CLASS I. MAMMALIA: OEDER Y. EODENTIA. 
393 
GOINEA-PIGS. 
as soon as they are born, without betraying the least concern. As she breeds once in the two 
months, it has been calculated that a single couple may prove the source of one thousand individ- 
uals in the course of a year. To check this excessive fecundity, nature has provided that many 
of them should fall a sacrifice to cold and moisture, to the feeble and short-lived affection of their 
parents, to their quarrels with one another, and to their incapacity of defending themselves against 
cats and other beasts of prey. Their life is almost an incessant round of eating, sleepiug, and re- 
producing their kind. 
Buffon asserts that they never drink, but this not correct, for they are veiy fond of milk, and, 
in default of it, have recourse to water. They readily feed on all sorts of herbs, but prefer parsley 
and the tops of carrots even to bread or flour. They are also very fond of apples and other fruits, 
and will feed on grain, and tea-leaves. They eat precipitately, like rabbits, and very often, and 
but little at a time. They sleep with their eyes half open, like the hare, and continue watchful 
if apprehensive of danger. Their usual cry resembles the grunting of a young pig; but they also 
express pleasure or pain by appropriate sounds. They are very susceptible to cold, and will press 
together to avoid its effects. Though naturally tame and gentle in their deportment, they are 
incapable of strong attachment. They seem to be governed by instinct, and to have less of 
what may be called intelligence than almost any other rodent. They love dark and intricate re- 
treats, and seldom venture out of concealment when danger is at hand. They are at great pains 
to keep themselves and one another clean, frequently licking and smoothing their own and their 
neighbors' fur. 
"With scarcely sufficient courage to defend themselves against the attacks of a mouse, their ani- 
mosities against those of their own species are obstinate and violent, and generally originate m a 
desire of possessing the warmest corner, or the most agreeable food. The males also have sharp 
conflicts of gallantry. Their mode of fighting is very singular, for one of them seizing the neck of 
its antagonist with its teeth, attempts to tear ofi' the hair, while the other turns its posteriors to 
the aggressor, kicks up behind like a hoi'se, and scratches his rival's flanks even to the efi'usion of 
blood. The only battles which they fight are, however, with one another; for they maybe taken, 
and even killed, without oflfering any resistance, farther than very feeble attempts at escape. 
YoL. L— -50 
