DIPUS, 
Fong: feet are almoft sua er efpecially on the outfide, 
which mutt nec: ffarily be e, fince the animal, whether 
in mosion or at reft, Confanty ce on that part. ‘Thefe 
» have each three toes, the middle 
re: 
ws 
tb 
blasce between the jerboa cof Eeype, 
of ‘Tartary.” Accordi: ag to Haff: 7 on we tali of the 
jerboa is three times the length cf the body ; but Sonnini 
obferves, that he never faw cing tail avove half this length. 
Its eircumference is not much exceeding that. of a large 
goofz-quill, and i3 of a quadrangular ¢ form 3 its colour grey, 
deepelt abuve, and covered with fleek > down to 
tremity, which terminates in a tuft of long filky hair, half 
black and half gre 
a comparing this defcription with that which Gmelin 
has given of the via Sa in the new commentaries of the 
f Sonnini, it ia ey tha 
Srcel of two 
things; firft, that he jerboa and the alagtaga are one and 
ve fame animal; and, iecondly, that the defcriptions which 
ve been given of the jerboa are not very accurate, What 
chiefiy fuggelted doubts to Buffon’s mind refpeéting the 
ide 
boa and a 
h 
in Africa, and the alagtaga being found in the cold regions 
of Siberia it this 1s not the only inftance which mig 
be adduc the fame effet. pecies of animals 
are equally fcattered over the icy countries of the north, and 
over the fultry diftriéis of the fouth. Rats take pleafure 
to refide in very hot climates, and they live very cone, 
in the north of Sweden. ares inhabit with 
venience, the fnows of Lapland 
It is certain that the gerboife of Cyrenais, or the deferts of 
Barca, deferibed by Mr. Bruce, i in his Travels in Nubia and 
Abyffinia, is only a variety in the tribe of the gi The 
flight cifferences remar ot being, by far, fufficient to 
conftitute two diftinG fpecies. To, the de ) 
ruc are further indebted for the exa wledg 
ne e of 
aap animal, which had, tse bie ahr been confound- 
ven the na 
founding two animals fo very us 
fucceflively copied till Mr. Bruce deteéted it, whofe ob- 
fervations bave thrown much light on a fubjec at formerly in- 
volved in doubt and darkvefs 2 ta 
— the fame which 
aici saan. have tid of the fecond has been af- 
eribed tot 
The ee meafures from the tip of the nofe to the 
origin of tlre tail five inches and a half, the tail itfelf eight 
inches and a half, and the total length of the pofterior legs 
about fix inches. There is fcarcely any difference in the fize 
of the two fexes. The females have eight nipples, the po- 
fition of which is remarkable; they are fituated mare ex- 
ternally than in other quadrupeds; the Grft pair is beyond 
the bend of the fhoulders, and the laft is rather under the 
thigh than the belly; the two other pairs, being on the 
fame line, are confequently placed rather under the flank; 
than under the body. 
The jerboa is commonly fo und i in id wer Ezypt, princi- 
The denomination 
all the lower part of Egypt isa plain. 
fondle and ai sbifh which furround modern Alexandria are 
very much ee ited by the jerboa. They live there in 
t their nats and ae diz a aes ea) for 
are exceev in, aly reli tele. ; tle 
whatever, s them 
! is not efteemed a delica acy, aie 
itis eaten $ their fin, which is foft and fhining, is ufed 
‘a common fur 
M. Sonnini fed for fome -time, white in mada 
i age of iron wire. 
they had entirely gnawed afunder the achat and crcfs 
fticks of their prifon, and he was under the neceffity of have: 
ing the infide of the cage lined wit They lived on 
tn 
med to {uffer from xy privation of wa s been 
ffemed that the jerboa fleeps by day, and never in ‘the night 
Son Ina 
ftate of liberty they are met with in broad cay li 
ing round their fubterraneous habitations, and thofe which: 
he fed himfeif were never more lively, nor more awake, than 
when expofed to the full blaze of the fun. Though they” 
heave much agility in their movements; gentlenefs and tran-- 
oe hey fuffered them- 
amiable, or interefting: it appeare 
cold an ae a approaching to ftupidity. 
Berthout-van-Berchem 
ccordit : 
(fecretary ee che Soviet of Phyfics,) publifhed in 1788, the 
jerboa and alagtaga are two diftinet fpecies. The jerboa, 
he obf=rves, a which Mr, Pennant {peaks, under the name 
of alagtaga, and which ought to have been written ala ke 
daaga, has five toes onthe hinder feet ; the fecond has cniy 
three, and differs from it likewife in feveral other i 
“(In order to diltinguith,”’ this fir {pecie 
which M, Pallas denominates mat jaca, 1 fhall call ae 
from the name given to it by the Calmucks, and fhali pre- 
ferve to the nd fpecics th me of jerbo or ae Ae 
M. Pallas has obferved three varieties in the jalma, which 
appear to differ pris acipally i in the fize. of common, 
hich is of the middle fize between the other twe, is the 
alma cr alak-daaga.. It is often found in eaftern Tartary 
io the deferts ia, and in the regions beyond the 
Baikal. It is — found in Syria, nay even fo far as 
India. Mr. Pennant fays, it is met with in Barbary : but 
| Africa. 
mates. The fecond variety is the Targel of ihe it is 
more rare than the fr; they give it the name of marine 
jalma, 
