251 



appears to be pleased with being caressed. It is 

 verj neat, has no offensive smell, and maj be 

 kept, with very little inconvenience;, in a house, 

 and the trifling expense attending its keeping will 

 be amply repaid by its beautiful wool. The an- 

 cirjit Pcnu'ia IS empl )ved this wool in the manur 

 facture of several kinds of cloth^, to which thej 

 attached great value. 



The great \ ood-mouse (raus Maulinus) is an 

 animal of more than twice tV^ sizeof a marmot, 

 and was ^*ist discovered in i i64:, in a wood, iv\ 

 the piovince of Alaiile, and so vigorous was thq 

 defence that it made, that the dogs who attacked 

 it had much difficulty in overcoming it. Its hair 

 is of the same colour as that of the marmot, but 

 its ears are more pointed, the nose is longer, the 

 whiskers are disposed in four rows, it has four 

 toes on each foof, and it has a longer tail, and 

 closer covered with hair. The number and order 

 of the teeth are the same as those of the common 

 mouse. 



The dcgu (sciurus degus) is a species of dor- 

 rnouse, a little larger than the house-rat. Its 

 colour is a dirty white, except a blackish line 

 upon the shoulders, which reaches to the first 

 joint of the leg; the tail is terminated by a little 

 tuft of hair of thesame colour as the body. The 

 liead is short, the cars round, the nose sharp, and 

 furnished with whiskers ; of the upper jaw the 

 two incisors are cuneiforn^i, those of the lower 

 4 



