138 CLASS MAMMALIA. 



tended, rounded, and simple. The tongue is thick and soft, 

 and there are large pouches in the interior of the mouth : 

 the upper lip is provided with long mustachios. 



The entire body of this animal is covered with long, thick, 

 and soft hair, of a grayish fawn, on the upper parts, and a 

 deep black on the lower. The sides of the head and body, 

 the circumference of the ears and the buttocks, are of a 

 brilliant fawn. There are three spots of whitish-yellow, 

 on each side of the body. 



The Hamster is an animal of great neatness and cleanli- 

 ness. It is constantly employed in polishing and cleansing 

 its hair with its paws, which it licks like a cat, and then ap- 

 plies to its body. It climbs with great facility, using its 

 fore-paws like hands ; but it walks and runs heavily. As 

 long as it can conceal itself, it remains inactive a consider- 

 able part of the day. Otherwise it seems agitated, with- 

 out, however, being affected by fear. When in its motions 

 it meets with any thing eatable, it stops, takes some part, 

 and casts by the rest for future use. It will eat fruits, 

 roots, onions, and corn, which it prefers to every thing 

 else. It does not drink, urines often, and its excrements 

 are black, of the size and form of a middling bean, some- 

 what elongated. The Hamster is found in France only 

 near the Lower Rhine, but is common in all the Northern 

 parts of Germany, where the soil is suitable. It is also 

 found in Poland and part of Russia, fyc. 



The Hamster is one of the best known of the Rodentia. 

 No where has it been spoken of with so much detail and ex- 

 actitude, as in the special treatise of Sulzer upon it. 



We are told, however, that there is a variety of this 

 species entirely black. 



The Canada Hamster (Mus Bursarius, Shaw) was first de- 

 scribed and figured in the Linnean Transactions, and subse- 

 quently by Dr. Shaw in the General Zoology. We are, 

 however, still uninformed, with sufficient certainty, as to its 



