118 CLASS MAMMALIA. 



In addition to the characters given by our author to the 1 

 subgenus Myoxus, we shall merely add, that their eyes are 

 large and prominent ; large ears; mustachios long; ante- 

 rior paws with four toes, and the rudiment of a thumb, 

 furnished with an obtuse nail; the posterior paws have five 

 toes, armed with sharp nails. 



The animals proper to this subdivision inhabit the tem- 

 perate climates, and live on fruit of all sorts, and reside in 

 trees ; hence they seem to be intermediate between Rats 

 and Squirrels. In winter, after having collected a small 

 supply of stores for use when they wake, they fall into a 

 long lethargy. 



The Loir, or Fat Dormouse, (Myoxus glis, Gm.) is the 

 thickest species of this subdivision; its size is about that 

 of the squirrel ; the cheeks are covered with whitish hair ; 

 the eye is surrounded with a deep brown; the mustachios 

 are long ; the upper part of the body is ashy-gray brown, 

 the under part whitish ; the tail is covered with long hairs 

 of the same colour as the body, and disposed in a similar 

 manner to those of the squirrel. 



The Loir much resembles the squirrel in its manners ; 

 inhabits the forest ; climbs the trees, and leaps from branch 

 to branch, with less agility, it is true, and lives on the 

 same food as the Squirrel. It is said also to feed on small 

 nestling birds, but it does not make a nest or bed in the 

 trees like the Squirrel. It however constructs a bed of moss 

 in hollow trees 5 and retreats sometimes into the clefts of 

 rocks ; it fears humidity, drinks but little, and rarely de- 

 scends to the ground. 



These animals couple in spring, and the female brings 

 forth in the summer four or five at a birth ; they grow 

 quickly, and are said not to live beyond six years. In win- 

 ter these little animals fall into a torpid state, produced by 

 the coldness of their blood. They possess so little animal 

 heat, that it scarcely exceeds the ordinary temperature of. 



