CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER 7. RODEXTIA 



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resorts, -where it makes sad havoc, especially among the wall-fruits, peaches, pears, apricots, &c. 

 Its winter store consists of nuts, peas, beans, and the like. These are collected in some hidden 

 recess, where ten to twelve individuals assemble to pass their winter's sleep. The summer nest is 

 made in cavities in walls or holes in trees. The young are four or five in number. 



Other species of Dormouse are as follows: the Dryad Dormouse, M. dryaA the M. nitedula 



of Pallas, found in the forests of the Caucasus, and in the valley of the Volga, held bv some to be 

 a variety of the Lerot ; the AC. orobinus of Sennaar ; the M. Coupeii of Senegal ; the M. m urin m 

 of the Cape of Good Hope and Mozambique. These African species constitute the genus Eliomys 

 of Wagner. The M. elegdns or M. lineatus is found in Japan. 



Genus GRAPHILRE : Graphiurus. — Of this two species are named: the Cape Gkaphiure, 

 G. Capensis, resembles the dormouse in appearance ; it is of a grayish-brown, and of the size of the 

 Lerot; its habits are not known. It was discovered at the Cape of Good Hope by M. Catoire. 

 Ogilbv notices a second species under the name of G. elegdns, also of Southern Africa. 



THE BLACK EAT. 



THE MUKLL^E. 



The MURID.E, deriving their name from 3fus, a rat or mouse, form the most extensive family 

 of all the rodents, comprising, when taken in its largest sense, a great number of genera and species, 

 which, though none of them attain to any considerable size, become worthy of serious notice from 

 their prodigious multiplication, and the destructive influence which they exert over vegetation 

 and the fruits of the labor of the agriculturist. The type of this family is found in the genus 

 Mus, to which our common rats and mice belong. Their general . characteristics are that the 

 tail is more or less elongated, and usually naked: the eves are of moderate size; and the external 



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ears distinctly developed ; the hind-legs are the longest, and possess five complete toes, while the 

 anterior feet have only four toes and a sort of wart, which represents" the thumb ; the lower 

 incisor teeth are narrow and pointed ; the angle of the lowev jaw is rounded, and the clavicles are 

 complete. These animals generally hold their food in their fore-paws while they eat, sitting 

 upon their haunches during the operation. They are all burrowing animals, and most of them 

 Vol. I. — 54 



