THE CHINCHILLA. 241 
proaches to the class of Birds; the Otter, 
the Beaver, the Hippopotamus, the Walrus, 
the Whale, and many others, to the class of 
Fishes ; and the Armadilloes and Manises to 
the class of Reptiles, and in these to the 
class of insects; for the Insects and the Rep- 
tiles are closely united.* 
The Chinchilla, kept in Bruton-street, and 
of which a representation is annexed, is the 
first specimen of that animal ever seen in 
England, and perhaps in Europe, and was 
imported only last year. Before that time, 
too, the true description of the animal was 
almost wholly unknown, notwithstanding the 
myriads of Chinchilla skins which have found 
their way to Europe, as winter luxuries for 
the fair. | 
This specimen of the Chinchilla, as re- 
cently described, is about nine inches in 
length, with a tail of nearly five. Its pro- 
portions are close set, and its limbs compara- 
tively short ; but the linder legs are consi- 
derably longer than those before. The fur 
is long, thick, close, woolly, somewhat crisp 
and entangled, grayish, or ash-coloured 
* Society’s Museum, Nos. 268, 270. 
Y 
