RODENTIA. Ill 



lethargy in deep holes, the entra«ce of which they close with a quasitity of grass.* Tliey live in societ)-, 

 and are easily rendered tame. 



Two species are known in the Eastern continent. The Alpine Marmot (Mus. alpimis, Lin.), as large as a Rabbit, 

 with a short tail, and yellowish-^ey fur, more ash-coloured towards the head, which inhabits lofty mountains 

 immediately below the perpetual snow line : and the Polish Marmot, or Bobac {M. bobac, Lin.), the same size as 

 the other, and yellowish-grey, with a rvisset tint about the head ; it inhabits the lesser mountains and hills from 

 Poland to Kamtschatka, and often burrows in the hardest ground. Russian travellers in Bucharia mention some 

 others, as Arct. fulvus, leptodactiilus, and musogaricus, which are perhaps not sufficiently determined. America 

 likewise produces several Marmots. 



Under the name of 



SousLiKS {Sjjcrmophilus, F. Cuv.), — 



May he distinguished several Marmots which have cheek-pouches. Their superior lightness has 

 caused them to be designated Ground-squirrels, [and they connect the true Squirrels with the 

 foregoing]. Eastern Eiu^ope produces one, — 



M. cifillus, Lin.— A pretty little animal, of a greyish-brown, waved or mottled with white, the spots small, which 

 is found from Bohemia to Siberia. It has a particular fondness for Hesh, and does not spare even its own species. 

 [There is another in Russia, Sp. gnttatus, Tem., and more, further eastward, as Sp. xanthoprymnus, a native of 

 Trebizond ; but North America produces by far the greater number, some of which are beautifully marked with 

 white lines along the back, between each of which is a series of white spots in the elegant Sp. Iloodii.] 



It appears that we should approximate to the Marmots, a rodent remarkable for the habit of living 

 in great troops, in immense burrows, which have even been styled villages. It is called the Prairie 

 Bog or Barking Squirrel, on account of its voice, which resembles the bark of a small Dog : the 

 Jrctomys liidovicianus of Say. M. Rafinesque, who [erroneously] ascribes to it five toes to each foot, 

 has formed of it his genus Cynomys. [It is in every respect a true Marmot. 



All the foregoing genera, with the prominent exception of Cheiromys, are simply modifications of a 

 single peculiar type, and together compose the first principal section of the &iMnc?ffi or Squirrel family.] 



The Dormice {Myoxus, Gm.) — 

 Have the lower incisors pointed, and four grinders, the crown of each of which is divided by closely- 

 folded lines of enamel. 



They are pretty little animals, with soft fur, a hairy and even tufted tail, and lively expression : they 

 inhabit trees like the Squirrels, and subsist on their produce. In the very numerous order of rodents, 

 this is the only subgenus which is destitute of a coecum. They become torpid in winter, like the 

 Marmots, passing that season in a very profound lethargy : and so natural is it for them to fall into 

 this state, that a species from Senegal {M. Coupeii), which had probably never experienced it in its 

 native country, became torpid in Europe as soon as it was exposed to cold. 



The Fat Dormouse {M. glis, Lin.)— Size of a Rat ; greyish ash-brown above, whitish underneath ; of a deeper 

 brown around the eyes ; tail very hairy throughout its length, and disposed somewhat like that of a Squirrel, fre- 

 quently also a little forked at its extremity. It inhabits the south of Europe, and nestles in the holes of trees and 

 fissures of rocks. It sometimes attacks small birds. This is probably the Rat fattened by the ancients, among 

 whom it was considered a great delicacy. [It is still eaten by the modern Italians.] 



The Garden Dormouse (M. ni7e?a).— Somewhat less than the preceding ; greyish-brown above, white beneath ; 

 black round the eye, which extends spreading to the shoulder ; the tail tufted only at the end, and black, w ith its 

 extremity white. This species is common in gardens, where it shelters itself in holes about the walls, and docs 

 much injury to the fruit-trees nailed to them. [It does not occur in Britain.] 



The Red Dormouse (j1/. avellanarius, Lin.)— Size of a Mouse; cinnamon-red above, white beneath; the 

 hairs of the tail disposed somewhat like a feather. From the forests of all Europe. It constructs its nest of grass 

 on low branches, in which it rears its young: the rest of its time, and particularly during winter, it remains in 

 the hollows of trees. 



[It has been said that this species cannot pierce a ripe nut-shell, and that its specific name does not correctly 

 apply ; but in coulinement we have frequently seen it penetrate to the kernel of the hardest hazel-nuts. 



The Grai'hyures (Graphyurus, F. Cuv.) — 

 Scarcely differ from the Dormice externally, but have weaker jaws, and a longer and more slender 

 intestinal canal : their molars are of small size, and simple structure ; and they have also no coecum to 

 the intestine. 



♦ The Ground-Squirrels ^Tamiat), »nd even the luembeM of the rcBtrictcd group Srmrtu, are more or lets suhjccl to become torpid in 



