Order 5. EODENTIA. 99 



lethargy iu deep holes, the entrance of which they close with a quantity of grass.* They live in society, 

 and are easily rendered tame. 



IVo species are known in the Eastern continent. Tlie Alpine Marmot {Mus. afphiiis, Lin.), aslafe as a Kabbit 

 with a short tail, and yellowish-grey fur, more ash-coloured towards the bead, wliich inhabits lofty mountains 

 immediately below the perpetual snow hne : and the Polish Marmot, or Bobac {M. bobac, Lin.), the same size as 

 the other, and yellowish-grey, with a russet tint about the head ; it inhabits the lesser mountains and hills from 

 Poland to Kamtschatka, and often burrows in the hardest ground. Russian travellers in Bucharia mention some 

 o\.\iGxs, !Ls Arct. fidvHs, leptodactj/lus, and musogaricus, which are perhaps not sufficiently determined. America 

 likewise produces several Marmots. 



Under the name of . 



SousLiKS (Spermopkilus, F. Cuv.), — 



May be distinguished several Marmots which have cheek-pouches. Their superior lightness has 

 caused them to be designated Ground-squirrels, [and they connect the true Squirrels with the 

 foregoing]. Eastern Europe produces one, — 



M. citillus, Lin. — ^A pretty little animal, of a greyish-brown, waved or mottled with white, the spots small, which 

 is found from Bohemia to Siberia. It has a particular fondness for flesh, and does not spare even i-ts own species. 

 [There is another in Russia, <S/;. ^!(</a^«*. Tern., and more, further eastward, as tSp. xanfhoprymmis, a native of 

 Trebizond ; but North America produces by far the greater number, some of which are beautifully marked with 

 wliite lines along the back, between each of which is a series of white spots in the elegant Sip. Hoodii.] 



It appears that we should approximate to the Marmots, a rodent remarkable for the habit of living 

 in great troops, in immense burrows, which have even been styled villages. It is called the Prairie 

 Dog or Barking Squirrel, on account of its voice, which resembles the bark of a small Dog : the 

 Jrctomys ludovicianus of Say. M. Rafinesque, who [erroneously] ascribes to it five toes to each foot, 

 has formed of it his genus Cynomys. [It is in every respect a true Marmot. 



All the foregoing genera, with the prominent exception of Cheiromys, are simply modifications of a 

 single peculiar type, and together compose the first principal section of the SciuridoE or Squirrel family.] 



The Dormice (Myo.vus, Gm.) — 



Have the lower incisors pointed, and four grinders, the crown of each of which is dialed by closely- 

 folded lines of enamel. 



They are pretty little animals, with soft fur, a hairy and even tufted tail, and lively expression : they 

 inhabit trees like the Squirrels, and subsist on their produce. In the veiy numerous order of rodents, 

 this is the only subgenus which is destitute of a ccecum. They become torpid in winter, like the 

 Marmots, passing that season in a very profound lethargy : and so natural is it for them to fall into 

 this state, that a species from Senegal {M. Coupeii), which had probably never experienced it in its 

 native country, became torpid in Europe as soon as it was exposed to cold. 



The Fat Dormouse (M. glis, Lin.) — Size of a Rat ; greyish ash-brown above, whitish underneath ; of a deeper 

 brown around the eyes ; tail very hairy throughout its length, and disposed somewhat like that of a Squirrel, fre- 

 quently also a httle forked at its extremity. It inhabits the south of Europe, and nestles in the holes of trees and 

 fissures of rocks. It sometimes attacks small birds. This is probably the Rat fattened by the ancients, among 

 whom it was considered a great delicacy. [It is still eaten by the modern Italians.] 



The Garden Dormouse {M. j»7e;a).— Somewhat less than the preceding ; greyish-brown above, white beneath ; 

 black round the eye, which extends spreading to the shoulder ; the tail tufted only at the end, and black, with its 

 extremity white. This species is common in gardens, where it shelters itself in holes about the walls, and does 

 much injury to the fruit-trees nailed to them. [It does not occur in Britain.] 



The Red Dormouse {M. avellanariu^, Lin.)— Size of a Mouse; cinnamon-red above, white beneath; the 

 hairs of the tail disposed somewhat like a feather. From the forests of all Europe. It constructs its nest of grass 

 on low branches, in which it rears its young : the rest of its time, and particularly during winter, it remains in 

 the hollows of trees. 



[It has been said that this species cannot pierce a ripe nut-shell, and that its specific name does not correctly 

 apply ; but iu confinement we have frequently seen it penetrate to the kernel of the hardest hazel-nuts. 



The Graphyures (Grapkyurus, F. Cuv.) — 

 Scarcely differ from the Dormice externally, but have weaker jaws, and a longer and more slender 

 intestinal canal : their molars are of small size, and simple structure ; and they have also no coecura cu 

 the intestine. 



♦ Tlie Giound-Squirrels ,"/omi<7s), and even the members of Ihe restricted group Siiurus, are more or less subject to become torpia in 

 winter. — FId. 



