

ECHIMYS. MAMMALIA. 117 



L. lagurus, Desni. Fur cinereous, with a black dorsal line and 

 no collar ; fore-feet pentadactyle ; tail very short. Inhabits Si- 

 beria. Pall. Glir. t. 13, A. 



L. terrestris, F. Cuv. Fur blackish gray, slightly variegated with 

 yellow, paler beneath ; tail black. Europe F. Cuv. Mam. 



Gen. 95. ECHIMYS, Geoff. Cuv. 



Incisors f , canines {}-, molars |-|, 20. Molars simple, 

 with transverse plates united by twos at the end, or isolated ; 

 four unguiculated toes and the vestige of a thumb on the 

 fore-feet, five on those behind; tail long, scaly; the back more 

 or less covered with flat spines. 



E. crislaius, Desm. Fur chestnut-coloured above; head deep brown, 

 with a narrow white stripe down the middle ; tail longer than 

 the body, black, with its last half white or yellowish. Surinam. 

 Buff. Sup. vii. pi. 72. 



E. daclylinus, Geoff. Fur of the back deep brown, mixed with gray 

 and yellow, reddish on the flanks ; two middle toes of the fore- 

 feet longest ; tail longer than the body. S. America. 



E. spinosus, Desm. Fur dark brown, mixed with reddish above, 

 j? white beneath; hairs on the back mixed with strong spines. Seven 

 inches long. South America. Mam. 291. 



E. hispidus, Geoff. Fur reddish brown, lighter underneath; head 

 fo reddish ; tail as long as the body, scaly ; hairs of the back very 

 rough. S. America. Desm. Mam. 292. 



E. didelphoides, Geoff. Fur brown upon the back, yellowish below ; 

 tail the length of the body, the greater part naked and scaly. 

 S. America Desm. Mam. 292. 



E. Cayennensis, Geoff. Fur red, passing to brown on the back, white 

 below ; hind-feet with long tarsi, and three middle toes equal. 

 S. America. Desm. Mam. 292. 



E. setosus, Geoff. Fur red, soft, with few spines, whitish below; end 

 of the feet white; tail rather longer than the body S. America. 



Gen. 96. MYOXUS, Cuv. Geoff. Mus, Lin. 



Incisors f , canines g-g, molars f-f , 20. Molars simple, with 

 transverse projecting lines ; fore-feet with four toes and the 

 rudiment of a thumb ; tail very long, round, with hair tufted 

 or depressed. 



M. glis, Desm. (Sciurus glis, Lin.) The Fat Dormouse. Fur 

 brownish ash-coloured above, whitish below, with brown round 



the eyes ; tail hairy. Six inches long. Europe Buff. viii. pi. 24. 



The M. dry as of Schreber is considered a variety of the M. Glis. 

 The Dormouse resembles the squirrel in its manners and food. It couples 

 in spring, and the female brings forth four or five at a birth. On the approach of winter 

 this little animal retires into the crevices of rocks or cavities of trees, rolls itself 

 up into a ball and passes the winter in torpidity, awaking, however, to take food 

 when the temperature is raised. It is used for food in Italy, as it was by tlie ancient 





