voted, in the dry, stony, and sandy deserts 
in which it resides. During the day it com- 
monly remains in its hole ; coming out at 
night for food and exercise. On the ap- 
proach of cold it is said to grow torpid tor 
some time, reviving on the change of wea- 
ther. 
This animal has frequently been brought 
into Europe, and in a state of confinement 
lias been known to burrow almost through a 
brick wall. 
Sonnini, in his Egyptian Travels, assures 
us, that he never was able to find any differ- 
ence either in the form or colour of the 
Egyptian jerboa. Sonnini considers the jer- 
boa as constituting a link between quadru- 
peds and birds. In this idea he is by no 
i means singular ; the same sentiment natu- 
rally suggesting itself to the mind of every 
philosophical observer. Mons. Sonnini adds, 
i that though the transition from quadrupeds 
to birds has not yet been investigated, we 
have nevertheless reason to consider the 
connection as existing. We have the be- 
! ginning of it in the jerboa, and the last link 
j of it in the bat. We have every reason to 
believe, that the series of gradations will de- 
! velope itself in proportion as good observers 
shall carry their researches into countries 
! the natural history of which is still unex- 
plored. 
“ The jerboa appears, says Sonnini, to be a 
prolific animal ; for it is exceedingly numer- 
j ous in Arabia, Nubia, Egypt, and Barbary. 
I During my stay or rather during my excur- 
j sionsin Egypt, I opened several jerboas. Mv 
1 principal aim was to ascertain that they had 
only one stomach, and consequently could 
not possess the power of ruminating. This 
was in answer to one of the questions that 
j Michaelis, professor at Gottingen, had ad- 
; dressed to the travellers sent to the East by 
the king of Denmark, viz. Whether the jer- 
| boa was a ruminating animal ; a question 
arising from the same mistake which had oc- 
j casioned the confounding the jerboa with 
the daman Israel, or saphan of the Hebrews, 
j “ I he sand and ruins that surround modern 
j Alexandria are much frequented by the jer- 
! boas. They live in society, and in burrows, 
| which they dig with their teeth and nails. I 
! have even been told, that they sometimes 
make their way through the-soft stone which 
is under the stratum of sand. Though not 
absolutely wild, they are very shy, and upon 
I the least noise, or the sight" of “any object, 
j retire precipitately to their holes. They 
| can only be killed by surprise. The Arabs 
I contrive to take them alive, by stopping up 
[, all the avenues to their burrows except one, 
by which they force them to come out. I 
never ate any : their flesh indeed is said to 
be not very “palatable, though it is not de- 
spised by the Egyptians. Their skin, cover- 
ed with soft and shining hair, is used as a 
' common fur. 
“ In Egypt, I kept six of these animals 
for some time in a large cage : the very 
i first night they entirely gnawed through the 
: upright and cross pieces of wood, and I was 
I obliged to have the inside of the cage lined 
with tin. They ate rice, walnuts, and all 
kinds of fruit. They delighted in being in 
J the sun ; and when taken into the shade, hud- 
: died together, and seemed to suffer from the 
privation of heat. It has been said that the 
erboas sleep by day, and never in the night 
DIPUS. 
but, for my part, I observed quite the con- 
trary. In a state of liberty they are found 
round their subterraneous habitations in open 
day, and those which I kept were never 
more lively nor awake than in the heat of 
the sun. Although they have a great deal 
of agility in their motions, they seem to be 
of a mild and tranquil disposition. Mine 
suffered themselves to be touched without 
difficulty ; and there was neither noise nor 
quarrel among them, even when taking their 
food. At the same time they testified neither 
joy, fear, nor gratitude : their gentleness was 
neither amiable nor interesting : it appeared 
to be the effect of cold and complete indif- 
ference, bordering on stupidity. Three of 
these animals died successively, before my 
departure from Alexandria. I lost two others 
during a somewhat stormy passage to the 
isle of Rhodes, when the last, owing to the 
negligence of the person to whose care it 
was committed, got out of its cage and dis- 
appeared. I had a strict search made for it, 
when the vessel was unloaded, but without 
effect : it had no doubt been killed by the 
cats.” J 
2 . Dipus jaculus, or alagtaga,in its general 
appearance perfectly resembles the common 
or Egyptian jerboa, but is considerably 
larger, though there appear to be permanent 
varieties or races which are, on the contrary, 
much smaller than the common species. It 
is principally distinguished by the remark- 
able character of the hind “feet, each of 
which has a pair of very conspicuous spurs, 
or additional toes, situated at some distance 
above the front toes, and furnished with sharp 
claws. 
Ot this species t here are two supposed va- 
rieties, agreeing in form with the above-men- 
tioned, but differing in size, and in some de- 
gree in colour ; but the differences are not 
such as to justify our considering them as 
specifically distinct. The first of these varie- 
ties is the Middle Siberian jerboa, which is 
of the size of a rat, and has the thighs cross- 
ed by a white line ; and a whitish zone or 
circle surrounds the nose. It is found in the 
eastern deserts of Siberia and Tartary, be- 
yond the lake Baikal. It ako occurs in 
Barbary and Syria, and extends, according 
to Dr. Pallas, even as far as India. The 
other variety is called by Mr. Pennant, the 
pygmy Siberian jerboa. It agrees in form 
with the other, but has no white circle round 
the nose, and has a smaller tuft to the tail, 
the end of which is just tipped with white, 
in size it is far inferior to the middle va- 
riety. Tt is said to inhabit the same places 
with the large or first-described kind. All 
these agree in their manners, burrowing in 
bard clayey ground, not only in high and 
dry spots, but even in low and salt places ; 
digging their holes with great celerity with 
their fore feet and teeth; thus forming 
oblique and winding burrow's, of some yards 
in length, and ending in a large hole or re- 
ceptacle by way of nest, in which are depo- 
sited the herbs, &c. on which they feed. 
They are said to wander about chiefly by 
night. They sleep rolled up, with the head 
between the thighs : they are extremely 
nimble, and on the approach of clanger , 
spring forward so swiftly, that a man well ! 
mounted can scarcely overtake them. They ‘ 
are said to be particularly fond of the roots : 
of tulips, and some other bulbous-rooted i 
sir 
plants. They are supposed to sleep during 
the winter in the manner of dormice. 
Mr. Bruce tells us, that there is little va- 
riety in the animal, either in size or colour; 
but that towards Aleppo they have broader 
noses than the African ; that their bodies are 
thicker, and their colour lighter. 
“ The Arabs of the kingdom of Tripoli 
(says Mr. Bruce), make very good diversion 
with the jerboa, in training their greyhounds, 
which they employ to hunt the gazel or an- 
telope, after instructing him to turn himself 
by hunting this animal. The prince of 
Tunis, son of Sidi Younis, and grandson of 
Ali Bey, who had been strangled by (lie 
Algerines when that capital was taken, “being 
then an exile at Algiers, made me a present 
of a small greyhound, which often gave us 
excellent sport. It may perhaps be ima- 
gined that a chace between these two crea- 
tures could not be long : yet I have often 
seen, in a large inclosure, or court-yard, the 
greyhound employ a quarter of an “hour be- 
fore he could master his nimble adversary : 
the small sizeofthe creature assistedhini much; 
and had not the greyhound been a practised 
one, and made use of his feet as well as lii-s 
teeth, he might have killed two antelopes 
in the time he could have killed one jer- 
boa.” 
3. Dipus cafer, or cape jerboa, is by far the 
largest of all the jerboas, -and is a native of 
the mountainous country to the north of the 
Cape of Good Hope. Its length from nose, 
to tail is one foot two inches; of.the tail near 
15 inches. It is an animal of great strength 
and activity, and will spring to the distance 
of 20 or 30 feet at once. When eating, it 
sits upright in the manner of a squirrel ° It 
burrows in the ground, like the smaller kind 
ofjerboas, with great ease and expedition, 
having very strong and long claws, five in 
number, ou the fore feet : those on the hind 
feet are rather short, and are four in number. 
4. Dipus meridianus, or torrid jerboa, ac- 
cording to Dr. Pallas, was first figured by 
Seba, whose specimen appears to have been 
not fully grown. Specimens were brought 
to Dr. Pali as in the year 1770, which were 
taken on the borders of the sandy desert of 
Naryn, in 46f north latitude. The burrows 
or passages which they had formed in the dry 
soil, had a triple entrance, and were about an. 
ell deep in the ground. The size of this 
species is between that of a rat and a field- 
mouse ; and notwithstanding the great length 
of the hind legs, it does not leap, like the- 
rest of the jerboas, but runs in the manner of 
the rat tribe ; and it seems to be on this ac- 
count that Mr. Pennant has ranked it under- 
Ins division of jerboid rats, rather than anion <*■ 
the true jerboas. 
^ 5. Dipus canadensis, or Canadian jerboa. 
This minute species is thus described by ge- 
neral Davies, who had an opportunity" of 
examining it during his residence at Quebec. 
“ As I conceive there are very few per- 
sons, however conversant with natural his- 
tory, who may have seen or known that there 
was an animal existing in the coldest parts of 
Canada, of the same genus with the jerboa 
hitherto confined to the warmer climates of 
Africa, I take the liberty of stating the fol- 
lowing particulars. With respect to the 
food, or mode of feeding, of this animal, I: 
have it not in my power to speak with anv de- 
gree of certainty, as l could by no means 
