ZOOLOGY. 



manner. Thus, the Lion (Felis leo) and Tiger (F. 

 tigris) are inhabitants of Africa and tropical 

 Asia ; in America, they are replaced by the Puma 

 (F. concolor) and Jaguar (F. onca), which are con- 

 fined to that continent. In the same manner, we 

 find the Panther and Leopard (F. leopardus) 

 spread over tropical Asia and Africa ; the Ounce, 

 inhabiting the Asiatic mountains ; the Caracal, in 

 Turkey and Persia; and the Lynx, in Northern 

 Europe. These are represented by the Ocelot in 

 South America, the Lynx of Canada (differing 

 from the European), and other less-known species. 

 The Lynxes have short tails and a pencil of hair 

 at the tip of their ears, while the Cats (F. catus) 

 have a long tail, and the ears want the pencil of 

 hair. 



ORDER 8. Rodentia take their name from 

 their gnawing habits, for which they are fitted by 

 the possession of two long curved incisors in each 

 jaw. There are no canines, and a considerable 

 interval intervenes between the incisors and the 

 molars, which are few in number. These incisors 

 are constantly wearing away, but as constantly 

 growing from persistent pulps ; so that when one 

 is lost or broken, its opposite, having nothing to 

 wear it down, becomes developed to an enormous 

 extent. The incisor teeth consist anteriorly of 

 a hard plate of enamel, and posteriorly of a 

 softer substance (dentine), which wears away 

 more rapidly than the enamel, so that the 

 teeth are always kept sharp, and bevelled away 

 behind, so as to be chisel-shaped. To assist 

 the action of these teeth, the lower jaw is artic- 

 ulated to the skull by a transversely elongated 

 condyle, which allows it to move backwards and 

 forwards. 



Family \. Leporida are distinguished by the 

 presence of two small incisors behind the rodent 

 teeth. The form and habits of the typical genus 

 are sufficiently well known in the Hare (Lepus 

 timidus) and Rabbit (L. cuniculus) of this country. 

 There is a species, L, variabilis, or Alpine Hare, 

 in this country, whose fur is brown in summer, and 

 white in winter. The Lagomys, or Rat-hare, has 

 the fore-legs almost as long as the hind. It 

 is a native of the colder regions of the north, 

 and stores up a large quantity of fodder for the 

 winter. 



Family 2. Cavidce in which the body is 

 covered with hair, and the tail is short, con- 

 tains the Capybara (Hydrochcerus capybara), the 

 largest animal of the order, being about three 

 feet in length, and of the size of the Siamese 

 pig. Its semi-aquatic habits are shewn by the 

 webbing of the feet. It is found on the sides 

 of nearly all the rivers of South America. The 

 Cavia Apertza, or Guinea-pig, a South American 

 species, is now quite domesticated in Europe. 

 The Agouti (Dasyprocta) also belongs to this 

 family. 



Family 3. Hystricidce including the Porcu- 

 pine, which are distinguished by being armed by 

 stiff and pointed quills, or spines. The name 

 porcupine is corrupted from the French porc- 

 tpine, a term expressive of the pig-like aspect 

 and grunting voice of these animals, as well as of 

 their spiny covering. They live in burrows, and 

 have very much the habits of rabbits. The best 

 known species inhabits the south of Italy, 

 Sicily, and Spain. In the Common Porcupine 

 (Hystrix cristata), the tail is non-prehensile ; 



but in the American genus, Cercolabes, which is 



Porcupine (Hystrix cristata). 



fitted for an arboreal existence, it is long and 

 prehensile. 



Family 4, Castoridce. The Beaver (Castor fiber) 

 is probably the type. It is distinguished from 

 all other rodents by its horizontally flattened tail, 

 which is of a nearly oval form, and covered with 

 scales. The hind-feet are webbed, by means of 

 which and the tail these animals obtain consider- 

 able swimming powers. They chiefly subsist on 

 bark and other hard substances, and, owing to the 

 size and strength of their incisor teeth, they can 

 fell trees of considerable size, of which they use the 

 bark and twigs as food, employing the stems in the 

 construction of their remarkable habitations. The 

 flattened tail is employed by them as a kind of 

 trowel, with which they plaster the walls of their 

 houses. The Beaver is an aquatic and social 



Beaver (Cas 



animal, and is hunted for the sake of its skin, and 

 for the substance, castoreum, which is secreted by 

 peculiar glands, and is employed in medicine. 



Family 5. Muridce'axz the smallest and most 

 prolific of the Mammalia. In this family, the tail 

 is long, and thinly covered with hair, though 

 sometimes scaly. No undomesticated animals 

 are better known than Mice and Rats. The 

 Brown Rat (Mus decumanus), which is believed 

 to have originally come from Persia, is speedily 

 replacing the Old English or Black Rat (M. 

 rattus}, which, being of smaller size, is not a 

 match for the usurper. The Harvest-mouse (AT. 

 messorius), the Long-tailed Field-mouse (M. 



