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THE STORY OF THE CAVY. 
Much discussion has arisen as to> the origin of the domestic guinea-pig. It 
was long considered to have been derived from the restless cavy; although 
several writers pointed out that from its aversion to- wet and cold such an origin 
was improbable. It appears, however, that the real ancestor of the domestic 
breed is the above-mentioned Cutler’s cavy. It has been ascertained that the 
latter species was domesticated by the Incas of Peru, from whence it was car¬ 
ried to Colombia and Ecuador; while, on the other hand, no cavy was ever 
domesticated in Brazil. 
The domesticated cavies of the Incas were either uniformly white or reddish 
GUINEA PIGS. 
brown, or a mixture of those two colors. Guinea-pigs are generally either 
white or white marked with yellow and black. Occasionally, however, they 
may be white marked with pale yellow, and in such cases they always have pink 
eyes. Sometimes, again, they may be marked with brownish black, mouse- 
color, or yellowish gray; while in certain cases the black may be replaced by 
ashy gray, when the eyes are pink. Of late years a breed has been formed with 
exceedingly long coarse hair, and of larger size than ordinary. 
Guinea-pigs were introduced into Europe by the Dutch during the six¬ 
teenth century, shortly after the discovery of America ; the name being probably 
