CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER 7. RODENTIA. 



393 



GUINEA-PIGS. 



as soon as they are born, without betraying the least concern. As she breeds once in the two 

 months, it has been calculated that a single couple may prove the source of one thousand individ- 

 uals in the course of a year. To check this excessive fecundity, nature has provided that many 

 of them should fall a sacrifice to cold and moisture, to the feeble and short-lived affection of their 

 parents, to their quarrels with one another, and to their incapacity of defending themselves against 

 cats and other beasts of prey. Their life is almost an incessant round of eating, sleeping, and re- 

 producing their kind. 



BufFon asserts that they never drink, but this not correct, for they are very fond of milk, and, 

 in default of it, have recourse to water. They readily feed on all sorts of herbs, but prefer parsley 

 and the tops of carrots even to bread or flour. They are also very fond of apples and other fruits, 

 and will feed on grain, and tea-leaves. They eat precipitately, like rabhits, and very often, and 

 but little at a time. They sleep with their eyes half open, like the, hare, and continue watchful 

 if apprehensive of danger. Their usual cry resembles the grunting of a young pig; but they also 

 express pleasure or pain by appropriate sounds. They are very susceptible to cold, and will press 

 together to avoid its effects. Though naturally tame and gentle in their deportment, they are 

 incapable of strong attachment. They seem to be governed by instinct, and to have less of 

 what may be called intelligence than almost any other rodent. They love dark and intricate re- 

 treats, and seldom venture out of concealment when danger is at hand. They are at great pains 

 to keep themselves and one another clean, frequently licking and smoothing their own and their 

 neighbors' fur. 



With scarcely sufficient courage to defend themselves against the attacks of a mouse, their ani- 

 mosities against those of their own species are obstinate and violent, and generally originate. in a 

 lesire of possessing the warmest corner, or the most agreeable food. The males' also have sharp 

 conflicts of gallantry. Their mode of fighting is very singular, for one of them seizing the neck of 

 ts antagonist with its teeth, attempts to tear off the hair, while the other turns its posteriors to 

 he aggressor, kicks up behind like a horse, and scratches his rival's flanks even to the effusion of 

 jlood. The only battles which they fight are, however, with one another; for they may be taken, 

 ■md even killed, without offering any resistance, farther than very feeble attempts at escape. 

 Vol. I.— 50 



