102 
THE SEWELLEL. 
digger ; but Lewis’ account of its mounting a tree seems to us to require 
some modification ; the Maryland marmot, to which it is somewhat allied 
in form and in the shape of its claws, when hard pressed will mount a tree 
for a little distance to avoid the pursuit of a dog, but is very awkward and 
soon descends ; we presume the climbing properties of the Sewellel can 
scarcely be greater than those of the marmot. 
From the number of mammas exhibited in the female, we conclude that 
it produces five or six young at a time, and from the nature of the animal, 
these are probably brought forth, like those of the marmots, in nests within 
their burrows. 
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
This singular species has been observed on the western slopes of the 
Rocky Mountains, in the valleys and plains of the Columbia, at Nisqually, 
and at Puget’s sound, where it is said to be a common animal. It has also 
been procured in California. 
GENERAL REMARKS. 
The history of this species, of which, however, little is known, is some- 
what curious. Lewis and Clark appear to have been the only individuals 
who gave any notice of it until a very recent period, when Douglas pro- 
cured a specimen, and Richardson gave a scientific account of the animal. 
The account Lewis and Clark gave dates back to 1804, and we have given 
the whole of their article above ; these travellers, however, brought no 
specimens. After the journal of their adventurous expedition was pub- 
lished, Rafinesque ventured to give to the Sewellel the name of Anysonix 
Rufa, Harlan named it Arctomys Rufa, and Griffith introduced it into 
the animal kingdom under the same name ; in 1829, Richardson obtained 
a specimen, and the Sewellel was now for the first time examined by a 
naturalist. Believing that no one who had not seen or examined a species 
had a right to bestow a specific name, Richardson rejected both the generic 
and specific names of previous writers, established for it a new genus, and 
gave it the name it now bears, and which it will doubtless preserve in our 
systems of Zoology. 
There are two specimens of this animal in the Patent Office at Wash- 
ington city, which were procured by the Exploring Expedition under 
command of Captain Wilkes. We were recently politely refused permis- 
sion to take them out of the glass case (in which they have for some time 
past remained) to examine their fur and measure them. We will not take 
