64 VERTEBRATA. MAMMALIA. 



Arabian pitch tent there, neither shall the shepherds 

 make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert 

 shall lie there ; and their houses shall be full of dole- 

 ful creatures ; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs 

 shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the is- 

 lands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons 

 in their pleasant palaces." * 



Vulpes,-\ the Fox. 



The Foxes differ from the dogs by a longer and 

 more bushy tail, by a more pointed muzzle, and by 

 the pupil of the eye, which, in contracting under the 

 stimulus of light, assumes a linear form, like that of 

 the Cats, instead of a circular one, as in the Dogs. 

 They burrow in the earth, prey only on the smaller 

 animals, and diffuse a rank odour. The species are 

 small, but rather numerous, scattered over the world 

 with the exception of Australia. They are noted, 

 even to a proverb, for sly circumspection, and insi- 

 dious cunning ; timid and cowardly, they never " do 

 battle " except when driven to extremity. Still 

 more nocturnal than the Wolf, they cannot bear the 

 stimulus of broad daylight, " which soon becomes 

 painful to their eyes, thus compelling them to close 

 their pupils to such an extent as to render their 

 vision very imperfect. Much of the cunning sus- 

 piciousness of manner for which the Fox is notorious 

 is due to this very circumstance ; his attitudes and 

 motions necessarily partake of the uncertainty of his 

 sight, and he appears to be most cunning when he 



* Isa. xiii. 19 22. t Its Latin name. 



