CECONOMIC RAT. 85 



Irtish, and Jenesei. It is an animal that sleeps 

 much ; rolling itself up like the marmot, and 

 sometimes migrates, in great troops, from one 

 part of the country to another. 



CECONOMIC RAT. 



Mus QSconomus. M. cauda svbsesquiunciali, auriculis nudis m 

 velkre molli latentibus, palmis subtetradactylisy cotyore fusco, 

 Lin, Si/st, Nat, Gmel.p, 134. Pall. Glir, p. 79. No. 15. 



Short-tailed tawny Rat, whitish beneath, with naked ears con- 

 cealed by the fur, and subtetradactyle fore-feet. 



OEconomic Rat. Pennant Quadr, 2. p, 194. 



The (Economic Rat, so named from its provi- 

 dent disposition and the skill with which it col- 

 lects its provisions, is. a native of Siberia, inhabit- 

 ing that country in vast abundance, and even ex- 

 tending as far as Kamtschatka. Its curious his- 

 tory has been given Avith great exactness by Dr. 

 Pallas, who informs us that these little animals 

 make their burrows with wonderful skill immedi- 

 ately below the surface in soft turfy soils, forming 

 a chamber, of a flattish arched form, of a small 

 height, and about a foot in diameter, to which 

 they sometimes add as many as thirty small pipes 

 or entrances, and near the chamber they frequently 

 form other caverns, in which they deposit their 

 winter stores ; these are said to consist of various 

 kinds of plants, even of some species which are 

 poisonous to mankind. They gather them in 

 summer, harvest them with great care, and even 



