144 ANIMALS OF THE 



iron-grey colour, with seven longitudinal whitish 

 streaks along the sides of the male, and five along 

 those of the female. As for the flying squirrels, 

 they are of a distinct kind, and shall be treated 

 of by themselves. 



These, which I suppose to be but a few of the 

 numerous varieties of the squirrel, sufficiently 

 serve to show how extensively this animal is dif- 

 fused over all parts of the world. It is not to be 

 supposed, however, that every variety is capable 

 of sustaining every climate ; for few animals are 

 so tender, or so little able to endure a change of 

 abode, as this. Those bred in the tropical cli- 

 mates will only live near a warm sun ; while, on 

 the contrary, the squirrel of Siberia will scarcely 

 endure the temperature of ours. These varieties 

 do not only differ in their constitutions and co- 

 lour, but in their dispositions also ; for while 

 some live on the tops of trees, others feed, like 

 rabbits, on vegetables below. Whether any of 

 these, so variously coloured, and so differently 

 disposed, would breed among each other, we 

 cannot tell ; and since, therefore, we are left in 

 uncertainty upon this point, we are at liberty 

 either to consider each as a distinct species by 

 itself, or only a variety that accident might have 

 originally produced, and that the climate or soil 

 might have continued. For my own part, as the 

 original character of the squirrel is so strongly 

 marked upon them all, I cannot help considering 

 them in the latter point of view rather as the 

 common descendants of one parent, than origi- 

 nally formed with such distinct similitudes. 



