NATURAL HISTORY. 117 



soft and warm texture. Numbers of these animals are 

 anually destroyed for the sake of their skins. Coquimbo 

 appears to be the place where they are taken in the greatest 

 numbers. 



The Chinchilla lives in society like the rabbit, and resides 

 in burrows dug in the ground. Its food is entirely vegetable, 

 and principally consists of bulbous roots. In captivity it is 

 quiet and inoffensive, but seems to betray no particular 

 attachment to its keeper ; neither does it seem playful. Its 

 tail, covered with long bushy hairs, is usually held turned up 

 over its back, like that of the squirrel, and probably for the 

 same reason. 



From the various specimens of fur sent to this country it 

 would appear that there are two species of Chinchilla, but it 

 is not quite certain. The length of the Chinchilla is about 

 nine inches, exclusive of its tail, which measures about five. 



Sub-family c. Dipina. 

 Drrus. (Gr. A^V, double; 7roi>f, a foot.) 



^Egyptius (Lat. belonging to Egypt), the Jerboa, 



The JERBOAS are celebrated for their powers of leaping. 

 Their long hind-legs enable them to take enormous springs, 



