THE GUINEA PIG FAMILY. 



359 



The Couiy To describe its life in captivity I will 

 in Captiu- quote Azara's observations: "I had 

 ity- a specimen in my possession which 



had been captured when fully matured; I permitted 

 it to range my room at will and left it a year without 

 water; for it does not drink. When frightened by 

 anything it ran with comparative agility; I could 

 always overtake it, however, by following at a lei- 

 surely pace. All its movements are more or less 

 clumsy; but it readily climbs up and down a stick and 

 grasps it so firmly that it requires considerable effort 

 to loosen its hold. The back of a chair, the point of 

 a perpendicular stake afford it a sufficiently good 

 resting-place upon which to sleep and even recu- 

 perate. It is slow-witted and of so quiet and lazy 

 a disposition that it sometimes does not change 

 its place or attitude for twenty-four or forty-eight 

 hours. My prisoner never moved except when it 

 was feeding. Once only did I see it running about 

 at night, nevertheless I believe it to be a nocturnal 

 animal. In the first days of its captivity my Cerco- 

 labes would sit down on the back of a chair, but 

 never on anything having a plane surface; one day, 

 however, it climbed up a window and discovered the 

 edge of the window-shutter; it sought no further for 

 a retreat after this. On the shutter it spent all its 

 time, sitting like a statue in its extraordinary posi- 

 tion, without the slightest movement. It held on 

 only with its hinder feet, using neither fore feet nor 

 tail to secure its position, crossed its fore legs and 

 put its muzzle into them, as if it wished to kiss its 

 hands. Thus it sat, without moving, without look- 

 ing about even, till the 

 hour of its meal arrived. 

 It ate very little of the 

 proffered bread, maize, 

 manioc roots, herbs, leaves 

 and flowers, but showed a 

 tendency to vary its diet. 

 It never exhibited vicious 

 tendencies, never bit nor 

 scratched, and never did 

 anybody any harm. 



Physical Senses "The sense 



and Appearance of smell is 

 of the Couiy. tne acutest 

 among its senses of per- 

 ception. I observed my 

 pet raise its head when I 

 drank chocolate or entered 

 the room carrying flowers, 

 so I could safely infer that 

 it perceived odors at con- 

 siderable distances. Never 

 did I see it exhibit intel- 

 lectual emotion or signify 

 its grief or pleasure. 

 Sometimes it would recog- 

 nize the voice of its famil- 

 iars and turn its head when its name was called." 



The external appearance of this species presents 

 so few inviting features that it is but rarely caught 

 and reared by the savage tribes inhabiting the coun- 

 tries of which it is a native. These tribes eat its 

 flesh, however, which is disdained by Europeans on 

 account of its unpleasant odor. 



The Coendou The Coendou {Cercolabcs prcliaisilis) 



a South Ameri- is very similar in appearance to the 



can Species. Couiy, so far as relates to its 



general shape, but is of a perceptibly stronger 



and larger build. Its length amounts to forty- four 



inches, eighteen of which are included in the tail. 

 The surface covered by quills begins with the face, 

 continues throughout the entire upper surface, 

 clothes the legs to the ankle-joints, and includes the 

 upper half of "the tail and all the lower part of 

 the body. The quills are not habitually depressed, 

 and do not lie close to the body. A few hairs, which 

 intermingle with them, are concealed from view and 

 become visible only when the quills are removed to 

 one side. 

 The Coendou in Little is known about the life of the 

 a State of Coendou in its natural condition. 

 Nature. The animal is distributed over a con- 



siderable part of southern and Central America and 

 is quite plentiful in some localities. After the habit 

 of its relatives it sleeps through the day, perched on 

 the top of a tree in the curled-up attitude already 

 described in connection with the accounts of its kin 

 heretofore given; at night it runs among the branches 

 slowly, but with considerable skill and great sure- 

 footedness. Leaves of all kinds constitute its nour- 

 ishment. The flesh is in great demand with the 

 natives as an article of food and the quills are also 

 put to manifold uses. 



Gbe Cavies or (Suinca flMo 3Famil£. 



TENTH FAMILY: Caviid/E. 



The external distinguishing features of the Cavies 

 ( Gdviida) to which our well-known Guinea Pig be- 



"^ \\ .--X < -— \ : 



THE COENDOU. One of the most common of the South American Tree Porcupines is the Coendou. It 



is completely covered with quills which conceal the hair, and its long tail possesses a prehensile quality equal to 

 that of the Monkeys inhabiting the same region. It is a distinctly arboreal animal and the artist has placed 

 the two in the picture amid appropriate surroundings. {Cercolabes prehcnsilis.) 



longs, and which occupy an intermediate position 

 between the murine and leponine families, consists 

 of a more or less elongated body, supported by long 

 legs, four-toed fore-feet, and from three to five-toed 

 hind feet, provided with large, hoof-like, triangular 

 nails (resembling those of an Ox or Goat), and 

 with naked soles; a stub-like tail, ears of varying 

 size and a coarse fur. The teeth consist of four 

 molars in each row of about uniform size and large, 

 broad gnawing teeth, the external surfaces of which 

 are generally of a white color. All Cavies are re- 

 stricted in habitat to southern and Central America. 



