QUADRUPEDS. 81 
THE JERBOA. (Dipus Jerboa.) 
THE Jerboas are animals, the principal character of which 
consists in their having very short fore legs, and very long 
hinder ones: if we might suppose a bird divested of its fea- 
thers, and wings, and jumping upon its legs, it might give us 
some idea of the figure of a Jerboa when pursued. It uses, 
however, all its four feet, upon ordinary occasions, and it 
is only when pursued that it presses its fore feet close to 
its body, and leaps on its hind ones. The ancients called 
this animal the two-footed rat. This creature is about 
the size of a rat ; the head resembles that of a rabbit 
with long whiskers ; the tail is ten inches long, and ter- 
minated by a tuft of black hair. The fur of the body 
is tawny, except the breast and throat, and part of the 
belly, which are white. The Jerboa is very active and 
lively, and jumps and springs, when pursued, six or seven 
feet from the ground, with the assistance of its tail; but 
if this useful member be in any manner injured, the acti- 
vity of the Jerboa is proportionately diminished ; and one 
which had been accidentally deprived of its tail, was found 
unable to leap at all. The Jerboa is supposed to be both 
the coney and the mouse of the Holy Scriptures. It bur- 
rows like the rabbit, and feeds like the squirrel: it is 
a native of Egypt, and all the adjacent countries. 
