RODENTIA. 145 
are somewhat longer in proportion than those of Rats in general, 
and their thumb and little toe slightly separated. Their tail is long 
and hairy. The sandy and warm parts of the eastern continent 
produce several species. 
G. indicus; Dipus indicus, Hardw., Linn. Trans. VIII, pl. 
vii; Hérine, Fred. Cuv. Mammif. (The India Gerbil.) Size 
of the fat Dormouse ; fawn coloured above, whitish beneath ; 
tail longer than the body, and blackish at the end. To this 
species should be approximated the 
G. meridianus; D. meridianus, Schreb. 231. (The Torrid 
Gerbil.) Which is about the same colour, but a little smaller. 
G. tamaricinus ; D. tamaricinus, Schreb. 232. (The Tamarisk 
Gerbil.) The tail is annulated with brown. 
G. pyramidum; D. pyramidum, Oliv. (The Gerbil of the 
Pyramids.) The hind feet more elongated ; size of the fat Dor- 
mouse ; red above, whitish beneath. 
There is one in Senegal of a livelier red and a purer white. 
Another at the Cape a little ee reddish, and the tail less 
hairy at the end. 
A third in Nubia, about half the size, of a light red above, 
and a beautiful white beneath. The 
Mertones, Fred. Cuy. 
Which we separate from the other Gerbils, have the hind feet 
still longer ; the tail nearly naked, and a very small tooth before the 
superior molars ; characters which approximate them to the Jer- 
boas. Their upper incisors are grooved like those of the Gerbils, 
and their toes also are similar. There is a small species in North 
America, the ‘ 
Mus canadensis, Penn.; Dipus canadensis, Sh. Il, part 1, pl. 
161; Dipus americanus, Barton. Size of a Mouse; fawn co- 
loured grey; tail longer than the body. A very active animal, 
that shuts itself up in its burrow, and passes the winter in a 
state of lethargy.(1) 
Cricetus, Cuv. 
The Hamsters have nearly the same kind of teeth as Rats, but 
their tail is short and hairy, and the two sides of their mouth are 
hollowed into sacs or cheek pouches, in which they transport the 
grain they collect to their subterraneous abodes. 
C. vulgaris; M. cricetus, L.; Marmotte d@ Allemagne, Sc. ; 
(1) Add Gerbillus labradorius, Harl., or M. labrad., Sabine, Frankl. Voy. p. 661. 
Vou. L.—T 
