202 MAMMALIA. 



I would allow them to crawl into my vest in front and o-o to sleej:) 

 there, where the}' felt the warmth of my l)ocl\-, and it was \-er)- rare 

 indeed, durin^" the first six months, that they faik;d to ask the 

 prix'ilei^e ; indeed the)' came to consider themselves abused if 

 turned out. When forced to i^'o to sleep l)\' themselves, the atti- 

 tude taken was amusino'. the nose was placcnl upon the tahlc; or 

 other object it happened to be upon, aiul then it would walk forward 

 over it, rolling' itself up until the nose almost protrud(.;d froni be- 

 tween the hind le^s ; the tail was then wrappc^d in a horizontal 

 coil about the feet, and the result was an excjuisite little ball of life 

 in soft fur which it seemed almost sacrilegious to touch. If they 

 escaped from the cage during' the ni^ht, I was sure to be warned 

 of the fact b\' their coming into the bed to roll themselves up close 

 to my face or neck." * 



The most extended account which I have seen of this animal's 

 habits in confinement, is frc^m the pen of Prof. (}eo. M. Perkins, 

 of the University of \\;rmont. He descril)es his interesting pets 

 in the following language : " At dusk the\' begin to stir. Not all 

 at once it would seem do they awake, for the material of the nest 

 quivers and shakes for some time before the scpiirrel appears. 

 When, however, the\' conclude that the)' are all read)', out pop 

 their heads, each to be followed b)' the rest of the bod)', after a 

 glance on all sides with the glistening black eyes ; and now all 

 drowsiness has disappeared and an actixit)' niore incessant and 

 more intense than can be described takes its place. All night long, 

 often with only the briefest rest now and th(>n, these littU; animals 

 are in vigorous niotion, jumi)ing, bounding, capering, running with 

 ever-varying movement and astonishing energy. Everything they 

 do is done with all their might. It would seem to an)' one watch- 

 ing them that the exercise of the first few minutes must wholly 

 exhaust their powers, but, on the contrar)', tht; more their muscles 

 are used, the more capable of use they seem, and great as is the 



* American Naturalist, Vol. XVII, No. i. Jan. 1883, p. 39. 



