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forts, and make great ravages ambngft dove -coats 

 and henroofts. The wood-rat is twice the fize of 

 ours ; he has a buftiy tail, and is of a beautiful 111- 

 ver grey : there are even fome entirely of a mod 

 beautiful white •, the female has a bag under her 

 belly, which me opens and ihuts at plea lure ; in this 

 fhe places her young when me is purfued, and fo 

 faves them with herfelf from their common enemy. 



With regard to the fquirrel, this animal enjoys a 

 tolerable degree of tranquillity, fo that there are a 

 prodigious number of them in this country. They 

 are diftinguifhed into three different forts ; the red ? 

 which are exactly the fame with ours ; thofe called 

 Swijfes of a fmallef fize* and fo called, becaufe they 

 have long ftripes of red, white and black, much 

 like the liveries of the pope's Swifs guards ; and 

 the flying fquirrel, of much the fame fize with the 

 SwhTes, and with a dark grey fur ; they are called 

 flying fquirrels, not that they really can fly, but 

 from their leaping from tree to tree, to the diftance 

 of forty paces and more. From a higher place, 

 they will fly or leap double the diftance. What 

 gives them this facility of leaping, is two mem- 

 branes, one on each fide, reaching between their 

 fore and hind legs, and which when ftretched are 

 two inches broad ; they are very thin, and covered 

 over with a fort of cats hair or down. This little 

 animal is eafily tamed, and is very lively except 

 when afleep, which is often the cafe, and he puts 

 up wherever he can find a place, in one*s fleeves, 

 pockets, and muffs. He firft pitches upon his 

 matter, whom he will diftinguifh amongft twenty 



The Canadian porcupine is of the fize of a middling 

 dog, but fhorter and not fo tall \ his hair is about 

 Vol. I. O four 



