Cavies.] 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



75 



various lints, as in that animal, are nearly of a 

 uniform black, whilst the long hairs of the croup 

 arc perfectly so. A specimen we regarded as the 

 black agouti, in the Paris Museum, might be thus 

 described : — black, beautifuly freckled with pure 

 white, especially about the cheeks and sides, each 

 hair on those parts being once ringed with white ; 

 length twenty inches. 



310.— The Acotjchi 

 (Dasyprocta Acuchi). This animal differs from the 

 agouti in being of a much smaller size, lighter 

 make, and deeper colour, and especially in having 

 a much longer tail, this appendage measuring two 

 inches: it is very slender, being not much thicker 

 than a crow-quill, and covered with short scattered 

 hairs. Its manners resemble those of the agouti, 

 and it also inhabits the woods of Guiana, but is not 

 by any means so common as that animal. M. 

 D'Azara was mistaken in asserting the acouchi to 

 be identical with the agouti ; and it is very obvious 

 that he never saw the former, for, if he had, the dis- 

 tinction could not have escaped his notice ; indeed 

 it does not appear to be a native of Paraguay. Spe- 

 cimens of the acouchi, as well as its skeleton, are 

 in the museum of the Zool. Soc. Two living in- 

 dividuals (now the museum specimens alluded to) 

 were described in the ' Proceeds. Zool. Soc' 1S30, 

 by T. Bell, Esq., who obtained them from Guiana. 

 " Both individuals," he observes, " are mild and 

 gentle in their dispositions, but somewhat timid : 

 they are, however, familiar with their master, and 

 run to him whenever he enters the room in which 

 they are kept, and about which they are allowed to 

 range during the day. Their food is entirely vege- 

 table ; they are especially partial to nuts and al- 

 monds ; they drink but very little. They are ex- 

 tremely cleanly, and take great pains to keep their 

 fur in order, in cleansing which they mutually assist 

 each other. They leap occasionally in play to a 

 considerable height, and frequently, in springing 

 from the ground to an elevation of two feet, descend 

 on the spot from which they rose. Their voice is 

 a short, rather sharp, plaintive pur. The indi- 

 viduals, male and female, show great attachment 

 to each other. They frequently agitate their tails 

 with a quick tremulous motion." Mr. Bell ob- 

 serves that he had never before the arrival of these 

 individuals seen a specimen of the acouchi, nor was 

 he aware of the existence of even a preserved skin 

 in any English collection. It is the Olive Cavy of 

 Pennant. The general colour is olive mixed with 

 yellow and black : the hairs of the croup are not 

 so long as in the agoutis, and black. 



THE CAVIES 

 (Fam. Cavides) constitute a group (embracing the 

 genera Cavia, Dolichotis, Kerodon, and Hydro- 

 chcerus) which is one of the most distinctly marked 

 in the class Rodentia, and which should not be 

 co-founded with that of the pacas and agoutis, the 

 difference being very great, both as respects the 

 conformation of the skull and the characters of the 

 teeth. The molars, as seen in the teeth of the 

 guinea-pig or aperea (Cavia cobaia), Fig. 311, and 

 of the kerodon. Fig. 312, may be compared with 

 those of the agouti, Fig. 307, and the wide distinc- 

 tion will be at once appreciated. 

 4—4 

 The molars are j— ?, lamellose, and composite ; 



the folds of enamel enclose triangular or eordiform 

 interspaces. A projecting ridge always occurs on 

 the outer side of the ramus of the lower jaw. In 

 the genus Cavia the anterior feet have four toes, 

 the posterior three ; the nails are short and robust ; 

 there is no tail. As an example of this genus we 

 may take the common guinea-pig, or aperea, the 

 domestic descendant of a species still common in 

 a wild state in various parts of South America. 

 Mr. Darwin, who met with the wild aperea abun- 

 dantly, states it to be " exceedingly common in 

 the neighbourhood of the several towns which 

 stand on the banks of the Rio Plata. It fre- 

 quents different kinds of stations, such as. hedge- 

 rows made of the agave and opuntia, or sand hil- 

 locks ; and again marshy places covered with 

 aquatic plants, the latter appearing to be its fa- 

 vourite haunt. Where the soil is dry it makes a 

 burrow, but where otherwise it lives concealed 

 amidst the herbage. These animals generally come 

 out to feed in the evening, and are then tame ; but 

 if the day be gloomy they make their appearance 

 in the morning. They are said to be very inju- 

 rious to young trees. An old male killed at Mal- 

 donado weighed 1 lb. 3 oz." Mr. Darwin observed 

 that in this animal the attachment of the fur to the 

 skin is very slight. Possessing but little intelli- 

 gence and very timid, the aperea is nevertheless 

 tamed without any difficulty. Azara, who kept one, 

 remarks that though he took no pains to make it 

 familiar, it manifested no fear when in his presence, 

 and seemed quite unconcerned. It is to this ease 

 with which the wild aperea becomes domesticated 



that we owe the introduction of it into Europe, for, 

 excepting that it is a very pretty creature, there is 

 nothing to render it a valuable acquisition. It is 

 however eaten by the native tribes of Paraguay, 

 who sometimes capture it by hundreds when, driven 

 from the lowlands by sudden inundations, it retreats 

 for safety to the ajacent hilly grounds, where it 

 finds neither shelterd nor concealment. 



Of the genus Kerodon we may notice the Rock 

 Kerodon (Kerodon moco, F. Cuv. ; Cavia rupestris, 

 Pr. Max). It is a native of the rocky mountain 

 districts in the interior of Brazil. It is less than 

 the aperea, and its fur is very thick and short. The 

 colour is grey mixed with black, and reddish brown 

 above, the under parts being white. A second 

 specis, King's Kerodon (Kerodon Kingii), was in- 

 troduced to science by the late Mr. Bennett. It 

 was found by Captain King at Port Desire, on the 

 eastern coast of Patagonia. In size it is less than 

 the aperea, being about nine inches long. Its 

 colour is more uniform than that of the rocky ke- 

 rodon, and of a deeper tint ; a slight dash of white 

 is perceptible behind each ear, and a line of the 

 same tint marks the edge of each branch of the 

 lower jaw. Mr. Darwin states that this Kerodon 

 "is common at intervals along the coast of Pata- 

 gonia, from the Rio Negro (lat 41°) to the Straits 

 of Magellan. It is very tame, and commonly feeds 

 by day. It is said to bring forth two young ones at 

 a birth. At the Rio Negro it frequents in great 

 numbers the bottoms of old edges. At Port De- 

 sire it lives beneath the ruins of the old Spanish 

 buildings. At the Strait of Magellan I have seen 

 amongst the Patagonian Indians cloaks for small 

 children made with the skins of this little animal. 

 And the Jesuit Falkner says that the people of one 

 of the southern tribes take their name from the 

 number of these animals which inhabit their country. 

 The Spaniards and half-civilized Indians call the 

 kerodon ' Conejos,' or rabbit, and thus has the mis- 

 take arisen that rabbits are found in the neighbour- 

 hood of the Straits of Magellan." 



313. — The Patagonian Cavy, ok Maka 



{Dolichotis Patachonica, Desm. ; Cavia Patachonica, 

 Shaw). This large cavy is rare in European mu- 

 seums. A fine specimen, however, is preserved in 

 the British Museum and the Museum of the Zool. 

 Soc. It is a beautiful animal, standing high on the 

 legs, with much of the port of some of the bush 

 antelopes of Africa. Its height at the shoulder is 

 about a foot and a half. Its length is about two 

 feet six inches, including the tail, which is nearly 

 two inches long. It lives on the Pampas south of 

 Buenos Ayres, and especially in Patagonia. It is 

 noticed by Narborough, Wood, and Byron as being 

 very abundant in Port Desire, and also at Port St. 

 Julian, where, however, it does not now appear to 

 exist. It is only where the country has a desert 

 character that this species is common ; and in the 

 wilds of Patagonia little groups of two, three, or 

 four may be continually seen hopping after each 

 other in a straight line, over plains of gravel thinly 

 clothed with a few thorny dreary bushes and a 

 withered herbage. 



According to Azara, this cavy does not range 

 higher north than latitude 35° : but in this state- 

 ment he appears to be mistaken, for Mr. Darwin 

 observed that near the coast of the Atlantic its 

 northern limit is formed by the Sierra Tapalguen, 

 in latitude 37° 30', where the plains rather sud- 

 denly become greener and more humid ; and he 

 remarks that its limit there certainly depends on 

 this change, since near Mendoza, 33° 30', four de- 

 grees farther northward, where the country is very 

 sterile, this animal again occurs. Azara states that 

 this cavy never excavates its own burrow, but al- 

 ways uses that of the viscacha or biscacha; and 

 Mr. Darwin considers that where that animal is 

 present, Azara's statement is doubtless correct, but 

 that on the sandy plains of Bahia Blanca, where 

 the biscacha is not found, this cavy, as the Spa- 

 niards maintain, is its own workman. The same 

 thing, he adds, occurs with the little owls of the 

 Pampas (noctua cunicularia), which have been 

 described by travellers as standing like sentinels at 

 the mouths of almost every burrow ; for in Banda 

 Oriental, owing to the absence of the biscacha, these 

 birds are obliged to hollow out their own habita- 

 tions. Azara moreover states that, except when 

 pressed by danger, this cavy does not have recourse 

 to its burrow for safety, but crouches on the plains, 

 or trusts to its speed ; adding, however, that it is 

 soon run down. On the contrary, Mr. Darwin as- 

 serts that as Bahia Blanca he repeatedly saw two 

 or three animals sitting on their haunches by the 

 mouths of their holes, which they quietly entered 

 as he passed by at a distance. He remarks, how- 

 ever, that, different from most burrowing animals, 

 they w r ander, commonly two or three together, to 

 miles or even leagues from their home, and he was 

 not able to ascertain whether or not they returned 

 at night. This species is diurnal in its habits, 



roaming about by day. It is very shy and watch- 

 ful, seldom squats after the manner of a hare, and 

 cannot run fast, so that indifferent dogs easily over- 

 take it. The female breeds in her burrow, generally 

 producing two young ones at a birth. The flesh 

 of this animal is white, but dry and insipid. The 

 skin with the fur on is in esteem, being used for 

 rugs, and is beautiful from the character of the 

 hair, which is full and soft, and from the tasteful 

 arrangement of the marking. The colour of the 

 back is brown, grizzled with white, verging into 

 yellow on the sides of the body and on the limbs, 

 but becoming black as it approaches the haunch : 

 this dark hue is there abruptly interrupted by a 

 white band passing transversely above the root of 

 the tail, and spreading on the back and sides of the 

 thighs. The appearance of this white mark is very 

 striking. The chest, inside of the limbs, and under 

 part of the body are also white. The ears are three 

 inches and a half in length, erect and pointed. 

 Full-grown individuals weigh between twenty and 

 twenty-six pounds. The young, it is said, may be 

 easily domesticated. 



314.— The Capyeaka 



(Hydrochcerus Capybara). Cabiai, Buff. The 

 Capybara (the only known species of the genus 

 Hydrochcerus) is the largest of all the Rodentia ; 

 and its size, its massive, heavy proportions, its 

 thick head, and the bristly character of its hair, give 

 it a degree of resemblance to some of the Paehy- 

 dermata. Marcgrave regards it as a sort of aquatic 

 hog ; Fermins, in his ' History of Surinam,' 1775, 

 terms it Porcus fluviatilis, or river-hog ; while 

 Pennant gives it the title of thick-nosed Tapir. 

 It is also the Cochon d'eau of Desmarehais ; the Sus 

 maximus palustris of Barrere ; and the Sus hydro- 

 chcerus. Pig-like as the capybara may be in its 

 external aspect, it is nevertheless a genuine Rodent, 

 as much so as the hare or agouti. Its dentition con- 

 sists of the usual incisors, which are of prodigious 

 size and strength : those in the upper jaw have a 

 deep longitudinal furrow on their outer surface. 

 The molars are four on each side, above and below ; 

 and consist of a series of obliquely transverse, 

 parallel laminae of enamel (Fig. 315), presenting 

 acute lateral projections in the three first teeth : 

 these projections are on the outer edge of the upper 

 teeth and the inner edge of the lower. The spaces 

 enclosed by the layers of enamel are filled in with 

 osseous matter, and the whole is united into a sin- 

 gle mass by intervening cortical matter, or crusta 

 petrosa. The molars of the capybara are in fact 

 analagous to those of the elephant. 



We have stated that in some Rodents the fauces, 

 or back of the mouth, is continued funnel-shaped, 

 opening into the oesophagus through a small orifice 

 surrounded by a muscle of circular fibres, allowing 

 only the gradual transmission of food which has 

 been previously reduced to a thorough pulp. This 

 structural peculiarity was first pointed out in the 

 cap3' , baraby Mr. Morgan (' Linn. Trans.' vol. xvi.), 

 but we meet with it also in the Coypu, the Capromys[ 

 and the Beaver. (See ' Proc. Zool. Soc' 1832, p. 73 ; 

 1835, p. 175). In the capybara the head is large, 

 the muzzle thick and blunt, the upper lip deeply fis- 

 sured ; the eyes are moderately large : the ears small 

 and rounded. The naked patch of the size of half 

 a crown occupies the cheek a little below each eye. 

 The fore-limbs are short and muscular, the toes 

 being four, furnished with strong claws ; the hind- 

 limbs are also thick, but longer than those before, 

 and the whole of the sole, which is covered with 

 naked rough skin, is applied to the ground. The 

 toes are three in number, having strong large hoof- 

 like nails, and being partially connected together 

 by intervening membranes. The tail, a mere rudi- 

 ment, is scarcely to be perceived. This animal ex- 

 ceeds three feet six inches in length, and its body, 

 which is more than three feet in girth, owing to its 

 bulk and the shortness of the limbs, almost touches 

 the ground. It is covered with long, coarse thinly- 

 set hairs of a sandy or brownish grey. A fine 

 specimen, recently living, is preserved in the Mu- 

 seum of the Zool. Soc. 



The capybara is a gregarious animal, frequent- 

 ing the rich and wooded borders of the lakes and 

 rivers in Brazil, Guiana, and Paraguay. Mr. Dar- 

 win states that it is common wherever there are 

 large rivers or lakes, over that part of the South 

 American continent which lies between the Orinoco 

 and the Plata, a distance of nearly 1400 miles. They 

 are not generally supposed to extend south of the 

 Plata, but he heard that there were capybaras (pro- 

 vincially termed Laguna Carpincho) high up the 

 Salado, and presumes that they have sometimes 

 been seen south of the former river. This animal 

 lives usually in small companies, which remain con- 

 cealed among the thickets and dense herbage of the 

 borders of the water during the day, and wander 

 forth at night to feed. When alarmed, the capy- 

 bara utters a loud cry like the vowel sounds a-pe, 

 and immediately makes for the water, into which it 



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