CONIES. 



(Nov. 21, 1891.) 



IN the words of Agur, the son of Jakeh, " there 

 be four things which are little upon the earth, 

 but they are exceeding wise/ 5 the four things in 

 questiqn being ants, conies, locusts, and spiders ; 

 and in proof of the wisdom of the conies, we are 

 told, that though they are " but a feeble folk, yet 

 make they their houses in the rocks." Not only 

 are the conies wise and their wisdom in all that 

 relates to their own safety would appear to be one 

 of the few points in their economy about which 

 there has never been any dispute but they are 

 also among the oddest and most anomalous of 

 four-footed beasts, though the latter fact was 

 probably unknown to the ancients, as it certainly 

 was not discovered until their anatomy was 

 studied. The animal in question is, in reality, no 

 coney, or rabbit, though it bears a quaint super- 

 ficial likeness to one, with very short ears and no 

 perceptible tail. Indeed, the little likeness that it 

 does possess to a rabbifc can hardly be said to be 

 skin-deep. It is, in fact, a Hyrax, a little animal 

 which has always been, and still is, a puzzle to 



