854 
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/ 
.D- I ] 
from fort Janiyfchera to the Seven Palaces, where the Al¬ 
taic mountains begin : a_s Angular in its motions as in its 
form; always (lands on its hind feet; the fore feet per¬ 
forming the office of hands; runs fad, and, when pur- 
fued, darts or jumps five or-fix feet forward at a time; 
burrows like the rabbit; keeps clofe in the day ; deeps 
rolled up; lively during night;, when taken, emits a 
plaintive feeble note; feeds on vegetables; has great 
ftrength in its fore feet. Two, which were brought to 
London, burrowed almoft through the brick wall of the 
room they were in ; came out of their hole at night for 
food, and when caught, were much fatter and (leeker 
than when confined to their, box. This ds the daman lf- 
rad, or the lamb of the Ifraelites of the Arabs, and is 
fuppofed’ to be the Japhan, or coney of Holy Writ; our 
rabbit being unknown in the Holy Land. Ur. Shaw met 
with this fpecies on mount Libanus. It is alfo the moufe 
of Ifaiah, achbar in the original fignifying a male jerboa. 
This, and the following, which is found to extend to the 
colder regions, on any approach of cold grow torpid, 
and remain fo till they are revived by a change of wea¬ 
ther. Pallas calls this clafs the fpecies lethargic*. 
The Siberian jerboa is included in this fpecies by 
Gmelin'; though Pennant makes it a diftintt fpecies, con¬ 
fiding of three varieties, tlie greater, the middle, and 
tiie pigmy. The greater Siberian jerboa has a truncated 
nofe, edged with white. Its lower teeth are (lender, and 
twice as long as the upper; its ears are large and point¬ 
ed, tipt with white, and naked within ; its hair is very 
foft, tawny on the back, but lower down of a dark grey ; 
its legs, and the under part of its body, are white : the 
half of the tail next the body is covered with fliort 
whitifli hairs; the other half with long black hairs, and 
terminated with a white feathered tuft, an inch long : on 
the hind legs, an inch above the feet, are two long toes, 
armed with nails; the back part of each leg is naked : 
the length of the body is eight inches and a half, of the 
tail ten. It is found from the'Cafpian Sea to the river 
Irtifii ; and is about the fize of a rat: it is of the colour 
of the former, except that the rump, on each fide, is 
eroded with a white line. The middle variety has its 
nofe more lengthened, and its ears fhorter and broader; 
its tail is thicker, and not fo elegantly tufted ; its hind 
legs are fliorter, and its coat is longer and thicker. It 
is found beyond lake Baikal, alfo in Barba'ry and Syria, 
and even as far as India. The pigmy differs from the 
greater, in wanting the white circle round the nofe, in 
having a lefs tuft to the tail, and the end juft tipt with 
white : it agrees entirely in form, but is far inferior in 
fize to even the middle variety. It inhabits the fame 
countries with the greater. Thefe three jerboas perfectly 
agree in manners: they all burrow in hard ground, clay, 
or indurated mud : they dig their holes with their fore¬ 
feet and teeth, and fling the earth back with their hind- 
feet, fo as to form a heap at the entrance. Their burrows 
are continued many yards in length, winding obliquely, but 
dip not above a foot and a half below the furface. They 
have only one entrance, but ufually work in another direc¬ 
tion an outlet within a very little of the furface, through 
which they can foon make theirefcape, in cafe of necefiity. 
It keeps within its hole all day, and feeks its food in the 
night. It is Angular, that an animal of a very chilly 
nature fliould keep within its hole the whole day, and 
wander about only in the night. They deep rolled up, 
with their head between their thighs; and, when kept 
in a (love, and taken fuddenly out, they feem quite ftup'i- 
fied, and for a time fcarcely find the ufe of their limbs. 
Perhaps this arifes from an excefs of heat; for, when 
an attempt is made to take them out of their burrows, 
they are quickly alarmed on the noife of digging, and 
attempt their efcape. At fun-fet they come out of their 
holes, clear them of the filth, and keep abroad till the 
fun has drawn up the dews from the earth. On the ap¬ 
proach of danger, they immediately take to flight, with 
2 
'US. 
leaps a fathom in height, and fo fwiftly, that a man well 
mounted can hardly overtake them. They fpring fo 
nimbly, that it is impoflible to fee their feet touch°the 
ground: they do not go (trait forwards, but turn here 
and there, till they gain a burrow, whether it is their 
own, or that of another. In leaping, they carry their 
tails (tretched out; in (landing, going, or walking, they 
carry them in form of an S, the lower part touching the 
ground, fo that it feems a director in their motions. 
When furprized, they will fometimes go on all-fours, 
but foon recover their attitude of (landing on their hind¬ 
legs like a bird ; even when undifturbed, they ufe the 
former attitude, then rife eredl, liften, and hop about 
like a crow. In digging or eating they drop on their 
fore-legs ; but in the laft aftion will often fit up and eat 
like a fquirrel. They are eafily made tame, and feek 
always a warm corner; they foretel cold or bad weather 
by wrapping themfelves clofe up in hay; and thofewhich 
are at liberty (lop up the mouths of their burrows. In 
a wild (late they are particularly fond of the roots of tu¬ 
lips, and live much on oleaginous plants: the final 1 na¬ 
ture of the pigmy kind is attributed to their feeding on 
faline plants. Thofe of the middle fize, which live be¬ 
yond the lake Baikal, live .on the bulbs of the lilium 
pomponium, and they gnaw the twigs of the robinia ca- 
rugana. When confined, they will not refufe raw meat, 
or t he entrails of fowls. They are the prey of all fmaller 
rapacious beads. The Arabs, who are forbidden all 
other kinds of mice, efteem thefe as the greateft delica¬ 
cies ; and-as they are often difappointed in digging after 
them, they have this proverb, “To buy a hole inftead 
of a jerboa.” The Mongols have a notion that they fuck 
the (heep ; certain it is, they are during night very fre¬ 
quent among the (locks, which they difturb by then- 
leaps. The Mongols call this animal alagh-daagha. A/ag/t 
fignifies variegated, daagha, a foal. The Calmucs call 
it jalma ; the great fort they rtile inorin jalma, or the horfe 
jerboa; the (mall fort, chain jalma , or the (heep. They 
breed often during fummer; in the fouthern parts, in 
the beginning of May; beyond Baikal, not till June: 
they bring, perhaps, eight at a time, as they have fo 
many teats: they (leep the whole winter without nutri¬ 
ment. About Aftracan, they will fometimes appear in 
a warm day in February ; but haften to their holes on 
the return of cold. Animals of this genus were certainly 
the two-footed mice, and the Egyptian mice, of “the an¬ 
cients, which were faid to walk on their hind legs, and 
ufe the fore feet inftead of hands. Thefe, with the plant 
filphium, were ufed to denote the country of Cyrene, 
where both were found, as appears from the figures on a 
gold coin preferved by Mr. Haym. 
2. Dipus fagitta, the arrow, or African jerboa. This 
fpecies hath ears (horter and broader than the preceding ; 
nofe longer and lefs obtufe ; four toes before, three be¬ 
hind ; coat thicker and longer ; it has a white band from 
the bafe of the tail to the junction of the thighs with the 
body ; length, from the tip of the nofe to the rump, little 
more than five inches, of the tail fix. It inhabits Bar¬ 
bary, and all the north of Africa, Egypt, Arabia, and 
Syria, and lives in the fandy deferts. 
3. Dipus Cafer, the Cape jerboa. This has a (liort 
head, broad between the ears; its mouth is placed far 
below the upper jaw, the lower is very ftiort; it has two 
great teeth in each : its ears are thin and transparent, and 
one-third fliorter than thofe of the common rabbit: it 
has alfo great whifkers, and large eyes : its fore-legs are 
ftiort, having five toes on each, with a great protube¬ 
rance next to the inner toe : the claws of the fore-toes 
are crooked, and two-thirds longer than the toes them¬ 
felves : it has four toes behind, with (hort claws : its co¬ 
lour is tawny above, cinereous below, mixed with long 
hairs pointed with black : two-thirds of the tail is taw¬ 
ny, the reft black : the length of the body fourteen, of 
the tail fifteen, of the ears near three, inches. It inha¬ 
bits 
