590 NATURAL HISTORY. 



The largest of the rodents is the water-cavy, or capybara of South 

 America, a huge, stupid beast four feet long, and no more interesting than 

 its relative, the familiar little Guinea pig, which comes from the same 

 region. This latter piebald creature is often kept as a pet; but why, it is 

 impossible to see, unless because it is so easily reared ; for in the whole 

 range of mammals there is not a single species which can excel it in 

 stupidity. It knows absolutely nothing, and can learn nothing. The 

 same object that frightens it to-day will alarm it every day for a year. 

 Besides its stupidity it has only one other remarkable feature, and that is 

 the rapidity with which it reproduces. It is uncertain from what wild 

 stock the Guinea pig has descended. There are several wild species, but 

 none of them are marked with the same colors. It seems probable that 

 this species had been domesticated for many years before America was 

 discovered. It may be remarked that the name Guinea pig arose from a 

 confusion of Guinea with Guiana. 



The pacas and agoutis are also South American animals with but little 

 of interest pertaining to them. The chinchilla, on the other hand, has a 

 celebrity on account of its beautiful fur, and hence may demand a little 

 more space. They are small animals, only about nine or ten inches in 

 length, and are found only on the western slope of the Andes, living among 

 the rocks. The fur is very thick and soft, and is beautifully marbled with 

 gray and dusky, features which have brought it into great repute. Still, 

 as the skins are small, it takes many to make a garment, and for this 

 reason a chinchilla sack is very expensive, though, of course, the value 

 varies with the caprices of fashion. In shape the chinchillas are something 

 like squirrels, but they lack the bushy tail of these forms. They are 

 active and agile, and in their motions they are much like our familiar 

 little ground-squirrels. Related to them is the viscacha or biscacha of 

 South America, a burrowing form whose holes are found all across the 

 southern part of that continent. There they replace the prairie-dog of our 

 plains, and in their burrows occurs the same species of burrowing-owl as is 

 found in the villages of the prairie-dogs of the north, the association being 

 of much the same nature. 



Everywhere one runs across the belief that the porcupines have the 

 power of shooting their quills to a considerable distance at any enemy. 

 The story has been refuted times innumerable, but still the belief remains. 

 No amount of contradiction seems able to put it down. The truth is that 

 these animals have some of the hairs modified into sharp, strong spines, 

 which are easily detached from the skin. The size of these spines varies 

 greatly in the different species. In our common form they are small and 

 but an inch or two in length, but in European and African species they 



