5 20 Hijtory of ANIMALS. 
lour, with a blufh of reddifti in it: the legs are very fhort, and the feet are lar^e; 
the toes long, and armed with (harp claws. ? 
t v 
It is frequent in the Eaft, and is very voracious ; it has a cuftom of fitting upon it’s 
haunches, and, when in this pofition it is feen in a front view, it looks like a bear la 
miniature. All the writers have defcribed it. Gelenius calls it Ardomys Pakftino- 
rum ; Gefner and others, Cricetus. J 
Mus cauda elongata nuda , corpore rufo, ^ - 
The Mus , with a long naked tail , and tawny body. 
This is. the largeft of the rat-kind; it is bigger than a rabbit, little lefs than a hare : 
the head is large, and broad at the bafe, but narrow at the extremity ; the mouth is 
fmall ; the teeth are long and {harp ; the ears are Ihort, and, as it were, cut off: the 
eyes are large and prominent, and they are very bright and black : the body is corpu¬ 
lent, but the legs are very fhort: the tail is long and naked, and in form greatly re- 
fembles that of the common rat. 
The head is of a reddifti-brown, or tawny colour, with the admixture of fomething 
of the orange; the nofe is blackifh, and there are fome black whifkers about it, like 
thofe of the cat: the back is of the fame tawny or orange brown; fometimes it is 
deeper, fometimes paler, and it often degenerates into a kind of black: the back is 
covered within the fkin by a kind of fatty matter, even when the reft of the body is 
ever fo bare; this feems to have given it, by nature, a defence againft that intenfe cold 
which it is to endure for a very great part of the year. 
The teeth are yellow; the legs are well covered with hair, and it is longer, and of 
a paler colour on thefe, and on the belly, than on the back : the feet are formed 
fomewhat like thofe of the bear, and the toes are armed with very {harp and black 
claws; it ufes the hinder legs with great familiarity, and often walks on them alone. 
It is a native of the mountains in Switzerland and other places, and breeds only on 
their tops: they fleep much in the winter, and prepare warm and comfortable lodg¬ 
ings for that period, which they line with fur and dried vegetables, and ftore with 
provisions. All the authors who have have written on animals have defcribed this. 
Pliny calls it Mus Alpinus, a name copied by moft others. 
Mus corpore variegato> cauda nulla. 'JTf)£ (BUttltH* 
The Mus , with a variegated body , and without a tail. pig’* 
This is confiderably larger than the rat, but lefs than the rabbit, to which it has 
fome degree of refemblance: the head is large and thick ; the extremity of it is form¬ 
ed like that of the hare, but more obtufe, and the teeth are difpofed in the fame 
manner: the eyes are black and bright, but not very prominent; the ears low, broad, 
thin, and pellucid : the hair is more like that of a young pig, than of any thing of 
this kind ; and the voice, in fome degree alfo, refembles that of the hog-kind, whence, 
and from the form and fhape not greatly difagreeing, we are not to wonder that it 
has obtained the name of the Guinea-pig. 
The legs are robuft, and not very long, and it has no tail; the colouring is very 
variable : we moft ufually fee it variegated with large blotches of a tawny colour, and 
white; fometimes it is all over white, and fometimes entirely tawny : the fore-feet 
have four toes; the hinder ones have only three, and the middle one is longer than 
the other two. The creature is very frequently rubbing it’s head with it’s fore-feet, 
in the manner of the rabbit, and it will oftener lit upon the hinder ones; from this 
cuftcm, part of the hinder legs is ufually bare and callous. It does not hop in the 
manner of the rabbit, but walks by a regular and even motion of all four legs, in 
the manner of the hog ; and, when it fights, it ftrikes with the head, in the manner of 
the hog. 
I 
It 
