MUKIDJE. 



very long, sometimes well clothed with hair and round, nomctime* 

 depreawd, and sometime* tufted at the extremity only. Molars with 

 transverse fidget of enamel projecting and hollowed. 



Dental Formula : Inciaora, - ; Molars, 1^1 = 20. 



il. artUtmaritu, the Dormouse. The head u proportionally large ; 

 eyes large, black, and prominent ; muzzle not blunt ; ears broad, about 

 one-third the length of the head ; body plump and round ; tail flat- 

 tened, the hairs rather long and busby ; head, back, sides, belly, and 

 tail, tawny-red ; length that of a common mouse. 



Young of a mouse-gray, head and flanks only tinged with red. 



This is the Muscardin, Croque-Noiz, and Rat-d'Or of the French ; 

 MoBOardmo of the Italians ; Liron of the Spanish ; liothe Wald-Maus 

 Haael-Mans, and Hasel Schliifer, of the Germans ; Skogsmus of the 

 Swedes; Kassel-Muus of the Danes; Pathew of the Welsh; and 

 Sleeper of the English. 



There is little if any doubt that this species is the Glit of the Roman 

 authors. Thus Pliny, in his chapter, ' De Fagina Claude, 1 4c. (xvi 6), 

 says, " Fagi glana muribus gratiasima est . . . glires quoque 

 aaginat ;" and Martial (xiii. 59, ' Glires') writes 



" Tola mihl dormitur hvenu, et pinguior illr> 

 Tvmpore lum, quo me nil nisi tomniu alit." 



Nor does the occasional short awakening caused by a warm sunny day, 

 to which the animal is subject, militate against the application of 

 Martial's lines; for the occasional disturbance is the exceptiou to 

 the rule. 



Mr. Bell places the Dormouse among the Sciuridce (Squirrels) ; and 

 indeed zoologists have assigned it to both the genus Sciurui and Mu. 

 In its habits it comes near to the Squirrel, but in its dentition it is 

 nearer to the Mice. It is in truth one of those forms by which nature 

 glides from one race of animals to another. Mr. Bell gives the follow- 

 ing synonyms :M\a arcllanariiu minor (Hay), M. arcWanariu(Linn.), 

 Sciurui artllanariut (Desm.), Myoru* Mtucordiniu (Schreb.), Myoriu 

 arrllanariui (Desm.), Le Muscardin (Buff), Dormouse (Penn.) He 

 considers the specific name ardlanariw is not well chosen, inasmuch 

 as the hazel-nut is not the principal food of the Dormouse ; " indeed," 

 be continues, " I have never seen, any that could gnaw through the 

 shell of that nut when fully ripe and dry." 



DoimuuM (Myoxui artllanartut). 



Dense thicket", bushy dells, and tangled hedgerows are the favourite 

 retreats of the Dormouse. There it constructs its easy dormitory, and 

 there providently lavs up its winter store, consisting of acorns, beech- 

 meat, corn, young hazel-nuU, haws, Ac. It seems inclined to be 

 gregarious ; and indeed Mr. Yarrell told Mr. Bell that he had seen not 

 leas than ten or a dozen, or even more, of their nests built in the 

 shrubs of a thicket. The latter zoologist well describes its habits. 



" It takes its food holding it in its hands, and sitting on its haunches 

 like a squirrel (so do the rats), and often suspending itself by its hind- 

 feet, in which position it feeds as easily and comfortably as in the 

 more ordinary position. Towards the winter it becomes exceedingly 

 fat ; and having laid np a store of food, retires to its little nest, and 

 coiling itself up into a ball, with the tail over the head and back, 

 becomes completely torpid. A mild day calls it into transient life ; 

 it then takes a fresh supply of food and relapses into its former 

 slumber ; and finally awakening in the spring, at which time it has 

 lost much of its fat, it enters upon iU usual habits, and the enjoyment 

 of the conjugal and paternal affections. The young, which are gene- 

 rally about four in number, are born blind ; but in a few days the eyes 

 art opened, and in a short time they are enabled to seek their food 

 independently of the parent's care. I have reason to believe that, in 

 I at least, the Dormouse has a second brood early in the 



autumn, as I have received from one locality in the month of September 

 an adult, one about half-grown, evidently of the spring brood, ami 

 three very young ones apparently not more than a fortuight or three 

 weeks oil" ( British Quadrupeds.') 



This pretty little animal is nocturnal in its habits. In 'The 

 Naturalist' (voL iii.) will be found a well related instance of its beha- 

 viour on being aroused from its nap during the winter. One of them 

 having been taken in its nest in the middle of December, the heat of 

 its captor's hand and the warmth of the room completely revived it, 

 and it nimbly scaled the furniture, finding no difficulty in ascending 

 and descending the polished backs of the chairs, and leaping from 

 chair to chair with great agility. On being set at liberty it sprang 

 at least two yards to a table. It did not seem alarmed at being 

 taken into the hand. In the evening it was placed with iU nest in 

 a box, and the next morning bad relapsed into torpidity. Another 

 account in the same volume informs us that a Dormouse, which 

 had been sent a distance of 140 miles, was apparently but little 

 disturbed by its ride. " From that time till the 1st of April, 1838," 

 says Mr. Piggott, " it slept in its snug dormitory, a deal box lined 

 with wool, when it awoke, and readily ate of apples and nuU. It is 

 easily alarmed, being more timid than tame, but shows no signs of 

 anger on being taken in the hand. As it sleeps the greater part of the 

 day, I cannot then closely watch its habits ; but towards evening it 

 wakes up, and is very lively and frolicsome, running, on being let out 

 of its cage, up the bell-rope, where it will sit for hours in the folds of 

 the knot, timidly watching our movements." 



It is found all over Europe. 



Graphiuriu (F. Cuvier). Limbs short, delicate, and not differing 

 much from each other in length ; anterior feet terminated by four 

 nearly equal toes, and with a flat nail on the internal tubercle of the 

 palm, which indicates the thumb ; posterior feet with five toes, the 

 two external, but the thumb principally, the shortest ; all the toes 

 armed with pointed, compressed, arched, and strong claws. Tail 

 short, very fleshy, and seemingly thicker at its extremity than at its 

 root. Molars eight in each jaw, remarkable for the comparative 

 smallness of their size ; the first in each jaw only a linear rudiment ; 

 the three following 'ire a little smaller in the lower jaw than they are 

 in the upper, equal in size to each other, with the surface of the 

 crown united, and in this respect resembling those of the Aye-Aye; no 

 figure was traceable, but this may have been from detrition. 



O. Capetuit. The eyes are not so large as in Myoxtu, with which 

 the animal bos much relationship ; ears round ; fur thick ; upper 

 parts of the head, neck, shoulders, back, sides, rump, and upper part 

 of the limbs, deep brownish-gray ; tip of the muzzle, sides, and lower 

 part of the head and limbs reddish-white ; a large baud of blackish- 

 brown from the eyes to below the ears; lower parts of the body 

 grayish-white with a reddish tinge; tail brown-gray, and whitish 

 above, with its extremity entirely reddish-white ; there is a tuft of 

 white hairs at the upper and anterior part of the base of the ear. 

 Size of the Lerot, BuObn, Mta yuerciniu, Linmcus. This species is a 

 native of the Cape of Good Hope. Its habits are unknown. 



' 





- 



(jiajthiuru* Uapfntit. 



Otomyi (F. Cuvier). Delalande brought back from his voyage to 

 the Cape of Good Hope two species of Rodents remarkable for their 

 physiognomy, which sufficiently resembles the Hats, but differing 

 externally from those animals in having their largo ears covered with 

 hairs, the head more rounded, and a short tail, aud especially in their 

 dentition. 



2 o 



Dental Formula : Incisors, _; Molar>. ' 



16. 



