NATURAL HISTORY. 245 



selves. As in these respects they so soon attain per- 

 fection, so the duration of their life must be very short; 

 a circumstance which cannot but heighten our idea of 

 their prodigious multiplication. Aristotle tells us that 

 having put a pregnant mouse into a vessel of corn, he 

 soon after found in it one hundred and twenty mice. 



THE LONG-TAILED FIELD MOUSE. 



THE long-tailed field mouse is smaller than the 

 rat, but larger than the common mouse, and does not 

 live in houses. It is remarkable for the largeness and 

 prominence of its eyes. It differs too both from the 

 rat and the mouse in the colour of its skin, which, 

 while it is tolerably white under the belly, is of a red- 

 dish brown upon the back. The species is generally 

 and abundantly diffused. 



The largest are above four inches from the tip of 

 the nose to the root of the tail ; and the smallest, 

 which appear to be full grown as well as the others, 

 are an inch shorter. Although many are found of 

 different intermediate sizes, the larger and the smaller 

 are all of the same species. 



These creatures are fond of dry and elevated grounds. 

 In woods, and in the fields adjoining to them, they 

 are to be found in great numbers. They tonceal 

 themselves in holes, which they either find already 

 made, or which they make for themselves, under 

 bushes, or the trunks of hollow trees. In these they 

 amass so prodigious a quantity of acorns, nuts, &o. 

 that in one hole there has been found a bushel at a time. 



These holes are generally more than a foot under 

 ground, and often divided into two cells, of which the 



