358 THE COMMON JERBOA. 



eaten or not. Ibnalgiauzi thinks it may not be eaten, nor any 

 other animal living under ground, except the el dabb, a large 

 lizard, said to possess a certain medicinal property : but several 

 other authorities, as Ata, Achmet, and Benhantal, expressly 

 say that it may be lawfully eaten. This, however, appears to 

 be an indulgence, for we read in Damir, that the use of this 

 animal is granted because the Arabs delight in it ; and Ibn 

 Bitar says, that it is Israelitish food, as the flesh, if dried in 

 the outward air, is very nourishing, and prevents costiveness - } 

 hence we may infer that medicinal considerations, also, have 

 sanctioned the eating of it. The buttocks, thighs, and part of 

 the back, are roasted and eaten by the Arabs. Bruce ate them, 

 and says they are very fat, and not distinguishable in taste or 

 colour from a young rabbit. The same traveller, having obtained 

 several jerboa skins, uninjured by shot, got them dressed in 

 Syria and in Greece, and sewed together, using the tail as in 

 ermine for the lining of a cloak, and he says that the longer 

 they wore, the glossier and finer was their appearance. 



THE BEAVER. (Castor Fiber, Linn.) 



The beaver inhabits the northern continental regions of the 

 Old World, and the whole extent of the continent of North 

 America at least in all the higher latitudes ; for wherever the 



