MR. E. T. BENNETT ON THE CHINCHILLID#. 39 
Abbé Vidauré, the original of which I have not at present an opportunity of consulting. 
In these the Viscacha of the western slope of the Andes is again described as having the 
size and nearly the shape of a large rabbit, but with shorter legs. Its fur is said to be 
soft, and of a mixed grey and black colour; while its tail, which is like that of a fox, 
is furnished with bristles so rigid as to resemble spines. By agitating this tail it defends 
itself from its enemies. Its flesh is good to eat. It lives in burrows which it forms for 
itself; and passes the night in carrying to the opening of its hole whatever it finds in 
the adjacent country, insomuch that if a traveller loses any thing, he has only to look 
for it at the entry of the burrows of the Viscachas, where he is almost sure to recover 
it!. This account is in several particulars apocryphal, as well as dissimilar from those 
of previous writers ; and it will be seen, on comparing it with the notices to be here- 
after quoted of the Lagostomus, that the author has confounded the habits of the eastern 
and western species, the former alone being actuated by that mania for collecting every 
thing within its reach, which he has apparently transferred to the latter. It may there- 
fore be doubtful, notwithstanding the locality assigned, to which of these animals the 
notice in question actually refers. 
The same may also be said of the notice of the Viscacha by the Abbé Molina, whose 
work, originally published in 1782 and reprinted with considerable alterations in 1810, 
contains a similar account, evidently copied in some of its parts from the preceding. 
He describes the animal as resembling the hare in its head, ears, muzzle, moustaches, 
dentition, toes, mode of eating, and upright posture in sitting ; while it approaches the 
squirrel in colour, and in the form of its tail, which is long, curved upwards, clothed 
with long rough hair, and serves as a weapon of defence against its enemies. He 
speaks of the employment of its wool among the ancient Peruvians, and adds, that the 
Chilians use it at the present day in the manufacture of hats. Its burrows, according 
to the report of eye-witnesses, have two flats, communicating by a spiral staircase ; in 
the lower it deposits its food, while it lives in the upper, which it seldom quits except 
at night. It collects round the mouth of its burrow whatever has been left behind or 
lost by travellers ; and its flesh, which is white and tender, is preferred to that of the 
rabbit or the hare?. 
Two other brief notices, from the pens of modern English travellers, complete the 
1 «La Viscaque est de la grosseur et presque de la figure d’un grand Lapin, quoiqu’elle ait les jambes plus 
courtes. Son poil est doux et mélé de gris et de noir. Sa queue, qui ressemble a celle du renard, est garnie 
de soies si dures qu’ils ressemblent & des épines. Il se defend de ses ennemis en agitant sa queue. Sa chair 
est bonne & manger. II vit dans des terriers qu’il se forme. I] passe la nuit a porter 4 l’entrée de son trou 
tout ce qu'il trouve dans la campagne. Quand les voyageurs ont perdu quelque chose, ils vont la chercher 
l'entrée des terriers des viscaques, et sont presque toujours stirs de l’y trouver.” p. 478-9. 
2 «La Viscaccia secondo i caratteri naturali deve formare un genere a parte tra gli Scojattoli e le Lepri. 
Ella si rassomiglia alla Lepre nella testa, nelle orecchie, nel muso, nei mustacchi, nella dentatura, nelle dita, 
ed anche nella maniera di mangiare, e nel tenersi diritta a sedere; del resto poi s’ accosta allo Scojattolo nel 
colore e nella coda, che é assai langa, ripiegata in su, e vestita di lungo e ruvido pelo, colla quale si defende da’ 
