THE GUINEA PIG 241 



ing animals. The food of the Agouti consists chiefly of 

 herbage, roots, and fallen fruits ; nuts present no obstacle 

 to the sharp incisor teeth. When the animal is found 

 in the neighbourhood of sugar and other plantations its 

 raids lead to considerable damage, which has caused 

 planters to hunt the animal more than otherwise would 

 have been the case. In some of the West Indian Islands 

 it has been almost exterminated. Young Agoutis are no 

 uncommon pets in South America. 



FAMILY CAVIID^E (GUINEA PIGS). 

 GUINEA PIG (Cavia cobaya). 

 Coloured Plate XIII. Fig. i. 



The best known representative of the Cavies is the 

 animal commonly and absurdly called the Guinea Pig ; 

 the correct title is Guianan Pig, the creature being a native 

 of Guiana. There are no species of the animal in Africa, 

 so that ' Guinea ' is distinctly out of place. The Cavy is 

 a tailless animal, six or seven inches in length, with a coat 

 marked by its variety of colouring, irregular patches of 

 orange and black upon a white ground being not the least 

 beautiful. The Common Guinea Pig is doubtless the 

 descendant of a wild species that was first domesticated 

 by the Incas of Peru, and introduced into Europe by the 

 Dutch. 



The Guinea Pig is exceedingly prolific, producing litters 

 of as many as ten young ones at intervals of less than 

 three months. The young are wonderfully developed at 

 the time of their birth ; not only can they see, but they 

 possess their second set of teeth. In a few hours they 

 can run about, and before forty-eight hours have expired 

 they are nibbling not only soft food, but corn. Im- 

 mense numbers are reared in Europe, chiefly as pets 

 for children, for though the creature displays little intelli- 

 gence, nor evinces affection for its owner, it is very 

 cleanly, and never attempts to bite those who handle it. 



17 



