122 MAMMALIA. 



which resembles the bark of a small dog. It is the Arct. ludovicianus 

 of Say, Jour, to the Rocky Mountains, I. 451. M. Rafinesque, who states 

 it has five toes to each foot, makes it the type of his genus Cynomys. 



Myoxus, Gm* 



The Dormice have pointed lower incisors, and four grinders, the crown 



of each of which is divided by enamelled lines. 



They are pretty little animals, with soft fur, a hairy and even tufted 



tail, and a lively eye, which live on trees like squirrels, and feed on fruit. 



Of the numerous order of the Rodentia, this is the only subgenus in which 



there is no caecum. They become torpid in winter like the Marmots, and 



pass through it in the most profound lethargy ')■. 



M.glis,!..; Buff. VIII. xxiv. (The Fat Dormouse) (a). Size of 

 of a rat ; ashy grey-brown above, whitish underneath ; of a deeper 

 brown around the eyes; tail very hairy the whole of its length, and 

 disposed somewhat like that of a squirrel, and frequently a little 

 forked at the extremity. It inhabits the south of Europe, and nestles 

 in the hollows of trees and fissures of rocks. It sometimes attacks 

 small birds. This is probably the rat fattened by the ancients, 

 among whom it was considered a delicacy of the very highest de- 

 scription J. 



M. nitela, Gm. ; Buff. VIII. xxv. (The Garden Dormouse). 

 Somewhat less than the preceding; greyish-brown above; white un- 

 derneath; black round the eye, which extends to the shoulder; tail 

 tufted and black, tuft white. Common in the gardens of Europe, 

 where it shelters itself in holes about the walls, and does much in- 

 jury to trees. 



M. avellanarius, L. ; Buff. VIII. xxvi. (The Common Dor- 

 mouse). Size of a mouse; cinnamon-red above; white beneath; 

 hairs of the tail somewhat disposed like a feather. From the forests 

 of all Europe. It constructs its nest of grass on low branches, to 

 bring up its young; the rest of the time, and particularly during 

 winter, it remains in the hollows of trees. § 



* Myoxus, Rat with a pointed nose. 



t So natural is this to them, that a dormouse from Senegal {M. Coupeii), which 

 had never experienced it in its native country, fell into a profound sleep in Europe 

 the moment it was exposed to the cold. 



I The M.dryas of some authors (Schreb. 220, B) does not appear to me to differ 

 from the Fat Dormouse. 



§ Add Myoxus Coupeii, Fred. Cuv. Mammif. 



^^° (a) The instinct of the dormouse in providing for itself a proper retreat dur- 

 ing the period of hybernation (see note, p. 71 of this volume) is often displayed with 

 a prescience and circumspection which are scarcely credible in an animal usually 

 rated at the lowest possible estimate in the scale of intelligence. A French natu- 

 ralist has placed on record, in the Bibliotheque Universelle, an anecdote relating to 

 a dormouse, which is at once curious and instructive. He placed four of these ani- 

 mals in a cold temperature, which soon brought them into a state of lethargy, with 

 the exception of one, which escaped secretly from the apartment. Some time after- 

 wards, it was found in a deep cellar in the same house, where it had dug up the earth, 

 and scraped the neighbouring wall, in order to heap up the mould and plaster, so as 

 to form a mound of two feet in size. This mound was raised near a situation where 



