HAMSTER. 
In the Systema Naturae, the lower parts are 
said to be_ very black ; and the sides reddish, 
with three white spots. M. Ailamand de- 
scribes the colour generally, as a mixture of 
red, yellow, white, and black. Goldsmith,, 
after telling us that the belly and legs are of a 
dirty yellow; says, " they are usually found 
brown on the back, and white on the belly !'* 
Pennant's description is as follows — " It has 
large, rounded ears; and full black eyes. The 
colour, on the head and back, is a reddish 
brown ; the cheeks are red: beneath each ear, 
is a white spot, and another behind ; and a 
fourth near the hinder legs. The breast, up- 
per part of the fore-legs, and the belly, are 
black. The tail is short, and almost naked. 
It has four toes, and a fifth claw, on the fore- 
feet; five behind. They vary sometimes in 
colour: about Casan, is found, frequently, a 
family entirely black." 
It is -observed, by M. Sulzer, that "the 
Corn-Rat, called in German the Hamster, 
cannot be more commodiously described than 
at Goth a ; where, in one year, eleven thousand 
' five 
