APPENDIX. 123 



animal, a rat with bird's legs, to which the flying pofture 

 Hill adds refemblance. From this ftroke to the center of 

 the eye is three inches, and to the point of his toe the fame 

 meafure ; his tail is fix inches and a quarter long, feems 

 aukwardly fet on, as ftuck between his buttocks, without 

 any connection with his fpine ; half of it is poorly covered 

 with hair of a light or whiter colour than his body ; the o- 

 ther half is a beautiful feather of long hair, the middle 

 white, the edges jet black : this tail, which by its length 

 would feem an incumbrance to him, is of a furprifing ad- 

 vantage in guiding and directing him in his jumping. 



From the moulder to the elbow of the fore-foot is half 

 an inch : from the elbow to the joining of the paw, 

 ■f-ths of an inch. The claw itfelf is curved, and is fome- 

 thing lefs than a quarter of an inch. It has very long mu- 

 Itachoes, fome of them Handing backward, and fome of 

 them forward from his nofe ; they are all of unequal 

 lengths, the longer! an inch and a half; his belly is 

 white : he feems to be of a very cleanly nature, his hair al- 

 ways in great order. From his fnout to the back part of 

 the opening of the mouth is half an inch ; his nofe pro- 

 jects beyond his under jaw three quarters of an inch. He 

 has four toes in his hind- foot, and a fmall one behind his 

 heel, where is a tuft of hair coloured black. The fore- foot 

 Jbath three toes only. 



'The ancients have early defcribcd this animal ; we fee 

 liim in fome of the firft. medals of the Cyrenaicum, fitting 

 under an umbellated plant, fuppofed to be the filphium, 

 whofe figure is preferved to us on the filver medals of Gy- 

 rene. The high price fet upon it is mentioned by fevcral hiilo- 



Vol. V. S rians, 



