240 
MUS 
M U S 
is given in Dr. Shaw’s excellent work, which, 
is accompanied by an outline of the head, in 
its natural size, in order to shew the teeth 
and cheek-pouches. The manners of this 
species are at present unknown ; but if may 
be concluded that it lays in a stock of pro- 
visions, either for autumnal or winter food. 
The pouches of the individual specimen 
above described, when first brought to go- 
vernor Present, were filled with a kind of 
earthy substance: it is, therefore, not im- 
probable that the Indians who caught the 
animal might have stuffed it thus, in order 
to preserve it in its utmost extent. 
14. Mus typhlus, blind rat. This is per- 
haps one of the largest and most remarkable 
ot its tribe, measuring between seven and 
eight inches in length, and being entirely 
destitute both of eyes and tail ; the defect of 
the former is a very singular circumstance, 
and the animal perhaps affords the only in- 
stance of a truly blind or eyeless quadruped. 
In the mole, the eyes, however small and 
deeply seated, are yet perfect in their kind, 
and though not calculated for acute vision, 
still enable the animal to avoid (he danger of 
exposure; but in the quadruped now under 
consideration, there are 'merely a pair of sub- 
cutaneous rudiments ot eyes, smaller than 
poppy-seeds, and covered 'with a real skin. 
It is probable, however, that even these mi- 
nute organs are sufficient to give an obscure 
perception of light, and to enable the animal 
to consult its safety by generally continuing 
beneath the surface. The external ears are 
also wanting, and the foramina leading to the 
internal organs are very small, entirely hid 
by the fur, and situated at a great distance 
backward. There is scarce any distinction 
between the head and neck, and the whole 
form of the animal, like that of the mole, is 
calculated for a subterraneous life; the body 
being cylindric, the limbs very, short, and the 
feet and claws, though small and weak in 
comparison with those of moles, yet calcu- 
lated for digging or burrowing in the ground. 
The colour of the animal is a greyish brown ; 
the fur, which is very thick, soft, and downy, 
being dusky toward the roots, and greyish to- 
ward the tips; the head is lighter and the 
abdomen darker than the other parts; the 
lower lip is also whitish, and sometimes a 
white mark extends along the forehead ; the 
front-teeth are very large, and are naturally 
bare or exserted ; the lower pair being much 
longer than the upper. This singular species 
is a native of the southern parts of Russia, 
where it burrows to a great extent beneath 
the surface, forming several lateral passages, 
by which it may pass in quest of roots, &c. 
It is said to feed in particular on the roots of 
the chaerophyllum bulbosum. In the morn- 
ing hours it sometimes quits its hold to bask 
in the sunshine, and if disturbed, instantly 
takes refuge beneath the surface; burrowing 
with great agility, and frequently in a per- 
pendicular direction. Its bite is very severe 
when attacked. It lias no voice, but emits a 
kind of -snorting sound, and gnashes its large 
teeth in a menacing manner, raising its head 
at the same time. The female is said to pro- 
duce from two to four young. 
15. Mus Capeusis, Cape rat. Tn its ge- 
neral shape, this animal is not unlike the 
great sand rat first described, and is equally 
Common about the Cape of Good Hope ; but 
it is far inferior in size, measuring about seven 
inches to the tail, which is very short, nearly 
white, and flattish. The general colour ol 
this species is a dusky rufous ash-brown, 
paler or more inclining to whitish beneath; 
the end or tip of the nose is naked and 
black, the remainder white, and on each side 
are several strong white bristles ; the chin, 
lower sides of the cheeks, and spaces round 
the eyes, are also white, and on the hind part 
of the head is an oval white spot ; the teeth 
are naturally exserted or naked, and are si- 
milar in form to those of the great sand rat. 
In its manners and wav of life, the animal is 
also similar to that species ; and is very de- 
structive to gardens, flinging up hillocks, 
and eating various kinds of roots. 
MUSA, the plantain tree, a genus of the 
monoecia order, in the polyandria class of 
plants, and in the natural method ranking 
under the 8th order, scitaminete. The ca- 
lyx of the male hermaphrodite is a spatha or 
sheath; the corolla is dipetalous ; the one 
petal erect and quinquedentate ; the other 
nectariferous, concave, and shorter: there 
are six species, five of which are perfect; one 
style; the germen inferior and abortive. The 
female hermaphrodite has the calyx, corolla, 
filaments, and pistil, of the male hermaphro- 
dite, with only one filament perfect ; the 
berry is oblong, and three-angled below. 
There are three species: 
1. Musa paradisiaca, is cultivated in all 
the islands of the West Indies, where the fruit 
serves the Indians for bread; and some of 
the white people also prefer it to most other 
things, especially to the yams and cassada 
bread. The plant rises with a soft stalk 15 
or 20 feet high ; the lower part of the stalk 
is often as large as a man’s thigh, diminishing 
gradually to the top, where the leaves come 
out on every side : these are often eight feet 
long, and from two to three broad, with a 
strong lleshy mid-rib, and a great number of 
transverse veins running from the mid-rib to 
the borders. The leaves are thin and tender, 
so that where they are exposed to the open 
air, they are generally torn bv the wind ; for 
as they are large, the w ind has great power 
against them: these leaves come out from 
the centre of the stalk, and are rolled up at 
■their first appearance; but when they are ad- 
vanced above the stalk, they expand and turn 
backward. As these leaves come up rolled 
in this manner, their advance upward is so 
quick, that their growth may almost be dis- 
covered by the naked eye: and if a fine line 
is drawn across level w ith the top of the leaf, 
in an hour the leaf will be near an inch above 
it. When the plant is grown to its full 
height, the spikes of flowers appear in the 
centre, which is often near four foet long. 
1 he flowers come out in bunches, those in 
the lower part of the spike being the largest ; 
the others diminish in their size upward, 
kach of these bunches is covered with a 
sheath of a fine purple colour, w hich drops 
oil when the flowers open. The upper part 
ot the spike is made up of male flowers, 
w hich are not succeeded by fruit, but fall off 
with their covers. The fruit or plantain is 
about a foot long, and an inch apd a half or 
two inches diameter : it is at first green, but 
when ripe pale-yellow . The skin is tough ; 
and within is a soft pulp of a luscious sweet 
flavour, The spikes of the fruit are often. so 
M U S 
large as to weigh upwards of 40lb. The 
truit of this sort is generally cut before it is 
ripe. The green skin is pulled off, and the 
IiUcirt is roasted in a clear lire for a. few mi- I 
nules, and frequently turned: it is then 
scraped, and served up as bread. Boiled 
plantains are not so palatable. 
I Ids tree is cultivated on a very extensive 
scale in Jamaica, without the fruit of which. 
Dr. \\ right says, the island would scarce be '• 
habitable, as no species of provision could I 
supply their place. Even flour or bread it- 
self would be less agreeable, and less able to 1 
support the laborious negro, so as to enable 
him to do his business, or to keep in health, j 
Plantains also fatten horses, cattle, swine, 
dogs, fowls, and other domestic animals. 
The leavt-S, being smooth and soft, are em- 
ployed as dressings after blisters. The water 
from the soft trunk is astringent, and em- i 
ployed by some to check diarrhoeas. Every 
otiiei part of lire tree is useful in different 
parts of rural economy. llie leaves are 
used for napkins and table-cloths, and are 
food tor hogs. 
2. Musa sapientum, the banana tree. This - 
species differs from the preceding in having its 
stalks marked with dark-purple stripes and 
spots. The fruit is shorter, straighter, and 
rounder ; the pulp is softer, and of a more lus- 
cious taste. It is never eaten green ; but w hen 
ripe it is very agreeable, either eaten raw or 
tried in slices as fritters ; and is relished bv all 
ranks of people in the West Indies. Both these 
plants were carried to the West Indies from 
the Canary Islands, whither, it is believed, 
they bad been brought from Guinea, where 
they grow naturally. They are also culti- 
vated in Egypt, and in most other hot coun- 
tries, where they grow to perfection in about 
ten months from their first planting to the 
ripening of their fruit. When their stalks are 
cut down, several suckers come up from the 
roots, which in six or eight months produce 
fruit; so that by cutting down the stalks at 
different times, there is a constant succession 
ot fruit all the year. In Europe some of 
these plants are’ raised by gentlemen who 
have hot-houses capacious enough for their 
reception, in many of which they have ripen- 
ed their fruit very well ; but as they grovr 
very tall, and their leaves are large, they re- 
quire more room in the stove than most 
people are willing to allow them. They are 
propagated by suckers, which come from the 
roots of those plants that have fruited; and 
many times the younger plants, when stinted 
in growth, also put out suckers. The fruit 
of this tree is four or fire inches long, of the 
size and and shape of a middling cucumber, 
and of a high, grateful flavour: the leaves 
are two yards long, and a foot broad in the 
middle; thev join to the top of the body of 
the tree, and often contain in their cavities a 
great quantity ot water which runs out upon 
a small incision being made- into the tree, at 
the junction ot the leaves. Bananas grow 
in great bunches, that weigh 12 lb. and up- 
wards. 'I he body of the tree is so porous 
as not to merit the name of wood ; the tree is 
only perennial by its roots, and dies down to 
the ground every autumn. When the na- 
tives of the West Indies (says Labat) under- 
take a voyage, they make provision of a 
paste ot banana, which, in case of need, 
serves them for nourishment and drink : for 
C 
