36 
MR.  E.  T.  BENNETT  ON  THE  CHINCHILLIDiE. 
tunity  of  examining  its  teeth  and  internal  organs,  a  new  genus,  which,  from  the  pecu- 
harly  lengthened  form  of  its  ears,  I  proposed  to  call  Lagotis ;  dedicating  its  specific 
name  to  the  memory  of  the  illustrious  Cuvier,  whose  loss  the  world  of  science  was  just 
then  called  on  to  deplore.  The  name  of  Lagotis  Cuvieri  was  therefore  placed  upon  the 
cage  in  which  the  little  animal  was  confined,  together  with  the  English  synonym  of  the 
long-eared  Viscacha;  and  the  opportunity  being  now  afforded  of  redeeming  my  pledge, 
I  propose  to  lay  before  the  Society  a  full  description  of  this  new  genus,  including  its 
internal  anatomy  and  the  peculiarities  of  its  bony  skeleton.  To  this  description  1  shall 
add  a  comparison  of  its  form  and  structure  with  both  Chinchilla  and  Lagostomus,  which 
the  materials  now  and  heretofore  at  my  disposal  enable  me  to  make  in  some  degree 
complete. 
Before  entering,  however,  into  this  more  purely  technical  part  of  my  subject,  it  may 
not  be  uninteresting  to  take  a  review  of  the  history  of  the  two  Viscachas,  which  appear 
to  have  been  long  since  indicated  in  the  writings  of  South  American  travellers,  although 
one  (the  Lagostomus)  was  first  characterized  only  five  years  ago,  and  the  other  has  re- 
mained until  the  present  moment  entirely  unknown  to  science.  In  another  place  I  have 
given  the  history  of  the  conterminous  genus  Chinchilla  up  to  the  year  1829  ;  but  the 
progress  of  science  has  added,  in  the  brief  period  that  has  since  elapsed,  several  valuable 
notices  of  that  animal  also,  which,  in  order  to  make  my  account  of  the  family  more 
complete,  I  shall  enumerate  in  their  proper  place. 
The  earliest  notice  of  the  Peruvian  Viscacha  which  I  have  met  with,  is  contained  in 
Pedro  de  Cieca's '  Chronica  del  Peru'^  An  English  version  of  this  book  was  published 
so  late  as  the  year  1709,  under  the  title  of '  The  seventeen  years  Travels  of  Peter  de 
Cieza  through  the  mighty  Kingdom  of  Peru';  and  from  this  the  following  account  of 
the  Viscacha  is  extracted.  The  original  Spanish  will  be  found  in  a  note  below.  "  There 
is  another  sort  of  creature  they  call  Viscacha,  about  the  bigness  and  resembhng  a 
hare,  but  that  it  has  a  long  tail  like  a  fox  ;  these  breed  in  stony  places  and  among 
rocks,  and  many  of  them  are  shot  with  guns  and  cross-bows,  and  taken  by  the  Indians 
in  gins  [with  the  lasso] ,  they  being  good  to  eat  after  hanging  to  tender  ;  and  of  their 
hair  or  wool  the  Indians  make  large  mantles,  cloaks,  or  blankets,  as  soft  as  silk,  and 
very  valuable^." 
Father  Joseph  de  Acosta,  who  wrote  in  1590,  also  mentions  the  Viscacha  of  Peru  as 
an  animal  resembling  a  hare,  but  larger,  which  was  hunted  and  eaten ^    He  is  followed 
'  Anv.  1554.  fol.  268  v. — Robertson  mentions  an  edition  published  at  SeviUe  in  1533  ;  but  I  have  seen  none 
earlier  than  that  quoted  above. 
^  "  Ay  otro  genero  de  animal  que  llaman  Viscacha  del  tamano  de  una  liebre  y  de  la  forma,  salvo  que  tienen 
la  cola  larga  como  raposa :  crian  en  pedregales  y  entre  rocas,  y  muchas  matan  con  ballestas  y  arcabuzes,  y  los 
Indios  con  lazos  :  son  buenas  para  comer  como  esten  manidas  :  y  aun  de  los  pelos  o  lana  de  estas  Viscachas 
hazen  los  Indios  mantes  grandes,  tan  blandas  como  se  faessen  de  seda :  y  son  muy  preciadas." 
■*  "  Otros  animalejos  llaman  Vizcachas,  que  son  a  manera  de  liebres,  aunque  mayores,  y  tambien  las  cacan  y 
comen." — Historia  Natural  y  Moral  de  las  Indias,  Sevilla  1590,  p.  288. 
