7234 Quadrupeds. 



existence of occasional black varieties of the brown rat, and occasional brown varieties 

 of the blael; rat ; but if this be so the names implying colour are not simply inappli- 

 cable, but injurious to Science. Whether other characters are more constant than 

 colour I will not pretend to say ; I think such constancy of distinctive character has 

 not been made out. I feel strongly inclined to think that geographical races, as the 

 old English black rat, the brown Norway rat, the slender Alexandrian rat, and several 

 others, have been somewhat too readily received as species, and to regard the facility 

 with which these races interbreed, and the extreme fecundity of the hybrids, as evidence 

 both of the unity of the species, and of the instability of the races. The same disposition 

 to vary within certain limits is exhibited in most of our domestic animals, a fact so 

 well known that we either preserve races or alter them at pleasure. Who that com- 

 pares the bulldog with the grayhound can fail to find in every bone characters of 

 distinction far more marked than between the fox and jackal ; and it is only our 

 knowledge of a multitude of facts bearing on the question that induces us to admit, 

 without a moment's hesitation, that the bulldog and grayhound are races and not 

 species, I may add that I have often thought that the confusion existing between 

 race and species has, in some instances, led to the reception of those hypotheses which 

 break down specific limits altogether; we are too apt to argue on this subject on the 

 false assumption that we know how widely the individuals of a species can vary inter 

 se : size, form and colour, as specific characters, are certainly set at nought by most of 

 our domestic animals, and yet all naturalists will admit that the horse is as distinct a 

 species as the ass, although one is so versatile, the other so constant in its characters. 

 Supposing the mule to be a fertile instead of a sterile animal, the specific distinction 

 between horse and ass would be very difiicult to maintain ; and it is thus with rats: 

 supposed specific distinctions are in a multitude of instances broken down by the pro- 

 pensity of such supposed species to interbreed, and by the fertility of the progeny. — 

 Edward Newman^ 



The African Anteater. — A letter which I have just received from Mr. Thomas Ayres, 

 of D'Urban, Natal, contains the following account of the capture of a specimen of the 

 great South African anteater, which may be interesting to the readers of the 'Zoologist.' 

 " I have lately preserved one of the large anteaters. It is a male, and weighed 61tbs. 

 Its length is 4 feet 6 inches, but I should judge from the softness of its ribs that it was 

 not full-grown. This specimen was shot at night on a neighbouring farm, and, being 

 wounded in the shoulder, was chased to his burrow ; a fire was then kept alight for the 

 remainder of the night, which prevented the animal from escaping. Next day eight 

 CafiTres were mustered with spades, &c., and set to work to dig the wounded beast out, 

 which they wholly failed in doing. The upper crust of the ground, about four feet in 

 depth, was very hard, -gradually becoming more soft and sandy as they proceeded down- 

 wards. The ant-bear, the whole time the digging was going on, was constantly heard 

 below, working away with might and main, and although the Cafi"res worked hard 

 they could not overtake him. The most curious circumstance is that in such cases the 

 animal appears able to work its way to almost any distance under ground without 

 requiring air, in its progression pressing the earth it has removed so forcibly back that 

 it only occupies the same space it did before. How the animal can continue working 

 in this way a whole day is wonderful ; they may be said literally to walk through the 

 earth. At sunset the work was given up, aud a large gin tiger-trap set amongst the 

 loose earth at the bottom of the pit which had been dug. Next morning the ant-bear 

 had worked his way back and was caught in the trap, but in such a weak state from 



