74 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



[Agoutis. 



the middle is the most elongated : all are furnished 

 with strong hoof-like nails, and with naked pads 

 beneath. The tail is rather short, and covered with 

 greyish brown hairs, of which the longest form a 

 fringe on the upper surface : it is generally kept 

 retroverted on the back. The incisor teeth are 

 remarkably large and strong. Fig. 302 represents 

 the skeleton of the Pampas viscacha ; a, under 

 view of skull ; b, lower jaw ; c, crown of the second 

 molar tooth of the leftside of the lower jaw; d, 

 crown of the last molar tooth of the right side of 

 the upper jaw. 



Mr. Brookes's paper on the anatomy of this ani- 

 mal was read before the Linn. Soc. in June, 1828, 

 aud published in the Linn. Trans, for the year fol- 

 lowing. 



A small family of the Histricine section, which 

 may be termed Dasyproctidse, next claims our 

 notice. It embraces two genera, Cselogenys and 



4 — 4 

 Dasyprocta. In these genera the molars are j—;, 



rooted, and bear much resemblance to those of the 

 porcupines ; they are crowned with distinct tuber- 

 cles, which, wearing down with use, give place to 

 winding lines of enamel, set in the interior bony 

 cement. 



The genus Cselogenys includes two, or perhaps 

 three, distinct species of Rodents, termed Pacas 

 (a corruption of the word Pag of the Brazilians, or 

 Paig of the natives of Paraguay ; and Pakiri of some 

 of the tribes of Guiana). 



These animals, the pacas, are remarkable for a 

 curious structural peculiarity in the skull, which im- 

 parts a singular aspect to their physiognomy. We 

 give a sketch of the skull of the fulvous paca 

 (Cselogenys fulvus), in profile (Fig. 303), and as 

 viewed on its palatal aspect (Fig. 303*). The pe- 

 culiarity in question is the immense development 

 of the zygomatic arch, forming an expansive shield 

 of bone, almost concealing the lower jaw, rough 

 and convex externally, and deeply concave within. 

 This broad projecting convex plate has its concavity 

 lined by a continuation or reduplicature of the skin 

 of the face, constituting a sort of pouch, with a nar- 

 row linear opening just below the angle of the 

 mouth, and having its edges, from which the pouch 

 leads directly upwards, almost if not quite destitute 

 of hair. 



Notwithstanding this narrow orifice, the sac or 

 pouch is so closed, that it cannot be serviceable as 

 the receptacle for food, for neither is the orifice 

 dilatable, nor the pouch, enclosed as the latter is 

 within walls of unyielding bone. The use of this 

 sac is not ascertained : perhaps a secretion of some 

 kind may take place from the subzygomatic fold of 

 skin, but this remains to be determined. Besides 

 the sac described, the pacas have true cheek- 

 pouches of considerable extent, opening from the 

 mouth, and extending down the sides of the neck 

 and below the inferior margin of the zygomatic 

 shield. 



The lower jaw, which is almost concealed, is 

 shown at Fig. 304. The characters of the molar 

 teeth, worn by use, are well depicted. Fig. 305 re- 

 presents the germ of the first molar, before the 

 tooth is completely developed, in three views, 

 namely, the outer aspect, the inner aspect, and the 

 crown with its tubercles. The pacas are animals of 

 considerable size, and of a heavy clumsy figure, 

 having a thick muzzle, with the upper lip deeply 

 cleft ; a large inelegant head ; prominent eyes, 

 rounded ears and stout limbs, of which the hinder 

 pair exceed in length the anterior — but as the 

 greater portion of the tarsus rests habitually on the 

 ground, the body sinks even lower at the haunches 

 than at the shoulders. The fore-feet are divided into 

 five toes, of which the innermost is a mere rudi- 

 ment, seated high, and furnished with a small claw. 

 The hind-feet have also five toes, but of these the 

 outermost on each side is small, and seated high : 

 the three central are large, strong, and furnished 

 with powerful hoof-like nails. The tail is wanting. 

 The body is clothed with short, stiff, wiry hairs. 



306.— The Dusky Paca. 



This species, according to Cuvier, is identical with 

 the fulvous paca ; but we have examined the skulls, 

 and find them different. In the former the bones of 

 the skull are smooth, and the zygomatic arches less 

 inordinately developed. The general colour of the 

 dusky paca is brownish black, with four lateral 

 rows of white spots, which begin on the shoulders 

 and terminate on the buttocks. The lowest line is 

 almost confounded with the white of the under sur- 

 face. The sides of the lower jaw, the throat, and 

 chest are also white. Total length of head and 

 body, about two feet ; average height fourteen inches. 

 These animals arc natives of the whole of the 

 eastern portion of South America, from Surinam 

 to Paraguay, and formerly existed also in some of 

 the islands of the West Indies. Forests in the 

 vicinity of water ; wooded, marshy places ; and bor- 

 ders of rivers, are their favourite localities : they 



inhabit burrows, which they excavate, but so super- 

 ficially, that they are apt to give way beneath the 

 foot of a person passing over them, no less to his 

 annoyance than that of the animal which thus sud- 

 denly finds itself in open daylight. These bur- 

 rows have, as it is asserted, three openings, which 

 the animal conceals with dry leaves and branches. 

 In order to capture the paca alive, the hunter stops 

 two of these apertures, and proceeds to work at the 

 third, till he arrives at the chamber to which the 

 avenues lead. Driven to an extremity, the paca 

 makes a desperate resistance, often inflicting very 

 severe wounds. 



When not disturbed, the paca often sits up and 

 washes its head and whiskers with its two fore-paws, 

 which it licks and moistens with its saliva at each 

 ablution, like a cat; and with these fore-paws, as 

 well as with the hind-ones, it often scratches itself 

 and dresses its fur. Though heavy and corpulent, 

 it can run with a good deal of activity, and often 

 takes lively jumps. It swims and dives with great 

 adroitness, and its cry resembles the grunting of a 

 young pig. Its food consists of fruits and tender 

 plants, which it seeks in the night, hardly ever 

 quitting its burrow in the day, the strong light of 

 which, as is the case with other nocturnal animals, 

 is oppressive to its eye : the planter often rues the 

 visits made by these midnight foragers to his sugar- 

 canes. The female is said to bring forth at the 

 rainy season, and to produce but a single young one, 

 which stays a long time with the mother. The 

 pacas are very cleanly creatures in all their habits, 

 and keep their subterranean dwelling in a state of 

 the utmost purity. 



It appears that these animals root in the ground 

 with their nose — a circumstance which, taken in 

 conjunction with their voice, a pig-like grunt, the 

 bristly character of their hair, and the flavour of 

 their flesh, probably gave rise, as Mr. Bennett ob- 

 serves, to the comparisons made by the older writers 

 between them and the tenant of the sty. Those 

 which we have seen in captivity were gentle, but 

 certainly not intelligent ; and so far we agree with 

 M. F. Cuvier, who observes that when the animal 

 is offended, it throws itself violently at the object 

 which has displeased it, and then makes a kind of 

 grumbling, which at length breaks out into a sort 

 of bark. The greater part of the day it passes in 

 repose, delighting in a soft bed, which it forms of 

 straw, hay, and similar materials, collecting the ma- 

 terials with its mouth, and making a little heap, in 

 the centre of which it lies down. M. Buffon gives 

 a detailed account of one of these animals, which 

 he kept alive in his house for some time, and which 

 was gentle and very familiar. 



The flesh of these animals is in great estimation, 

 and in some districts is in ordinary consumption, 

 but as it is fat and rich it is apt to cloy. It is pre- 

 pared for cooking by being scalded like a sucking- 

 pig and roasted. The fur is of no value, but the 

 skin might be useful if converted into leather. 

 M. F. Cuvier thinks that it would be 'possible to 

 introduce this animal into our European rural esta- 

 blishments, and that once naturalised it would 

 form no despicable acquisition in the department of 

 domestic economy. 



THE AGOUTIS 



(Dasyprocta, Ulig. ; Clilormys, F. Cuv.). These 

 animals differ from the pacas in the formation of 

 the skull and the conformation of the feet and toes. 

 With respect to the former, the zygomatic arch 

 presents nothing of that strange development so 

 remarkable in the pacas. The toes are distinctly 

 four on each of the anterior feet : of these the 

 outermost toe on each side is small and seated 

 high, while the two middle are long, and armed 

 with' stout claws. The hind -feet are divided into 

 three toes, furnished with claws of a hoof-like cha- 

 racter, and of considerable strength. The limbs are 

 slender, and the hinder pair considerably exceed 

 ■ in length the anterior: hence the pace of these 

 animals is tolerably rapid for a short distance, 

 though they seldom trust to speed for safety, but 

 seek shelter and security in the first hollow tree 

 they meet with, or under a rock. Here they allow 

 themselves to be captured, without offering any 

 resistance, only uttering a sharp plaintive note of 

 alarm. The head of the agoutis is large, the fore- 

 head convex, the nose swollen ; the ears round, short, 

 and nearly naked; the eyes large and black; the 

 tail is very short, generally indeed a mere tubercle. 

 The hair is glossy and of a wiry character, and an- 

 nulated in different degrees with black, yellow, or 



4-4 

 white, and olive green. The molars are | — r v nearly 



all of the same size, and when worn presenting 

 winding folds of enamel on the flat crowns. It 

 is impossible to convey by mere description an 

 idea of the figures which these convolutions assume, 

 and which vary in proportion to the wearing down 

 of the tooth : we therefore refer to Fig. 307, where 



a and b represent respectively the upper and lower 

 jaws. No. 1 represents the teeth when much worn 

 down ; 2, the same in an intermediate state ; and 3. 

 the same when the tubercles are just effaced, and 

 the surface smoothed down to a level. 



The flesh of the agoutis is in some districts highly 

 esteemed, being white and tender. 



The agoutis use the fore-paws as hands to convey 

 their food to the mouth, and usually sit upright on 

 their haunches to eat : they frequently also assume 

 the same position in order to look around them, or 

 when they are surprised by any unusual sound or 

 occurrence. Their food is exclusively of a vegetable 

 nature, and consists most commonly of wild yams, 

 potatoes, and other tuberous roots ; in the islands 

 of the different West India groups they are par- 

 ticularly destructive to the sugar-cane, of the roots 

 of which they are extremely fond. The planters 

 employ every artifice for destroying them, so that 

 at present they have become comparatively rare in 

 the sugar islands, though on the first settlement of the 

 Antilles and Bahamas they are said to have swarmed 

 in such countless multitudes as to have constituted 

 the principal article of food for the Indians. They 

 were the largest quadrupeds indigenous in these 

 islands upon their first discovery. The same rule of 

 geographical distribution holds good generally in 

 other cases, viz. that where groups of islands are 

 detached at some distance from the mainland of a 

 particular continent, the smaller species of animals 

 are usually found spread over both, whilst the 

 larger and more bulky are confined to the mainland 

 alone, and are never found to be indigenous in the 

 small insulated land. 



Though the agoutis use the fore-paws as de- 

 scribed, yet they are incapable of climbing trees ; 

 and though the nails are strong, they do not burrow, 

 but conceal themselves in hollow trees, among 

 fallen logs and timber in the forest, and similar 

 places of concealment. Here they produce and 

 rear their young, which are born with the eyes 

 closed : they soon become capable of shifting for 

 themselves. 



308. — The Common Agouti 



(Dasyprocta Acuti). This species is very abundant 

 in Brazil and Guiana, and occurs also in Paraguay, 

 where it was observed by D'Azara, who informs us 

 that the Guarinis term it Cotia : in size it is about 

 equal to a rabbit, but it rarely if ever makes a 

 burrow. It frequents densely-wooded districts in 

 preference to open lands, and generally takes up 

 its residence in the hollow trunks of decayed trees, 

 where it remains concealed during the day. This 

 retreat usually serves for several individuals, for it 

 appears to be gregarious, associating in small troops 

 consisting of eighteen or twenty individuals. Its 

 movements are rapid, active, and abrupt, and when 

 chased, it bounds along, like a hare, to gain its ac- 

 customed hiding-place : it is however seldom seen 

 except during the night, or as evening begins to 

 sink into twilight. 



In Brazil and Guiana the agouti is exposed to 

 wholesale destruction for the sake of its flesh, which 

 is said to be intermediate in flavour between the 

 hare and rabbit; but in Paraguay, according to 

 D Azara, no one eats it, and M. Moreau St. Mery ob- 

 serves that it has a strange sort of flavour, and is a 

 dish of little relish to the palate. The latter writer 

 also informs us that the agouti is common in the 

 island of St. Lucia, and also inhabits others of the 

 West India group ; and that in 1 7SS several were 

 taken in St, Domingo, which had made a hollow 

 tree their domicile. It is said to breed several 

 times in a year, and to produce from three to six at a 

 birth. The general colour of the agouti is grizzled 

 reddish brown, tinged on the neck, chest, and under 

 surface with yellow. The hairs of the upper and 

 fore parts of the body are annulated with brown, yel- 

 low, and black, which gives the animal a speckled 

 yellow and green appearance on the neck, head, 

 back, and sides: on the croup, however, they are of 

 a uniform golden yellow, much longer than on any 

 other part of Ihe body, and directed backwards, con- 

 cealing the tail, which is a mere naked stump ; the 

 moustaches and feet black. The general length of 

 the hair on the upper and anterior parts of the body 

 is about an inch, that of the croup is upwards of four 

 inches long, and all, excepting the short coarse fur 

 of the legs and feet, and that on the breast and 

 belly, is of a stiff, harsh nature, partaking more of 

 the quality of bristles than of simple hair. 



The golden agouti differs from the common spe- 

 cies principally in its brighter colouring. 



309. — The Black Agouti 



(Dasyprocta cristata). This species, to which the 

 term crested (cristata) is ill applied (since the hairs 

 of the head and neck are not longer than those of 

 the shoulders), is smaller than the common species, 

 but its general proportions and form are the same : 

 it differs, however, in colour, for the hairs of the 

 back and sides, instead of being annulated with 



