308 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book 



CHAP. 55. (37.) THE MICE OE FONTUS AND OF THE ALPS. 



The mice of Pontus also conceal themselves during the 

 winter; but only the white ones. 84 I wonder how those 

 authors, who have asserted that the sense of taste in these 

 animals is very acute, found out that such is the fact. The 

 Alpine mice, which are the same size as badgers, also conceal 

 themselves; 85 but they first carry a store of provisions into 

 their retreat. Some writers, indeed, say that the male and 

 female, lying on their backs alternately, hold in their paws a 

 bundle of gnawed herbs, and, the tail of each in its turn being 

 seized by the teeth of the other, in this way, they are 

 dragged into their hole ; hence it is, that at this season 

 their hair is found to be rubbed off their backs. There is a 

 similar animal also in Egypt, 86 which sits, in the same way, 

 upon its haunches, and walks on two feet, using the fore feet 

 as hands. 



CHAP. 56. HEDGEHOGS. 



Hedgehogs also lay up food for the winter ; rolling themselves 

 on apples as they lie on the ground, they pierce one with their 

 quills, and then take up another in the mouth, and so carry 

 them into the hollows of trees. These animals also, when they 

 conceal themselves in their holes, afford a sure sign that the 

 wind is about to change from north-east to south. 87 When they 



84 It is supposed that the white mouse of Pontus, mentioned also by 

 Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. viii. c. 17, is the ermine, or else the marten ; 

 but, as Cuvier remarks, Ajasson, vol. vi. p. 457, Lemaire, vol. iii, p. 467, 

 the ermine does not hibernate. B. 



85 Cuvier, ubi supra, conceives that the Alpine mouse is the marmot ; 

 but he remarks, that it is inferior in size to the badger. B. 



86 Cuvier, ubi supra, conceives the Egyptian mouse to be the jerboa, 

 the Mus jaculus of Linnaeus ; but it is much smaller than the marmot. 

 Pliny, in B. x. c. 85, says, that the Egyptian mouse walks on two feet, as 

 does the mouse of the Alps. Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. vii. c. 37, and 

 jElian, Anim. Nat. B. xv. c. 26, refer to the mouse of Egypt. B. Pro- 

 bably the Mus cahirinus. 



87 The faculty which these and other animals possess of foreseeing the 

 weather and the future direction of the wind, is mentioned by Plutarch, 

 and as existing especially in the hedgehog. It is also mentioned by Aris- 

 totle, Hist. Anim. B. ix. c. 6 ; but it is not confined, as Pliny states, to 

 its change in one direction only. It has been suggested by s'ome com- 

 mentators, that, by a slight alteration in the text, the statement may be 

 extended to a change of the wind in either direction, Lemaire, yol. iii. p. 

 168. B, 



