MARSDENIA MARTE N. 



however, one or two coloured varieties, one spotted, 

 another waved, (which is the one to which the name 

 zizel is more immediately applied,) and a third one is 

 of a uniform yellowish brown. This species is under- 

 stood to be considerably more carnivorous than the 

 true marmots ; for, along with its hoards of seeds 

 and small fruits, the bodies of little quadrupeds are 

 met with. The name Siberian marmot is not very 

 correctly applied to it, inasmuch as it occurs in longi- 

 tude from Bohemia and some other parts of Germany, 

 eastward to the shores of the Pacific, and southward 

 to Persia and India. 



Parry's Marmot (S. Parryi) is an American species, 

 belonging to the same genus, and is found in the 

 extreme north of the American continent, having 

 been noticed by Hearne on his journey, and it was 

 considered by him as a ground squirrel. Richardson 

 observed it again on Franklin's expedition, and 

 assigned it its true place in the system. It has the 

 fore paws with five toes on each, the external ears 

 exceedingly small, and the tail long, and black at the 

 extremity. The upper part of its body is mottled 

 with black and white, and the under part is rusty 

 red. It is furnished with cheek pouches ; but though 

 we may conclude from its structure that its habits do 

 not differ greatly from the species last described, it 

 has not been observed with sufficient minuteness for 

 enabling us to state positively anything respecting 

 its habits. 



Franklin's Marmot, (S. Franklinii.} This species 

 is known in its native country by the name of the 

 grey marmot of America. The hair on the upper 

 part of the body is short, and barbed or annulated 

 with a number of colours, consisting of blackish, 

 sandy white, black and white, yellow and blackish, 

 blended together on different parts of the hairs. The 

 hairs on the under part are blackish at the roots, and 

 sandy white at the points ; and those on the tail are 

 annulated in a similar manner. These different co- 

 lours of the single hairs of the covering give the 

 animal a greyish appearance, with the exception of 

 the long hairs above and below the eyes, and the 

 moustachios, which are black. 



Richardson's Marmot ( Richardsonii) is another 

 native of the far northern parts of America, which is 

 locally known by the name, of the tawny marmot. 

 The top of the head is covered with short hairs, 

 which are black at the base and brighter coloured at 

 the points. The muzzle and cheeks are brownish, 

 and the brown hairs mixed partially with the blackish 

 ones on the top of the head. The throat is sandy 

 white. The upper part of the body is covered with 

 soft fur, blackish at the base and yellow at the points, 

 which gives it the tawny appearance from which it 

 obtains its local name ; but the middle of the back is 

 of nearly the same colour as the top of the head. The 

 flanks are greyish brown ; and all the under part 

 reddish brown. The tail is covered thinly with long 

 hairs, which are annulated with different colours. 

 The external ears are oval and short. The inner toe 

 on the fore foot is very small, and has a short blunt 

 claw ; the toes on the other feet, both before and 

 behind, are well developed, with horn-coloured claws, 

 very sharp and crooked. It is presumed that this 

 species partakes a good deal of the carnivorous cha- 

 racter ; but both its manners and its habitation are 

 very imperfectly known. 



The Powdered Marmot (S. pruinosa) is another 

 North American species, about the size of a 



8T1 



rabbit. The point of the nose is black ; the ears 

 short and oval ; the covering on the upper part formed 

 of hairs annulated with three different colours ash- 

 coloured at the roots, black in the middle of the 

 length, and white at their extremities, which gives 

 the animal the appearance of being dark grey, pow- 

 dered over with whitish. The tail is a mixture of 

 black and red, and the cheeks are whitish. 



These species are probably not the only ones in 

 the extreme north of America ; and as the species of 

 the eastern continent is known to break into differ- 

 ently coloured varieties in places which differ in their 

 physical characters, it is by no means improbable that 

 the American ones may do the same ; and that some 

 of those which have been described and named as 

 different species, may be only accidental varieties of 

 the same. 



All the animals of this genus are more nocturnal in 

 their habits than the true marmots ; and from this, 

 and their living solitary and in wild places, their 

 manners are not so easily studied ; neither is it easy 

 to come to a just conclusion as to what is a species 

 and what is not. Social animals can always be stu- 

 died with comparative ease ; because their social 

 habits make them less afraid of man than the solitary 

 ones are ; and there is the advantage of seeing num- 

 bers of them together, which is always a certain 

 means of establishing species, and ascertaining ha- 

 bits in a more satisfactory manner, than when only 

 one species can be seen at a time. Altogether the 

 marmot group, both in the true marmots and in the 

 allied genus of which we have now given an out- 

 line, are interesting animals, from their peculiar 

 habits, and also from the place which they occupy in 

 the classification. 



MARSDENIA (R. Brown). A genus of very 

 fragrant under-shrubs, natives of Syria and New 

 South Wales. They belong to the fifth class of 

 Linnaean botany, and to the natural order Asclepiadece. 

 They are easily managed greenhouse plants. 



MARSH CINQUEFOIListhe Comarum palustre 

 of Linnaeus, a common British bog plant belonging 

 to Rosaceee. 



MARSH MALLOW is the Althcca offidnalis of 

 Linnaeus, a British plant formerly famous for its 

 medicinal qualities. It belongs to Malvacece, and is 

 most frequently met with on salt marshes. 



MARSH MARIGOLD is the Caltha palustris of 

 Linnaeus, a very conspicuous British plant frequently 

 seen in damp meadows. It belongs to Ranunculacece. 

 A double variety of it is cultivated in flower-gardens. 



MARSUPIALIA. Mammalia which have a 

 double gestation, and, generally speaking, an abdo- 

 minal marsupinm or pouch for receiving the young. 

 See MAMMALIA. 



MARTEN (Mustc/a). An extensive genus of 

 digitigrade mammalia, first established by Linnseus, 

 but considered as a sort of sub-tribe or section by 

 Cuvier, and by him arranged into four genera. An 

 account of the last of these in Cuvier's order, the 

 otter, will be found under the title LUTRA in its place 

 in the alphabet ; and therefore the details of this 

 article will be restricted to the other three. There 

 is some advantage in thus separating the otters from 

 the rest ; because though in their general structure 

 they agree with the others, and are equally carnivor- 

 ous, yet they have webbed feet adapted for swimming' 

 and teed upon fish, while the rest of the section, in 

 all the three genera, feed chiefly, and many of them 

 O2 



