THE EGYPTIAN JERBOA 207 



ever, have no practical object, unless indeed as 

 introducing a new food animal ! Besides, the 

 animals might prove inconveniently prolific, and 

 the story of the Australian rabbit plague needs 

 no repetition to enhance its value as an object 

 lesson. 



Treated as menagerie exhibits jerboas might 

 be kept out of doors all the year round in a very 

 large enclosure, with a floor of cement or other* 

 impermeable material covered with a few feet 

 of gravelly soil, so that the animals could burrow 

 without escaping : one or two snug indestructible 

 metal boxes, warmly lined with hay, might also 

 be provided for sleeping in, as an alternative 

 to the burrows constructed by the jerboas. In 

 an enclosure of generous size the animals could 

 forage for themselves : but if the commissariat 

 were to break down, food might be easily given 

 in the ordinary way. Visitors to the Jardin 

 d'Acclimatation, at Paris, may remember how 

 well the prairie dogs and Patagonian cavies 

 flourish under such an out-door regime. It is 

 probable that so hardy an animal as the present 

 species would do as well if not better than 

 either of the species just mentioned, and that 

 it would increase and multiply, living happily 

 in a state of semi-freedom as one who has 

 found "a home from home," rather than as a 

 stranger in a strange land. At any rate, such an 

 interesting experiment would be well worth trying. 



