ORDER OF RODENTIA. 
453 
I from any inquisitive curiosity, during the time it is torpid, viz., 
; it envelopes itself in dry grass and moss, forming them into a 
skilfully- constructed hollow ball, the centre of which it occupies. 
This genus has its representatives in Europe, Asia, and Africa. 
The European species comprises the Dormouse proper, the Garden 
Dormouse, and the Muscardine. 
The Dormouse proper (Fig. 186) is less in size than the Black 
Bat ; while the Muscardine is not larger than a Mouse. 
These two species live in the forests of Central and Southern 
Europe ; but the Garden Dormouse prefers the vicinity of in- 
habited places. They often take up their abode in parks, gardens, 
and vineyards, and make great havoc among the fruit trees. 
Fig. 187. — Jerboa-Kat ( Gerbillus Burtoni). 
Jerboa- Rat Genus . — These animals (Fig. 187) are a kind of 
Bat having the hind legs much longer than the fore — a pecu- 
liarity which causes them to have a particular mode of loco- 
motion. The Jerboa-Bats neither walk nor run on the surface of 
the ground, but move forwards by leaping. They inhabit the 
plains of Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa, hollowing out bur- 
rows in which they hoard up stores of corn. The size of these 
animals varies between that of the Mouse and the Black Bat. 
With this genus we conclude the great family of Bats. We 
have now to speak of another group of Bodents which resemble 
