DESCRIPTION OF A RODENT. 



be detected. At length they came upon a little mound, which 

 they immediately proceeded to excavate; and late in the 

 night they discovered the roof of the hut. They then re- 

 doubled their efforts to sweep away the snow obstructing the 

 door. On opening it a score of mice emerged from the cabin, 

 some of which they killed. 



For a picture of the poor victims we are indebted to M. 

 Hugi. " These little rodents are of a yellowish gray, and very 

 slender; from the head to the tip of the tail they measure 

 about nine inches. The hind paws are of a length wholly 

 disproportionate to the fore paws. The tail and ears are 

 naked ; their transparency is remarkable. . . . This animal," 

 adds M. Hugi, " appeared to me completely unknown, and I 

 do not remember to have seen it in any zoological collection," 



After determining its genus and species, the intrepid explorer 

 of the Alps was entitled to have given it a name ; but this 

 honour escaped him. 



The same little rodent 

 has since been found in 

 many other parts of the 

 Alps ; notably among 

 the rocks of the Grands- 

 Mulets,some 12,500 feet 

 above the sea-level. 



Desirous of comparing the climate of Spitzbergen with that 

 of the summit of the Alps, M. Martins established himself, in 

 1841, with his friend, A. Bravais, on the Faulhorn. "While," 

 he says, " we were engaged in our experiments, we often per- 



FIG. io. The Arctic Vole. 



