EGYPTIAN JEREOA. 
is said, bv Messerchmid, to signifv *' an ani- 
mal which cannot walk." The word Alar;- 
taga, however, Bnffon remarks, appears to be 
nearlv the same with Letaga, which is applied 
to the Flying Squirrel. *' Hence," savs he, 
*' I am inclined to believe, that Alagtaga. as 
well as Letaga, are generic rarherchan speciric 
names, and that they denote a Flving Animal ; 
c^peciallv, as Strahlenberg, quoted bv Gmclin, 
calls this animal ths Flvlno- Hare." 
o 
The Jerboa is said by^ufFon to be common 
in Circassia, Egypt, Barbary, and Arabia ; 
and the Alac;tacj;a in Tartarv, aloncr the WgI- 
ga, and as far as Siberia. It is seldom, ]:e 
observes, that the same animal inhabits cli- 
mates so difFerent ; and, when it does happen, 
the species undergoes great changes. This w e 
presume to be the case with the Jerboa; of 
vhich, notwithstanding these differences, tlic 
Alagtaga, seems to be onlv a variety. With 
regard to tlic Daman, or Lamb of the Chil- 
dren of F^rael, which seems to be a kind of 
jerboa, because ir's tore legs are rcmarkablv 
shorter than the hind, having never seen this 
animal, wc cannot do better than copy the re- 
marks 
