APPENDIX. 



45 



all sorts, birdseed, roots (such as carrots), and especially 

 dates, which they open in a very clever way by splitting the 

 flesh, after which they extract the stone; and invariably, 

 when under my observation, they immediately run with the 

 latter to their store-house, as if it had been something too 

 precious for present consumption. 



The characteristic spines which give these so-called mice 

 their popular name are exceedingly curious, and are perhaps 

 even more so in another variety — the Cairo Spiny Mice 

 (Acomys cahirensis). These are grey in colour — a charming 

 bluish tint generally described as French grey — and their 

 spines are a little more noticeable than those of the Acomys 

 Hunteri, though the creatures themselves are slightly inferior 

 in size and beauty of form to their before-mentioned brethren. 

 The pair I possess are rather wild, but are rapidly becoming 

 tamer, and no one who sees them can fail to be attracted 

 by their elegant colour and form and the beauty of the very 

 large and prominent eyes which bespeak their nocturnal habits. 

 These latter do not in any way unfit them for pets, because 

 their night begins early, and at dusk they come out and run 

 about very merrily. 



Spiny Mice are kept in some numbers at the London Zoo, 

 where they may be seen, mostly in a mutilated condition as 

 to tail, and therefore shorn of a chief beauty. When they 

 fight the tail seems generally to be the point of attack, but 

 disputes seldom take place between couples kept, as married 

 folk should be, in a house of their own. The skin of the 

 tail is like that of the Dormouse, liable to be pulled of bodily, 

 so that it is very unwise to attempt holding or catching them 

 by this member. 



The spines on the body are confined to the back, beginning 

 below the shoulder, and extending to the root of the tail. 

 The rest of the skin is covered with a fine and delicate fur. 



The activity of Spiny Mice is very great, and their agility 

 equals it, so that they require, and should have, a roomy 

 cage, with plenty of opportunity for exercise. They seem 

 fairly hardy, but probably would not do well in a room whose 

 temperature was much under that of an ordinary sitting- 

 room. 



WALTZING MICE. 



These quaint little creatures make amusing pets for anyone 

 who is not scientific, or very fond of knowing " the reason why." 

 In their case the reason of the peculiarity which gives them 

 their name is rather a sad one. It is now pretty conclusively 

 established that they are no more Japanese than they are of 

 any other country in particular, but that the originators of 

 the breed were common fancy mice which were suffering from 



