HARE KIND. 153 



ever came to be degraded into the rat or mouse 

 I cannot conceive, for it no way resembles them 

 in size, being nearly as big as a hare ; or in its 

 disposition, since no animal is more tractable, nor 

 more easily tamed. 



The marmot is, as was said, almost as big as a 

 hare, but it is more corpulent than a cat, and has 

 shorter legs. Its head pretty nearly resembles 

 that of a hare, except that its ears are much 

 shorter. It is clothed all over with very long 

 hair, and a shorter fur below. These are of dif- 

 ferent colours, black and grey. The length of 

 the hair gives the body the appearance of greater 

 corpulence than it really has, and at the same 

 time shortens the feet so that its belly seems 

 touching the ground. Its tail is tufted and well 

 furnished witlv hair, and it is carried in a straight 

 direction with its body. It has five claws behind, 

 and only four before. These it uses as the squir- 

 rel does, to carry its food to its mouth ; and it 

 usually sits upon its hinder parts to feed, in the 

 manner of that little animal. 



The marmot is chiefly a native of the Alps ; 

 and when taken young, is tamed more easily than 

 any other wild animal, and almost as perfectly as 

 any of those that are domestic.* It is readily 

 taught to dance, to wield a cudgel, and to obey 

 the voice of its master. Like the cat, it has an 

 antipathy to the dog ; and when it becomes fa- 

 miliar to the family, and is sure of being support- 



* BufTon, from whence the remainder of this description is taken. N. B 

 He takes it from Gesner, vol. xvii. 



