1025 



CHINCHILLIDyE. 



Its burrows, according to the report of eye-witnesses, have two fiats, 

 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 'eft 

 behind or lost by travel 



lers : and its flesh, which 

 is white and tender, is 

 preferred to that of the 

 rabbit or hare. But this 

 account is liable to the 

 same objections as that 

 in the 'Journal de Phy- 

 sique.' Dr. Tschudi, in 

 his ' Fauna Peruana,' has 

 comfirmed most of these 

 particulars, with regard to 

 the habits of the Viscachas, 

 and also the distinction 

 between the two species 

 above named. L.Peruanum 

 of Meyer, and Callomys 

 aureui of Geoffroy and 

 D'Orbigny, are probably 

 varieties of L. Curieri. 





Chinchilla. 



Incisors, . 



molars, = 20. 



with long bushy hairs ; it is usually kept turned upwards towards the 



back, but not reverted as in the squirrels. 



The best account of the anatomy of this animal, from the dissection of 



one which died in the menagerie of the Society, was given by Mr. Yarrell, 



in the ' Proceedings of the 

 Zoological Society,' in 

 1831. In this paper 

 Mr. Yarrell remarks that 

 in some previously pub- 

 lished observations, he 

 had stated that the 

 Chinchilla appeared to 

 be closely allied to Mr. 

 Brooke's Lagostomus, but 

 that the more compli- 

 cated structure of the 

 teeth, and the existence 

 of an additional toe on 

 each of the feet, require 

 for the Chinchilla the ge- 

 neric distinction claimed 

 for it by Mr. Bennett and 

 Dr. J. E. Gray. He adds 

 that the resemblance of 

 the skeleton to that of 

 the Jerboa is also remark- 

 able, particularly in the 

 form of the head, in the 

 excessive development of 

 the auditory cavities, and 

 the small size of the an- 

 Lagotis Cuvifri. 



The molars generally 

 consist of three complete 



oblique plates, except Lagotit Cuoieri. terior extremities com- 



the anterior lower molar, pared with the hind legs. 



which has but two lamella, the anterior lamella being deeply bilobated. Although an extensive trade has been carried on in the skins of 

 Skull posteriorly retuso-truncated, above depressedly flattened; cellules this interesting little animal, it is only within the last few years 



of the tympanum conspicuously inflated. Anterior feet 5-toed, pos- ' * u - * ; * u " ' 1: : -- iU: * 



terior feet 4-toed, the nails small and subfalcular. The ears ample. 

 The tail rather long. 



C. lanigera. The length of the body is about nine inches, and that 

 of the tail nearly five. Its proportions are close-set, and its limbs 

 comparatively short, the posterior being considerably longer than the 

 anterior. The fur is long, thick, close, woolly, somewhat crisped, and 

 entangled together, grayish or ash-coloured above, and paler beneath. 

 The form of the head resembles that of the rabbit ; the eyes are full, 

 large, and black ; and the ears broad, naked, rounded at the tips, and 

 nearly as long as the head. The moustaches are plentiful and very 

 long, the longest being twice the length of the head, some of them grey ; his skinne is the most delicate, soft, and curious furre that I 

 black and others white. Four short toes, with a distinct rudiment of have seene, and of much estimation (as is reason) in Peru ; few of 

 a thumb, terminate the anterior feet ; and the posterior are furnished them come into Spaine, because difficult to be come by, for that the 

 with the same number, three of them long, the middle more produced i princes and nobles laie wait for them ; they call this beast Chin- 



, 

 that it has been seen alive in this country. 



The earliest account of this animal, as cited by Mr. Bennett, is an 

 English translation (London, 1604) of Father Joseph Acosta's ' Natural 

 and Moral History of the East and West Indies,' published at Barce- 

 lona, in Spanish, in 1591. " The Chinchilles is another kind of small 

 beasts, like squirrels ; they have a woonderfull smoothe and soft skinne, 

 which they (the natives) weare as a healthful! thing to comfort the 

 utomacke and those parts that have neede of a moderate heate." Sir 





Skeleton of Chinchilla lonifera. 

 a, Skull seen from above ; 4, the same seen from below ; c, lower jaw seen from above. 



than the two lateral ones, and the fourth, external to the others, very 

 short anil placed far behind. On all these toes the claws are thort, 

 anil nearly hidden by tufts of bristly hairs. The tail is about half 

 the length of the body, of equal thickness throughout, and covered 



ItAT. HIST. Drv. VOL. I. 



chilla, and of them they have great abundance." Alonso de Ovalle, 

 in his ' Historical Relation of the Kingdom of Chili' (Rome, 1646), 

 calk them squirrels. " The squirrels (Ardas) which are found only 

 in the valley of Guasco, are ash-coloured, and their skins are in great 



3 u 



