RODENTIA. 155 



The food of the whole tribe is exclusively vege- 

 table ; in their manners they are gentle, but exces- 

 sively timid, and perhaps no species more so than our 

 common Hare, whose speed, heightened almost to 

 madness by the agony of its fear, has given so ]jeen 

 a relish to the excitement of the chase. Yet, as the 

 author above-quoted justly observes, "mercy and 

 humanity can scarcely consist with the ardent love of 

 a sport, the whole interest of which depends upon the 

 intense exertion to which a helpless and defenceless 

 creature can be driven by the agonies of fear and 

 desperation."* Four species are inhabitants of the 

 British Islands. 



Hydrochoerus^ the Capybara. 



This animal is interesting because it possesses pe- 

 culiarities in the teeth, too technical to be detailed 

 here, which ally it with the Pachyderms. It is, 

 moreover, the largest of the Rodentia, and has in 

 some degree the clumsiness of form, and the ten- 

 dency to produce superficial fat, which mark many 

 of the thick-skinned tribes. Linnaeus even placed 

 the only species known (H. Capybard) in the Hog 

 genus. It associates in troops, inhabiting the bor- 

 ders of the great South American rivers; and its 

 fondness for the water is another point of re- 

 semblance to the tribes above-named. Its flesh is 

 highly esteemed. It is said to feed upon fish, which 

 it catches with its feet and teeth, but this seems 



* Bell, Brit. Quad. p. 336. 



f "r2<w, hydor, water, and 0^0?, choiros, a hog. 



