Chinchillas.] 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



71 



"Family Chinchillidae.— To the animals of this 

 family, of which the beautiful chinchilla is the type, 

 the attention of English naturalists was first called 

 by Mr. Bennett, whose admirable paper on the sub- 

 ject will be found in the first volume of the 'Trans. 

 Zool. Soc' In this paper three genera are clearly 

 and fully characterized, viz. : Lagotis, Benm ; Chin- 

 chilla, Benn. ; and Lagostomus, Brookes. The Chm- 

 chillidae are all peculiar to South America, and are 

 burrowing and gregarious in their habits. Their 

 food is exclusively vegetable. The molar teeth are 



4—4 



-. — :, destitute of true roots. 



4 — 4 



295, 296, 297.— The Chinchilla 

 (Chinchilla laniqera). The characters of the genus 

 Chinchilla, as 'established by Mr. Bennett, are as 



follows :— Molars, jpj crossed obliquely on then- 

 surface by three lines of enamel. Toes, on the fore- 

 feet, five : on the hind-feet, four. Tail of moderate 

 length, and hairy ; ears broad, rounded, and nearly 

 naked ; eyes large and full ; fur long, thick, close, 

 soft and woolly. . 



The chinchilla appears to have attracted in very 

 early times the notice of travellers, though the 

 accounts scattered in their works have been but 

 little regarded by naturalists. In 1824 Schmidt- 

 meyer, in his travels over the Andes into Chile, 

 notices the chinchilla as a "woolly field-mouse 

 which lives underground, and chiefly feeds on wild 

 onions. Its fine fur is well known in Europe; 

 that which comes from Upper Peru is rougher and 

 larger than the chinchilla of Chile, but not always 

 so beautiful in its colour. Great numbers of these 

 animals are caught in the neighbourhood of Co- 

 quimbo, and Copiapo, generally by boys with dogs, 

 and sold to traders, who bring them to Santiago 

 and Valparaiso, from whence they are exported. 

 The Peruvian skins are either brought to Buenos 

 Ayres from the eastern parts of the Andes, or sent 

 to Lima. The extensive use of this fur has lately 

 occasioned a very considerable destruction of the 

 animals." From this passage it would appear that 

 there are two or more species of chinchilla, re- 

 spectively Chilian aud Peruvian, and hence we 

 suspect is to be accounted for the difference in the 

 colour and quality of the chinchilla fur, which we 

 have frequently observed. Our examination of 

 specimens in the Paris museum also leads us to the 

 same conclusion. 



A native of the valleys in the high mountain dis- 

 tricts of South America, where the cold is often 

 very severe, the deep woolly coat of the chinchilla 

 is well calculated for preserving warmth. Whether 

 in the winter season the animal hybernates or not 

 yet remains to be discovered. Of its manners, in- 

 deed, we know little. In captivity it is quiet, in- 

 offensive, and cleanly : it feeds sitting up on its 

 haunches like a squirrel, holding its food between 

 its fore-paws. Its ratio of intelligence is on the 

 same par with that of the rabbit or guinea-pig : 

 hence it displays no indications of attachment to 

 those who feed it, nor much animation or playful- 

 ness. In its alpine valleys it associates in numbers, 

 excavating burrows, in which it resides. The 

 female breeds twice a year, producing from four to 

 six young at a birth. Various roots, especially 

 those of bulbous plants, constitute the diet of the 

 chinchilla. The colour of the fur of this species is 

 clear grey above, but varying in depth, and passing 

 into white on the under parts : its quality is ex- 

 quisitely fine, and its length renders it well adapted 

 for spinning. Indeed, Molina informs us that '"the 

 ancient Peruvians, who were far more industrious 

 than the modern, made of this wool coverlets for 

 beds, and valuable stuffs." The tail is covered with 

 long bushy hairs, and usually kept turned up towards 

 the back. In length the chinchilla measures about 

 nine inches, exclusive of the tail, which is five inches. 

 The fore-limbs are comparatively short : the head 

 has much resemblance to that of a young, full- 

 haired rabbit ; the muzzle is short and blunt, and 

 furnished with long whiskers ; the eyes are black ; 

 the ears are ample. The skull is remarkable for 

 the size of the antorbital foramen and the amplitude 

 of the tympanic bulla. The general skeleton is 

 slightly built, and the bones are slender ; the ribs are 

 thirteen on each side. Fig. 298 represents the skull 

 and skeleton of the Chinchilla Lanigera : a, skull 

 seen from above ; b, the same seen from below ; c, 

 Ihe lower jaw. 



299.— Cuvier's Lagotis 



{Lagotis Cuvieri). Of the genus Lagotis two spe- 

 cies were described and figured by Mr. Bennett 

 (see the ' Trans. Zool. Soc.,' vol. i.). In this genus 

 the toes of the anterior as well as posterior feet are 

 four. The hind limbs are considerably developed ; 

 the muzzle is somewhat elongated and narrow, 

 and furnished with long whiskers; the eyes are 

 moderate, but prominent ; the ears are elongated, 

 rounded at the tip, and rolled inwards at the edges. 



The fur is soft, long, and downy, and but loosely 

 attached to the skm. The tail of tolerable length, 

 and bushy, with long, stiff, wiry hairs. General 

 contour rabbit-like. 



M. Desmarest was the first to suggest that a vis- 

 cacha observed by Feuillee in Peru, and, as he says, 

 often domesticated in the houses at Lima, was a 

 distinct species from the viscacha of the Pampas ; 

 and a careful examination of the scattered notices 

 published by travellers respecting the viscachas of 

 the eastern and western sides of the Andes led Mr. 

 Bennett to form the same opinion, which was con- 

 firmed by the acquisition of a living animal regarded 

 as the Peruvian viscacha of the older writers. The 

 references to the Peruvian viscacha by various of 

 the early travellers in South America are by no 

 means limited, and in collating them, Mr. Bennett 

 evinced a spirit of laborious research. He refers to 

 Pedro de Cieca, 1554 ; Acosta, 1590; Garcilago de 

 la Vega, 1609: Nieremberg, 1635; Feuillee, 1725; 

 and Antonio de Ulloa, 1772. The last writer, in 

 his ' Noticias Americanus,' gives a correct account 

 of the habits and manners of the animal in question. 

 Mr. Bennett's translation is as follows :—" Taking 

 the place of the rabbit, which is wanting in Peru, 

 there is another kind of animal, called viscacha, 

 which is not found in Quito. In form and in the 

 colour of the fur it is similar to the rabbit, but dif- 

 fers from it in having a long tail furnished with 

 tufted hair, which is very thin towards the root, but 

 thick and long as it approaches the tip. It does 

 not carry its tail turned over the head like the 

 squirrel, but stretched out, as it were, in a horizon- 

 tal direction : its joints are slender and scaly. 

 These animals conceal themselves in holes of the 

 rocks in which they make their retreats, not form- 

 ing burrows in the earth like rabbits. There they 

 congregate in considerable numbers, and are mostly 

 seen in a sitting posture, but not eating : they feed 

 on the herbs and shrubs that grow among the rocks, 

 and are very active. Their means of escape do not 

 consist in the velocity of their flight, but in the 

 promptitude with which they run to the shelter of 

 their holes. This they commonly do when wounded ; 

 for which reason the mode of killing them is by 

 shooting them in the head ; as, if they receive the 

 charge in any other part, although much injured, 

 they "do not fail to go and die in the interior of their 

 burrows. They have this peculiarity, that as soon 

 as they die their hair falls off; and on this account 

 although it is softer, and somewhat longer and finer 

 than that of the rabbit, the skin cannot be made 

 use of for common purposes. The flesh is white, 

 but not well flavoured, being especially distasteful 

 at certain seasons, when it. is altogether repugnant 

 to the palate." Molina speaks of the employment 

 of its wool among the ancient Peruvians, adding, 

 that the Chilians of the present day (his work was 

 originally published in 1782, and reprinted with ad- 

 ditions in 1810) use it in the manufacture of hats. 



The general colour of the viscacha of the western 

 acclivities of the Peruvian Andes, or Cuvier's lagotis 

 (L, Cuvieri), is greyish ash, clouded here and there 

 with a tint of brown. The hairs of the tail are 

 mingled black and white. The ears equal the head 

 in length. The body measures sixteen inches, in- 

 cluding the head ; the tail, about twelve inches. 

 Fig. 300 represents the skeleton, with the skull of 

 the Lagotis Cuvieri : a, skull seen from above ; b, 

 the same seen from below ; c, lower jaw ; d, crown 

 of the two anterior molar teeth of the lower jaw 

 enlarged; e, crowns of the two posterior molar 

 teeth of the upper jaw, enlarged. 



301. The Viscacha or Biscacha of the Pampas 



(Lagostomus trychodactylus, Brookes). The Mar. 

 mot Diana of Griffith. Generic characters :— the 

 molars consisting of two oblique lamella?, excepting 

 the posterior one in the upper jaw, which consists 

 of three ; anterior feet with only four toes, hinder 

 feet With only three ; tail moderate. Of this genus 

 (Lagostomus) we know but one species, of which 

 the earliest notice to be found is in Dobnzhoffer's 

 'Historia de Abiponibus,' 1784. He informs us 

 that it is called by these people Nehelaterek, and 

 that it resembles a hare with the tail of a fox. "It 

 digs its burrows on the more elevated parts of the 

 plains with so much art, that no aperture is left by 

 which the rain can penetrate, and these burrows 

 are divided into distinct settlements, numerous 

 families inhabiting the same locality. On the sur- 

 face of the ground are several entrances into the 

 burrow, at which, towards sunset, the animals may 

 be seen seated in crowds, diligently listening for 

 the sound of any person approaching. If every- 

 thing remains quiet, they venture forth by moon- 

 I light to feed ; and commit sad havoc on the neigh- 

 bouring fields, for they devour both European wheat 

 and Indian corn with great avidity, despising grass 

 when either is to be obtained. Hence the stations 

 of the biscachas are seldom to be met with in the 

 desert plains, but indicate with certainty the prox- 

 imity of Spanish settlements ; and it has often been 



a matter of surprise to me that I have never seen 

 the biscacha in the territories (though well covered 

 with crops of all kinds) either of the Abipones or 

 the Guaranis. They are in the habit of heaping up 

 at the entrances of their burrow dry bones, chips of 

 wood, and refuse articles of every sort, which fall in 

 their way. The purpose, however, for which these 

 things are collected, is beyond conjecture. The 

 Spanish colonists occasionally spend an idle hour 

 in hunting them ; they pour buckets of water into 

 the subterranean retreats of the creatures, which 

 to avoid being drowned issue forth into the plain 

 where, without any means of escape, they are. killed 

 with sticks. Their flesh, unless they are very old, 

 is not considered despicable even by the Spaniards." 

 In 1789 the Abbe Jobs wrote a work, which, how- 

 ever, appears not to have been completed, entitled 

 ' An Essay on the Natural History of Granchaco 

 (Saggio sulla Storia Naturale della Provincia del 

 Granchaco), and in this he gives from long observa- 

 tion, a description of the Pampas biscacha, which 

 differs in some particulars from that of Dobrizhoffer. 

 " They resemble," he says, " our hares, but have the 

 body somewhat more arched. They live in society, 

 in burrows underground, which they form for them- 

 selves, excavating in all directions to the extent of 

 a mile in circumference, with various exits and 

 separate retreats, in which the old live distinct from 

 the yming. The soil in which these are usually 

 made is that, which is hard and barren, and destitute 

 of everything, but with bushes (boscaglie) at no 

 great distance, and pasture of tender grass, roots, 

 and the bark of trees. They collect around their 

 retreats bones, dried leaves, and whatever they find 

 in the neighbourhood ; if anything is missing in 

 their districts, it is to be found with certainty piled 

 up in these situations the following day. As they 

 are animals that avoid the light, having little power 

 of vision, they are not to be seen in the daytime, 

 unless at dawn, or towards evening after sunset. 

 The night, and especially when the moon shines, 

 is the proper time for seeking their food. Fierce 

 and courageous, they defend themselves with all 

 their might against the dogs, and sometimes even 

 attack the legs of the hunters." 



But neither of those authors mentions the some- 

 what anomalous companions with which the bis- 

 cachas are associated; and we select, from the 

 travels of Proctor, Head, Miers, and Haigh, the 

 account of the first-named traveller, which, as Mr. 

 Bennett observes, gives nearly all the particulars 

 which are to be found in the rest. "The whole 

 country from Buenos Ayres to San Luis de la 

 Punta, is more or less burrowed by an animal be- . 

 tween a rabbit and a badger, called the biscacho, . 

 which renders travelling dangerous, particularly by 

 night, their holes being so large and deep that a 

 horse is almost sure to fall if he steps into one of 

 them. The biscacho never ventures far from its 

 retreat, and is seldom seen till the evening, when 

 it comes out to feed, and hundreds may be observed , 

 sporting round their holes, and making a noise very- 

 similar to the grunting of pigs. Their flesh is 

 much liked by the people, and they are remarkably 

 fat, and on that account, when caught at any dis- ' 

 tance from their holes, are easily run down ; they 

 will, however, defend themselves from a dog a 

 considerable time. The holes of these animals are 

 also inhabited by vast numbers of small owls, which i 

 sit, during the day, gazing at the passing travellers, 

 and making a very ludicrous appearance. The 

 parts of the road most frequented by the biscacho 

 are generally overrun by a species of small wild . 

 melon, bitter to the taste ; whether it thrives par- 

 ticularly on the manure of the animal, or whether < 

 the biscacho chooses its hole nearer this running 

 plant, does not seem to have been ascertained." 



The viscacha of the Pampas of Buenos Ayres and 

 Paraguay is, when fully grown, as large as our 

 common badger. Above it is a blackish grey, 

 beneath white. The head is large and obtuse, 

 and a whitish band beginning on the nose passes 

 across the face beneath each eye to the root of 

 the ear, producing a sort of crescent-shaped mask 

 when the face is viewed in front. The sides of 

 the lips are furnished with a tuft of thickly-set 

 whiskers, composed of long black bristles ; and 

 from the angles of the mouth across the cheeks, 

 below the white band, extends a brush of black 

 bristles, stouter than those of the whiskers, but 

 shorter, the lowermost being sharply pointed. This 

 brush reaches the angle of the jaw, forming a 

 beard : it does not, however, end here abruptly, 

 but may be traced by bristly hairs intermingled 

 with the fur across the shoulders as far as the 

 middle of the back. The ears are moderate and 

 rounded ; the fore-legs are rather slender and short ; 

 the hind-legs are long, and the metatarsal portion 

 reminds one of the same part in the limb of the 

 kangaroo, though it is not so disproportionally 

 elongated. At the heel there is a long naked 

 callous sole or pad, before which is a part covered 

 with hair: the toes are three in number, of which 



