M3 



MURHXE. 



MTTRID.E. 



thick akin, nostrils very remote, and placed below; limbs very short> 

 toes separated, except a thin membrane at the base, claws short ; hair 

 or fur short, thick, and very soft, dusky at the bottom and cinereous 

 gray at the tip, space about the nose and above the mouth white. 

 Length between 7 and 8 inches. 



This is supposed by some to be the 'Ao-mUaf of Aristotle (' Hist. 

 Anim., 1 i. 9 and iv. 8). It is evident, from both the passages quoted, 

 that he had accurately examined that part of the animal where the ere 

 should be, and the result of his examination clearly agrees with the 

 condition of those parts in the Atpalax of the moderns ; but it must 

 not be forgotten that those and other passages will equally apply to a 

 second species of Mole (Talpa), now named Talpa caca, which inhabits 

 Europe, and in which the eyelids are closed, whilst in the common 

 species they are open. 



This species, which the Russians name Slepez, or the Blind, and the 

 Cossacks Sfochor Nomon, signifying the same defect, burrows exten- 

 sively beneath the turf, driving at intervals lateral passages in its 

 search for roots, particularly that of the bulbous Chttrophyllum. 

 Openings to the surface occur at distances of some yards from each 

 other, and there the earth is raised into hillocks, sometimes of two 

 yards in circumference, and of considerable height. It works stoutly 

 and rapidly, and on the approach of an enemy instantly digs a perpen- 

 dicular burrow. Though it cannot see, it lifts its head in a menacing 

 attitude towards its assailant, and when irritated snorts and gnashes 

 its teeth, but emits no cry : its bite is very severe. In the morning it 

 often quits its hole, and during the season of love basks in the sun 

 with the female. It is worthy of notice that there runs a superstition 

 in the Ukraine that the hand which has suffocated one of these animals 

 is gifted with the virtue of curing scrofula, or the King's Evil (as it is 

 still called), in the same way that it was supposed to vanish before 

 the royal touch of the Stuarts in this country. 



It is found in the southern parts of Russia, from Poland to the 

 Volga, but not to the east of that river ; it is common from the Sysran 

 to the Sarpa, and frequent along the Don, even to its origin, and about 

 the town of Roosk, but not in the sandy ports. 



Bathyergm, Brants (Oryctenu, F. Cuv.). M. F. Cuvier assigns to 

 Bathyergut only three molars in each jaw; whilst to Oryctenu he 

 assigns four. 



The Dental Formula of the first, according to this statement, 



would be : Incisors, |; Molars, |dj = 16; and of the Becond, 



2 A 4 



Incisors, ; Molars, _ - = 20. 



Tetth of Orycttna. T. Curler. 



Dr. Fischer quotes Professor Kanp for the opinion that the Bothy ergus 

 f'aprn*a of Brants (Cane Rnt of Shaw and Pennant) and ISathyeiyu* 

 maritiaHU of Brants (Coast Hat of Shaw, Oryctenu marilimtu of F. 

 Cuvier) are identical, the former being the animal in a comparatively 

 enrly utaga of life. The latter in the Zand Moll of the Dutch and 

 Knnw-Howba of the Hottentots : it is of a reddish-gray or ash-coloui; 

 above, and hoary beneath. Length from tip of muzzle to origin of tail, 

 1 foot 1 4 inch ; of tail without the hair, 1 inch 1 line ; of the pencil of 

 bain, 10 lines. There in a variety all white. 



It is found among the sand-fiats of the Cape of Good Hope, 

 wherein it burrows in great numbers. In every part of those flat* 

 r.urclipll nWnrort innumerable mole-bills, and his foot often sunk 

 into their galleries : for this reason, ho remarks, it is very unpleasant, 

 if not danRf-rniM, to ride on horseback in mich places, as persons are 

 liable to be thrown by the feet of their horses unexpectedly sinking 

 into these holes. 



Coast Rat (Oryrlmtt marilimiu). 



The following genera are placed by Mr. Swainson among the 

 Squirrels, and, indeed, there is much about them to indicate a near 

 approach to that family of Rodenta, 



Not Pouched. 



Ardomyi (Omelin). Head and eyes large ; ears short; body stout; 

 fore feet with four toes and an obsolete thumb, hind feet five-toed, 

 Tail short. Upper surface of molars ridged and tuberculous. 



Dental Formula : Incisors, - ; Molars, - - 



.22. 



A. Marmota, Schreb., and A. Empetra, Schreb. may be given as 

 examples : the latter of the American Marmots. 



A. Marmota. This is the Mm Alpiniu of Gesner and others; Mut 

 Marmota of Linntcus and others ; 01 it Marmota of Klein ; Marmota 

 Alpina of Blumenbach ; Marmotte of Buffon ; Murmelthier of Kramer 

 and of Meyer ; and Alpenmurmelthier of Schrank. 



The cheeks are large ; ears round and short, hid in the fur ; body 

 stout ; head and upper parts brownish-ash mingled with tawny ; legs 

 and under parts reddish; tail rather full; length from nose to tail, 

 about 16 inches ; of the tail, 6 inches. 



This well-known species is found in the Alps and Pyrenees, even, it 

 is said, on the summits of those mountain chains. They live in little 

 societies, feeding on roots and vegetables, and occasionally on insects. 

 Their holes are formed in the ground, generally with three chambers 

 in the shape of a Y, with two entrances. These apartments are com- 

 fortably lined with moss and hay, and to them the Marmots retire 

 about Michaelmas, having stopped up the entrances with earth, there 

 to doze away the inclement months, till the warm suns and showers 

 of April arouse them from their torpidity to partake of the renewed 

 vegetation. From five to a dozen are said to be lodged in a chamber. 

 They lift their food to their mouths with their fore feet, eat it sitting, 

 and will walk on then: hind feet. When on their feed a sentinel is 

 placed to watch, and on the approach of danger his whistle drives 

 them instantly to their subterranean retreats. They are playful 

 creatures, but when angry or before a storm pierce the ear with their 

 shrill whistle. Though they soon become tame, and will eat almost 

 anything, they bite very hard when offended. Milk pleases them 

 greatly, and they lap it with satisfactory murmurs. They become 

 fat, and are sometimes eaten ; but they are taken by the Savoyards and 

 others principally that they may be exhibited by those itinerants. The 

 number of young at a birth is generally three or four. 





Alpine Marmot (Arctomyi Marmota). 



