122 MAMMALIA. 
which resembles the bark of a small dog. It is the Arct. ludovicianus 
of Say, Jour. to the Rocky Mountains, I. 451. M. Rafinesque, who states 
it has five toes to each foot, makes it the type of his genus CyNomys. 
Myoxus, Gm.* 
The Dormice have pointed lower incisors, and four grinders, the crown 
of each of which is divided by enamelled lines. 
They are pretty little animals, with soft fur, a hairy and even tufted 
tail, and a lively eye, which live on trees like squirrels, and feed on fruit. 
Of the numerous order of the Rodentia, this is the only subgenus in which 
there is no cecum. They become torpid in winter like the Marmots, and 
pass through it in the most profound lethargy}. 
M. glis, L.; Buff. VIII. xxiv. (The Fat Dormouse) (a). Size of 
of arat; ashy grey-brown above, whitish underneath; of a deeper 
brown around the eyes; tail very hairy the whole of its length, and 
disposed somewhat like that of a squirrel, and frequently a little 
forked at the extremity. It inhabits the south of Europe, and nestles 
in the hollows 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 delicacy of the very highest de- 
scription f. 
M. nitela, Gm.; Buff. VIII. xxv. (The Garden Dormouse). 
Somewhat less than the preceding; greyish-brown above; white un- 
derneath; black round the eye, which extends to the shoulder; tail 
tufted and black, tuft white. Common in the gardens of Europe, 
where it shelters itself in holes about the walls, and does much in- 
jury to trees. 
M. avellanarius, L.; Buff. VIII. xxvi. (The Common Dor- 
mouse). Size of a mouse; cinnamon-red above; white beneath; 
hairs of the tail somewhat disposed like a feather. From the forests 
of all Europe. It constructs its nest of grass on low branches, to 
bring up its young; the rest of the time, and particularly during 
winter, it remains in the hollows of trees.§ 
* Myoxus, Rat with a pointed nose. 
+ So natural is this to them, that a dormouse from Senegal (J. Coupeii), which 
had never experienced it in its native country, fell into a profound sleep in Europe 
the moment it was exposed to the cold. 
t The M. dryas of some authors (Schreb. 220, B) does not appear to me to differ 
from the Fat Dormouse. 
§ Add Myoxus Coupeii, Fred. Cuv. Mammif. 
@= (a) The instinct of the dormouse in providing for itself a proper retreat dur- 
ing the period of hybernation (see note, p. 71 of this volume) is often displayed with 
a prescience and circumspection which are scarcely credible in an animal usually 
rated at the lowest possible estimate in the scale of intelligence. A French natu- 
ralist has placed on record, in the Bibliotheque Universelle, an anecdote relating to 
a dormouse, which is at once curious and instructive. He placed four of these ani- 
mals in a cold temperature, which soon brought them into a state of lethargy, with 
the exception of one, which escaped secretly from the apartment. Some time after- 
wards, it was found in a deep cellar in the same house, where it had dug up the earth, 
and scraped the neighbouring wall, in order to heap up the mould and plaster, so as 
to form a mound of two feet in size. This mound was raised near a situation where 
