saloon.] natural history. 21 
becomes white in winter, and in that dress forms an import¬ 
ant article of the fur trade, under the well known name of 
Ermine; the tip of the tail is black at all seasons of the 
year. These animals inhabit the northern parts both of 
Europe and Asia, and are very abundant in Norway and 
Siberia. In the upper part of this Case are some large 
Bats ( Pteropi ), from India and New Holland. 
Case 22 contains the small digitigrade carnivorous 
animals, as the Paradoxuri, from India; also some of the 
lesser marsupial animals, as the Opossum, ( Didelphis 
virginiana, Linn.) from Brazil, the Spotted Weasel 
(Dasyurus macrourus ), a young specimen of the Wombat, 
( Phascolomysfusca , Desm.), the Pigmy Opossum {Didel¬ 
phis pygmcea , Shaw), and the Flying Opossum {Didelphis 
petaurus , Shaw), all from New Holland. 
Case 23 contains the minor animals belonging to the 
order Gljres, as the Water Rat, ( Mus amphihius , Linn.), 
Dormice, {M. glis, Linn.), Pouched Rat, {M. bursarius , 
Shaw), Chinchilla, {Chinchilla Laniger , Gray), valuable 
for its peculiarly soft fur ; and a series of Squirrels from 
various parts of the world. 
Case 24 contains other Glires, as the Flying Squirrel, 
( Scuirus volans, Linn.), Hare, Rabbit, {Lepus timidus, and 
L. cuniculus , Linn.), and the prehensile-tailed Porcupine 
{Hystrix insidiosa , Illig.) ; also some of the smaller 
Edentata, as two species of Armadillo ( Dasypus duodecim- 
cinctus , and minutus , Desm.), from South America; the 
long and the short-tailed Manis, the former from India, 
and the latter from Africa {Manis tetradactyla and penta- 
dactyla , Linn.),—very young specimens of the two, and of 
the three-toed Sloth ( Bradypus didactylus and tridactylus , 
Linn.) ; the Small Ant-eater {Myrmecophaga didactyla , 
Linn.), from South America; and the Ornithorhynchus, 
or Duck-billed Platypus (O. Paradoxus t Blumenb), from 
New Holland. 
The forms of the Armadillo and the Manis, and the 
curious shields with which they are furnished by nature 
are sufficiently wonderful; but the structure of the Orni¬ 
thorhynchus is so anomalous, that Dr. Shaw, who first 
described this “ most extraordinary genus ” in the Natu¬ 
ralist's Miscellany, hesitated whether to admit it into his 
History of Quadrupeds, in the first volume of his General 
