185 



HYSTRICID^E. 



HYSTRICIDJ3. 



186 



place immediately before the Guinea-Pig. Gmelin (13th ed. ' Syst. 

 Nat/) places it among the Glires, as the last species of the genus 

 Cavia, immediately after the Guinea-Pig, C. Cvbaya ; by which arrange- 

 ment the animal comes next to the Beaver (Caitur). Cuvier makes 

 ffydroehcerut a genus of his Rodents, giving it a position between 

 'i/i and the Guinea-Pig. Fischer brings it under the Glires, 

 between Layomyt and Dasyprocta. Dr. Gray places it in the order 

 (jlirea, family Ltporidai, sub-family Hydrochrerina ; Hydrochcerus 

 being the only genus of that sub family, which stands between the 

 sub-families Caviina and Ltatyporcina. M. Lesson arranges it between 

 Kendon and Curia (Gliret). Mr. Swainson also places it at the head 

 of the Cavies, Cavia (Glira). 



H. Capybara (Cavia Capybara of Gmeliu, SIM Uydrochceris of Lin- 

 na?u.s) is the only species. , 



Capybara 



Capybara}. 



It is confined entirely to the New World, and found in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the great rivers in Brazil, Guyana, and Paraguay ; some 

 gay that it is found aa high as the Isthmus of Darien. 



Maregrave states that the Capybara lives upon herbs and fruits ; 

 that it is a nocturnal animal, swimming across rivers and torrents in 

 search of food, and raising such a horrible clamour as to have terrified 

 the narrator before he knew the cause. Ue says that they wander in 

 infinite congregations about the banks of the rivers, and as they are 

 slow of foot, that they save themselves from the hunters by swimming, 

 though, notwithstanding, immense numbers are killed. Pennant, who 

 quotes Huratori, says that it runs slowly, swims and dives remarkably 

 well, and keeps for a long time under water ; feeds on fruits and vege- 

 tables ; is very dexterous in catching fish, which it brings on shore 

 and eats at its ease ; sits up and holds its prey with its fore foot, 

 i-' like an ape ; takes its food in the night, and commits great 

 ravages in gardens, keeps in large herds, and makes a horrible noise 

 like the braying of an ass. 



Some part of this last account seems rather highly coloured. We 

 doubt very much, from the structure of the teeth and digestive 

 organs, the alleged fact of its feeding much on fish ; though Bewick, 

 who gives by no means a bad figure of the animal, places a newly- 

 caught fish before it, probably on the authority above quoted. 



Marcgrave speaks of the flesh as sufficiently good food, especially if 

 it be roasted : he says indeed that inasmuch as it yields in dignity to 

 that of wild and domestic hogs, the head of the Capybara only is con- 

 f-i<l.'ivd a delicacy. Pennant, on the contrary, in the account above 

 alluded to, says that it grows very fat, and that the flesh, which is 

 tiMul'T, is eaten, but it is added that the flavour is oily and fishy. 

 Cuvier however speaks well of it. " C'est un bon gibier," says that 

 author in his ' Re.'ne Animal.' The majority of authors speak of it 

 as being easily tamed and growing familiar ; but one of the Capybaras 

 which died at the Regent's Park was very morose to strangers, and all 

 endeavours at conciliation were answered by stampings, cries, and 

 malevolent attempts to strike with the fore feet and head. There is 

 at present (1854) a specimen in the collection, which, although not 

 very familiar, exhibits none of the malevolence of the first specimens. 

 The habits of an animal however cannot be judged of from an indi- 

 vidual shut up in a cage, deprived of all the accessories that make its 

 life agreeable in a state of nature, and with a temper ruined by 

 constant irritation, disappointment, and ill-health. Those who speak 

 of the Capybara as being easily tamed had most probably opportunities 

 of observing the manners of some of these quadrupeds where they 

 were allowed that certain degree of liberty and indulgence without 

 which an attempt to gain the confidence of animals is generally 

 hopeless. 



Professor Owen observes (' Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle,') 

 that it is interesting to find that the continent to which this interest- 

 ing aberrant form of Rodent is peculiar, should be found to contain 

 the remains of an extinct genus, characterised ty a dentition which 

 closely resembles the Rodent type, but manifesting it on a gigantic 

 scale, and tending to complete the chin of affinities which links the 

 Pachydermatous with the Rodent and Cetaceous orders. [ToxuuoN.] 



The next sub-family in Mr. Waterhouse's arrangement is the Chin- 

 chMnia. An account of them u given under CIIINCUII.I.IU.K. 



Sub-family Octodontina. Molar teeth rootless, having but a single 

 indenting fold of enamel on either side or rarely with an extra fold 

 on the inner side of the molars of the lower jaw ; zygomatic arch 

 with angular process on the lower edge ; hind feet with five toes or 

 with sometimes four. 



The species of this section inhabit the middle and southern parts 

 of South America, occurring on both sides of the Audus. They are of 

 small size, the largest known species scarcely surpassing the Common 

 Squirrel in bulk. Some live almost entirely underground, and have 

 the fore feet strong, and armed with powerful claws, fitted to their 

 burrowing habits ; others are found at the roots of trees, occasionally 

 climbing amongst the branches of the shrubs of which the hedges are 

 formed, or even (though rarely) ascending trees. 



The Octodontina bear the same kind of relationship to the Echi- 

 myina as do the Arvicolina of the northern hemisphere to the true 

 Rats : they agree with the Eckimyina, in fact, in all essential points, 

 but (litter in having the molar teeth rootless, and almost always of a 

 more simple structure. Accompanying the rootless molar teeth, we 

 find that the incisors are almost always broader, and relatively leas 

 deep from front to back ; and connected with these differences, the 

 structure of the skull denotes increased powers in' the muscles of mas- 

 tication, the zygomatic arch being stronger, and the temporal fossae 

 more extended ; generally in proportion as the incisor teeth increase 

 in size, the cranium assumes a broader and shorter form, is more 

 contracted between the orbits, and has the cerebral cavity propor- 

 tionately smaller, and it is in those species which burrow and live 

 almost entirely underground that these last-mentioned peculiarities 

 are carried to the extreme. 



From the other two sub-families of Hystricidas, which are charac- 

 terised by rootless molar teeth 'the Uaviiiia, and CkinckiUina the 

 Octodons may be distinguished by the hind feet being always provided 

 with five well-developed toes. The presence of a distinct tail will 

 prevent the Octodons from being confounded with the Cavies ; and 

 this organ being clothed with short hairs in the Octodons, gives to 

 these animals a very different appearance to that of the bushy-tailed 

 Chinchillas. The skull and dentition likewise furnish good distin- 

 guishing characters. The palate, as will be seen on comparing it with 

 those of the Cavies and Chinchillas, is less contracted between the 

 foremost molar teeth, the molar bone has a distinct angular projec- 

 tion on its under side (as in the Eckimyina), and there is the same strong 

 muscular ridge runuiug obliquely forwards and downwards from the 

 hinder root of the zygoma on the outer surface of the molar bone. 

 The molar teeth are usually indented on each side by a single fold of 

 enamel, and the crown of one of these teeth approaches more or less 

 nearly to the form of the figure 8. The most marked exception is 

 found in the lower molars of the genus Habrocoma. Five genera 

 having well-marked distinguishing characters, are included in the 

 present sub-family : their chief external peculiarities are as follows : 



I. Fore feet with four toes ; ears very long. Ifabrocoma. [HABROCOMA.] 



II. Fore feet with five toes. 



A. Ears large, or of moderate size. 



o. Tail as long as the body, slightly bushy at the extremity. 



Octodon. 

 b. Tail shorter than the body, clothed throughout with small 



adpressed hairs. Sckizodon. 



B. Ears very small, almost entirely hidden by the fur of the head. 



a. Incisor teeth moderately broad ; nails to the toes of the fore 



feet shorter than the toes. Spalacopus. 



b. Incisor teeth very broad ; nails to the toes of the fore feet 



longer than the toes. Ctenomya. 



Octodon, Bennett (Dendrobitw, Meyen). Ears moderately large; 

 tail nearly as long as the. body, with long hairs at and near the point ; 

 five toes to the fore or hind feet ; the claws small ; incisor teeth 

 moderate as to width, or somewhat narrow, convex in front ; molar 

 teeth each with a single indented fold of enamel on either side ; the 

 hinder half of the upper molars much narrower than the anterior por- 

 tion ; a small vertical plate (to protect the infra-orbital nerve) within 

 the ant-orbital opening of the skull. 



0. i>eyus, Cuming's Octodou ; Sciurus Degua, Molina ; 0. Cuminyii, 

 Bennett, Wagner; 0. paUidua, Wagner; (J. Cumingii, Tschudi (?) ; 

 JJendrobiiu JJegus, Meyen ; Chilian Squirrel, Shaw. Fur long 

 and moderately soft ; upper parts of the body pencilled with black 

 and pale brownish-yellow; sides of the body chiefly of the latter 

 colour; abdomen dirty yellow; feet white, faintly tinted with yellow; 

 tail dusky above, dirty white beneath ; the long hairs on the apicle 

 third, black, or dusky. It inhabits Chili. 



According to Mr. Uarwin this species of Octodon may be seen by 

 hundreds in the hedgerows and thickets in the central parts of Chili, 

 where they make burrow? close together, leading one into the other. 

 They feed by day in a fearless manner, and are very destructive to 

 fields of young corn ; when disturbed, they all run together towards 

 their burrows, the same way that rabbits do in Englaud when feeding 

 outside a covert. When running they carry their tails elevated ; and 

 often they may be seen seated on their haunches, like squirrels. 

 According to Molina they lay up a store of food for the winter, and 

 do not become dormant. According to more than one author, the 



