102 LECTURE III. 



the body. In the Hare the hind-legs are longer 

 than half the length of the back ; in the Rabbet 

 they are shorter. 



The genus Sciurus or Squirrel, is so well 

 characterized by the remarkable disposition of 

 the hair on the tail, as to require no other ex- 

 planation. I shall only observe that it is a nu- 

 merous genus, that some of the exotic species 

 are of very considerable size, and that some 

 squirrels have a furry skin, stretching from the 

 fore to the hind-feet, enabling them at pleasure 

 to spring to a far greater distance than those 

 species which are unprovided with such a la- 

 teral skin. The European Flying Squirrel is 

 an elegant, but rather small species, found in 

 Poland, and in some parts of Siberia, where it is 

 chiefly said to inhabit birch-woods. Its colour is 

 a beautiful pale grey, white beneath. In North 

 America is a still smaller species of an elegant 

 pale-brown colour, and which has been some- 

 times confounded with the former ; and in some 

 parts of Asia is a very large species, of a dark 

 colour, and much allied in its general appearance 

 to the Petaurine or Flying Opossum of New 

 Holland. 



