172 



THE GNAWERS OR RODENTS. 



the sixteenth century. The aperea inhabits 

 the borders of the forests of Paraguay, lives 

 in small troops, and when it comes out to 

 graze early in the morning and in the evening 

 is rendered by its stupidity an easy prey to 

 carnivores, serpents, and rapacious birds. Its 

 length is about lo inches. Its colour is brown 

 or grayish-brown on the back, light gray or 

 yellowish under- 

 neath. The head 

 with the short broad 

 ears, the thick stumpy 

 body, the short legs 

 with four toes in 

 front, three behind, 

 the bearing, the 

 short trot, every- 

 thing, in short, is ex- 

 actly as in our guinea- 

 pig. The dentition 

 also is the same. In 

 the aperea the in- 

 cisors are slightly 

 yellow, but their size 

 as well as the struc- 

 ture of the cheek- 

 teeth, which are al- 

 most divided into 

 two parts by the 

 double fold of enamel, offer no point of dis- 

 tinction. The skull of the aperea is slightly 

 pointed in front, more rounded behind; the 

 guinea-pig is almost always marked with white, 

 yellow, or brown spots: — these are the only 

 points of distinction, and these are, unques- 

 tionably, the result of domestication, such as 

 have been brought about in many other 

 animals by the same means. 



The Capybara {^Hydrochosrus capybara), fig. 

 235, is the rodent which, among all those 

 belonging to South America, shows the most 

 complete adaptation to an aquatic life. It is 

 of the same size and general appearance as a 

 one-year-old pig, for it attains a weight of 

 about I cwt., a length of 4 feet, and a height 

 of about 20 inches. It is the largest of all 



Fig. 234. — The Restless Cavy or Aperea {Cavia aperea). page 171 



rodents, and, as is indicated by its Latin and 

 German names (both meaning "water-pig"), 

 is very fond of the water, into which it is 

 always ready to plunge on the approach of 

 danger, uttering at the time a peculiar cry. 

 The thick head with the blunt muzzle and the 

 cleft upper lip carries small ears and inexpres- 

 sive eyes. The four toes of the fore-feet and 



the three toes of the 

 hind-feet have large 

 flat rounded hoofs, 

 and are connected 

 by a web. A stump 

 serves for a tail. The 

 anus and the sexual 

 organs are covered 

 by a fold of skin 

 forming a sort of 

 sack. The strong 

 reddish-brown bris- 

 tles are, as in the pig, 

 only sparsely scat- 

 tered over the sur- 

 face of the body. 

 The dentition is ex- 

 tremely remarkable. 

 The strong white in- 

 cisors are grooved ; 

 the cheek-teeth are 

 composed of obliquely placed close-set plates 

 of enamel, which, in the hindmost tooth, are 

 so close together that this tooth resembles 

 that of an elephant, while in those nearer the 

 front of the mouth these plates are arranged 

 like a V lying on its side with the point 

 directed inwards. 



The capybara lives in families on the marshy 

 banks of the rivers of South America. It 

 runs little, seldom goes far from the banks, 

 but springs well, and swims and dives with 

 wonderful dexterity. It would lead a quiet 

 life, like the peace-loving and ease-loving, 

 not very intelligent animal that it is, were 

 it not that the large beasts of prey, the huge 

 serpents of South America, large fish, and 

 above all, man, stand constantly on a war- 



