formerly sold at the Com- 

 mercial Sale Rooms in Mincing Lane, the pelts are 

 now disposed of at the College Hill Rooms, 

 fetching from six shillings to twelve pounds per 

 dozen. There are said to be many Germans 

 amongst the buyers. 



The Abbe Molina long ago suggested that owing 

 to the gentle nature of the chinchilla it might be 

 reared in houses, repaying its owner for his trouble 

 by the profit on the sale of its fur. He also stated 

 that the woolly pelt of this animal was long enough 



