ARC 
all excess is inconsistent with virtue ; that 
t he mind is more injured by prosperity than 
by adversity ; that there is no pestilence so 
pernicious to human happiness as pleasure ; 
and that the love of it is a disease destruc- 
tive to the human mind. 
ARCTIC, in astronomy, an epithet given 
to the north pole, and likewise to a circle 
of the sphere parallel to the equator, and 
23 degrees 30 minutes distant from the 
north pole. 
ARCTIUM, the burdock, in botany, a 
genus of the Syngenesia PolygamiaiEqualis 
class of plants ; the common calyx of which 
is globose and imbricated ; the compound 
flower is tubulated and uniform, with equal 
hermaphrodite corollulae : the proper flower 
is monopefalous and tubulous, with a slen- 
der and very long tube ; there is no peri- 
carpium ; the cup is connivent, and the 
seed single, vertically pyramidical, and 
crowned with a simple down shorter than 
the seed. There are two species ; viz. the 
Laffa and Bardana. 
ARCTOMYS, the marmot, in natural 
history, a genus of the Mammalia class of ani- 
mals, of which the generic character is, front 
teeth two in each jaw, strong, sharp, and cu- 
neated; grinders in the upper jaw, five on 
each side, in the lower jaw four ; clavicles 
or collar bones perfect. This genus differs 
but little from the Mus tribe, so that natu- 
ralists have sometimes doubted whether 
they should be separated into distinct ge- 
nera. They are diurnal animals ; feed on 
roots, grain, and fruits, which they often 
collect in heaps. They reside in subterra- 
neous holes, and become torpid in the win- 
ter. The head is gibbous, or rounded, with 
short ears, or none; body thick; tail short; 
hairy ; fore feet four-toed, with a very short 
thumb; hind feet five-toed; coecum large. 
There are eleven species, of which we shall 
notice the following : 1. Arctomys marmo- 
ta, or Alpine marmot : ears short, round ; 
body brown, beneath reddish. It inhabits 
dry open places, on the summits of the Alps 
and Pyrenees; feeds naturally on roots, 
herbs, and insects ; when tamed it will eat 
any thing that is offered ; drinks little ; 
basks in the sun ; lives among small tribes, 
with a centinel placed to give notice of dan- 
ger, which is done with a hiss ; forms a bur- 
row with many chambers and entrances, for 
the summer ; another lined with soft grass, 
in which it remains torpid during winter ; 
it eats with its fore paws ; walks on its 
heels, often erect; it easily caught when out 
of his burrow ; in a tame state very destruc- 
ARC 
five of food, cioaths, and furniture ; hardly- 
kept awake in winter, even in warm cham- 
bers ; gravid seven weeks, and brings from 
two to four at a time. These animals make 
no provision for the winter, but as soon at 
the frosts set in, they carefully stop up the 
entrances to their mansions, and gradually 
fall into a state of torpidity, in which they 
continue till the beginning of spring, when 
they awake and commence their excursions. 
Before they retire to winter quarters they 
grow excessively fat, aud appear very ema- 
ciated on first emerging from them. If 
carefully dug up during the w'inter, they 
may' be conveyed away in their sleeping 
state, and when brought into a warm cham- 
ber gradually awaken. 
The Quebec marmot is rather larger than 
a rabbit, with short ears and a round head. 
It inhabits Hudson’s Bay and Canada. 
A. monax, or Maryland marmot is found in 
various parts of North America, and in its 
habits and manners is very like that already 
noticed. Tire marmot, when taken young, 
may be easily domesticated, and taught to 
perform various gesticulations, such as hold- 
ing a stick, dancing, &c. See Plate II. 
Mammalia, in which will be seen the 
hamster and lemming, sometimes called the 
Lapland marmot : descriptions of these will 
be found in the article Mus. A. bobac, or 
grey marmot is a native of the high, but 
milder and sunny sides of mountainous 
countries, which abound with free-stone 
rocks, where it is found in dry situations. 
It frequents Poland and Russia, among the 
Carpathian hills : it swarms in the Ukraine, 
about the Boristhenes, and between this ri- 
ver and the Don, and along the range of 
hills which extend to the Wolga. It is found 
about the Yaik, and inhabits the southern 
desert in Great Tartary. It is not to be 
seen in Siberia, on account of its northern 
situation, and rarely reaches in Kamschat- 
ka as high as 55°. The colour is grey above, 
with the throat, inside of the limbs, and un- 
der parts of the body fulvous or ferrugi- 
nous ; the tail is short, rather slender, and 
full of hair. Its manner of life resembles 
the Alpine marmot. The holes of these 
animals are lined with the finest hay, and 
in such quantities that, it is said, enough has 
been found in a single receptacle to feed a 
horse for a night. A. citillus, or variegated 
marmot, is the most beautiful of all the spe- 
cies ; in size it differs very much ; some are 
as large as the Alpine marmot, and others 
not larger than a common water rat. The 
variegated marmot inhabits Bohemia and 
