46 



FA^'CY MICE. 



a disease of the brain analogous to the " gid " in sheep. In the 

 latter, the complaint is caused by a parasite in the brain ; in 

 the case o£ the Waltzing Mouse, it is probably due to an 

 hereditary malformation therein. Be this as it may, the breed 

 is now a firmly-established one, and the children of Waltzing 

 Mice waltz like their parents. 



I believe most people have an idea that the waltzing is a 

 stately dance executed on the hind-feet; this is not so. The 

 performer simply goes round and round on all foars, as fast 

 as possible, the head pointing inwards. The giddy whirl, after 

 continuing for about a dozen turns, is then reversed in direction, 

 and each performance usually occupies from one to two minutes. 

 Whether it is voluntary or not, is difficult to determine, but 

 I am inclined to think the mouse can refrain if it wishes to 

 do so, because I never see them drop any food they may be 

 eating, and begin to waltz in the midst of their meal. The 

 dance, if such it can be called, generally seizes the mouse 

 when it first emerges from its darkened sleeping-place, and 

 this would lead one to suppose that the light conveys an 

 impression of shock to the brain, through the eyes, which 

 disturbs the diseased centres and starts the giddy gyrations. 

 The mice can walk or run in a fairly straight line when they 

 wish to do so. 



Waltzing Mice are somewhat smaller than the ordinary 

 fancy mouse, though exactly like it in general a^Dpearance, 

 and bear evident traces of systematic in- breeding for many 

 generations, in the delicacy and fragility of their appear- 

 ance, and the fineness of their coats. The eyes are 

 remarkably small and dull, and very suggestive of brain 

 weakness. They eat considerably less than ordinary mice, 

 but I have not observed any very special weakness of con- 

 stitution in them beyond what would be naturally expected 

 from an in-bred race. If the mouse be taken out of its cage 

 and placed on the palm of the hand, it will generally begin 

 to rotate at once, apparently from nervousness. The attitude 

 of the centre mouse in the illustration, which shows the 

 head elevated with the nose pointing upwards, is character- 

 istic. The mouse in question has just fiuished a waltz, and 

 is stretching its neck up and out as they invariably do at 

 the close of the performance. 



These mice are fed and treated in the same way as 

 ordinary ones, but need rather more warmth, especially when 

 breeding, and should have roomy cages, wired in front, for 

 the convenience of watching their antics. It is very curious 

 to see the circles, about Sin. in diameter, swept in the 

 sawdust on the cage-floor by their performance. 



