5L memoir of PALLAS. 



to Cuvier, no animal, even the commonest among 

 ourselves, are so well known. He also introduced to 

 notice a new species of wild cat {Nov. Com. Pet. 

 ann. 1781), and supplied infonnation on the wild 

 ass of the desert {Act. Petr. i.) ; also concerning 

 the small buffalo or yak^ and regarding those small 

 yellow foxes (Canis corsac) of northern India which 

 some believe to be the pretended golden ants of 

 Herodotus. (N'eve Nordische Beytrage., i. 29.) " It 

 is a pity," remarks Cuvier, " that Buffon did not 

 acquaint himself with these invaluable memoirs, 

 the simple translation of which would have made 

 an admirable addition to his work." The Lepus 

 and Mus genera alone, including hares, rats, and 

 mice, supplied materials for a quarto of two hun- 

 dred and sixty pages {Nor, Spe. Qtuxdrup. e. Gli- 

 rium Ordine) with many beautifully illustrative 

 engravings; a striking warrant and example for 

 our present work, and for those monographs we are 

 making it our business to supply. There are thirty- 

 two engravings of the genus Mus alone, frequently 

 illustrative not only of their general appearance, 

 but of their habits, layers, food, and capture. The 

 following is Cuvier s estimate of this work : — " The 

 history and anatomy of these animals are unfolded 

 Avith that rich amplification of which Buffon and 

 Daubenton alone had previously set the example ; 

 and although, from modesty, the author has not 

 established new genera, yet his descriptions are so 

 precise, that any intelligent systematist may easily 

 extract the generic characters from them.** 



