254 



HISTORY OF MEXICO. 



Common Field Mouse of Mexico and other countries 

 of America. 



Mouse of Maule, a quadruped of that province, in the 

 kingdom of Chili, fimilar to the Marmot, but twice 

 as large. Hift. of Chili. 



Trefle, or Trefoil, a large quadruped of North Ame- 

 rica, defcribed by Bomare. 



Viscacha of the fields, a quadruped fimilar to the rab- 

 bit, but furnifhed with a large tail turned upwards. 

 Acofta and other hiftorians of South America men- 

 tion it. 



Viscacha of the mountains, a quadruped extremely 

 beautiful, of the fame kind with that of the fields, 

 but different in fpecies. MS. by us. 



Usnagua, or Cercopithecus noclurnus of Quito. MS. &c. 



Thefe forty fpecies, added to thofe one hundred and 

 two above mentioned, make one hundred and forty-two 

 fpecies of American quadrupeds. If we add to thofe, 

 horfes, aiTes, bulls, flieep, goats, common hogs, and 

 Guinea-pigs, dogs, cats, and houfe mice, tranfported 

 there fince the conqueft, we fhall have at prefent an 

 hundred and fifty-two fpecies in America. Count de 

 Buffon, who in all his Natural Hiftory does not enume- 

 rate more than two hundred fpecies of quadrupeds in 

 the countries of the world hitherto difcovered, in his 

 work entitled, Epoches de la Nature, reckons now three 

 hundred ; fo large has the increafe been in the fpace of 

 a few years ! But now that they are three hundred, 

 America, although it does not make more than a third 

 part of the globe, has notwithstanding almoft one half 

 of the fpecies of its quadrupeds. We repeat almost, 

 becaufe we have omitted all thofe of which we are in 



doubt 



