GIFT OF
MICHAEL REESE

BIOLOGY

LIBRARY

G

UNIVERSITY

PJUJbLO I 5 *M U

as "

THE

NATURALIST'S LIBRARY.

EDITED BY

SIR WILLIAM JARDINE, BART.

F.R.S.E., F.L.S., ETC. ETC.

VOL. XV.

INTRODUCTION TO MAMMALIA,
BY LIEUT.-COL. CHARLES HAMILTON SMITH,

K.H. AND K.W., F.R. AND L.S., PRESIDENT OF THE DEVON
AND CORNWALL NAT. H|CJT. SOC.. ETC. ETC.

CHATTO & WINDUS, PICCADILLY.

-3

BIOLOGY

LIBRARY

Q

CONTENTS.

PAGB

MEMOIR OF DRU DRURY, . . . . 17

INTRODUCTION, . • . .73

THE MAMMALIA, .... 80

Division of the Class Mammalia into Orders, . H9

VERTEBRATA.— MAMMALIA.

I. SUB-CLASS PLACENTALIA, . 93

ORDER I.— BIMANA, 96

ORDER II.— THE QUADRUMANA, . . 99
White Maimon.

Macactts (Maimon) ftrftrhyunis. Plate I. . 103

ORDER III THE CHElKUFTERA, . .113

White Box-tailed Bat.

Dididurtis albus, or Freyreysii. Plate II. . 123
Common Vampyre Bat.

Vampyrus spectrum. Plate II. . .1 26

ORDER IV INSECTIVORA, . . . 138

ORDER V THE CARNIVORA, . . .150

Greyhound Dhole.

Chryseus. Plate III. . . . 153
Meercat. Barrow.

Cynictis Steedmanni. Plate IV. . .157
The Zebra Ichneumon.

Herpestes mungo. Plate V. . . 159

Paradoxurus dubius. Plate VI. . .162
Gwatkin's Galidictis.

Oalidictis chrysogaster. Plate VII. . 167

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Genetta tigrina. Plate VIII. . . .173

Hemigalea zebra. Plate IX. . . 175

THE FELID^, . . . . . ib.
Black Maned Lion.

Leo melanochaitw. Plate X. . . 177
The Maneless Lion.

Felts leo gougeratensis. Plate XI. . .178

Felis uncia. Plate XII. . . , J81

THE MUSTELHLE, ..... 183

THE PLANTIGRADES, . . . . j90

THE ARCTOGALID^B, . „ . SJ3

Chili Skunk.

MepJi. Chilensis. Plate XIII. . . 198
Banded Orison.

Galictis vittata. Plate XIV. . . . 200

Eira furriginea. Plate XVI. . . 204
Telagon or Stinkard.

Mydaus meliceps. Plate XV. . . 213

THE URSIDJJ, . „ . . ib.
Shining Panda,

Ailurus fulgens. Plate XVII. . . 215

Nasua monachus. Plate XVIII. . . 220
Crab-eating Racoon.

Procyon cancrivorus. Plate XIX. . . 223
The Brown Bear.

Ursus Arctos. Plate XX. . > . 235

THE PINNATJPEDES, . . * . 246
The Sea Otter.

Enhydra marina. Plate XX.* . . 254

ORDER VI.— THE CETACEA, . . .265

ORDER VII.— THE PACHYDERMATA, . 268

ORDER VIII.— THE RUMINANTIA, . . 274

THE CAMELIOE, .... 275

THE CERVID.E, . . . . ib.

THE GIRAFFID^E, .... 278

THE CAPRIDJS, . . * . .279

CONTENTS.

PA6E

Sub-genus Aigocerus.

Aigocerus Niger. Plate XXI. . . 281

THE BOVIDJE, ..... 288

ORDER IX.— THE EDENTATA, . . 294

Chlamyptorus truncate. Plate XXIII. . 298

The Tamandua or Great Anteater.

Myrmecophaga jvbata. Plate XXII. » 300

ORDER X.— THE RODENTIA, . . . 302
Duvaucel's Squirrel.

Sciurus kypokucus. Plate XXIV. . . 305
Long-toed Spinous Rat.

Echimys dactilinus. Plate XXV. . . 308

Chinchilla Diana, Viscackia ? Plate XXVI. 309

THE CAVID.E, ..... ib.
The Cabybara.

Hydrocharus Cabiai. Plate XXVII. . .310
Lepus Braziliensis. The Tapeti. Plate XXVIII. ib.

ii. SUB-CLASS.— IMPLACENTALIA.

ORDER XL— THE MARSUPIALIA OR POUCH-
ED ANIMALS, . . . . 311
Halmaturus RutOans. Plate XXIX. . . ib.
ORDER XII.— MONOTREMATA, . . 312

Echidna setosa. Plate XXX. . . . ib.

PORTRAIT OP DRU DRURY,

Vignette Title-Page, .....

In all Thirty-one Plates in this Vocume.

MEMOIR OB DRU DRUKY.

To those who are acquainted with the history cf
Entomology, the name of Dru Drury is familiarly
known, as one of the most zealous and successful
collectors of insects that ever prosecuted the study
in this country. The work entitled " Illustrations
of Exotic Entomology," in which he made the most
interesting objects of his collection known to the
public, is also admitted to be of very high merit ;
it is still one of the most beautiful we possess on
this subject, and at the time when it appeared, was
almost unrivalled for the elegance and accuracy
of its pictorial delineations. In both the capacities,
therefore, of a collector and author, Drury has ren-
dered most important services to Entomology, and
is entitled to the respect and gratitude of all who
cultivate the science, — a science which, according
to the high authority of Baron Walckenaer, is at
once the most difficult, the most extensive, and
most philosophical, of all the departments of Natu-
ral History. In these circumstances it is gratifying

18 MEMOIR OF DRURY.

to hare it in our power to give some account, for
the first time, of the most remarkable incidents of
Drury's life, along with extracts from his voluminous
correspondence, which was carried on with nearly
all such of his cotemporaries as took an interest in
the subject to which he was so warmlv attached. *

DRU DRURY was born on the 4th February 1725,
in Wood Street, Cheapside, London. His father,
who was of the same name, was a manufacturer of
silver spoons and knife and fork handles, in Love
Lane, Wood Street ; he also resided for some time
at Hutton, in Essex. He was married four times.
By his first wife, Mary Grundy, he had five chil-
dren, all of whom died young. By his second wife,
Mary Hesketh, he had eight children, all of whom
died before attaining the age of puberty, except
Dm, the subject of this memoir, who was the second.
By his third and fourth wives, Mary Cholmeley
and Mary Pedley, he had no children. His death
took place on the 18th April 1763, at the age of
seventy-five.

It appears from an account of the family of Drury,
accompanied with a genealogical tree, in a work
entitled the History and Antiquities of Hamstead,

* The materials from which this biographical notice is
drawn up, as well as the painting from which the prefixed
portrait is engraved, have been supplied to us by Messrs.
Drury of London, grandsons of the subject of this Memoir, to
whom we beg leave to offer our best thanks for their courtesy
and attention.

MEMOIR OF DRURY. 19

in Suffolk, that the first of that name who settl^w
in this country was a Norman gentleman, who
came to England from Normandy with William the
Conqueror in 1066. It is further stated, that in
Normandy there is still a place called Drury, * and
sundry persons of that surname. The manor of
Hamstead, above alluded to, was in the possession
of the Drury family one hundred and ninety years,
but in 1 656 it passed into another family by mar-
riage.

Of the early life of that member of the family
with whom we are more immediately concerned, it
is not in our power to furnish any account. In a
brief sketch which he himself gives of his history to
one of his correspondents, he commences with his
marriage. It is probable that, after finishing his
education, which seems to have been conducted
with some care, he assisted his father in the busi-
ness he carried on in Wood Street. However this
may be, we find that, when he had attained the
age of twenty-three, his father entirely resigned the
business into his hands. About the same time he
married Esther Pedley, the daughter of his father's
first wife by her former husband, John Pedley of
Wood Street, soapmaker. The marriage took place
on the 7th of June 1748, in Allhallow's Church,
London Wall. In consequence of these marriages
with the Pedleys, Dru Drury became possessed of
some freehold houses in London, Essex, Hertford-

* It is possible that the well-known Drury Lane may have
derived its name from the same source.

MEMOIR OF DRURY.

shire, and Middlesex, which yielded an annual
income of between £ 250 and £ 300.

He carried on the business in Wood Street for
many years, it would appear with considerable
success at first, although it ultimately began to fall
off, and he became desirous to effect some change.
" When my father resigned his business to me," \ve
find him writing to one of his correspondents, " it
was sufficient for a man to live on, but, not to lay
up any great sum. The industry I constantly exer-
cised enabled me to live for about eighteen years
with much happiness and satisfaction, at which
time, finding my trade gradually diminish, I was
determined to embrace the first opportunity of en-
gaging in some other that was more likely to reward
my labour. I already mentioned that I have had
seventeen children, besides nine miscarriages, the
heavy expense of which, together with some severe
blows of fortune, had prevented me acquiring that
wealth I probably might otherwise have done, and
therefore my resolution of pursuing some other
trade every day increased. About that time Mr.
Jeffreys, my predecessor, wanted to retire from
business, and applying to me for a person to suc-
ceed him, I embraced the opportunity, and have the
honour of being made Goldsmith to the Queen and
also Cutler to the King, — a feather I would at any
time resign, if no advantage arose from it, for I
have lived long enough to be able to laugh most
heartily at the fools that can think happiness de-
pendent on titles, or content flourishing amidst

MEMOIR OF DRURY.

pomp and distinctions." The business, however, m
\Vood Street enabled him to realise about £ 6000,
and likewise to keep a country-house at Enfield, in
Middlesex, at which his family for the most part
resided.

It was in February, 1771> that he purchased
the stock in trade and good will of the business of
Mr. Nathaniel Jeffreys, gold and silver smith and
cutler, at No. 32 Strand, London, for the sum of
£ 11,500, paying him partly in cash, and the ba-
lance by instalments at stated periods. The business
to which he had been brought up, he himself states,
was that of a working silversmith, and the change
to a goldsmith, he adds, was so considerable, that it
was necessary for him to devote the whole of his
time to it in order to become acquainted with the
details of management. He appears to have con-
ducted the business for several years with great
success, realising an income of nearly £ 2000 per
annum. He made great efforts to extend his mer-
cantile transactions, and formed extensive contracts
for supplying several regiments with swords and
other military accoutrements. Still, however, he
had various difficulties to encounter, and a perusal
of his letters about this period makes us aware
that the business had not equalled his expectations,
and the obligations he had contracted to obtain it
threatened ultimately to become oppressive. It was
in all probability this conviction that led him to
enter the more readily into a speculation which pro-
mised at first to be highly advantageous, but which

22 MEMOIR OF DRURY.

in the end was attended with the most disastrous
consequences.

In 1777> he entered into an arrangement with
certain parties to supply them with goods, princi-
pally plate and jewellery, to a large amount. For
a time he accepted of their bills, but these he was
soon informed by them they were unable to pay, ac-
companying this intelligence with a proposal which
they thought likely to satisfy Drury for the whole
sum they might become due to him. One of the
parties represented himself as entitled to a very
considerable estate in Yorkshire, which his father
then enjoyed, but which must come to him after his
father's decease, it being entailed on the male heir,
so that it was not in his father's power to deprive
him of it. The estate was alleged to be worth be-
tween twenty and thirty thousand pounds, and to
be let for about a thousand pounds per annum, and
it was proposed to convey a mortgage of the rever-
sion of the property to Drury as security. This
proposal was urged with great plausibility, and
Drury's desire to send a lawyer to examine the
validity of the title to the estate at once acquiesced
in, and every other facility offered for completing
the arrangement. The attorney was absent for some
time, and his report must have been^such as to
satisfy Mr. Drury, for the necessary deeds were
afterwards duly drawn up and signed. On the be-
lief that the transaction was managed in good faith,
and the parties men of honour and integrity, Drury
advanced goods at various times, till they ultimately

MEMOIR OP DRURY. 2 I

amounted to the value of upwards of «£ 10,OW). It
unfortunately turned out, on future investigation,
that the security for this large sum was of no value,
the parties not having a legal right to the estate in
question, and having concerted the scheme to plun-
der him of his property. To aggravate this evil, he
had met with several severe losses in trade only a
short time before, and his freehold property had
previously been assigned over to Mr. Jeffreys as
security for the balance of the purchase-money of
the business. He thus felt himself stripped of all
his property.

In these circumstances he had no alternative but
to call a meeting of his creditors, and lay before
them a statement of his affairs. He was thereupon
declared bankrupt, and surrendered all his property
under the commission.

A thorough conviction of the sterling worth of
his character, distinguished, as it had always been,
for integrity, honourable feeling, and great diligence
in business, predisposed his creditors to treat him
with the utmost lenity. By the assistance of his
friends (among whom we find the names of Dr. Fo-
thergill and Mr. Banks), he was enabled to repur-
chase his stock in trade, and resume his business in
his former premises. He appears to have borne this
reverse of fortune with great fortitude, but his con-
stitutional sensibility led him to feel deeply on the
occasion. The state of his mind in some measure
appears from the following extract from a letter
addressed to a reverend friend at Warnham, near

^ MEMOIR OF DRURY.

Horsham. It is dated llth December, 1777- —
" There was a time when the subjects that occupied
my pen in writing to my worthy friend, were very
different from those which now occasion the same
employ. There was a time when those subjects
were all of a gay and cheerful cast ; when no dark
and gloomy thoughts prevailed to cloud and tarnish
the happy hours of my worthy friends at Warnham
Place. There was also a time when, with a bold
and open brow, I feared not to look each man in
the face, well knowing none could ask me for debts
I was not able to pay, — a time when I was happy,
pleased, and solvent. But now I am, what ? a B — !
though an honest man. I repeat the word an honest
man, well knowing myself to he so. God forbid
that I should make the terms incompatible with
each other, for it is certainly true. 'Tis not in the
power of mortals to command success, but it is in
the power of every one to be just and honest, and
that I have been so, witness, kind Heaven ! !No
action of my life hangs heavy on my heart, no crime
to make me wretched or unhappy ; but yet I drop
a tear while I relate the mournful news. I beseech
you do not think I rave. Men of sensibility can-
not think like the common herd, and it has been
my misfortune to be cursed with too great a portion
of that ingredient. Cursed did I say? Forgive
me Heaven ! for thus arraigning the justice of thy
dispensations. I hope I do not write amiss in say-
ing so, but if I had possessed less sensibility, less
credulity and fewer feelings, I had now been a

MEMOIR OF DRURY. Q£

wealthier man ; I had now enjoyed the fortune i
formerly possessed ; but alas ! who can tell what is
reserved in store for him? The very misfortune
that I now so heavily deplore, may turn out to be
the happiest period of my life, and what I consider
as the greatest evil, may, in the hand of Providence,
be the greatest blessing. Shall I then distrust His
goodness ? Shall I consider that Being whose works
I have ever viewed with wonder and delight, whose
infinite wisdom, goodness, and power have been so
plainly manifested ; shall I consider Him, I say, in
such a light as to suppose He will not extend that
goodness and power towards me which in thousands
of instances I have experienced in my life ? Cer-
tainly not. Believe me, my dear friend, when I
tell ,you that He is my only support, my strongest
prop and stay, and the only ground on which I
build my future hopes. Do not think I rant when
I tell you, in the full bitterness of soul, that these
thoughts are my only comfort, and it is from the
interposition of His Providence that I hope to be
extricated from all my present troubles. I do not
think I am wrong in my judgment, if I get rein-
stated in my business, to say it is owing to His
interference that I obtain that happiness ; and al-
though the goodness of my own character, the
kindness of my friends, and the clemency of man-
kind, may be the medium by which that end is
accomplished, yet the other is the primary and un-
seen Cause to whom all my thanks will be due,

LO MEMOIR OP DRURY.

together with all the sacrifice of prayer and praise
that a grateful heart can give."

Mr. Drury obtained from his creditors a certificate
of discharge in April 1778. After recommencing
business he proved most successful, his friends and
former customers vying with each other in promot-
ing his interests and testifying their respect for
his character. In his letters of this date, we find
many expressions of gratitude for the sympathy
and support he was receiving : among others is the
following : " I have got reinstated in my business,
which I really think is much greater than it ever
was; the civilities and kindness I have received
from the public are beyond conception, and I have
no doubt but a few years, if Providence allows me
health, will place me in a much happier and better
situation than I ever was. Would you believe it ?
The Queen herself, to whom I am goldsmith, has
been so very kind as to say that " She hoped I
would do well again." Thus you see Providence
never permits an evil to befall us but it also has
some good in store, and in that light I now view
my late misfortunes." With these pleasing pro-
spects, we leave, for a while, the consideration of
Mr. Drury's commercial relations, to which indeed
we shall have little occasion again to refer, as enough
has been said to show the position he occupied in
society ; and proceed to view him in a capacity
more appropriate to our purpose, and which alone
has brought him under our notice on the present

MEMOIR OF DRURY. 2?

occasion, namely, as an intelligent and indefatigable
cultivator of Natural History.

Entomology was the subject to which he was
most ardently attached, although it is evident from
his letters that he did not altogether neglect some
of the other departments. It does not appear
what first attracted his attention to this study,
nor at what time he first began* to prosecute it,
but it was probably at an early period of his life.
"Writing to £reneral Ranger, in 1 778, he states that
he had been employed thirty years in forming his
collection of insects, so that he must have com-
menced about the time when he first engaged in
business on his own account. Much of the earliest
portion of his correspondence that has been pre-
served, consists of letters to individuals residing in
foreign countries, soliciting them to transmit speci-
mens to him. He seems to have neglected no
opportunity that presented itself at all likely to
promote his views, and the time and trouble he
spent on the subject must have been great The
letters in question are generally of great length,
written with much care, and giving detailed direc-
tion about the best mode of collecting, preserving,
&c. A specimen of them has already been published
by Mr. Westwood in his recent edition of Drury's
Illustrations of Natural History, from a great num-
ber now before us, equally long and elaborate, we
select the following : it is addressed to Captain
Mayle, of the Hound sloop of war, going to the
coast of Africa.

2fc MEMOIR OF DRURY.

" Dear Sir,

" The promise you are so kind to make me of
sending me some curiosities from the coast of Africa,
I cannot help considering as the strongest instance
of your friendship I ever was favoured with, nor
have I the least doubt of your resolution of faith-
fully performing it when opportunities arise; but
give me leave to mention what kind of curiosities
will be most pleasing to me and what not. This
I shall comprise in one single word, by assuring you
my taste in these subjects is confined entirely to
INSECTS ; all the other parts of natural history put
together do not afford me a quarter of the delight
as this single class. Hence you perceive the most
agreeable present you can possibly make me will be
a collection of this kind, and as the method of ob-
taining and preserving them requires some instruc-
tions, I flatter myself these memoranda will not be
unnecessary. For this purpose I shall divide in-
sects into three several kinds : 1st, The farinaceous
winged tribe ; 2dly, The hard scaly winged tribe ;
3dly, The transparent winged tribe. The first in-
cludes butterflies and moths, whose variety is ex-
ceedingly great ; the second takes in all the beetle
kind, whose variety is not less ; in the third is com-
prehended all kinds of bees, wasps, locusts, ants,
water-flies, &c., all which produce, in their respec-
tive genera, such a number of species as is really
wonderful. For the taking of all sorts you will
find the forcep-nets (of which I send two pair) ex-
ceeding useful, and the most convenient implement

MEMOIR OF DRURY. £fl

ever invented. Let me therefore entreat you, my
dear friend, when you get to Africa, not to let them
remain idle. Indeed, your own time, I am very
sensible, will be too valuable for you to bestow in
that manner, but I apprehend you may for a very
trifle hire a boy or a man to collect them in the
fields and woods, who at night can bring home to
you what he has procured, which you may place in
one of the green square boxes whose bottoms and
tops are lined with green wax. For this purpose I
send you three smaller boxes, with pieces of cork in
the bottoms and tops ; one or two of these may be
taken by your agent into the fields when he goes
collecting, and having caught an insect with the
forcep-net, let him stick it through the body with a
pin and fasten it in one of these boxes, where it
will remain secure till it is removed to one of the
square green boxes. If he catches a butterfly or
moth, let him give the body a good squeeze, which
will kill it, and then stick it in one of the boxes.
Each of these, observe, is capable of containing a
great number, if he sticks them close to each other ;
the pins for this purpose I have also sent, with pin-
cushions to be used by the collector when he goes
on this business. When you have got as many in-
sects as you can well stow in one of the square
boxes, I will get you to send it to England, enclosed
in a packing-case, sending me advice by letter. But
I must, previously to your packing it up, desire you
to paste a slip of linen or paper outside round the
joinings of the box, to prevent the ants, cockroaches,

MEMOIR OF DRURY.

and other vermin from getting in and destroying the
valuables. Before I proceed, I must inform you
that the most ugly, hideous, and disagreeable in-
sects, as they would appear to the generality of
mankind, are to me the most valuable, nor can the
appearance of the gayest and brightest colours in-
duce me to give them the preference. All that I
desire is to have variety among the beetle kind, even1
those that are of the most dull and unstriking colours
may perhaps be the most acceptable. May I there-
fore hope my good friend will indulge my appetite
for these articles with a gratification ? That, I must
confess, I prefer to all the subjects of curiosity that
that continent affords. Shall I tell you why I am
so ardent for subjects of this kind ? You must know
that as my collection is pretty strong in insects from
the West Indies, which I have procured with much
trouble and some expense, I am determined to pub-
lish a History of Insects, if I can obtain a few more
species than what I have already that have not
been described by any author, and as the coast of
Africa affords a great number of that sort, I only
ivait till I am so happy as to get some from those
parts, when I should immediately begin ; but as all
my attempts, for ten years past, have proved fruit-
less, I am the more solicitous with you on that ac-
count. But if friendship, added to the little degree
of duty owing to the public, should prove ineffec-
tual, I shall let the whole scheme drop, because I
shall conclude that if the difficulties are so great
that I cannot procure them by means of a friend, it

MEMOIR OP DRURY. 31

will be in vain to expect to get them by the assist-
ance of a stranger. I am strongly inclined to think
there are no species in Africa the same as those we
have here (or, however, but a few) ; indeed, we are
so little acquainted with the product of that part of
the world, that our judgment in these cases is rather
conjecture than founded on any knowledge or expe-
rience. Hence I take the liberty of saying, that
whatever you will oblige me with from these cli-
mates will receive an addition to its intrinsic value
from our ignorance of the insects found there, and
for this reason, not only myself, but mankind in
general, may be indebted to you for your endeavours
this way, as I am very sensible it will be in your
power to send me over many undescribed insects.
(The writer then proceeds to describe the places
where insects are most likely to be found, a portion
of the letter which we think it unnecessary to insert
here, as that matter is fully treated of in a paper
given on a subsequent page). I think I have now
gone through every kind, and mentioned every cir-
cumstance necessary to be known for procuring and
preserving these creatures. Before I conclude, let
me take the liberty of saying, that I shall ever con-
sider myself so much indebted to you for any present
of the above kind, that I shall take the first oppor-
tunity of manifesting my gratitude by a propor-
tionate return. I would not shock your sensibility,
for what expense you may be at in procuring them
I do not know, but whatever it may be, it is but
just I should return it. I shall only beg of you not

32 MEMOIR OF DRTJRY.

to let any thing of that kind disappoint my exp
tations, which I assure you are very sanguine.
" I am, with the utmost respect,

" Your most sincere Friend and

cc Humble Servant,

" D. DRURY."

It was Drury's practice, whenever he became
acquainted with any one about to visit a foreign
country and willing to take some trouble in collect-
ing insects, to supply him with a series of boxes
similar to those alluded to in the above letter, for-
ceps, nets, &c. as well as written instructions how to
proceed ; promising at the same time to defray all
the expense that might be incurred, and reward the
collector in a manner proportionate to the value ot
his acquisitions. Such individual was generally em
powered to engage others, after reaching the place
of his destination, on similar terms. The number
of those who were thus induced to offer their services
was very great, and they were scattered over almost
every country of the globe. Among Drury's papers
we find a tabular list of the individuals who had
collecting apparatus entrusted to them, the names of
the vessels in which they sailed, their place of desti-
nation, and in many instances a notice of the returns
made to him in insects ; in very many cases, as may
readily be supposed, he never received any. In the
list for 1768 the names of between seventy and
eighty vessels occur, and in several of these he had
two or three different individuals engaged to col-

MEMOIR OF DRURY. 33

lect. To save the trouble of furnishing written in-

o

siructions to so many different parties, he drew up
and printed " Directions for collecting Insects in Fo-
reign Countries/' These were translated into several
languages, and extensively distributed among the
natives of different quarters of the globe, often accom-
panied by a series of coloured drawings of insects to
show what kind of objects were required. These Di-
rections we think it important to give here entire, as
they afford many suggestions which will be of great
advantage to the collector of the present day, being
the result of a more extensive experience than per-
haps was ever acquired in the same pursuit.

" The person that would collect insects must go
into the fields or woods, taking with him the brass
tongs, nets, &c., the oval pocket-box, and the pin-
cushion stocked with pins. The box is lined at
top and bottom with cork, and is to receive what
he takes. When he catches an insect of any kind,
let him stick it through the body with a pin, and
place it in the box; using small pins for small
insects, and large pins for large ones. Large pins
should not be stuck into small insects.

" If he catches a butterfly or moth, let him give
the body a squeeze with his finger and thumb while
it is in the net ; which will prevent its fluttering,
and will kill it. In doing this, he must take great
care not to rub off the meal or down on its wings,
for in that all their beauty consists. He mast not
squeeze the body of any other kind of insect ; only
a butterfly or moth, because it will do harm to the

34 MEMOIR OF DBURY.

other sorts; and if he perceives the edges of thp
wings to be ragged or broken, appearing as if little
pieces were torn out of them, he must throw such
butterfly or moth away ; but as the wings of many
of them are naturally scolloped, great care must be
taken to distinguish one from the other. The rag-
ged ones are imperfect and good for nothing ; the
perfect ones (whether they are scolloped or plain),
if not torn or battered, are desirable ; therefore, to
know the difference, he must observe closely the
wings, and if they are scolloped, he will perceive
the same notches or indented edges on the right
wing as on the left, the one answering very exactly
and regularly to the other ; whereas, in those that
are ragged and imperfect, there is not any exactness
or regularity, the edges of the wings being very un-
even and unlike each other, having a notch here
and there, as the wings happen to be more or less
torn and wasted. The four butterflies placed in
the oval box will readily discover the difference be-
tween those that are perfect and complete, and fit
to be preserved, and those that are ragged and good
fur nothing. This account of the butterflies and
moths is thus particularly mentioned, because, when
they are caught, being ragged and bad, as de-
scribed before, they are worth nothing ; and the
collector may, for that reason, spare himself the
trouble of bringing such home ; good ones being
as easily to be caught and brought home as bad
ores.

•* Let him catch small insects as well as large.

rry

MEMOIR OF DRURY. 35

they being equally as valuable ; * and let him take
all the various sorts he possibly can.

" "When he gets home let him take out all that
are alive (except butterflies and moths), and stick-
ing a few at a time on the end or edge of a piece of
wood or stick, &c. let him hold them to the fire (but
not so close as to scorch or burn them), and he will
find this will quickly kill them ; or by throwing
them into boiling hot water, they will be killed in
a few moments, without injuring them, if they are
taken out as soon as they are dead. Afterwards
they must be stuck in the large square box, taking
care not to move them after they are fixed there on
any account, for fear of breaking off their horns or
legs, which will much lessen their value ; therefore
be careful to preserve these parts, and don't place
them in the large box till they are quite dead, be-
cause they will pull and tear one another to pieces
with their claws, if they are alive and placed near
each other. This box being lined at top and bot-
tom with cork, like the small one, is to be considered
as the repository or receptacle for all he catches.

u This method is much better than putting them

* Collectors of insects in foreign countries will do well to
observe that, in the present day, the smaller species, and those
least remarkable for brilliancy of colour or other peculiarities,
are most likely to prove new, and therefore of greatest scien-
tific interest. It is not to be supposed that very many of the
most conspicuous species, except in certain regions, have
escaped the diligent researches made for them: among the
more minute and microscopic kinds, however, a rich harvest
may yet be expected.

36 MEMOIR OF DRUBY.

in spirits, because the spirits will certainly destroj
their colours.

" The insects placed in the oval box, and now
sent, will serve to show what kinds of things are
meant, and also the manner in which the pins are
to be stuck through them, observing, that the in-
sects of foreign countries are oftentimes much larger
than any of these now sent, but are not less valuable
on that account. These are only sent as examples,
being all English, and of no value ; therefore they
may be thrown away when the person gets abroad,
in order to make room for those that are to be
caught.

" It is desired, if the ship touches at different

places in , to collect some at each of them,

taking care to distinguish and separate them by a
mark or line in the box denoting where they were
taken, and keeping each parcel by itself.

" Remember to bring as great a variety as possi-
ble, not too many of one sort, but different ones ;
two or three being a sufficient number of any one
kind, it not being so much the number as the dif-
ferent kinds that are wanted ; and for this reason
the collector is requested to bring various sorts of
BUTTERFLIES or MOTHS, BEETLES, FLIES with trans-
parent wings, LOCUSTS or GRASSHOPPERS, WASPS,
ANTS, WATERFLIES, FIREFLIES, or in short any
other sort except Cockroaches, Centipedes, or Scor-
pions, which are in general so very common as not
to be worth bringing, unless they are unusual sorts,
and such as are seldom seen.

MEMOIR OP DRURY. 37

" When the box is filled, he must cover it all
over with a piece of linen dipped in tar or wax, or
paste a slip of paper all round the edges, to pre-
vent the small vermin getting in, who will cer-
tainly do mischief to the insects withinside ; it
being observed, that cockroaches and other vermin
do not eat or gnaw any thing that is well impreg-
nated with tar, therefore he must be careful to cover
every crevice 6r opening exceedingly well, that no-
thing may get in,

" It is necessary to mention that insects are found
in various places ; some frequenting flowers, parti-
cularly butterflies and those with transparent wings ;
others, particularly beetles, are found in the dung of
animals, and in stinking flesh or putrid carcasses of
dead creatures; some hide themselves under the
bark of trees, where it starts or separates from the
body of the tree itself, and which by tearing it up,
will discover many kinds ; numbers also are found
in rotten wood and rotten trees, living in holes in the
wood. The billets and bavins likewise that are
cut and brought on board ships for their necessary
use, when they are in foreign countries, frequently
contain many curious insects, and therefore should
be examined when it is split, at which time large
white worms like maggots, as big as a man's finger,
are sometimes found in the wood, and very fre-
quently worms that are of a small size. These
should not be stuck with a pin or put in spirits, but
should be preserved in the same cavity of the billet
they were found in. by tying the split pieces to*

38 MEMOIR OF DRURY.

gether with a string, for in process of time they will
turn to beetles, many of which are very curious,
and seldom to be met with in any other way. And
this is a matter that should be particularly observed,
because the insects proceeding from such worms are
generally very desirable. Many insects also are
found under moss that grows on the ground, or at
the roots of trees, which, by removing, are easily
discovered. Likewise when ships lie at anchor, a
great many insects are blown from the shore by the
land-breezes in the night, which settling on various
parts of the ship, may easily be taken in the morn-
ing with the brass tongs or forcep-nets, and therefore
should be searched every day for that purpose. The
different seasons or times of the year also will yield
different sorts, insomuch that every week will pro-
duce new kinds that were not to be seen in the
foregoing ones, so that by searching for them at
different times he will be sure of finding different
sorts.

" In this account it is not intended for the persons
to bring any caterpillars or worms, except such as
were mentioned before to be enclosed in the split
billets, but chiefly insects with wings, unless it be
curious ants, spiders, or crabs, &c., and the most
ugly disagreeable insects, as they seem to be, are
generally the most acceptable.

" It is desired no insect may be thrown away on
the person's passage home, even if it is mouldy,
broken, &c., because many desirable ones may be
thrown away by that means ; if there are any so

MEMOIR OF DRURY. 39

bad as not to be worth keeping, they can at the
worst be thrown away when they arrive in Eng-
land.

" It is necessary to mention that butterflies should
not, like other insects, be held to the fire to be
killed, because the fire will crimple and shrivel up
their wings and spoil them ; neither should they be
thrown into hot water, a pinch with the finger and
thumb, as mentioned before, will be sufficient to
kill them.

" Whatever quantity is collected (either little or
great) is desired to be brought to Mr. Drury, at the
corner of Love Lane, in Wood Street, near Cheap-
side, who will give sixpence a piece for them, either
large or small."

But these means, however extensive the scale on
which they were conducted, were not £he only ones
adopted by Drury to extend his collection, and ren-
der it (which was the great object of his ambition)
one of the best at that time existing. He caused
many advertisements to be inserted in foreign news-
papers, soliciting specimens either by purchase or
exchange. By the latter method he obtained many
fine examples, particularly from Holland, where col-
lectors were numerous, even at a time when the
subject was little attended to in this country.
Among his correspondents in that quarter may be
mentioned Baron Ranger, chamberlain to the Prince
of Orange, Dr. Gische, Sepp of Amsterdam, and
Ammiral at the Hague. Pallas also, with whom
he was on intimate terms, was of great service, both

40 MEMOIR OF DRURY.

by sending specimens himself, and using his influ-
ence with other naturalists for the same purpose.
But of all his contributors, perhaps the most valu-
able was Henry Smeathman. A long intimacy
seems to have subsisted between Drury and this
gentleman, for we find that they were in corre-
spondence with each other at an early date, and in
such terms as to imply a previous friendship of
some standing. Smeathman had acquired consider-
able skill in natural history, and seems to have
possessed the requisite powers of observation for
successfully prosecuting that study, if we may judge
from his excellent history of the Termites or white
ants, which he was the first to illustrate. Being
desirous of becoming a travelling naturalist, Drury
and a few of his friends subscribed the requisite sum,
and sent him1 to the coast of Africa, the productions
of which were at that time comparatively little
known. The principal subscribers, besides Drury,
were Mr. Banks (afterwards Sir Joseph), Dr. So-
lander, Dr. Fothergill, and, at a later period, the
Duchess dowager of Portland, who was a zealous
collector of shells. Smeathman left this country in
17715 and in the ensuing year we find the following
amusing letter from his patron, addressed to him at
Sierra Leone.

" London, April 28, 1772.
" Dear Smeathman,

" I received both your letters, one of which (the
principal one) without any date enclosed the other,

MEMOIR OF DRURY. 41

and from several little circumstances in them, I can-
not help concluding that you are hastening to become
a Tar, and I will be hanged if you have not even
kept the captain's journal; else for what purpose need
you have wrote at the top of the letter, Isles de Los,
Lat. 9. 36 N., Wind S. W., instead of the date of
the year, &c. What was it to me, think you, where
those isles were situated, or whether the wind blew
north or south, that you must needs tell me those
circumstances before every thing else? I wanted
to hear of your health, and to that end with eager-
ness read first that letter and afterwards the en-
closed, and behold, to my greatest disappointment,
not a single word on that head, and except one
passage, of your having got about fifty curious in-
sects (which, by the bye, you don't say were large or
small), I might as well have received a letter from
some dull man of fortune on business. Indeed I
wanted to know something about the country, your
voyage, entertainment on board, and several other
matters, but as you have amply superseded that by
telling me you have only a few hours to write to
your friends, I readily excuse the omission of a Tar ;
in which light I shall certainly in future consider
you if you don't write more in the character of a
philosopher and a man of letters. You will make
a fine F. R. S. truly, to stuff your letters with the
variations of the wind, the needle, latitudes, &c.
when you should be describing some of Nature's
beauties out of the three kingdoms. In fine, there-
fore, " be a good boy, and do so no more " Now to

42 MEMOIR OF DRURY.

be serious. I wrote to you the beginning of last

month by means of Mr. T , who was acquainted

with a captain going from Bristol to Sierra Leone,
which letter I hope you received ; indeed, I shall
not omit writing by every ship I can hear of, if I
only mention in my letter that I am well, together
with my family, a circumstance I hope will serve as
an example for you to follow, especially as you can
have no doubt what reception your letters will
always meet. Nothing can be more vehement than
the present desire of your friends in natural history
to hear from you. All long to know something of
a country that has yet been unexplored by any
curious man, but patience must be the portion of
every one, and must likewise be put in practice.
Last Thursday I had the honour of a visit from the
Duchess dowager of Portland to see my collection,
with which she was greatly pleased. She has
lately, by the means I fancy of Dr. Solander, be-
come a staunch entomologist. We were deeply
engaged for three hours, as you may well imagine,
and in the course of our conversation she said that
she hoped to become possessed of a collection of
Africans by your means, for she had heard of your
going on a physical inquiry; and, indeed, if the
plan you established had not been confined to a
particular science, I am confident she would have
become one of your subscribers. I explained the
nature of your voyage, also the whole of the plan,
and assured her that after the subscribers had been
repaid by the amount of the specimens, you would

MEMOIR OF DRURY. 43

be at liberty to dispose of the remainder for your
own advantage, and I would undertake to engage
that her Grace should have a fine collection in due
time. She was mightily pleased with this declara-
tion, and desired I would not forget it. I must
here mention, lest I should hereafter neglect it, that
she is more attracted by the beauties of the Lepi-
doptera than any of the others, and, as such, collects
them with more avidity than any of the rest. This
hint I think will not be unserviceable to you. It
remains with you to improve it to the best advan-
tage, wherein if I can be an actor, — but a word to
the wise is enough.

" In my last I told you I had got two pictures
to compose for one of the Queen's ladies, and hoped
to improve that circumstance to the benefit of natu-
ral history. I have this view still in my head, and
believe I shall accomplish it. The lady I speak of
is Madame Schwellenburg, keeper of the Queen's
wardrobe, an exceeding worthy woman, and from
her merit has great weight with the Queen. It is
to her great interest, as I judge, that I am indebted
for being appointed Goldsmith to her Majesty, in
conjunction with Mr. J., an honour I received the
9th ult. When I carried her the pictures, she was
charmed with them, though by the way they were
not the best I could have composed, if I had been
at liberty to have chose my own subjects, and in
the fulness of her satisfaction, asked me what re-
compense she could make me, and took me into a
closet of pictures to have my judgment about hang-

44 MEMOIR OF DRURY.

ing them up. Does not this look well ? Perhaps
I may be ahle to transport, in due time, some insects
from the African coast to the Queen's closet. I wish
for the sake of H. S. I may be able to do it. Lord !
how I should rejoice to see him made Butterfly '-
catcher to the Queen ! Risum teneatis ? But softly,
Dru ; where are you rambling to ? Get firm upon
the first step before you attempt to mount the
second. True ; so I will, and therefore I will stop
here." * * * *

A young man from Sweden was subsequently
sent to assist Mr. Smeathman, fitted out entirely at
the expense of Dr. Fothergill, who was desirous
that he should principally occupy himself in collect-
ing plants and seeds; but he proved of no use.
Smeathman transmitted to his subscribers a great
number of fine insects, many of which were new ;
and, in fact, his contributions form by far the most
valuable part of Drury's third volume of Illustra-
tions, not a few of the species continuing unique
even to the present day. The sense that Drury
entertained of their value may be inferred from the
following note to the Duchess of Portland.

" To the Dowager Duchess of Portland.

o

" May it please your Grace,
" The last time you did me the honour of a visit,
you seemed desirous of being a subscriber to Mr.
Stneathman, who is now on the coast of Africa col-
lecting the Naturalia of that country. I take the

MEMOIR OF DRURY. 45

liberty of informing your Grace that a ship is now
going to that part, and as I am to send some things
to him, will with pleasure receive your subscription
on his account. I must also beg leave to inform
you that I have just received an exceeding fine
collection of insects from him, which are in the
finest condition I ever saw come from abroad. His
collection of shells, birds, plants, &c. are now on the
sea, under the care of a gentleman coming from
that part; and as Mr. Banks and Dr. Fothergill
are out of town, they will not be shared these two
months. Therefore, if your Grace pleases to advance
the money for your subscription, you will have the
opportunity of sharing the first of his collection in
those branches, as well as the insects now arrived ;
and I am strongly inclined to think there will not
be* a second collection come from him in such fine
order as these.

" I am, with the utmost respect, *

" Your Grace's most obedient and *.
" Humble Servant,

" D. DRURY.

The Duchess subscribed £ 100, and thus Became
a sharer in the treasures transmitted by Smeathman.
A proposal was at one time made by Dr. Fothergill
and some other gentlemen to fit out a vessel for
Smeathman; to provide him with a number of
assistants ; and send him to the coast of Africa to
collect whatever objects in natural history he could
obtain : but this munificent scheme was never car-

46 MEMOIR OF DRURY.

ried into effect. He returned home by the West
Indies after an absence of some years.

An individual to whom Drury showed much
kindness, in the hope of being supplied through his
means with the insects of New South Wales, was
J. W. Lewin, author of a small, but original, and
really valuable work, entitled u A Natural History
of the Lepidopterous Insects of New South Wales."
It appears from Lewin's letters that he was in a
great measure illiterate, and had been subjected to
many difficulties, so that it was a good while before
he could do much towards the fulfilment of Drury 's
wishes. They continued, however, to communicate
with each other for a considerable time ; Drury sup-
plying goods to no small amount, which were to be
repaid in insects. In his necessities, Lewin is not
backward in his demands on the liberality of his
friend, who supplied him, among many other mis-
cellaneous articles, with the copperplates on which
he £ngraved his insects and birds, and even with
the'*paper for printing them. Thomas Marsham,
author of the Entomologia Britannica, and Alex-
ander Macleay, afterwards united with Drury in
advancing money to Lewin while he was at Botany
Bay, expecting the value to be returned to them in
insects.

It will readily be supposed that with such nu-
merous contributors, and liberal outlay in procuring
insects, Drury's collection had become of great ex-
tent; and it was not more remarkable on that
account than it was for the perfection and rarity

MEMOIR OF DRUBY. 47

of the specimens. A particular specification of its
contents will be given hereafter. When he found
objects of great interest begin to accumulate, and
many of them to prove altogether new, he thought
it incumbent on him to adopt some means of mak-
ing them known to the public for the advancement
of natural history. He seems to have conceived the
plan of publishing his " Illustrations" at an early
period, but it was his original intention that they
should be confined to English insects, foreign ones
being referred to only for the sake of comparison
and illustration. This design, however, was soon
abandoned, and a work undertaken to embody the
most valuable objects of his cabinet from foreign
parts. The first volume appeared in 1770, forming
a handsome quarto, containing fifty plates, on which
were exhibited upwards of two hundred and forty
figures. The drawings were made, the plates en-
graved, and in the best copies coloured likewise, by
Moses Harris, who is admitted by all to have been
one of the best, if not the very best, entomological
artists of his day. His employer also exercised a
vigilant superintendence over his proceedings, so
that the utmost confidence may be placed in the
general accuracy of the delineations, both in regard
to engraving and colouring. Indeed, the care with
which they were got up, seems occasionally to have
led to such delay as nearly to exhaust the patience
of the placable author and disturb his habitual
equanimity. Hence the following scolding note to
the artist : —

48 MEMOIR OF DRURY.

M London, April StL, 1<Y—
" Dear Harris,

" I have at last got my work entirely printed,
and shall have it home tomorrow or next day. I
have also agreed with Mr. White, bookseller in
Fleet Street, for the necessary business to be done
in publishing it, &c. ; but as I have only two sets
of prints coloured in your best manner, and one of
these, if not both, bespoke, I cannot with propriety
advertise it till I have some more of them ready.
I am at the greatest loss imaginable to know what
can be the occasion of your keeping those sets so
long in hand. Your son took them away the 8th
of February, therefore you have had them eight
weeks, and you often told me you could finish a
set in a week. If so, how can I account for your
delay, and that at a time when you cannot but be
sensible it is of the greatest consequence to me. I
wish to Heaven you was removed from the place
where you are now buried, and come to London,
for then I could scold you by word of mouth, and
am now forced to employ a great deal of time in
doing it by letter, which I can but ill spare. I be-
seech you, if you have not heard of a house in
London, put an advertisement in the newspapers
for one, that I may not be compelled to put you
and myself to the trouble of reading and writing
these letters. It is now three weeks since I wrote
my last, and am afraid that my prints are but a
very little forwarder than they were at that time ;
indeed, I fully expected that they would have been

MEMOIR OP DRURY. 49

finished by this time, but, I am sorry to say it, I
cannot depend on you. I am perplexed to the last
degree. If I advertise the work and not mention
the best prints, it will be using some persons ill, as
they will with reason think ; and if I mention them
without having a sufficient stock, I shall appear in
a most ridiculous light. In short, it has fallen out
exactly as I foresaw it would, and as I told you
some time ago, and I am much afraid your neglect
will prove very injurious to me. In fine, write me
word when I may expect the prints, that I may
give an answer to those who inquire, and you will
oblige,

" Yours, &c.

" D. DRURY."

Besides describing the species, Drury endeavours
to give their natural history as far as known to
him ; but in this respect the work was necessarily
very meagre, as in most instances his contributors
were contented with transmitting specimens of the
perfect insects without furnishing any account of
their previous states or general habits. This we find
him often lamenting in his letters, but it was an evil
which he had no means of remedying. " Let me
assure you," he says, writing to a correspondent at
Quebec, " that next to receiving the insects them-
selves, nothing could be more agreeable to me than
to know their history, manner of life, what they
feed upon, where they live, what enemies they have,
how they secure themselves from the power of those

50 MEMOIR OF DRURY.

enemies, what time of the year they make their
appearance, how often in the year they breed, and
in short many other circumstances that it is impos-
sible for me to have any idea of, and which only
being familiar with the subjects, and seeing them
alive, can possibly furnish. Hence you perceive the
most trifling incidents attending the various species
will always be received with pleasure, and as it is
impossible you should be acquainted with the above
properties belonging to every insect, let me conjure
you not to neglect sending me those you do know,
a piece of knowledge that will enhance the value of
every insect you shall oblige me with." This ex-
tract (and many others of a similar tendency could
be given) shows that Drury had a much higher
aim than merely to be a collector of specimens;
and his work itself bears ample testimony to the
same effect. To facilitate the circulation of the Illus-
trations on the continent, a French translation of
the text was given in a parallel column. * The
descriptions are not very minute, and too vague to
be of much use ; indeed, he expressly affirms that
they are only intended to assist the reader in ascer-
taining the different species; and are not so com-
plete as to give a perfect idea of the animal without
the help of the figure, t The reception the work

* The translation was executed by M. Da Costa, the <son-
chologist.

*t* For further remarks on the general nature of his design,
and mode of executing it, reference may be made to the Intro-
duction to the first volume of his work.

MEMOIR OF DRURY. 51

met with was highly favourable, and its sale con-
siderable. The author presented a copy to Linnaeus,
accompanied with the following letter, which is
well worthy of being transcribed.

" To Dr. Linnseus.

" Address Regies Scientiarum

Societati Upsaliensi Upsala.

" London, Aug. 30, 1770.
" Most excellent Sir,

" I cannot better express the strong inclination I
have of testifying my respect to you as the greatest
Master of Natural History now existing, than by
presenting you a copy of a work I have just pub-
lished here.

" Believe me, Sir, it is not from vanity I take
the liberty of making you this offering, nor, poor as
it is (for I am truly sensible of its defects), would
I make it to any person that is inferior to Linnaeus
in the study of Nature. But to whom should I
pay my acknowledgments of this sort, but to the
Father of Natural History ? You, Sir, I consider
as that father, and therefore I beseech your kind
acceptance hereof, a circumstance that will do me
great honour and favour, and at the same time
countenance my weak endeavours to promote a
study that, I must confess, I prefer to every other.

" Permit me also to take this opportunity of con-
gratulating you on the effects which your Systema

52 MEMOIR OF DRURY.

has had among the followers of Natural History
here in London, the numbers of whom, although
not equal to those found in many other countries,
are yet every day increasing, to such a degree as
could not have heen anticipated a little time ago by
its most sanguine wellwishers.

" That it may still increase and flourish, and that
you may live, with health, to see its study carried
to the furthest ends of the earth, is the hearty
wish of,

« Sir,
" Your sincere Admirer, and

u Most obedient humble Servant,

" D. DRURY."

In the Preface to his first volume, Mr. Drury
announced that the continuance of the work would
entirely depend on the reception the public should
be pleased to give to it. Being thoroughly satisfied
on that head, he immediately began to prepare a
second, and both the descriptions and engravings
were finished about the beginning of the year 1771 ;
but it was not published till 1773. In his own
opinion (as expressed in a letter to a friend in
Halifax) this volume was preferable to the first,
because containing a great many more uncommon
insects, all of them (as he then supposed) being
nondescripts. " I am only sorry,0 he adds, " I have
it not in my power to give the natural history of
every one of them ; how happy I should be to be
able to do that! but so long as distant countries

MEMOIR OF DRURY. 53

afford few or no new speculations, we must not ex-
pect it. A Banks and Solander are to be found
only in an age ; and the wonders of creation must
not be expected to be opened and displayed but by
slow and gradual means."

He had resolved not to publish a third volume ;
not because he was less anxious than formerly to
do every thing in his power to promote his favourite
study, or that he was dissatisfied with the success of
the two first, but because the pressure of business
denied him the requisite leisure for such an under-
taking. From this cause we find him proposing to
devolve the task on Smeathman, as it was to him
that he was indebted for most of the subjects of
which it was to be composed. " Could you not,"
he asks, in a letter dated 28th January, 1773, " do
this business for me ? How ? you will say. I will
tell you. I can from time to time send you the in-
sects I would compose it of, which you might
describe, and if you would write the natural history
of some of those you find, they might be inserted,
and embellish it so much as to make it sell with
avidity. I would be at all the expense of engraving,
colouring, &c. The advantage of it you would
share jointly with me, or I would pay you for the
whole at a stated sum. The duty I owe mankind
makes me wish I could bring this about, for I really
know nobody so capable to give the natural history
of these animals as yourself, both from your situa-
tion and abilities. If I cannot get it done by some
such means, I shall certainly never publish any

54 MEMOIR OF DRURY.

thing more." The volume in question did not ap-
pear till 1782, the delay being no doubt occasioned
by Drury's mercantile embarassments ; but the text,
as usual, was written by himself, with the aid of
Smeathman's notes. The greater number, and by
far the most interesting, of the insects figured, were
obtained by that collector at Sierra Leone and other
places on the western coast of Africa. Some of
these, such as the large and elegant Papilio Anti-
machus and the equally conspicuous Saturnia lucina,
continue unique even to the present day. A large
proportion of the plates in this volume were exe-
cuted by Moses Harris, but in a few instances other
artists were employed.

Writing to Pallas in 1775, our author states that
he had ample materials in his collection to furnish
three other volumes; and that if he had time he
would continue the work with infinite pleasure,
" for surely," he adds, " Heaven gave me a relish
for these subjects to sweeten and allay the numerous
plagues and troubles I have lately been surrounded
with; but I must give up all thoughts (notwith-
standing the solicitations of my friends) of ever
engaging again in that employment.0 Notwith-
standing this determination, Mr. Haworth * assures
us that Drury, a short time before his decease, me-
ditated the publication of another volume, with a
view to embrace the gigantic and extraordinary in-
sects of Demerara ; this design, it is scarcely neces-
sary to add, was never accomplished. The work, as
* See Trans. Ent. Soc., 1807, vol. i. p. 34.

MEMOIR OF DRURY. 55

it now stands, must be regarded as one that has
been of important service to entomology, and the
first ever executed in this country in such a high
style of art. The figures are in general extremely
accurate, and the colouring faithful to nature. It is
proper, however, to add, that two series were issued
at different prices, one of them wholly coloured by
Harris's own hand, the other by ordinary colourists
under that artist's superintendence. The work ac-
quires additional importance from the fact, that the
figures are often cited by the best descriptive and
systematic writers, so that it has obtained a kind of
classical value as a book of reference. * It is like-
wise remarkable as being the first work published
in this country in which an attempt was made to
apply the Linnean trivial names.

We must now say a few words respecting the
Collection itself. During the temporary reverse of

* A few years ago, a new edition, with impressions from the
original plates, was published, under the editorial care of Mr.
Westwood, by Mr. Henry Bohn the bookseller.

It is not easy to speak of this edition in terms of too high com-
mendation. The colouring, executed from the original drawings*
under the superintendence of one of the ablest entomological
artists of the day, is faithful to nature, and owing to the fineness
of the paper and a particular process to which it has been sub-
jected, possesses a lustre and beauty which were unattainable
at the time when the original edition appeared. The text has
been in a great measure re-written ; ample and accurate de-
scriptions introduced ; the modern nomenclature applied, and
the intricacies of synonymy unravelled ; Indexes and much
original matter added, and the whole work adapted to the
present advanced state of the science.

56 MEMOIR OF DRURY.

fortune to which Drury was subjected in 1777? he
thought it his duty to offer it for sale, and with this
view drew up a detailed statement of its contents.
In the beginning of the year 1778, these were as
follows :—

Coleoptera 1946 subjects, of 1680 different species.

Lepidoptera 1910 ditto 1635 ditto.

Hemiptera 736 ditto 664 ditto.

Neuroptera 123 ditto 109 ditto.

Hymenoptera 508 ditto 485 ditto.

Diptera 253 ditto 241 ditto.

Aptera 29 ditto 29 ditto.

Total Number 5505 Insects of 4843 different species.

Two years after, they had increased to 5778 insects,
of 5066 different species; and in 1788, at which
period not less than £ 4000 had been expended on
the collection, it stood as follows : —

Subjects. Different species.

Coleoptera. . . . 2218 . . . . 2136

Hemiptera ... 895 .... 778

Lepidoptera . . . 2462 .... 2148

Neuroptera ... 172 .... 171

Hymenoptera . . 533 .... 533

Diptera 552 .... 402

Aptera 105 .... 96

English Collection . 2641 .... 2070

9578 8370

To this number very large additions were afterwards
made, for he continued to collect with almost un-
abated zeal till near his death. When it consisted of
the smaller or first mentioned number of specimens,

MEMOIR OF DRURY. 5J

the value he set upon the collection was £ 1000,
and he considered it, even at that time, as the first
in the world. In writing to Dr. Pallas, and asking
him to endeavour to find a purchaser, he speaks of
it as follows. " I don't know whether the Empress
of Russia has any collection of Natural History ; if
she has, her munificence and bounty may induce
her to accept the offer I make of the disposal of
mine. Do not think me vain when I tell you that
I look upon it as the first in the world. The great
number of specimens procured from Africa (I mean
that part near Sierra Leone) and the Brazils, I think
cannot fail to render it superior to any yet known.
The incredible pains and trouble I have taken to
procure so vast a variety, I do not urge as a cir-
cumstance in its favour ; it best speaks its own
value ; but believe me, I would not go through the
same trouble again for a thousand pounds. My
third and last volume, likewise, which I am now
preparing, wrill inform you what amazing additions
have been made to it since the publication of the
two first, the great expense of procuring which I
am pretty certain will not be repaid me by the price
I set on it. I also intend to dispose of all the origi-
nal drawings from which the engravings have been
taken. These, I must inform you, are wonderfully
fine : Mr. Harris, the painter, who executed them,
and also engraved and coloured my work, having
exerted his utmost skill in making these drawings.
The latter I value at £ 325." * He likewise wrote
* These drawings, we are informed, are now in possession

58 MEMOIR OF DRURY.

on the same subject to Mr. Ashton Lever (after-
wards Sir Ashton), one of the most extensive col-
lectors of natural curiosities that ever lived, as well
as to General Rengers and other individuals ; but it
would seem to be as difficult to dispose of a collec-
tion of this kind as it is to make it ; no one offered
an adequate sum, and Drury retained the objects
which he had amassed with so much care and
labour, beside him to the last, never relaxing in his
endeavours to augment their number and obtain
more perfect specimens. Every foreign entomo-
logist of note, who visited this country, took the
opportunity of examining Mr. Drury's Collection,
and permission was given with a degree of frank-
ness and liberality, which on some occasions were
turned to the owner's disadvantage. Several unique
specimens, for example, were clandestinely figured
by other authors, at the very time Drury's own
work was in progress. * Fabricius studied the Col-

of Mrs. Allan of Glen, in Peebles-shire, who obtained them at
a price very little inferior to that here set on them.

* Drury complains of General Rengers for allowing Cramer
to figure several new species which he had sent to him, and
designed to make public in his own work. " This, I confess,
appears a little hard on my side, and puts me in mind of a
man's putting a knife into the hands of another in order to
cut his own throat. I must entreat you not to let him figure
any more that have been in my collection. He cannot want
subjects among so many grand collections as Holland abounds
with ; therefore I would wish not to receive any further injury
from him." Stoll retorts this charge on the part of Cramer, in
his Supplement (Preface, p. v.). Neither party appears de-

MEMOIR OF DRURY. 59

lection with great care, and often refers to it. " I
think," says Drury to one of his correspondents, in
a letter dated June 24th, 1773, " you remember
M. Fabricius. He is now in London, and very
busy in making descriptions from Mr. Banks' and
my Collections, where he will have employment for
some months ; a pleasure he seems to enjoy with as
much glee as a lover of wine does the sight of his
cellar when well stored with full casks and bottles,
enjoying by anticipation the pleasure he is to receive
in emptying them/' It seems to be the general fate
of extensive collections of this kind, to undergo dis-
persion on the death of their original owners. It
often happens that a love for the study is not here-
ditary, although the objects themselves may be so ;
hence they frequently fall into the hands of those
who are indifferent to their preservation. It is
usually the case, also, in estimating the value of
such collections, that more regard is had to the
money and labour that have been expended on
their acquisition, than their intrinsic value at the
time when they are exposed to sale. It is not con-
sidered that they have already in a great measure
repaid their original cost, by the pleasure and in-
struction they have afforded their owner ; and that
the kind of factitious value they may have acquired
in his eyes, cannot be expected to exercise any in-
fluence on another. For a long period, moreover,
the supply of such objects from foreign countries

serving of blame, each having acted in ignorance of the other'*
intentions.

60 MEMOIR OF DRURY.

has exceeded the demand, and their value, in a
commercial point of view, has therefore been gradu-
ally deteriorating.

Drury fortunately was not subjected to the pain
of witnessing the dispersion of the objects he had
laboured with such unwearied zeal to assemble, and
from the examination of which he had derived so
much rational enjoyment. The collection was not
disposed of for upwards of a year after his death,
and no purchaser having been found for it in an
entire state, it was sold in separate lots by auction.
The sale commenced on Thursday, May 23, 1805,
lasting for three days, and realising no larger sum
than £614 8s. 6d. for the insects, and about £ 300
more for the cabinets and copperplates of the Illus-
trations. A few of the more interesting lots, with
the prices obtained for them, as well as the names
of the purchasers, have been given by Mr. Westwood
as an interesting record ; and as such we here sub-
join it, from his edition of Drury 's work.

9 4 l 0 Donovan
46. Papilio Priamus . 14146 Gen. Daviea

64. .... . •. Claviger, and 5 ) ~ «• , A A ,, ,

others . . J 6 7 10 0 Macleav

69. A variety of curious )

Spiders, chiefly from > 110 4 4 0 Donovaa
Georgia . . )

« 0

94. Sixteen curious Curcu- )

rcu- ) J6 n n „ ^
bones . . .3

MEMOIR OF DBDRY.

61

Lot 95. ScarabseusGoliathus,var.
1 00. Cerambyx Gigas, and 2 )
others j

1 04. Thirteen species of the )

Bupestris genus . j

1 05. Elater flabellicornis, vi-

rens, and 8 others

112. Cetoniahamata,nitens, }
grandis,Scarabaeusfes- >
tivus, and 12 others )

123. A variety of small in-
sects of the Mordella,
Forficula, and other
genera, among which
are Diopsis Ichneu-
monia, and also a spe-
cies of Paussus

201. Mutillabimaculata,tho- )
racica, Scolia signata, >
and 24 others . )

269. Sphextropica, frontalis, )
Africana, &c. j

I £12 1 6 Humphrey
3 480 Haworth

13 8

10

0 0 Macleay
6 0 Latham

16 17 0 0 Macleay

37 700 Ditto

27

5 0 Kirby

6 0 Ditto.

In the year 1787 Drury lost his wife, hy whom
he had seventeen children; all of these, however,
died young, excepting three who survived him. In
the spring of 1789 he retired from trade, relinquish-
ing his share of the business to his son, who paid
him a sum of money in hand, and allowed him an
annuity for the rest of his life,

He then took a house at Broxbourne, in Hertford-
shire, at which he went to reside, but occasionally
came to London to visit his son, remaining for a
few weeks at a time. While at Broxbourne he con-
tinued to collect insects as formerly, and spent much
of the leisure time he now enjoyed in arranging
and improving his cabinet. He became very fond

O2 MEMOIR OF DRURY.

of gardening ; and amused himself by fishing in the
river Lea, and the adjoining ]^ew River. But his
favourite amusement for some years consisted of
making wines from various kinds of fruits, and
attempting experiments in distillation. An entire
memorandum book is filled with notices of the
qualities of his different wines, and some of them
are not a little amusing. His taste seems to have
been somewhat fastidious, a quality it probably
owed to his being a member of the worshipful cor-
poration of Goldsmiths, and not unacquainted with
the festivities of Guildhall and the Mansion House.
The following entry will suffice as an example.
" October 1. Memorandum. — Examined the wines.
Those made this year are very good, both white
and red. The white which is in the nine gallon
cask, to which I put four pounds and a half of sugar
(see Sept. 15), is very good, but I think is tending
to have the flat twang. Time will show whether
it will increase. The same wine in the small five
gallon rundlet has lost its sweetness considerably.
It is therefore evident that two pounds and a half
of sugar to the gallon is not enough ; it should be
three pounds. The red currant wine is also very
good. That in the ten gallon cask will be exceeding
good. It wants nothing but age. The same wine
in the five gallon rundlet is also very nice and good :
therefore all these wines I stopped down very close,
and intend to let them remain so till I bottle them
off. I fully intended to day to have put some pul-
verised clay in order to fine them^ but upon tasting

MEMOIR OP DRURY. 63

them, I afterwards declined it. I examined the
cask of mixed wine on the left hand at the further
end of the cellar. It is not fine, and has the flat
twang. The wine on the right hand in a fifteen
gallon cask has lost all its sweetness. It is not bad,
but it is not pleasant, and I think is easily recover-
able. I think therefore to put fifteen pounds of
Malaga raisins to it and try if they will not bring
it to rights. If they will not, I must e'en distil it."
A multitude of similar notices show in how com-
plete a spirit of amateurship he entered upon this
occupation, one to which so many good people are
addicted, and which might be considered as harm-
less as it seems to be amusing, if they did not expect
their friends to be as well pleased with the fruits of
their labours as they invariably are themselves, and
not only to drink their " brewed enchantments,"
but to do it in the same manner as the historian
informs us a Grecian sage exhibited when a similar
potion was forced on him, " with a pleased expres-
sion of countenance."

There was another matter which occupied such
a considerable portion of the latter years of Mr.
Drury's life, that it must not be passed over un-
noticed. He had long been of opinion that a care-
ful examination of the beds of rivers in many foreign
countries, would lead to the discovery of consider-
able quantities of gold and silver; believing that
the little usually obtained that way, was rather
owing to the indifference and want of skill in tra-
vellers, than the absence of these metals. It was

64 MEMOIR OF DRURY.

his wish, when the sand or gravel appeared metali-
ferous, that large quantities should be brought home
as ballast or otherwise, in order that he might
subject it to a careful examination, being, as he
himself expresses it, well experienced in the trade
and mystery of smelting, refining, washing, and
manufacturing gold and silver metals. Should the
product prove sufficiently rich to repay the labour,
it was his design to conduct the operations on a
large scale, as will appear from the following ex-
tract from a written agreement between himself and
a Captain Wilson : " And further it is mutually
agreed between the parties above said, that if in
future times it shall and may be thought proper to
bring over so large a quantity of the above named
sand or ballast, &c. so that the smelting, pounding,
and washing the same may require extensive room
for the erecting of furnaces, mills, or other imple-
ments, so as to occasion considerable expenses in
obtaining the said metals from the said ballast, &c.
It is further mutually agreed by the aforesaid parties,
that the said Dru Drury shall and will direct the
management thereof, and also build and conduct
such buildings and erections as his experience and
knowledge shall enable him to judge necessary and
proper for the carrying on such a business. * * *
And further it is mutually agreed, that the said
Dru Drury, so long as he shall live and be capable
of doing so, shall have the managing, superintend-
ing, and conducting the said manufacture and busi-
ness ; and it is further agreed, that, if it shall please

MEMOIR OF DRFRY. 65

God to take away the said Dru Dfury, and the
business or work by that circumstance should be at
a stand for want of a legal successor or proper per-
son already nominated or provided for in this agree-
ment, in that case the said Captain Wilson, doth
agree that the half of the profit, or advantage,
that the said Dru Drury did enjoy in his lifetime
shall be continued to his son William Drury, of the
Strand, Goldsmith, &c. &c."

Many similar agreements, formally drawn up,
written on stamp-paper, and signed in the presence
of witnesses, were entered into with commanders of
vessels proceeding to various quarters of the globe ;
and those whom Drury used to employ in collecting
insects, were often enjoined to turn their attention
at the same time to this subject. As might have
been expected, the hopes of sudden wealth, with
which some of them were thus inspired, were gene-
rally, if not in every instance, disappointed. We
find poor Lewin, to whom the discovery of a trea-
sure of this kind would have been even more than
usually acceptable, writing in the following terms
(which we give nearly verbatim, but not nearly
literatim) to his patron, in a letter from Sidney,
dated 7th March, 1803 : — " I hope you will never
mention any more in your letters about gold ; and
sorry enough I am that ever such a thought entered
into my head ; but enough of that subject, for I am
really sick of it; for had it not been for those
ideas, or rather dreams, I never should have gone to
Otaheite in search of pearls, where I very nigh lost

66 MEMOIR OF DRURY.

my life ; for the vessel that I went in was stranded
on the beach, on Point Venus, where she was en-
tirely lost in a heavy gale of wind which lasted five
days; and that was not the only misfortune, for
after we got on shore we had the natives to fight,
for they were at war with the party who were our
friends. So that for the nine months that we were
on the island, we were continually alarmed with
the dreadful ideas of our having our throats cut ;
and I have not the least doubt but we should have
been all massacred, and the mission entirely de-
stroyed, or at least forced to fly to the other island
at the risk of being drowned, only for a few of us
who well knew the use of fire-arms. As for those
dastards called missionaries, they would have run
and, hid themselves rather than fight and protect
their property, wives, &c." It is very likely that
in this matter Drury himself, who had evidently
formed high expectations, was as much disappointed
as any of his agents ; at all events, we find no inti-
mation in his books and memoranda of any success
resulting from his exertions. The attention he paid
to the subject led him to draw up and publish a
pamphlet containing instructions for collecting mi-
nerals and precious stones, describing their various
appearances in a rough state, the places where they
are most likely to be found, &c., which furnishes a
number of very useful suggestions.

In 1797> Drury removed from Broxboume to
Turnham Green, near Brentford, Middlesex, where
he continued to reside until near the time of his

MEMOIR OF DRURY. 67

death. During many of the latter years of his life,
he was much afflicted with stone in the bladder,
and was obliged to have recourse to the frequent
use of laudanum as an anodyne. * Other disorders
also began to assail him, indicating that the powers
of his constitution were beginning to decay. He
still, however, continued to make frequent visits to
London, and even to take part occasionally in mat-
ters of a public nature. Thus we find the following
notice in his memorandum book : u Attended Mr.
Rawlins, upholsterer, and Mr. Cox, goldsmith, being
the sheriffs elect, to the London Tavern, where
the company breakfasted and proceeded to Guild-
hall, where they gave bond to serve the office, and
returned to the Tavern to an elegant entertainment.
On Wednesday I attended them again to Gold-
smiths' Hall, where we breakfasted, and proceeded
in the goldsmiths' barge to Westminster, where
they were sworn into their office before one of the
Barons of Exchequer, and afterwards returned in
the barge to dinner at Goldsmiths' Hall." The very
last entries in his pocket book, written in such an
unsteady hand as to be scarcely legible, chiefly refer
to what may truly be called his ruling passion, con-
sisting of the names of vessels by which he expected
consignments of what he was in the habit of call-
ing Naturalia, of individuals to whom he had sent

* After his death his body was opened, and three flattish
oval stones taken out of the bladder, weighing upwards of six
ounces, each of them being about two inches long, by one and
three-quarters wide, and an inch thick.

68 MEMOIR OF DRURY.

collecting instruments, or the addresses of his corre-
spondents, who continued to be numerous even to
the last. Pie died in London, in the house of his
son, William Drury, in the Strand, on the 15th
January, 1804, having nearly attained his seventy-
ninth year. He was buried in the vault under the
church of St. Martin's in the Fields, London.

In every respect Drury's character was highly
estimable. His conduct in the various relations
of life seems always to have been most exemplary.
*His correspondence furnishes abundant proofs of the
warmth of his affections, the sincerity of his friend-
ship, and disinterested desire to promote the welfare
of others. He displayed the greatest liberality to
those who exerted themselves to do him a favour,
particularly in collecting objects in natural history ;
nor was his benevolence withheld from a necessitous
individual, even when the latter had proved ungrate-
ful for former kindnesses. Of the strictest honour
and integrity himself, his natural generosity often
led him to believe too readily in the existence of
the like qualities in others; hence he became at
times the victim of the designing, as in the transac-
tions which caused the greatest commercial mis-
fortune of his life. He was singularly exact and
methodical in all matters of business, and of the
most regular habits.

The love of natural history was deeply implanted
in his mind. We find him thus writing to General
Rengers, at the time when he had other matters of
pressing urgency to engross his attention : " There

DRURY.

was a time when natural history had charms
superior to every other delight the world could
bestow. All the enjoyments and gratifications of
sense were not in my opinion to be placed in compe-
tition with it; and if any thing on earth could
convey a faint or distant idea of heavenly pleasure,
I think it must be that." Hence his ardent prosecu-
tion of the study, even when his circumstances were
least favourable to such an indulgence; and it is
easy to imagine with what gratification a mind so
constituted would exchange for a time, and when a
due and conscientious regard to his own interests
and those of his family permitted, the bustle and
anxieties of trade — the turmoil and effervescence of
a great city — the

" Fumum et opes strepitumque Romae," —

for a tranquil retreat where he could give himself
up without restraint to pursuits so congenial to his
disposition. Moments such as these, snatched from
his usual occupation, he regarded as in a great mea-
sure repaying him for the care and trouble to which
the latter not unfrequently subjected him.

Honourable testimony has been often borne by
the master spirits of the science, to the value of
Prury's exertions in its behalf, and the excellence
of the work to which so high a character has al-
ready been assigned. Linnaeus dedicated a species
of Cimex to Drury ; Fabricius, an American species
of Stenocorus^ as well as a Danish Tinea ; and our
own Kirby, in his Monograph of English Bees, after

70 MEMOIR OF DRURY.

naming a rare species Apis Drurella, adds the re*
mark : " In honorem D. Drury, operis entomologici
splendidissimi auctoris, cujus museum insectorum
rarissimorum undique conquisitorum gazophylacium
ditissimum, hanc apem ab illo acceptam nominavi."*
The younger Linna9us, when about to edit a new
edition of his father's Syst. Nat., appreciating the
value of Drury's work, wrote to him the following
letter regarding it, which will be perused with inte-
rest, not only for the writer's sake, but on account of
the information it conveys.

46 Celeberrimo viro " S. pi. d.

44 D. Drury. " Carolus a Linne.

46 Dum post mortem dilectissimi parentis occu-
patus fui in redigendo naturalia ab illo in Syst.
Nat. nondum determinata, et ut his nomenclaturam
pro scientia naturali maxime necessariam continua-
rem, maxime sollicitus fui ilia, quantum mihi pos-
sibile foret, synonymis ex prsestantioribus auctoribus
ScientisB illustrare, imprimis illorum qui pulcherrimis
individuorum figuris sint oraati. Tu, Vir Celeber-
rime, es ex illis qui in insectis pulcherrima praesti-
tisti; ex tuo opere volumina habeo duo, quae in
heriditario cum reliqua Bibliotheca Parentis habeo :
sed an Tertius Tomus s. plures post secundum pro-
diere, est quod ignoro, et de qua re rogarem tuam
informationem ? et si prodiere, ubi inveniuntur ?
et quo praetio? amicitiam quam erga Parentem
habuisti, spero hanc filiolo permittere licentiam.
* Monog. Ap. Angl., ii. p. 286.

MEMOIR OF DRTJRY. 71

Optandum esset a te in his majorem videre augmen-
tura ; requirunt insecta figuras ; nam vix differentiis
determinanda sunt. Insecta australioris plaga mundi
a Banksio et Forsteriis indagata, pulcherrime et
utilissime pro scientia methodo tua illustrari pos-
sent. Utinam facere velles; immortalitatem tuam
conservaret scientia haec !

a Ego qui nunc novam paro editionem Zoologicam
Syst. Nat. summam in insectis sentio difficultatem
ita exprimere, ut aliis intelligas, quod tarn facile
figuris Isevatur. Multa praestitit noster De Geer de
insectis, sed majora adhuc prsestitisset, si figurse
vivis coloribus ornatae fuissent. Quis Entomologus
est alius apud nos, qui collectionem insectorum pos-
sidet ex India occidentali ? Si quis esset qui de-
sideraret insecta Suecica, lubenter illi ea praestare
vellem.

" Nuper litteras habui ex America meridionali,
ubi morbus endemius est. Homines etiam Euro-
peos aggredit illuc venientes, qui causatur a larva
jEstri, quaB intra cutem per integrum annum ccela-
tus, et nullo remedio expelli potest nisi periculo
vitae ; est nova species ^stri.

44 Sed hie vale et mihi fave.

" Dabam Upsalia, d. 10 Mart. 1780."

TION.

AN inquiry into the animate creation excites the
interest of mankind in many points of view, some-
times on account of some striking peculiarity in a
particular species of animals, at others, from the
dread or the pleasure they inspire. That interest
is, in some measure, regulated by their size, even
more than by the proximity in station which they
hold to us. We think but transitorily of bees,
though they supply us with honey ; or of silkworms,
notwithstanding that they spin raiment for us ; still
less of locusts, albeit they commit enormous devas-
tations, and gather together in armies, that have
been considered sufficiently numerous to form a
continuous circle round the globe. Fishes share
somewhat more in our regard, on account of the
food we derive from them, and of the multitudes
who subsist entirely on taking, curing, and carrying
this produce to distant lands. With birds, our affec-
tions first begin to be excited ; the elegance of their
form, the beauty of their plumage, the faculty of

74 INTRODUCTION.

soaring high on the wing, the charm of song, and
their companionable qualities all attract us, indepen-
dently of the numerous advantages we derive from
them as a nutritious and delicate article ,of food.
But when we turn our attention to Mammalia, to
" the beasts of the field," we find some startling us
by forms and actions so much resembling our own,
as to excite unpleasant comparisons : others, causing
just apprehensions, from their evident powers of
mischief, our astonishment by their bulk, or doubt,
by the questionable intention of their locomotive
organs ; while others, again, are companions of our
sports, assistants in our toils, or supply us with food
and clothing.

Reluctant though we may be to admit the rela-
tionship, it is in this class that man must confess
his physical structure points out his own location :
furnished with capacities, indeed, which place him
at the head of the scale, he is only distinguished
from those next in succession by slight external
differences, and surpassed by many of the lower
animals in the acuteness of one or more of the
senses ; not sufficiently pre-eminent to be altogether
independent of other creatures, yet endowed with
the prerogative of reason, he is enabled to render
all subservient to his wants, and is distinguished as
a being intended for higher duties, and a more
exalted destiny. It is by the exercise of this faculty,
that man is enabled to comprehend his relation to
the various objects around him, and duly to appre-

INTRODUCTION. 75

ciate the station which he holds in the great scale
of nature.

Now, although this study imposed upon man
somewhat of a duty, the science of natural history
was comparatively unknown to the ancients ; nor
was its interest and importance recognised in their
systems of knowledge. With the exception of
Aristotle, neither the philosophers of antiquity, nor
those of the ages succeeding the revival of learning,
prosecuted the study of living nature with that
accuracy of observation, and reference to organic
structure, so indispensably necessary for distinguish-
ing by just analogy, and determining by definite
characters, the classes, orders, genera, and species,
of the vast assemblage of animated beings.

Within the first quarter of the last century, there
•were still writers, and there were religious institu-
tions in force, classing otters, seals, whales, herons,
and ducks, with fish ; and in law we even now ad-
mit whales by that name ; while, in our markets,
oysters, limpets, lobsters, and crabs, continue to be
called shell-fish. In this respect, notwithstanding
the valuable example placed before him by the
mighty Stagyrite, we find the great Buffon viewed
nature, and in particular zoology, more in the man-
ner of a rhetorician, who had discovered a new
field of eloquence, than as a true naturalist, who
sees the connecting links of affinity, and by them
demonstrates the relations organised bodies have
to each other. In his magnificent descriptions of
animals, he long persisted to disregard all classifi-

76 INTRODUCTION.

cation, although Ray had pointed out the way so
early as 1683; and Artedi, and in particular Lin-
naeus, had called the attention of all scientific men
to the system of arrangement known by his name.
To the illustrious Swede, then, we are indebted
for that lucid order, by him first established, in
natural history, which, though it be artificial, has
served mainly to unravel the apparent confusion
observed in taking a general view of nature. From
his time, the principles of investigation being clearly
marked, it has been the constant aim of every
writer, to introduce new observations and improve-
ments in the descriptions and systematic locations,
till, with the enormous accumulation of new and
aberrant objects, the characteristics have not re-
mained strictly applicable to many of the sections,
and species in his system have imperatively risen
into types of new genera ; so that, by the progress of
science, the labours of Linnasus have, at length, in
a great measure, become confused and inapplicable.
This was the natural result in a science based
entirely on facts : as their number multiplied, mo-
difications in what were at first deemed general
conclusions, became more and more frequent and
necessary, and the numerous attempts at transposi-
tions of the groups of animals upon the artificial
Linna?an model, depending alone on generalised
notions of dentition, or on the form of the feet,
though they often added something to the general
stock of knowledge; and some had a temporary
success, led. nevertheless, to a general acquiescence

INTRODUCTION". 77

in the necessity of attempting the classification of
organised nature upon the plan of natural affinities,
such as had already been introduced in Botany.
The first attempts were only approximations, until
Baron Cuvier, the ablest observer, and the pro-
foundest physiologist, since the days of Aristotle,
u after," according to his own words, " forming
several systems himself, which, however, he did not
make known, because he ascertained that they were
false, like all those that had been published to the
period when he wrote," concluded, " that in the pre-
sent state of science, it was impossible to discover
any, and that that was the reason why he continued
his researches, and why he openly proclaimed his
observations."

But although Cuvier renounced making a system,
he did not decline to form a great classified arrange-
ment of the Animal Kingdom, wherein the whole is
distributed according to its organisation. This mighty
work, as happened to Linnaeus, likewise at first met
with opponents and dissentients ; but, with the ex-
ception of gradual advances in separate branches, in
orders, in new families, genera, and species, which
the progress of science naturally calls for, and the
author was always happy to adopt, when fully exa-
mined, there is not, at present, a general work more
universally worthy to serve as a guide, than the
second and last edition of his " Regne Animal
d'apres son Organisation." It forms an abstract of
all the important observations, from Aristotle down
to Daubenton, Camper, Pennant, Pallas, Hunter,

78 INTRODUCTION.

Buffon, and the great school of French naturalists,
along with thirty years of his own researches, ge-
neralised into a natural order that forms its essence :
and it is from this source we mean to draw the
principal data of the present volume.

Cuvier did not stop here, he instituted the first
regular system of fossil organic remains, which,
from the unerring proofs drawn, by comparing the
bones of lost species with those of animals now exist-
ing, is scrupulously exact in results. He enumerated,
by this method, a great number of species of mam-
malia that lived in former zoologies, and fixed the
laws, whereby a still greater number have since been
detected by other naturalists. Of these also we wish
to take a cursory notice.

But although the Baron had achieved such im-
portant improvements in zoology, at the time, even
so late as when he revised his second edition of the
" Animal Kingdom," physiologists had not yet been
able to accumulate sufficient observations on the
structure and generation of the pouched and mono-
treme animals, to justify placing them in a systema-
tic order, where it has since appeared to be their
most appropriate station. It is true, with every
systematist, desirous of classing organic objects, by
their affinities, into a natural concatenation ; and,
in particular, with mammologists, who begin with
man, that although the physical approximations of
species form, in general, a continuous chain of suc-
cessive modifications from a primal type, taken either
in an ascending or descending scale, there are also-

INTRODUCTION. 79

sudden transitions to new combinations, as in rumi-
nants, seals, and whales ; also solitary groups, like
the equine, and elephantine, and divergences in most
families, which tend, some towards one, others to-
wards another, and even to a third order, by means
whereof they osculate, more or less, in circles of
seeming affinities with surrounding families of other
forms, which, in their turn, have similar tendencies; *
hence a succession of orders, families, genera, and
species, in a written system, necessarily following
each other seriatim, some are constantly found in
the list, which would better approximate a group,
not the next in the writer's system ; and, as his
object will naturally be, to terminate the series of
mammalia, where they obviously assume characters
of other classes ; — that is, of birds, reptiles, or fishes,
he is forced to conduct his links of successive con-
nection, so as to end with whales, who already have
the form of fishes ; or by some other arrangement of
affinities, lead his series towards the birds or reptiles.
While the opossums were confined to a few species,
* Such, for example, as the genus Paradoxurus, which is
plantigrade, and therefore assimilates in that and other re-
spects with Nasua, in the family of bears ; while, by the den-
tition, &c., it is retained in the digitigrade viverrine series,
which, in late classification, terminating with Crosarchus, pre-
cedes the Hyaenas. It was from the frequent recurrence of
these tendencies, that in England an attempt was made to
form the whole animal kingdom into quinary sets of orders,
each order again making five families, and these families
osculating similarly with one of the other, and forming a con-
tinual series, each returning into itself; and, finally, each of
the mammalian orders having one corresponding in the birds.

80 INTRODUCTION.

still comparatively unknown, authors had agreed to
terminate the mammals by cetacea, because these
approached the class of fishes as just mentioned.
But there being extant, along with true mammalia,
that second series, small indeed, and almost isolated
in Australia, known by the name of marsupial or
pouched animals ; a series organised, in many re-
spects, upon a different typical plan, and lower in
the scale of nature, but with dentitions and aptitudes
running parallel to several orders of true mammals ;
and a still smaller group, which, though quadruped
and warm blooded, is monotremous, and in many re-
spects organised like reptiles ; it followed, that when
duly investigated in a natural system, this series
could no longer find a proper place between families
of true mammalia, but required to be located at the
termination of the set of links, which led from man
downwards to that order, and was possessed of fa-
milies most naturally connecting itself with them.

We now beg to proceed with a few preliminary
observations by way of introduction.

THE MAMMALIA.

THE mammalia, that is, all animals that are pro-
vided with organs to suckle their young, are placed
at the head of the vertebrated series in the animal
kingdom. For, even excluding man, we find among
them the greatest number of faculties, the most de-
licate sensations, the most varied action, and an
aggregate of properties for the production of intelli-

INTRODUCTION. 8l

gence : they are the most fruitful in resources, least
subject to mere instinct, and most susceptible of pro-
gressive improvement. "With but a moderate quan-
tity of respiration, they are, in general, intended for
locomotion, by walking with strength and continuity,
and hence, all the articulations of their skeletons
have the forms very exact ; thereby determining,
with equal precision, the nature of their movements.
Though the typical form is intended for walking on
the earth, some fly through the air, by means of
membranes attached to their limbs, and a supple-
mentary structure fitting for that purpose ; while
others have the extremities so short, that they move
with ease only in water : but both retain, in every
other respects, all the general characters of the class.
All mammalia are endowed with warm blood,
which results from the great development of the re-
spiratory apparatus ; the heart is double, and con-
tains four cavities, viz. — an auricle and a ventricle
on the right side, and the same on the left. The
veinous blood passes through the cavities in the
right side, and is distributed through the lungs,
where it combines wdth the oxygen or vivifying
principle of the air ; it is then conveyed by the pul-
monary veins to the left auricle, from whence it
flows into the ventricle, and is propelled through
the arterial system. The females, suckling their
young with milk, secreted in breasts or mamma?,
are viviparous or ovo-viviparous, therefore pla-
cental or implacental; the placental including all
the highest organised mammals, from man to the

82 INTRODUCTION.

last true rodent ; and the implacental, the marsupia-
lia, and monotremata. They have all the upper jaw
fixed to the skull, and the lower, formed of only two
pieces, is articulated to the temporal bones. The
neck is composed of seven vertebrae ; * those of the
back and loins vary occasionally in the same species ;
the anterior ribs are secured to the sternum, or breast
bone, by cartilaginous processes ; the anterior extre-
mities commence with a shoulder blade, not articu-
lated, but suspended between the muscles, and often
resting on the sternum, by means of the clavicle on
each side : it is continued by an arm, forearm, and
a hand ; the hand is formed of two rows of bones,
(the carpus), of another row (the metacarpus), and
of fingers, each consisting of two or three joints,
called phalanges, t

If we except cetacea, or the whale tribe, all mam-
malia have the basin or pelvis attached to the spine,
the pubes forming the anterior, and the ilia, ischia,
sacrum, and coccyx ; the lateral and posterior parts,
where the three first-named bones of the pelvis unite
on each side, is the cavity wherein the femur or thigh
bone is articulated : to the former are attached the
leg bones (tibia and fibula), in most cases distinct,
succeeded by those composing the foot, which cor-
respond to the bones of the hand ; namely, a tarsus,

* With the exception of the three-toed sloth, which has
nine. In cetacea, though seven, they are united into one by
anchilosis.

t Several of these bones are, in different tribes of animals,
sol'Jered together, or wanting.

INTRODUCTION. 83

metatarsus, and toes. The extremities are greatly
liable to vary in different orders and genera ; in some,
those of the fore parts being lengthened, so as to
form the supporters of a wing, as in bats ; in others,
shortened, as in jerboa and kangaroo ; while, in both
the last mentioned, the posterior extremities are en-
larged to an apparent disproportion. Cetacea and
analogous animals have not only no pelvis, but their
hinder extremities are likewise wanting, having in
their stead, at the end of the vertebral column or
spine, cartilaginous bodies, forming a kind of feet, or
the flukes of the tail, which, with them, is always
horizontal.

The head of mammalia is, in all cases, articulated
by two condyles upon their atlas or first vertebra :
As the seat of intelligence, it has excited the greatest
interest in all ages ; and it has been remarked, that
the approach to reason, observed in animals, bore
some relation to the size and configuration of the
head. As the brain is the centre, or origin of the
nervous system, it may be proper to enter into a
general anatomical detail of its structure. The brain
proper, or cerebrum, consists of two large lateral
lobes or hemispheres, and of the anterior and middle
lobes. It is divided by a strong membrane from
the cerebellum, or smaller brain, which occupies the
lower and posterior part of the cranium. The sur-
face of the brain presents a convoluted appearance,
and is of a pale reddish-grey colour ; but this is only
superficial; and if a portion be removed, the in-
terior is white : the lateral hemispheres are deeply

84 INTRODUCTION.

separated longitudinally, by a strong membrane cal-
led the falx, which is a prolongation of the dura
mater, or lining membrane of the skull ; but beneath
the lobes, are united by a white medullary mass, cal-
led the corpus callosum ; nearly on a level with this
substance, and on each side of it, we find the lateral
ventricles, consisting of three sinuses, one anterior,
one inferior or middle, and the other posterior ; the
walls, or sides of these cavities, are in contact, un-
less separated by a small quantity of limpid fluid,
which is not unfrequent : in the centre of each we
find a rounded tubercular-like elevation, termed the
corpus strictum, and attached to it posteriorly the
optic thalamus, or origin of the optic nerve : the
ventricles are divided from each other by the septum
lucidum, or their medullary partition, which de-
scends from the under surface of the corpus callosum,
and is united to the fornix ; this partition, on being
torn, is found to consist of two layers ; and the
cavity between has been called the fifth ventricle :
the fornix is a white medullary band, connected at
each extremity to the anterior and middle lobes, by
two cords or crura : under the anterior crura there
is a small aperture, which forms a communication
between the ventricles ; between the fornix and cor-
pora striata, is the plexus choroides, consisting of a
fasciculus of minute blood vessels, extending into the
inferior and posterior corners of the ventricles, and
communicating with the blood vessels of the mem-
brane which covers the base of the brain. On sepa-
rating the optic thalami, we see a white cord, termed

INTRODUCTION. 85

the anterior and posterior commisure connecting
them, and the intervening cavity is the third ven-
tricle : under the posterior part of this cavity, and
in the passage leading to the fourth, we find the
pineal gland, and, still lower, the four small emi-
nences called the tubercula quadrigemina. The
cavity to which the name of the fourth ventricle has
been given, lies between the cerebellum and me-
dulla oblongata, and is, properly speaking, exterior
to the brain, being merely formed by its investing
membrane. It was before remarked, that the cere-
brum and cerebellum were separated from each other
by a membrane ; in the centre of this, however, there
is an opening through which the cerebrum sends off
two crura; these unite with two others, from the
cerebellum to form the tuber annulare, of which
the medulla oblongata is merely a prolongation, and
forms the commencement of the spinal marrow.
The nerves, which have their origin in the brain
and beginning of the spinal marrow, consist of me-
dullary matter, enveloped in a fibrous structure, and
pass through various apertures in the1 base of the
cranium, to be distributed in the various organs of
sense and motion.

In the proportions of the size of the brain relative
to the whole body, there are great differences in
mammalia, man being among those most abundantly
provided ; so, also, in the proportion between the
cerebrum and the cerebellum, man is, with the excep-
tion of one (callitrix sciurea) again the first. " But

86 INTRODUCTION.

it is in the development of the cerehral hemispheres,
the complexity and volume of the apparatus (espe-
cially of the corpus callosum), hy which its several
parts are hrought into communication, and the in-
creased extent given to the surface of the hemis-
pheres, by means of the convolutions, that the brain
of man rises above that of other mammalia."* The
size of the nerves, relatively to the brain, is very
various ; those animals with large jaws, and power-
ful muscles, having them considerably larger than
others, but only in proportion to the supply of ner-
vous energy required for their mode of life.

The eyes of mammalia are invariably placed in
their orbits, and are preserved by two eyelids, and
in some with a kind of third, or nictitating mem-
brane. In the ear a cavity is always found called
the tympanum or ear-drum, which communicates
with the hinder part of the mouth by a canal, called
the Eustachian tube: this cavity is closed exter-
nally by a membrane, termed the membrana tympani,
and contains within it a chain of four bones, called
the malleus or hammer bone, the incus or anvil, the
os orbiculare or lenticular bone, and the stapes or
stirrup : the stapes rests upon a vestibulum or cen-
tral porch, which communicates with three semicir-
cular canals ; and, on the other side, to a cochlea or
spiral canal, communicating by one extremity with

* Martin's Introduction to the Nat. Hist, of Quadrupeds,
p. 14, a work which, it is greatly to be regretted, that the
public has not supported adequately to its high merit.

INTRODUCTION. 87

the vestibulum, and by the other with the tym-
panum. The cranium, or skull, may be sub-divided
into three compartments, the anterior containing the
two frontal bones and the aathmoid ; the central por-
tion being the parietal bones and sphenoid, and the
hinder part composed of the occipital bone ; between
the occipital, the parietals and the sphenoid are
placed the temporal bones, of which a part belongs
to the face.

The face is essentially composed of the two
maxillary bones, containing betwixt them the canal
of the nostrils : upon these are the two inter-
maxillaries, and behind the two palate bones ; be-
tween them descends the single blade of the aethmoid,
named vomer, and upon the entrances of the nasal
canal are placed the bones, properly termed nasal.
To the external parts of the entrance adhere the in-
ferior turbinated bones, but the superior turbinated
bones belong to the aethmoid, and are placed behind
and above. This general structure of the nasal ap-
paratus is not found in cetacea ; the two canals cor-
responding to the nostrils pierce the head vertically,
admitting the air to and from the lungs when the
head is nearly entirely immersed in water, and ex-
pelling the liquid which may come in at the mouth.

The jugal, or cheek bones, unite on each side the
maxillary, to the temporal bones, and often to the
frontal, and the lachrymals occupy the internal angle
of the orbits, extending sometimes over a part of the
cheeks.

88 INTRODUCTION.

The tongue of mammalia is always fleshy, and
attached to a bone named hyoid (os hyoides), which
is composed of several pieces, and suspended to the
cranium by ligaments.

Their lungs are two in number, divided into lobes,
and composed of an immense multitude of small
cells ; they are invariably suspended, without adhe-
sion, in a cavity formed by the ribs and diaphragm,
and lined by the pleura. Their organ of voice is
always at the superior extremity of the trachea or
windpipe ; and a fleshy prolongation, called the cur-
tain of the palate (velum palati), establishes a direct
communication with the back part of the nostrils.
As mammalia reside in general on the surface of the
earth, they are less exposed to alternations of heat
and cold, and, therefore, the covering given them is
only of moderate density ; yet varying from a close
fur, in high latitudes, to a very scanty spread of hair
in the tropics ; and cetacea, entirely confined to the
waters, are alone deprived of every excressent pro-
tection. *

* We think this abbreviated review of Baron Cuvier's
generalities on this subject, together with an occasional glance
at the excellent Introduction to a Version of the Animal
Kingdom, commenced, we believe, by William Macgilli-
vray, A. M., with copious additional observations, sufficient
for our popular series, referring those, who are desirous of
more complete information, to the two works here mentioned,
to Griffith's Animal Kingdom, and to Professor Owen's papers
before noticed. We refer also to the excellent description of
Mr. Martin, in his Nat. Hist, of Quadrupeds.

INTRODUCTION. 89

Division of the Class Mammalia into Orders.

Naturalists have distributed the whole animal
creation into classes and orders, and, without even
excepting man, into families, according to affinities
they bear with others more or less consirnilar : the
further divisions are into genera, and these into spe-
cies and varieties ; but it has been found convenient
to sub-divide occasionally the classes into sub-classes,
the families into sub -families or tribes, genera into
sub-genera or groups, and in these there have been
recognised forms, where, apparently, one typical
species is surrounded by others so nearly alike, that
the question of variety, or of difference, cannot be
completely decided.

The characters of mammalia, by which Cuvier
chiefly distinguished one from another, are derived
from the organs of touch, which indicate their de-
gree of dexterity, and from the organs of mastica-
tion, which determine the nature of their food, and
necessarily point out the form and functions of the
organs connected with digestion, and a variety of
other circumstances, even such as relate to their in-
telligence. The perfection of the organs of touch is
estimated by the number and mobility of the digits,
according as they may be more or less inclosed in
claws or hoofs. A digit, which has a great part of
the extremity sunk into a hoof, is denied the exer-
cise of feeling and of prehension ; the opposite ex-
treme shows a nail, composed of a single lamina,

90 INTRODUCTION.

covering only one side of the end of a digit, leaving
the other completely hare for the functions of tact.

The kind of food is manifested hy the form of the
molar teeth, which always indicate the same kind of
action as the articulation of their jaws. For cutting
flesh, the molars are always serrated, or toothed like
a saw, and the jaws are hung close, so that they only
open and shut like shears. The molar teeth, des-
tined for bruising grain and roots, have flat crowns,
and the jaws have a power of motion in an horizon-
tal direction, that is, of grinding ; and, in order to
produce the same ridgy property which we give to
millstones, the crown of the molars is composed of
two different substances, the one harder than the
other, and, therefore, unequal in wearing down.

The ungulate quadrupeds are necessarily all her-
bivorous, or with flat-crowned molars, because their
feet are not constructed to seize a living prey.

Animals with unguiculated feet, being susceptible
of more variety, offer greater differences in the form
of their molars, and in the mobility and sensibility
of their digits : there is, moreover, a characteristic
which affords immense sway over their dexterity
and mode of action; it is the faculty of opposing
the thumb to the other fingers, so as to seize the
smallest objects, which constitutes a hand properly
so called. This power is carried to the highest per-
fection in man, who possesses the whole anterior
extremity free, and can employ it exclusively for
prehension.

After the order which is solely occupied by man,

INTRODUCTION. 91

Baron Cuvier classed the quadnimana, then carni-
vora, rodentia, edentata, marsupialia, pachydermata,
ruminantia, and cetacea. This arrangement is open
to the objection, that the singular form of winged
quadrupeds, with very varying dentitions, and with
some important organs in their structure, assimila-
ting them to quadrumana ; and again, others, des-
tined to live without, or with little vision, and with
organisations very distinct, both being chiefly insec-
tivorous, should be grouped with carnivora, strictly
so called. Next we find the marsupialia placed in
the centre of the series ; an order in itself peremp-
torily demanding sub-division into two ; the first of
them, even there, comprehending animals, by their
dentition and diet, corresponding to carnivora, ro-
dentia, and edentata, but all assimilated by the still
more important condition of the phenomena of their
progeniture, and the construction in the females of
a pouch, to bear their immature offspring. In short,
the marsupialia and monotremata differ from all
other mammals, by being ovo-vivaporous or impla-
cental. For these reasons, in the time of Cuvier,
not as yet fully ascertained, Monsieur de Blainville,
and after him the Prince of Canino, pointed out the
propriety of modifying this part of the mammalian
system ; but Mr. Waterhouse first formed the pre-
sent arrangement, and Professor Owen first com-
pletely demonstrated the necessity of removing the
whole to a second series, independent of the pla-
centaL He perceived the necessity of adding to the
general considerations, applicable to the classification

92 INTRODUCTION.

of mammalia, the conditions of the brain, and
showed, ,in the descending scale of its complexity
towards the lower organised reptilia, that the mar-
supials should come last, succeeding the rodentia,
which terminate the plancentals, and ending them-
selves with monotremata, who approximate to the
class birds in one particular, and reptilia in others.*
This removal from the middle of the chain, neces-
sitated other modifications, which, instead of leaving
the cetacea to the last, connects them to the carni-
vorous seals and morses, and passes by the herbi-
vorous dugongs, to the giants of the fresh waters
and the land, or the pachydermous order, ending in
the horse, and conducting us to the ruminantia, and
thence to the edentata and rodentia, the lowest in
cerebral organization, have genera which present
forms not unlike kangaroos. Among the marsu-
pials some have the characters of rodents, and might
connect the two sub-classes, but that it appears
preferable to recommence by a second series of
animals, from the higher organized towards the
lower. Thus, the first of implacentals forms the mar-
supialia, and the second and last order the mono-
tremata. But as there is every probability that all
the variety of forms to be found in the marsupialia
are by no means as yet known to naturalists, and,

* Mr. Waterhouse, however, makes edentata the last of
placentals ; but Professor Owen may have had in view also
the condition of several rodents, who assimilate with kanga-
roos by the conformation of their hinder extremities, and the
structure of their claws.

INTRODUCTION. 93

perhaps, not even in the monotremata, — both orders
being almost exclusively from Australia, barely half
explored, — it follows, that their classification into a
regular series of families, genera, and species, must
still be only provisional. These modifications, we
think, Baron Cuvier would have himself adopted,
had he lived to acquire the additional information
the science has -since obtained. We have, therefore,
with his distribution and dismemberments, the trans-
positions rendered necessary by an appropriate loca-
tion of the implacentals, according to Professor Owen,
a system which produces the following order : —

VERTEBRATA.

MAMMALIA.

I. Sub-class. — Placentalia.

Order I. Bimana (Eationalia.) MAN ! privileged
in every other aspect, is zoologically distin-
guished by possessing hands on the anterior
extremities alone ; while the hinder extremities
are destined solely to sustain him in walking.
The order which comes nearest to him is

Order II. That of Quadrumana, having hands on
the four extremities, with thumbs free, and
opposable on all. Monkeys and lemurs.

Order III. Next is the aberrant order of Cheirop-
tera, with pectoral mamma?, &c., like the for-
mer, but having a fold of the skin connecting
the sides of the neck, with all the limbs and

94 INTRODUCTION.

the fingers of the anterior pair ; therefore, with-
out the thumbs free and opposable. Cuvier
had placed this order as a family of carnassiers,
to which it and the next are more or less allied.
Bats and flying cats.

Order IV. Another dismemberment from carnas-
siers, the Insectivora, with the crowns of the
molar teeth conical; mostly with subterrene
habits, and therefore with small, indifferent, or
no sight. Moles, hedgehogs, and shrews.

Order V. The Carnivora proper, feeding on flesh,
show molar teeth without conical crowns, no
opposable thumbs ; but plantigrade, like bears
and badgers; digitigrade, like weasels, dogs,
and cats ; web-footed, or pinnigrade, like seals
and walrus.

Order. VI. The Cetacea (aberrant) without poste-
rior extremities, but furnished in lieu with an
zontal cartilaginous tail, fit for swimming;
divided into Cetacea proper, with Spiracles on
the head, like dolphins and whales, and Her-
bivora without spiracles, such as the Dugong
manatee. These are so fish-like in form, that
they might be regarded as a separate class, if
their economy was not, in every other respect,
the same as in the other orders of placental
mammalia. They are the warm blooded fishes
of the ancients, and residing in an element
which easily sustains their mass, include the
most gigantic forms that are to be found in
the whole animal creation.

INTRODUCTION. °/5

Order VII. Here are placed the Pachydermata,
or thick-skinned mammals, containing among
them the largest terrestrial animals, several of
•which, by their habits, are almost amphibious.
Hippopotamus, tapir ; one of the proboscidean
family, or the elephants, might form an order
by itself, as well as the solipeda or horses;
they are, however, normally multungular, and
seem to be the chief residue of a former zoology.

Order VIII. Already, in the last order, the animals
had their digits much cramped by being sunk
into deep hoofs ; in the present, or Ruminantia,
there is, moreover, a complicated stomach, a
want of upper incisor teeth, in most even of
laniaries, and their feet are bifid. Camels,
deer, sheep, and oxen.

Order IX. In the Edentata, we have the digits no
less sunk into horny claws than in the pre-
ceding ; they are altogether destitute of incisor
teeth, and more or less deficient in laniaries
and molars. They are divided into two tribes,
tardigrada, comprehending the sloths; and
Edentata proper ; the anteaters and armadillos.

Order X. The Rodentia have again digits little
different from the carnivora, but they want
laniary teeth, and have the incisors of a form
and disposition peculiar to themselves, being
fitted for gnawing. Hares, squirrels, rats, &c.
Though they are of higher organisation than the
last mentioned, and of social habits, they seem
to approximate most to the

INTRODUCTION.

IT. Sub-class. — Implacentalia.

Order XI. The Marsupialia or pouched mammals,
approaching to rodentia in the structure and
permanent separation of some of the bones of
their skulls ; having, in general, a more abun-
dant incisal dentition than placental mammals,
and always marsupial bones, performing impor-
tant functions in their vital economy.

Order XII. The Monotremata, provided with mar-
supial bones, though destitute of pouch and
teeth; armed with spurs on the hinder feet,
and approaching towards the class reptilia in
many anatomical characters, constitute the
lowest, and, therefore, the last form in the
orders of mammalia.

It would be easy to form a diagram, showing in
what manner these twelve orders are linked together
seriatim ; osculate among each other, or point to the
classes of vertebrata of different and lower organi-
sation ; but, in a volume of small dimensions, the
above general view will, we trust, be sufficient, and
as it is not intended to enter into the natural history
of man in this introduction, we shall merely state
that we do not admit more typical races than
Cuvier has pointed out ; all the other apparent
varieties being referable to intermixture of two or
even three, modified still more by climate, food, and

INTRODUCTION. 9?

other influential causes.* But, before we proceed
further with the orders of mammalia, it may be
proper to take a slight review of the organic remains
of this class, which attest former zoological eras,
apparently terminated, by mighty convulsions of the
earth, totally or partially, according to the evidence
of different epochs, and replaced by a new creation,
not based upon organisations different in principle
from the former, but almost universally distinct in
species, often in genera, and sometimes apparently
in the whole order. The widest differences appear
to belong to the remotest periods, and approxima-
tions gradually assimilating with the present zoo-
logy, increasing as the epochs are comparatively
recent.

Thus, the first traces of mammalia occur in
the lower oolite series (the Oxford), where mar-
supial remains have been detected. Excepting some
doubtful cetacean, no others have been observed of
a later period, until the lower tertiary deposit is
examined. This is now commonly called the eocine
period, as observed in the London and Paris basins :
it contains many genera of now extinct forms of
quadrumana, cheiroptera, rodentia, and marsupialia;
but it is chiefly in the numerous pachydermata
that it abounds, while carnivora seem to have been
wanting, their office being supplied by huge sau-

* In a future work, we may revert to the history of man,
and trace the existing races from their most ancient locations,
by the routes which geographical necessity must have imposed,
to reach their later and present habitations.

6

98 INTRODUCTION.

rians, offering an indication that the soil at that
period was in general swampy, and adapted for their
residence, as well as convenient to the greater num-
ber of the colossal quadrupeds, to wallow, to feed,
and to be fed upon. In the next stage, with a
surface risen into upland, the more recent tertiary
age, or newer pliocene, another condition of the
atmosphere seems to have prevailed. The crocodile
saurians have disappeared, or are few, and great
carnivora commence to keep in balance the super-
abundant productiveness of the remaining pachy-
dermata, of huge ruminants, of equine species, &c.
The geographical surface of the earth seems, in
general, not to have been unlike the present, and
each great portion of the globe bears evidence of
having sustained a fauna, similar in character, though
not identical with the present. During that period,
the contents of innumerable caverns attest to a
similar activity in the carnivorous scavengers, which
we still observe in wild, and, in particular, in tro-
pical countries, where hyenas, wolves, and jackals,
seldom leave until morning any animal matter they
can devour or carry off. Whether the bones of man,
in this later fossil state, have or have not been found,
is a question in dispute ; but there is an evident
accumulation of affirmative facts, which are not
satisfactorily explained away by the arguments
hitherto advanced for that purpose.
We pass now to

OKDFR li.
THE QUADRUMA.NA.

THIS order has already been in part the subject of
a volume of the Naturalists' Library ; we, therefore,
propose on this, as well as on other similar occasions,
to notice more lightly the subjects that have have
been handled, in order to secure increased space for
those which have not been similarly investigated,
reserving to ourselves the means of pointing out
new and important facts that may have been ob-
tained since the volumes were written, and of modi-
fying the classification according to our own views.
The Quadrumana, so called because they possess
organs of prehension very similar to human hands,
both on the anterior and posterior extremities,
though with thumbs not invariably capable of oppo-
sition to the fingers, are, in the whole of their struc-
ture, essentially arboreal. They have teeth of three
kinds, incisors, canines, and molars, with proper
tubercles, more or less blunt ; and, accordingly, feed
on insects, reptiles, eggs, roots, mollusca, flesh, and
even Crustacea; but chiefly on fruits and nuts.
They have been divided into three families, the
Catarrhini, or with the nose slit downwards, which
applies to the apes of the Old Continent; Platyrkini,
or wide noses, containing the monkeys of the New
World; and Strepsirhini^ or turned nose, wherein
the lemurs and allied species are arranged. But

100 ORDER II.

Mr. Martin, we believe, proposed in lieu of terms
rather harsh, though to a certain extent truly expla-
natory, to substitute names with a patronymic form
more readly retained ; and, therefore, gave those of
Simiadce to the first, and CeUdoe and Lemuridce to
the second and third. In a fossil state, quadru-
rnana nearly allied to existing species, have lately
been detected.

Simiadce, or apes of the Old World. The thumb
antagonising with the fingers, except where rudi-
mental.

Dentition incisors J can. \ \
pr. mol. | | molars f f = 32.

Nostrils divided by narrow septum opening down-
wards; cheek-pouches, and membranous laryngal
saculi, not constant characters.

The great Indian islands seem to be the centre of
this form of animals, because there they are in the
highest condition of organization and stature, and
in the greatest number of species. In the hotter
regions of Continental Asia, and in the whole of
Africa, the genera are local to each ; in Madagascar
their presence is supplied by lemurs ; in the island
of Mauritius they have been imported; and per-
haps also, though at a remote period, to Gibraltar.

The larger species, and some others, may congre-
gate only in families; but the greater number of
simiadce are gregarious, with more intelligence and
aptitude than their indocility and petulance allows
them fully to use* They are not so diurnal in habit,
but that some species will rob by night, or at least

QUADRUMANA. 101

before dawn, posting sentinels for their security at
all times. In captivity they are scarcely corrigible,
never truly domesticated, and if they be occasionally
tolerated by mankind, they are generally viewed
with suspicion, and often with disgust. We place
at their head the great apes, or men of the woods,
now divided into two genera. Of these the genus
TROGLODYTES, the CHIMPANZEES, are lately placed
foremost, although they are nearly destitute of fore-
head, and have callosities on the buttocks ; but in
that incipient form which may result from constant
pressure. When adult, they are little, if at all, in-
ferior to man in size, and vastly superior to him in
strength ; their hands reach only to the knees, and
their hair is black. They live in families, which con-
struct a kind of shelter, whither the females retire,
or occupy ancient and decayed Adansonia trees, the
adult males always residing outside. They are fond
of clothes, and use sticks for weapons. These, and
other notices of their manners recently made known,
render several of the accounts of the older writers
respecting them much less incredible. The next in
order, is

PITHECUS. — The Orangs, or Men of the Woods,
whereof the Jocko, or Pongo, Baron Wurmb's
Orang-Ootang, were assumed to be synonyms. It
now appears, however, that there are two species,
both inhabitants of Borneo, and perhaps of Suma-
tra. Both are destitute of callosities and tail, and
have very long arms.

Piihecus satyrus. — Adult, with muzzle very

102 ORDER II.

prominent, powerful laniary teeth, and very broad
middle incisors ; large protuberances on each cheek
of the male, forehead much depressed, voluminous
beard, and chestnut-brown hair ; no eyelashes. And

P. Abelii, or Red Orang, with long red hair,
that of the head extending upon the forehead in
the form of a periwig ; the eyelashes long ; muzzle
of the young short ; the adult as yet unknown. It
is, however, remarkable, that the very large, almost
colossal, male orang, whose skin, hands, feet, and
head were submitted to Dr. Abel's inspection, should
not have exhibited the fleshy protuberances of the
former species ; and, in the profile, it offered a much
more elevated forehead. Next we have the

Hylobates gibbons, or Long-armed Apes, resem-
bling Pithecus in the length of arms, want of tail
and cheek pouches, but having a short muzzle and
decided callosities ; several are likewise of consider-
able size. Then follow the genera,

Semnopithecus, or Solemn Apes, with very long
tails, and laryngeal saculi, but possessed of no, or
of small cheek pouches, and slender bodies; last
molar of lower jaw with five tubercles.

Calobus, or Thumbless Apes, being destitute of
thumbs on the forehands : they have short muzzles ;
tail long and slender ; callosities and cheek pouches
always present ; last molar with five tubercles.

Cercopithecus, Guenons, with muzzle slightly
elongated; tail long; have always callosities and
cheek pouches ; last molar of the lower jaw with
four tubercles only.

MACAfUP ('M AIM ON) BRACHYUKUS TiMU

\\~HITE MAIMON .
MTemmmck's Coll.
T>!a.tive o£ India.

QUADRUMANA. 103

By some naturalists the long-nosed monkeys or
Nasalis are separated ; but a more distinct genus is,

MACACUS,* Macacos, have the muzzle rather elon-
gated ; limbs and bodies robust ; cheek pouches and
callosities ; the last molar of upper jaw with five,
and of lower jaw with six tubercles ; tail varying
from middle length to almost none, or a simple
tubercle. Those with tails of some length, resem-
bling Cercopiihecus, have been formed into a dis-
tinct group, Cer.exebes; the short-tailed into another,
Maimon. We here figure

WHITE MAIMON.
PLATE I.

Macacus ( Maimon ) Brachyurus, TEMM.

FROM a specimen in the collection of M. Temminck,
it is nearly destitute of tail, about two feet high,
covered entirely with close white fur, with the
muzzle, ears, and callosities flesh coloured; upper
surface of the four hands pale buff. We were in-
formed that India was its native abode. The third
group is the tailless Macacus magots, or Inuus, exem-
plified in the Barbary Ape.

* Macacus is a Latinisation of M. Lacepede, who, we think,
was peculiarly unfortunate in the selection of his names, and
often chose barbarous terms when classical appellations were
before him unapplied.

104: ORDER II.

The Cynocephalus, or Baboons, have the head
still more elongated and truncated ; nostrils termi-
nal ; limbs robust, and of equal length ; cheek
pouches, and callosities, the hair wanting around
the last mentioned; the last molar of the upper
jaw with five, and the lower with six tubercles;
tail varying in length.

This section includes the group of Cynocephalus,
or Baboons, and that of Papio^ or Mandrills.

In the second family, the Platyrhini^ or Cebidae,
we have the Monkeys of the New World, whose
dental formula is incis. f , can. ^-£, mol. §-§ = 36 ;
nostrils separated by a broad partition opening on
the sides of the nose, the genus ERIODES excepted ;
tail long, often prehensile, and callosities and pouches
always absent.

In the first sub-tribe, distinguished by the name
of Cathechura, or prehensile tails, commonly called
Sapajous, we have the

Mycetes, or Howlers, more distinctly marked by
the cavernous form of the hyoid bone, externally
observable, and by the under surface of the termi-
nal part of the tail being hairless. They have five
fingers on all the hands, and are noisy inactive
animals. After them follow the

AteleS) or Spider Monkeys, wanting the anterior
thumbs, and remarkable for their elongated slender
form. These pass into the genus

ERIODES, or "Woolly Monkeys, with soft hair,
thumbs on the forehands in a rudimental or semi-

QUADRUMANA. 105

perfect state, but distinctly marked, by their nostrils
being separated by a narrow partition, and opening
nearly beneath the nose. After these we find

Lagothrix, or Gluttonous Monkeys, having the
head round like Ateles^ the thumbs as in the How-
lers, and the tail partly marked as before ; the limbs
are moderately long, and the hair is rather woolly.
Then comes the genus

CEBUS, SAJorJs, or Weepers, properly so called,
with rounded heads, but their tails entirely hairy,
though still prehensile. A group of these animals
have the hair of the forehead disposed in tufts, and,
therefore, are known as the horned weepers.

In the second sub-tribe (Chalanura) or with tails
depressed, imperfectly prehensile, or absolutely lax
and bushy ; the hands always pentadactylous : we
first meet with the genus

CALLITHRIX, or Squirrel Monkeys, with round
heads; eyes and ears large ; tail longer than the body,
covered with short hair; nails flat on the thumbs, long
and narrow on the fingers. And next to these,

PMecia, or Fox Tails, with eye and ears resem-
bling those of man ; strong canines, and tails usually
long and brush-like. A sub-division of this group
have, by Spix, been formed into another genus, un-
der the name of

BRACHYURUS, because they have tails in length
less than the body. These genera begin to be noc-
turnal, or at least crepuscular ; they reside in the
deepest forests, and we have observed them at the
dawn of day, in the summits of the highest trees,

106 ORDER II.

watching our camp and night fires. The next genus
of this sub-division, is that of

NYCTIPITHECUS, or Night Monkeys, improperly
named Aotus, or Earless, hy Illiger, those organs
being only concealed in the hair ; they have round
heads, and very large nocturnal eyes, approximating,
by these characters, the Loris of the Old Continent.

Humboldt first introduced a species to the notice
of naturalists, named Douroucouli, and others have
since been added by Spix.

The last genus is by some raised to a family, and
named Hapale and Hapalidce^ because it has, like
the apes of the Old Continent, only thirty-two teeth,
and, unlike any of the Simiadcey claws on the fingers
and thumbs of the forehands, and nails only on the
thumbs of the hinder hands. They form two sub-
genera : —

The Hapale proper -, or Jacchus marmousets, and
Midas, or Tamarin marmousets ; the former having

7 * O

a more bushy tail, and with the lower incisor teeth
in a curved line ; and the latter with the tail more
slender, and the lower incisors in a straighter line :
both are known by the name of Wistitis^ and all are
beautiful little animals.

In the last family of Quadrumana, are placed
The LEMURIDJE or Makis^ whose form approaches
more nearly to quadrupeds, with a more pointed
snout, a rather woolly fur, and claws on the first
finger of the hinder hand, sometimes on the second
finger ; flat nails on all the others, and thumbs per-

QUADRUMAXA. 107

fectly opposable ; teeth tuberculous, approximating
the form of insectivorse. The first genus contains

LEMUR, the Lemurs, properly so called. Dental
formula, in. £, Ian. {-\, mol. §-f = 38. The form
of the head and tail gives them a mixed aspect, as if
they were quadrumanous foxes ; they are of the size
of a domestic cat, or smaller, very active, cleanly,
and tameable ; the voice is a shrill whistling, or a
guttural grunting. They are exclusively found in
Madagascar; but we have had occasion to observe
many domesticated in the tropics, and found them
never asleep in the night ; the pupils of the eyes
expanding and contracting most rapidly with the
changes of the light, or the excitement of passions ;
ever watchful after insects, but greedy of fruit, and,
therefore, very jealous of children, while they were
gentle and playful with grown persons.

L. catta. — Ring-tailed Lemur, Mococo of Edwards.
— Blue-grey, with a rosy tint on the back; pure
white beneath ; tail ringed with black and white ;
with the arms stretched, the forefingers involuntarily
close. They are harmless and active.

L. macaco. — The Vari or Ruffed Lemur. — Pied
with large spaces of black and white. The Black
Lemur of Edwards is only an individual entirely of
that colour. The Van is the largest and fiercest
of the genus, capable of making excessively loud
noises. M. F. Cuvier mentions one which, in the
night, killed and devoured another that was kept in
the same cage with him, leaving only the skin.

L. ruber, Geoff. — Red Lemur. — Bright reddish

108 ORDER II.

chestnut ; below, face, hands, and tail, hlack ; broad
white spot on the nape of the neck.

L. albimanus, Geoff. — White-handed Lemur. —
Greyish-brown above, belly and hands white.

L. allifrons, Geoff. — White-fronted Lemur

Chestnut-brown above; olive-grey beneath; white
band round head ; hands yellowish.

L. mongoz, Linn. — Mongoos Lemur. — Brown-
ish-fawn above, with an olive shade; end of tail
black ; face grey ; top of head black ; cheeks bright
orange-brown : in the female, the top of the head
is grey.

L. mgrifrom. — Dark- fronted Lemur, Geoff. —
Greyish-brown above; ash-grey beneath; forehead
and face dark brown ; hands ash colour ; larger than
Mongoos. We have seen a male of this species
spring the whole length of his chain after a negro
child, lay open its neck with a deep long scratch,
making the blood flow profusely, and carry off an
orange, the object for which the attack was made.
This animal would always snatch lighted cigars out
of the mouths of bystanders, and often scorch itself
by rubbing the ignited part against his abdomen,
blinking and grunting all the while it remained
smoking.

There are, besides these, the Diadem lemur,
Propithecus diadema of Bennet; the Anguan le-
mur, the Red-fronted lemur, and probably several
others ; all, as far as is yet known, inhabiting Mada-
gascar.

Genus LICHANOTUS — The Indris. — The head tri-

QUADRUMANA. 109

angular ; ears short and rounded ; teeth similar to
the former, excepting that there are only four inci-
sors in the lower jaw ; but it seems that the whole
formula is as yet not well known; mammas two,
pectoral. There is only one species known.

L. Irevicaudatus. — Short-tailed Indri. — Almost
without a tail ; three feet and a-half high ; brown-
ish-black, with a grey face ; crupper and tail white ;
the voice like that of a weeping child. It is said
that the natives of Madagascar train the animal, like
a dog, for sporting ; but vegetable-eating, harmless,
scansorial, and destitute of speed ; it remains to be
explained in what manner it can be rendered ser-
viceable.

Genus STENOPS. — The Lorises, or Slow Lemurs.
— Have the dentition of lemurs, but with the points
of the molars sharper ; the muzzle short ; the eyes
very large and approximating ; the body slender ;
the tongue rough; no tail. They are nocturnal,
feeding on insects, and perhaps on small birds, but
mostly on fruit ; they move very slowly. Sir A.
Carlisle discovered that the arteries of their limbs
are sub-divided at the base into small branches, in
the same manner as in the True Sloths.

S. tardigradus. — The Sloth Loris. — Reddish-
brown ; dark brown line along the back ; a white
spot on the forehead. Inhabits Bengal. This species
is described from the living animal by the classical
pen of Sir William Jones. There is a larger grey
variety in India, with a black dorsal stripe.

110 ORDER II.

& gracilis, or Slender Loris of Ceylon. — With a
more elevated nose and red circle round the eyes.

Genus PERODICTTCUS. — Incis. f, can. \-\, mol.
| or f . All the cheek teeth assuming tubercular
forms ; tail of middle length ; index very short ; one
phalanx alone excerted.

P. GeoffroyL — The Potto of Bosnian. — Chestnut ;
below paler with greyish hairs intermixed; hair
woolly. Resides in Western Africa, Sierra Leone.
We might add here, the

Genus MICROCEBUS of Geoff. — Differing from the
former in several particulars. The arteries of the
posterior limbs simple, and branching off in the
usual manner.

M. murinus. — Buff coloured ; from nose to tail
five inches, tail six inches ; ears large, naked ; head
rounded ; muzzle short, pointed ; eyes not so large
as in Stenops, but brilliant. Habits nocturnal.

Genus OTOLICNUS, Illig. — The Gallagoes. — Dent,
form; incis. § or $, can. \-\, pr. mol. f-f, mol. f-f
= -jf = 36. They have the the teeth frugiverous
and insectivorous; diet of the lorises; their tarsi
are very long ; the tail long and bushy ; ears open,
naked, capable of being folded and closed; eyes
large, nocturnal. They are all most active arboreal
animals ; natives of Africa and Madagascar ; in
their manners very like monkeys.

0. crassicaudatus. — Great Gallago. — Size of a
rabbit ; ears two-thirds of the length of the head ;
colour reddish-grey ; tail bushy.

QUADRUMANA. Ill

O. Sencgalensis. — Senegal Gallago — The ears as
long as the head ; colour yellowish-grey above, yel-
lowish-white beneath.

0. MadagascariensiS) is the Marine Lemur of
Pennant. — The size of a rat, and in general form
very like a Maki ; the colour is uniform fawn grey
above, below white.

Genus TARSIUS. — The Tarsiers.— Have the head
round, the muzzle short and pointed ; the eyes very
large, approximated, nocturnal ; ears large, naked.
Dental formula in. f , can. }-J, p. mol. f , mol.§=
\ | = 34 ; tail long ; mammae two, ventral. Inhabit
the East Indian Archipelago.

T. spectrum. — Podje Tarsier. — Size of a rat ;
light greyish-brown.

Here systematists place a genus named CHIROGA-
LEUS, entirely depending upon several drawings left
by Commerson, and engraved by Geoffroy under
the above name. They seem to indicate a new
genus, somewhat like quadrumanous cats, but with
straight awl-shaped claws on the fingers, and flat
nails on the thumbs. The largest of three supposed
species is little more than twelve inches in length.

We place, with Mr. Waterhouse, at the end of
this order, the

Genus GALEOPITHECUS or Flying Lemurs. — Dent,
form, incis. f-2, can. £-£, false molars, §-§, molars
f-f =34. They are remarkable for the expanded
skin from the fore to the hind legs and tail, which
gives them the same and superior means of sailing
downwards, possessed by flying squirrels ; their legs

112 ORDER II. QUADRUMANA.

are nearly of equal length; the fingers armed with
sharp claws. A peculiarity found in this genus
alone is, that their canines are curiously indented,
and short, like the molars ; only two indented in-
cisors ahove, very wide asunder, and below six, cleft
with narrow pectinated grooves. They are arboreal,
living in the Indian Archipelago. Until lately, only
one species was known.

G. Temminckii, Waterh. — Calugo, or Olek. —
Temminck's Flying Lemur, or Lemur Yolans of
Linn. — Grey rust colour above, pale rufous beneath.
Found in the Moluccas, Penang, &c. And a second,

G. PhilippmensiS) Waterh. — Philippine Flying
Lemur. — Brought from the Isle of Bohal. The
variegated specimens are merely the young of Co-
lugo, or of both.

Fossil quadrumana were long undiscovered ; more
lately, however, in the lower tertiary (Eocene), re-
mains of a Baboon, or rather Macacus, have been
found in the Isle of Sheppy, London clay, and in
the newer pliocene deposits of Asia. Among the
Sewalek Hills, a Semnopithecus, allied to S. Entil-
lus, but larger; and bones of the face of another
species, still larger, were discovered. Cavern de-
posits have likewise produced fragments of quad-
rumana.

ORDER III.
THE CHEIROPTERA.

THE Cheiroptera are mammals, with four distinct
unguiculated limbs ; three kinds of teeth ; all the
phalanges much prolonged, and united by a mem-
brane to the hind legs, and generally beyond them,
forming true wings ; the thumbs free, not opposable,
and armed with a claw ; a kind of patella behind the
articulation of the arm, with the fore-arm analogous
to the olecranon process, believed to be found in this
order only ; the posterior extremities are weak, fur-
nished with five equal toes and strong claws. Like
the later quadrumana, the Cheiroptera stand between
the frugivora and carnivora, feeding partly on fruit,
but not totally without animal food, and that chiefly
consisting of ir. sects. They are all nocturnal or cre-
puscular. Hibernating in our latitudes, they hang
by the hind feet, when in a state of repose, from
branches of umbrageous trees, or more commonly
from the rocky sides of caverns, the interior of hol-
low trees, and in the roofs of bams and unfrequented
houses. The sense of hearing they have in an ex-
ceeding degree of acuteness, and, moreover, a per-
ception of the vicinity of strange bodies, which

114 ORBUT? Til.

permits them to fly about when totally blinded, a«
if they had their complete sight. This power ena-
bles them to penetrate into the deepest caves and
conduits, no matter how far remote from the light ;
nor do they suffer from the want of air, or from its
mephitic state. In these retreats they are found in
flocks, but the species never are mixed, nor the
males with the females, nor the young with either,
when they are capable of flying. It is in the pairing
seasons that they are for some time associated. Late
observations tend to prove, that some, if not all, re-
produce their species only when nearly adult, and
never after they are grown.

Many species fly with great vigour, but none ever
raise themselves to a great altitude in the air ; nor
is it likely that any can sustain their flight for the
same length of time which we know many species
of birds are wont to perform.

The bats were placed in one genus by Linnaaus ;
afterwards, they formed almost exclusively the fa-
mily of Cheiroptera^ in the order Carnassier of
the French naturalists, and of Cuvier; then the
family of Vespertilwmdce of Gray and Lesson ; and
last, the Cheiroptera, — excluding the genus GALEO-
PITHECUS, consisting of the bats alone, — forms the
third order of Professor Owen ; and, in this arrange-
ment, it still contains a great number of species
demanding much sub-division, and of all mammalia
is that which is most rapidly increasing in numbers,
by the constant discovery of new forms, and of new
species.

CHEIROPTERA. 115

The best arrangement of the Cheiroptera, appears
to be that of Mr. Macgillivray, which combines all
the essential information found in Temminck's mo-
nograph, with certain modifications of Isid. Geof-
froy, Spix, Gray, and Lesson. The bats not being
an order commanding sufficient interest with the
general reader, we shall review it with some brevity,
dwelling only on, a few of the species which have
claims to a particular notice, while, for the rest, we
expose only the characters distinguishing the tribes
and genera. We name,

Family I. Harpyidce. — The Frugivorous Bats,
or Meganycteres of Latreille. — They have molar
teeth, with flat or slightly crested crowns ; the index
or first finger of the wing with three phalanges,
usually with a nail. They reside in China, Japan,
Southern Asia, the East Indies, the Indian Archi-
pelago, New Holland, the Mauritius, Madagascar,
and Africa; but are not found in America or Europe.
The species are, in general, larger than the insect
eating bats, and proportionally less supplied with
membranous surface for flying ; still some are also
sufficiently diurnal to have been shot on the wing,
in open day, several miles from the land, in the
straits of Malacca and Banca. Some of the Egyp-
tian species may have extended anciently along the
coast of Syria and Asia Minor, and similarly others
from Morocco to the south of Spain, for either
directly or indirectly, that tribe especially, which is
destitute of tail, was the type which served the

116 ORDER III.

classical poets of antiquity with their marvellous
tales of harpies.

In A, the first section of Gohlins or Rousettes* is
tailless, embracing the

Genus PTEROPUS, or Ghole. — With a prolonged,
straight, conical head ; slender muzzle ; vertical
incisors ; slight interfemoral memhrane ; fore-finger
generally with a claw; wing membranes attached
more towards the back. Dent. form. in. J, can. £4,
p. mol. |, mol. T8o or i g, i f or £f , = 34 or 36. They
devour a great quantity of fruit, and yet are eager
after birds and small quadrupeds. Among these the

P. edulis The Kalong, or Edible Ghole

Dark brown, with the neck and upper part of the
head bright rust colour, and a transverse reddish
band, and another black between the shoulders, is
the largest known species : some extend their wings
to above five feet English measure. They are often
by seamen called Flying Dogs ; abound in the Sunda
Islands, Java, the Moluccas, &c., where they hang
in the day time suspended in the largest trees, and
fly out at dusk, destroying the fruit trees that are
not protected with nets, devouring birds, quadru-
peds, and probably reptiles ; the females with one
or two proportionably bulky young hanging at their
breasts, making strong goose-like cries, and though

* A name which we think applies better to the family than
the single species, where Illiger has bestowed it ; it is that
which in English might be rendered by Ghole or Goblin, both
understood, and more expressive than the French word Rous-
sette. We have too many Gallicisms already in the language.

CHEIROPTERA.

flying singly, never at a distance from in
TVe perceive at once, that the ancients had before
them all the materials for their filthy monsters, and
yet the natives of their present country find them
palateable food, taking great care at the same time,
when hunting them with net hags suspended from
poles, that the falling or taken animal does not get
entangled with his unmanageable hind claws, in
the bushy matted heads of the hunters, such as
those of Papoos and Haraforos usually are ; for, even
on the continent of Europe, the peasantry dread
the claws of common bats becoming entangled in
their hair.

Of this section there are enumerated twenty-one
species, most, if not all, edible, and some reported to
have the flesh white, tender, well flavoured, and
entirely destitute of the musky smell which pervades
that of others.

In B, the second section of Goblin Bats, or
Gholes with tails, we find the

P. Egyptiacus, or Geoffroy. — Egyptian Ghole. —
Found by Mr. Geoffroy, hanging from the ceiling of
one of the chambers of the great pyramid ; but since
discovered also in Senegal, and, therefore, resident
across the whole breadth of Northern Africa. It is
of a dull greyish-brown, with a very short tail. In
this section is likewise included the group which
Mr. Gray, perhaps prematurely, has separated into
a genus, by the name of Epomophorus, on account
of a lengthened spot on each side of the neck, at the
anterior insertion of the wings, covering with length-

'*18 ORDER III.

£ned white hairs an odoriferous gland, the use of
which is not as yet determined. Of these, all from
Western Africa, he enumerates three species, mak-
ing, with the rest of the second section, nine, ex-
clusive of several others said to be identical with
established ones.

Mr. Isid. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, finding several
species of Pteropus with four molars less, and their
zygomatic arches more prominent than in the former,
detached them, and in his monograph of Pteropus
(diet, class, d'hist. nat.), formed them into another
by the name of Pachysoma.

The genus PACHYSOMA. — Stout Gholes. — Have
the head spheroidal, large ; muzzle large ; the zygo-
matic arches prominent ; half the thumb inserted in
the membrane ; marnmaa before the armpits. Dent,
form. in. f , can. \-\, p. mol. f , mol. f = i| = 30.
They are of small size, with nocturnal habits, retir-
ing to hollow trees or cavities; their flight rapid,
but irregular ; their cry piercing, and bite painful ;
the best known is

P. titthcecheilum. — Wart-lipped Pachysoma. —
First described by Temminck under the name of
Pteropus titthcecheilus. Russet-brown above; grey
beneath; on the neck, nape, and sides of chest,
bright rose colour (in the males only) ; the upper
lip with two large warts separated by a furrow; the
tail enveloped, the point only free ; the interfemoral
membrane naked beneath, deeply cavitied. Found
in Java, &c.

There are four or five more species, with tails

CHEIROPTERA. 119

•wanting, short, or even long ; but passing to another
species, separated from Pteropus by Isidore Geoffro y,
we have the

Genus MACROGLOSSUS. — Kiodote orGreat-tongued
Goblins. — With an elongated head ; muzzle almost
cylindrical, slender ; tongue long, excertile, cylin-
drical ; alar membranes attached to the sides of the
back. Dent. form. in. f , can. \-\, p. mol. f , mol. •£•§
= i| = 34. In this genus, the intermaxillary bones
form a prolonged obtuse cone, supporting the muzzle,
which is of very different lengths in the animals of
different islands of the Indian Archipelago, though
they are considered to be only one species, known
by the name of

M. minimus, Kiodote Goblin Bat. — Pteropus
rostratus of Horsf. — It is of a light red colour, tinted
with yellow above, light russet beneath ; the inter-
femoral membrane very narrow, hairy above ; tail ru-
dimentary. It is the Loivo apu, or Dog Bat of Java,
and feeds in preference on the Jambu or Eugenia,
cultivated in the gardens of Java and Timor.

Genus HARPYIA, Illig — Tube Nosed Goblin, or
True Harpy. — Head large and broad ; muzzle thick,
very short ; nose prolonged into two diverging tubes,
cleft externally, and margined at termination ; alar
membrane attached to sides of back ; thumb partly
covered by membrane; index with third phalanx
and claw. Middle age, dent. form, incis. f , can. i-i,
p. mol. f , mol. f = \l = 26. In old specimens, the
lower incisors appear to be often wanting, as well
as a molar on each side.

120 ORDER III.

H. Pallasu. — Pallas' Tube Nosed Goblin.—
Vespertilio cephalotis, Linn. — Cephalotis Pallasii,
Geoff. — Colour clear ashy -brown ; whitish beneath;
the tubes of the nose, ears, and tail, bright yellow-
ish brown ; membrane yellowish-red, with irregular
whitish spots ; the interfemoral cleft in the middle,
partly covering the tail ; tail short : size of the
Common Bat of Europe. Inhabits Amboyna.

Genus CEPHALOTES, Geoff. — Cephalotes. — The head
very thick; muzzle short, truncated; nostrils slightly
tubular, large ; upper lip cleft by a furrow ; alar
membrane adhering to the spine only by a trans-
parent membrane ; thumb nail partly covered by the
membrane ; index with third phalanx out ; no claw.
Dental formula varying with age, is in the adult
incis. f , can. J--J, mol. T8^ = ^§ — 28. The inter-
maxillary bears, on each side, a small tooth, capable
of acting backwards and forwards, by means of a set
of muscles, which thus make the incisors moveable.

C. Peronii. — The hair brownish or reddish ; tail
partly engaged in the interfemoral membrane ; ears
broad, pointed ; its wings expand two feet. Inhabits
Amboyna, Timor, &c.

Family II. Vespertiliomdce. — Insectivorous Bats,
— Vespertilionidae. — These constitute the true bats,
with molars having conical points; the index with one
or two phalanges only, always without a nail : their
molar teeth, three in number in each jaw, are pre-
ceded by a variable number of premolars ; and, with
the exception of one sub-genus, the membrane always

CHEIROPTERA. 121

extends between the thighs. They inhabit the tro-
pical and temperate parts of the whole earth.

The insectivorous bats may be divided into two
principal tribes ; the first having the middle finger
in the membrane, with three ossified phalanges,
while the others, including the index, possess only
two ; the second, writh only one ossified phalanx for
the index, and. the other fingers two or three.

Tribe I. Diphalangia anistiophora. — Two-jointed
Leafless Bats. — Having the index with two ossified
phalanges, a nose simple, destitute of a leafy appen-
dage.

Genus DYSOPES, Illig. — Bull Dog Bats. — The
head thick ; muzzle broad and flat ; ears very large,
approximated, recumbent over the eyes, and arising
from the commissure of the lips; upper lip large
and wrinkled. Dental formula varying according
to age, incis. f, can. {-{, mol. ^ = jf = 26.
But the incisors are very variable, at first J, then
§, later f, adult f, old g. The toes are covered
with bristles; the hinder thumbs free, sometimes
opposable ; the wing membrane narrow ; tail long,
partly engaged in the interfemoral membrane. They
inhabit the tropics, and warmest parts of the earth.

It is from this genus, Dysopes cestonii, that Pro-
fessor Savi formed his genus DINOPS, because his
specimens had the six incisors of extreme youth.
M. Geoffroy made his genus NYCTINOMUS from
young animals, which had four incisors in the lower
jaw ; Dr. Horsfield, his CHEIROMELES from a species
which had the character of an opposable thumb on

122 ORDER III.

hind feet distinctly marked ; finally, Mr. Macgilli-
vray thipks it probable, that the genus THYROPTERA
of Spix, as yet imperfectly described, may be referred
to the present. All these animals have the body
heavy in proportion to the narrowness of their wings;
hence tbey live more in caves and hollows, where,
by their superior apparatus for scaling walls, they
subsist on larvae, &c. They are found in America,
the Old Continent, and New Holland.

There are fifteen admitted species, besides eleven
doubtful, and some doubly denominated.

Genus STENODERMA, Geoff. — Narrow Banded
Bats. — Ears small, lateral, isolated, with an au-
ricular operculum ; interfemoral membrane rudi-
mentary, lining the thighs like a band; no tail.
Dental formula of adult, incis. j, can. ^-£, mol. T85
= if = 26 (G. Cuv.). Little is as yet known of
this genus ; but the

Genus DICLIDURUS, P. of Wied, or Box-tailed
Bats, is very remarkable, having a broad head;
pointed muzzle ; broad ears inserted over the eyes ;
and the tail consisting of two corneous valves, move-
able and hollow; the coccyx entering the upper
valve ; the interfemoral membrane extending be-
neath and beyond the caudal valves. Dental for-
mula, as far as yet known, incis. §, can {-{, mol. ^g
= i| = 32. There is only one species as yet
known of this animal, first described by the inde-
fatigable naturalist, Prince Maximilian of Wied ; it
is cue

•

CHxJBOPTERA. 123

WHITE OX-TAILED BAT.

PLATE II. Fig. 1.
Dididurus allus, or Freyreysii of P. MAX.

ON this species, of which we here give a figure, the
genus was established ; offering a structure, in the
form and composition of the parts of the tail, with-
out example in any other class of mammalia, and
perhaps not in the animal kingdom ; the coccygeal
bones running out jointed into two horny pieces,
covered by the skin of the body, forming a kind of
box of two valves, applied horizontally, and capable
of separate motion. It was found by Mr. Freyreise
upon cocoa trees, near Rio Pardo, in Brazil.

Genus NOCTILIO, Cuv. and Geoff. — Hare -lipped
Bats. — Head broad; muzzle short, swelling cleft,
furnished with warts or tubercles ; nose confounded
with the cleft lips ; nostrils almost tubular, promi-
nent ; ears small, isolated, with auricular operculum
internal. Dent. form, incis. f , can. \-\, mol. •£-$ =
\ f = 28. The interfemoral membrane very broad,
projecting with two obtuse angles ; tail mostly en-
veloped, but free at tip. Inhabits South America.
There are two species known of this genus.

The genus AELLO of Leach., Linn. Trans, xiii.,

124 ORDER IL'.

depends upon a specimen in the Museum of Uni-
versity Colloge, London ; with a conical head ; flat
forehead ; ears large, separate, apparently truncated ;
tail with membranous band, prolonged to the point
of the interfemoral membrane; alar membrane dark-
brown ; body rusty-brown. Dent. form, incis. f ,
can. J--J, mol. ^ = -Jf = 30. Habitat unknown.
Another more questionable genus of the same au-
thors, is that called CELJENO, which, according to
Mr. Gray, is a Noctilio, without the bones of the
tail present in the skin.

The genus PTERONOTUS of Mr. Gray, proposed
from a specimen in the Museum of Fort Pitt, at
Chatham, is not figured that we know of; and the

Genus MYOPTERIS of Geoffrey contains the Rat
Volant of Daubenton. — The nose is simple ; the
ears broad, separate, lateral, with internal opercu-
lum ; tail long, one half engaged in the membrane ;
muzzle short and thick ; colour brown, beneath
lighter. Dent. form, incis. f , can. £-£, mol. T80 =
{f =26.

Tribe II. "Diphalangia istiophora. — Two-jointed
Leaf-nosed Bats. — Having the index with two ossi-
fied phalanges, the middle finger with three, and
nose with one or two leafy appendages.

In the groups of this tribe, the cutaneous system
is in the extreme of developement, both with respect
to the extent of membrane between the digits, and
in the horse shoe forms and tubes about the nostrils,
leaf-like appendages on the nose, the expansion of
the ears, and the extent of the interfemoral mem-

CHEIROPTERA. 125

brarie. Large as the external ear is found to be in
some of the preceding genera, it is still increased,
often double, with an internal concha, which sur-
rounds the auditory foramen ; and all these mem-
branes appear endowed with so exquisite a feeling,
as to afford the animals a kind of sixth sense, which
has the effect of seeing and touching both combined.
This exquisite, sensibility of their organs, moreover,
they have the power in a great measure to control,
the nasal tubes and auricular conchs being capable
of closing at the will of the animals. The foremost
of these is, the

Genus VAMPYRUS, Leach. — Yampyre Bats,
which have the head long and narrow ; the muzzle
lengthened ; the ears middle sized, separate ; the
auricular operculum notched, placed interiorly ; the
tongue extensile, with the point formed for suction ;
the papilla? directed backwards ; the nose with two
appendages, one horizontal, in the form of a horse
shoe, the other erect, like the blade of a javelin.
Dent form, incis. f , can. {-{, mol. ^f = ^f = 34.
The Vampyre genus was detached from Phyllostoma
of Geoffroy and Cuvier, on account of the cranium
being longer and narrower, and the presence of two
more premolars in the lower jaw. It is likewise pre-
eminently distinguished as a blood sucker, though
by no means the only one. This habit was long
doubted, and although the effect of their bite on
man is not of that fearful kind which the planters
of Guiana used to assert, yet it is still sufficiently
serious to excite alarm, and, in some cases, is dan-

126 ORDER III.

gerous. They seldom appear to attack large ani-
mals ; and never man, unless while he is sleeping,
and then they invariably inflict a small wound in the
great toe, without causing him to awake, and suck
the blood in such a way, that when the Bat with-
draws, the wound remains open, and may still bleed
freely. The celebrated Azara was bitten no less than
four times, though probably not by this, but by
one of the next genus. Mr. Waterton witnessed
its attack upon a planter, who was his companion.

COMMON VAMPYRE BAT.

PLATE II. Fig. 2.
Vampyrus spectrum^ LEACH.

Is the Andira guaqu of Brazil ; the size of a mag-
pie; reddish-brown above, more yellowish beneath.
Mr. Waterton killed one that measured thirty-two
inches across the wings. This species is the great
blood-sucker, and a still greater destroyer of fruit,
although the principal part of its food consists of
insects. It inhabits the deep woods, and also ruined
plantations in Brazil and Guiana, and, perhaps, the
north coast of South America, but we have not
found or heard of it north of the isthmus of Darien.
There are two or three other and smaller species,
according to Spix, in Brazil.

CHEIROPTERA. 127

Genus PHYLLOSTOMA, Geoff. — Javelin Bats, with
the head and muzzle short, thick, and broad. Dent,
form, incis. f , can. {-{, mol. J§ = J J = 32. The
normal number of their incisors is four in each jaw,
but some of these in the lower are often dislodged
by the growth of the canines : the leaf-like mem-
brane is turned up across the nose ; the operculum
of the ear appears like a small dentated leaf; the
tongue very extensile, terminally papillated, and
used in the same manner as the Yampyres. They
belong exclusively to America, and have the faculty
of running on the ground with more facility than
other bats. Their wings are large, and the interfe-
moral membrane unites the two thighs ; some are
without tails ; where these occur they are short, and
pierce the membrane either above or below* These
distinctions form the groups ; —

A, Tailless Javelin Bats ; and B, Tailed Javelin
Bats.

P. perspedllatum,) Geoff. — Spectailed Javelin
Bat. — About five inches long ; dark brown, lighter
beneath, and a white band from the nose to the ear.
It is the Grand fer de lance of Buffon, and common
to northern South America, and the great West
India Islands, where it is said to destroy great
quantities of fruit ; but neither this, nor P. Jamai-
cense, are considered in Jamaica either as bleeders
or robbers, so far as personal observation or report
could inform us.

There are enumerated ten other species, and se-
veral that are doubtful ; and Dr. Leach indicated, in

128 ORDER III.

the Linn. Trans, xiii. p. 75, a species which he con-
sidered to require a distinct generic appellation,
because there were no incisors in the lower jaw ;
had an erect nose-leaf, and a short tail : it is descibed
by the name of Monophyllus Redmanni.

Genus GLOSSOPHAGA. — Long-tongued Bats, —
with broad head and produced narrow muzzle ;
small ears, with an operculum ; double nasal mem-
brane, one hastate, the other blended in the upper
lip; tongue very long, extensile, channelled, and
with reversed papilla? ; small, or no intei femoral
membrane or tail. Dent. form, incis |, can. ^-|,
mol. II = if = 36. These bats, chiefly character-
ized by their extensile tongue, form the third genus
of blood suckers ; the four known, and the three
doubtful species, including the Diphylla of ^pix,
Brachypkylla of Gray, and Madatceus Lewisii of
Leach., Linn. Trans, ut supra, are all natives of
America.

Tribe I IT. Monophalangia istiophora, have the
index with only one ossified phalanx, the other fin-
gers with two ; the nose with one or more leaf-like
membranes.

Genus MEGADERMA, Geoff. — Broad-winged Bats.
—Dent, form incis. |, can. \-\^ mol. T8s = ig = 26.
Nose with three appendages, the upper vertical, the
second horizontal, and the lowest resembling a horse
shoe ; ears very large, united over the forehead ; the
opercula prominent; tongue short, slender ; no tail
Habitat, the East Indies and Africa.

They form the connecting link between the Phyl-

CHEIROPTERA. 129

lostoma and Rhinolophi, have no intermaxillary
bones, there being, instead, a mere membrane, and,
consequently, have no upper incisors.

Megaderma spasma, Cuv. — Cordated Bat, or
Meg. trifolium, — is a species from Ternate and
Java, with an oval or cordate nasal appendage re-
sembling the horizontal, and the opercula bi or tri-
lobate ; it is mouse colour or russet, and about four
inches long.

M . lyra and M. frons are two other species, de-
scribed from India and from the Gambia.

Genus RHINOLOPHITS. — Horse Shoe Bats. — Dent,
form, incis. f, can. {-{, mol. ^g = i| = 30. Some-
times there are no upper incisors, but there is occa-
sionally a third premolar in the lower jaw, and in
other cases only one on each side in the upper ; the
ears are large without opercula ; nose complicated
with membranes ; two inguinal glands ; interfemoral
membrane entire, including the tail.

These are the common Horse Shoe Bats; they
have no fibula, or small leg bone ; their great toe is
not opposable like the hinder thumb of other species.

They are divided into Rhinolophi A, with a
simple nose-leaf, transversal, and more or less cir-
cular (Hipposideros of Gray), which comprehends
species belonging to Southern Asia, such as R.
nolilis, or Klebeck of Java ; R..diadema, or Diadem
Horse Shoe Bat of Timor ; the R. insignis^ R. spe-
0m, &c.

S, section B, with nose-leaf more or less compli-
cated, the posterior leaflet being spear-shaped, and

130 ORDER III.

a/oot stalk rising from the centre of the horse shoe
(Phyllorhina of Bonap.), contains species found in
Europe and Africa, spreading over temperate Asia,
and extends to the great islands of Australasia.
Among them, the hest known is,

Rhinolophus unihastatus, Geoff. ; Vesp. Ferrum
Equinum of Linn. ; and Horse Shoe Bat of Penn. —
Is mouse-grey in the male, and russet in the female,
with a lanceolate complicated nasal appendage; ears
notched on the outer margin : resides in Europe
(Great Britain) and Northern Africa, where it
hangs hy the feet in quarries, with the body entirely
wrapped within its wings. This bat hibernates for
a few days ; but can resist winter temperatures,
which would be fatal to others. Found as far north
as the forests of Thuringia.

R. lihastatus, Geoff. — Little Horse Shoe Bat. —
Was confounded with the former by LinnaBUS ; is
white, with the tips of the hair reddish ; the nasal
appendage lanceolate, erect, reddish ; a second lance
shaped membrane in the centre. It is rare in Ger-
many and France, where the most inaccessible nooks
of caverns are its haunts ; is about three inches in
length, and ten inches over the wings. There are
enumerated seventeen other species, all foreign, and
several more are doubtful.

Genus NYCTOPHILUS, Leach. — South Sea Bats. —
Dent. form, incis. f , can. \-\, mol. f = if == 26.
The ears large, united over the forehead ; the tragus
lanceolate ; tail not terminated by forked cartilage ;
membranes less developed than in NycteriSy the

CHEIROPTERA. 131

upper incisors, by their length and position, appear
like a second pair of canines.

There is as yet only one species known, namely,
Nyctophilus Geoffroyi^ with hair black at the root,
and pale ash at tip; it is three inches long, and
nine across the wings.

Genus NYCTERIS, Cuv. — Cheek-pouch Bats. —
Dent. form, incis. f, can. \-\, mol. T8^ = if =32.
Upper incisors very small, continuous, and bilobed ;
the lower trilobed or bilobed ; nostrils simple, the
cartilage forming a moveable operculum ; the chaff-
ron with a deep longitudinal furrow; interfemoral
membrane longer and wider than the body; tail
bifurcated at tip. This genus, according to Geoflroy,
has the power of inflating the tissues of the skin,
by means of two passages communicating with the
mouth, thereby rendering itself, like birds, speci-
fically lighter. The different species are found in
the warm regions of the Old World, where they
frequent dark and nauseous caverns.

Nycteris hispida was known to Buffon, and is
the Campagnol volant of Daubenton. There are
enumerated five other species.

Genus DESMODUS, P. Max. of Wied. — Curved
Tooth Bats. — Dent. form, incis. f , can. \-\, mol. §
= i\ = 20. Head small ; muzzle obtuse ; ears
with opercula ; nose with complicated membranes ;
thumbs very long and strong; interfemoral mem-
brane narrow ; tail none. This genus is still one of
the blood-suckers, for it was an individual of the
Desmodus d'Orbignyi that Mr. Darwin's servant

132 ORDER III.

caught on the withers of a horse, in the act of bleed-
ing it. This species does not exceed three inches
three lines, and the extreme breadth twelve inches
eight lines. Mr. Waterhouse observed it to be
without true molars, and, therefore, unable to mas-
ticate its food : the canines and incisors were per-
fectly fitted for inflicting a wound, and the small
interfemoral membrane allowing more freedom to
the legs, together with the large thumb and claw,
enable the bat to fasten with security on its victims.
There are two other species known, all inhabitants
of South America.

Genus EHINOPOMA, Cuv Lid-nose Bats. —

Dent form, incis. f , can. {-{, mol. ^ = £§ = 28.
Nose long, conical, truncated ; nose-leaf small ; nos-
trils narrow, transversal, covered with a lid; chaffron
broad, concave ; ears large, united, connected with
face ; tragus external ; interfemoral membrane nar-
row, truncated ; tail long.

R. microphyllum,) inhabiting Egypt, is the only
well known species.

Mr. Gray mentions one, R. Hardwickii, from
Bengal.

Genus TAPHOZOUS, Geoff. — Wing-pouched Bats, i
or Taphians. Dent. form, incis. £, can. \-\, mol.
i g = if = 28. The chaffron furrowed, without
over-lapping edges ; nose-leaf none ; upper lip thick ;
muzzle produced ; ears moderate ; operculum inter-
nal ; interfemoral membrane large, salient ; tail hav-
ing six vertebra3 ; a slight prolongation of the alai
membrane forms a kind of pouch near the carpus

CHEIROPTERA. 133

Mr. Geoffrey detected one, Taphazow perforatus^
in the catacombs of Egypt, and they are found in
the warmer regions of the Old Continent ; but one
also occurs in North America, making, in all, seven
species.

Genus MORMOOPS, Leach. — Mormoop Bats. —
The dental formula differs materially as given by
Dr. Leach and F. Cuvier, the first being, incis. f ,
can. g-g, mol. ^§ = \$ = 30, and the second, incis.
|, can. {-J, mol. \% = ^f = 36. The cranium is
elevated pyramidally ; on each side the nose a tri-
angular membrane ; the ears large and coalescing ;
tragus conspicuous; nose-leaf erect, conjoined to
the ears ; tail extending to two-thirds of the interfe-
moral membrane. One species only known, inhabits
Jamaica and Cuba, is denominated M. BlainvilllL

Tribe IV. Monophalangia anistiophora. Vesper-
tilionina of Gray, have the index with only one
ossified phalanx, the other fingers with two ; nose
without leafy appendage.

Genus EMBALLONURA, Kiihl. — Long-nosed Bats.
— Dent. form, incis. £ , can. i-i, mol. |g = if =
34. With long conical Head ; flat forehead ; long
muzzle ; upper jaw longest ; tail partially involved
in the membrane. Inhabits Brazil and the Indian
Archipelago in general; noticed by P. Max. of
Wied ; five species enumerated.

Genus UROCRYPTUS Temm. — Concealed Tail
Bats. — A genus established, but not yet described
by M. Temminck, who states merely that Emballo-

134 ORDER III.

.

nura and Urocryptus form two small groups
tween Taphozous and the true bats.

Genus NYCTICEJDS, Rafin. — Roquet-dog Bats. —
Dent. form, incis. §, can. \-\, mol. T80 = if = 30.
But there are sometimes two incisors and two pre-
molars more ahove, making the dentition vary to
thirty-two and even to thirty-four ; the ears are
small ; muzzle simple ; chaffron very broad ; fore-
head narrow ; occiput elevated ; interfemoral mem-
brane pierced by the tail, which is usually long.
Is found on all the continents, Europe excepted.
They form two groups, one belonging to the Old
World, the other to the New ; the first with close
smooth fur, some species partially naked, more espe-
cially on the abdomen, croup, and thighs. Form A,
section 1, contains seven species from Africa, India,
the Islands, and Bourbon.

B, section 2, forming the American group, have
the fur usually longer, and the interfemoral mem-
brane clad more or less with hair : among these is
the New York Bat of Penn., Nyct. Noveboracemis,
and three others, besides some species of the interior
of the United States described by Rafinesque, and
his genus ATALAPHA depends solely upon an old
Nycticejus without its incisors.

Genus YESPERTILIO, Linn. — Bats Proper.— Dent,
form, incis. £, can. J-J, mol. fa = |f = 32. But,
according to the number of premolars, 34, 36, and
even 38 ; the tail is invariably included within the
membrane; nose without leaf, ridges, or tubes; the

CHEIROPTERA. 135

index with one, middle finger with three phalanges,
two last each with two. They prey solely on insects,
and inhabit every region except Australia. At all
periods of their lives, they have four incisors above
and six below : all the species have about the head
odoriferous glands in both sexes.

The European Bats associate together about the
period of hybernation, which often continues through
the winter, where they link themselves together in
great masses of individuals, in the retreats in which
they are protected from cold.

According to M. Temminck, some species bear
one, others two young, periodically or accidentally ;
all produce sometimes the former number, at others
the latter. This is particularly the case with the
common Vespertilio noctula: when rearing their
offspring, the females fix their arm hook, and bend
the tail under the abdomen, thus converting the
interfemoral membrane into a sack, forming a nest
for the young, in which it is conveyed while the
mother is on the wing.

Bats Proper, and Rhinolophi, perhaps all the
long-tailed insectivorous Cheiroptera^ use that mem-
ber as a finger, to introduce their prey into the
mouth, or rather throat, when it is of larger dimen-
sions than usual ; they approximate it to the head,
bend the neck, and thus master their insect victim ;
hence the tail must have considerable influence on
the habits of the different groups, and in true bats
it is always formed upon one model.

The number of species in this genus, expunging

136 ORDER III.

Plecotus, is very great, and, contrary to a law of
zoological geography, spreads over the whole earth,
with the exception (hitherto) of New Holland.
There are now seventy- eight species fully ascer-
tained : twenty-eight belonging to Europe, nine to
Africa, with two common to both, twenty-four to
Asia and India, two of which' likewise occur in
Europe, and seventeen are known in America :
there are many more not satisfactorily described,
the whole amounting to at least one hundred and
eight species.

In England, alone, we have thirteen species : —
V. noctilio, or Noctule Bat; V. Leislerii; V. dis-
color; V. serotinus ; V. auritus, or Long -eared
Bat; V. Nattereri; V. Daubentonii; V. nystaci-
nus ; V. emarginatus ; V. plplstrellus^ or Common
Bat ; V. larbastellus ; V. Becksteinii ; and F. mu-
rinus, or Mouse-eared Bat. The common species
is well known, and the others afford, in general, not
sufficient interest to demand even a nominal notice
in a work of such small dimensions as our present
volume ; we will, therefore, close our abstract ac-
count of this order, by naming the twenty-fifth and
last of our catalogue, namely, the

Genus FURIA, F. Cuv., or Fury Bats.— Dent,
form, incis. f , can. \ -|, mol. £§ = H = 36. Cra-
nium rising almost vertically from the face ; upper
jaw much depressed ; flat nosed with hairy bristles ;
nail, only of the thumb, projecting from the mem-
brane. Only one species of South America is known.

F. horreus. — Rugged Bat. . — Entirely black ;

CHEIROPTERA. 13?

large ears and large eyes ; length 1^ inch ; expanse
6 inches. This genus forms the last of the orders
with pectoral mamma) and other anatomical char-
acters, which caused them to be classed collectively
hy Linnaeus in his order Primates.

Fossil Cheiroptera of species, said not to he distin-
guishable from the recent, have been found in the
(Eocene) Paris Basin ; such as Vesp. murinus, pi-
pistrelluS) ferugineus, plecotus, &c., found also in
the intermediate periods of that era and the present,
and equally undeterminable. Bones and teeth of
Bats in the cavern deposits of Kirkdale (Newer
Pliocene), Banwell, Torquay, &c., in Germany and
America ; lastly they are found in gravels, &c. See
Bartlets Chart.

ORDER IV.
INSECTIVORA.

now proceed to those families which are con-
sidered to be still more truly insectivorous, although
even among them, many have occasional hahits of
a frugivorous regimen. They have, like the Chei-
roptera, the molar teeth entirely covered with coni-
cal points, but their teats are invariably ventral;
the mode of life is mostly nocturnal, or under the
earth, pursuing worms, insects, and larvaB ; and. in
higher latitudes, commonly hibernating in a lethar-
gic state. Although they have no lateral mem-
branes, they are never destitute of clavicles; the
feet are short, mostly plantigrade, with but little
rapidity in their movements. They vary in the
position and relative proportion of the incisors and
canines, some having long incisors forward, followed
by others, and by canines, all lower than the molars ;
a kind of dentition which we have already noticed
among the Quadrumana in the genus Tarsius, and
which slightly approximates the Rodentia: others
have large canines separated by small incisors,
in which arrangement they resemble the ordinary
Quadrumana and Carnassiers, but these two kinds
of dental disposition occur in genera otherwise very

IXSECTIVORA. 139

much alike in integuments, the forms of their limbs,
and habits of life.

They may be divided into two tribes ; one with
the anterior extremities strong, formed for digging
the earth, and the other with the same extremities
more delicate, and made simply for walking or
swimming, and with several incisors, smaller than
the canines, like the Quadrumana.

I. Talpidce, or Moles, are known for their sub-
terrene life and structure, so eminently appropriate
for that state of existence. They have very short
arms, attached to long shoulder blades, sustained
by strong clavicles, furnished with most powerful
muscles, and terminated by broad hands, with the
palms turned outwards and towards the rear ; these
hands have a sharp edged lower border, very short
fingers, tipt with powerful, long, flat, and cutting
claws ; these are the instruments used by the ani-
mal to tear the earth, and work it behind him. The
sternum is strengthened as with birds and bats,
having a keel which enables the pectoral muscles
to have the increased developernent necessary for
their functions. In order to penetrate into the
earth, the Talpidos use their long pointed head,
with a snout possessing a particular bone, having
vigorous cervical muscles ; there occurs even a pe-
culiar bone in the cervical ligament. The hinder
extremities are feeble, and, on the surface of the
earth they move comparatively with more trouble
than beneath it. Moles have a delicate sense of
hearing, the tympanum being very large, although

140 ORDER IV.

there is no external ear ; but the eyes are very
small, or even wanting.

Genus TALPA, Linn. — Moles Proper. — Dent,
form, incis. £, can. £4» mol. if, = f f = 44. The
canines have two roots like premolars, and these are
four above and three below on each side, beside the
three true molars on each side in both jaws. The
females have six mammaB. The jaws are not robust,
and subsistence depends on insects and a few tender
roots, which is the cause of the devastations it is
accused of in our fields and gardens.

T. Europcea. — The Common Mole, — well
known with his pointed snout, scarcely perceptible
eyes, cylindrical form, velvety-black fur, and short
hairy tail ; it measures nearly six inches in length,
exclusive of the tail ; has a small shrill voice ; is
domestic and peaceful with its family in the bur-
row, but fierce when meeting others above ground.
In captivity, moles will tear and eat one another ;
and, according to Sir Thomas Brown, a mole kept
in a large glass case, with a viper and a toad, killed
and partly devoured both. They swim remarkably
well, although often drowned during inundation.
The females bring forth four or five young, which
are carefully nestled in the burrow, and well sup-
plied with dried roots ; and it is asserted, that they
feed on those of Colchicum, or meadow saffron, a
plant which even in very small quantities, produces
on man the most violent and even dangerous effects.

It is probable, that the mole in higher latitudes
hibernates, although it if not known to become

INSECTIYORA. 141

torpid in winter in this country or France. In
Siberia, the species, if the same, grows to larger
dimensions. None are said to exist in Ireland, or
in Guernsey. There are occasionally white, and
sometimes pied moles among the European species.
According to Professor Harlan, it is found likewise
in the United States of America ; but the

Talpa purpurescens, or Purple Mole, originally
described by Seba, may be distinct, being marked
by a white tail, and a purple gloss on the black fur.
It is found in Virginia.

Talpa coeca. — Italian Mole. — Noticed by Pro-
fessor Savi, and found by him in the Appennines,
though exactly similar to the common mole, is
nevertheless totally destitute of eyes.

Genus SCALOPS, Cuv. — Shrew Moles. — Dent.
form, incis. f , cones or p. mol. f -f , mol. g = Jf =
30. Intermediate incisors very strong ; muzzle
very long, with cartilaginous snout ; eyes very small ;
no external ears ; hands broad, pentadactylous like
those of the mole ; tail short.

Scalops Canadensis, the only species known, is
very like the common mole in external appearance,
but in habit more a water shrew. The species is
found from Canada to Virginia, and westwards to
California.

Genus CHRYSOCHLORIS, Lacep. Chrysochlore, or
Shining Moles. — Dent. form, incis. f , cones f -f ,
mol. i§ = f g == 40. Muzzle rather short, trun-
cated, cartilaginous; eyes very small; no external
ear ; anterior feet three- toed, armed with strong fur-

142 ORDER IV.

rowed claws; hind feet five-toed. Manners like
those of the mole.

Chrysoc Capensis. — Cape Chrysochlore. — Smaller
than the European mole, and easily distinguished
by the golden green irridescence of i& fur, which,
at the Cape of Good Hope, was formerly used in
the manner of velvet to cover seats with ; beneath,
the colour is brownish-grey.

C. rufa and Hottentota, Smith. — Rufous Chry-
sochlore.— Has only four toes on the hind feet, but
exceeds the European mole in size ; the colour is
rufous grey ; tail short. In this species the exter-
nal claw of the fore toes is longest; it has small
rounded external ears, and is likewise a native of
the Cape.

Genus CONDYLURA, Illig. — Radiated Moles. —
Dent. form, incis. -£, cones or premolars T6o, mol. g
= f ° = 40. — In the shape of their paws, and the
whole exterior, they resemble moles ; but the tail
is longer, and a marked distinction occurs in the
snout, the nostrils being surrounded by twenty-two
small cartilaginous and moveable points, forming a
kind of double star when expanded circularly. A
remarkable species is,

Condyl. cristata. — Radiated Mole of North
America. — Is little more than four inches long,
with eleven points round each nostril, forming the
double star. The fur is black, the feet white, and
the snout rose colour. A second species is, the

C. longicaudata. — Long-tailed Radiated Mole. —
Somewhat larger than the former, with pentadac-

INSECTIVORA. J 43

tylous feet, the hinder pair squamous ; the colour
rusty -brown ; and the radiated apparatus on the
snout is small. This animal likewise resides in
North America, and seems to extend to a higher
latitude than the former. A third species is the
Thick -tailed Radiated Mole, C. macroura of Pro-
fessor Harlan.

Tribe II. Insectivora, with two long canines in
front, followed by other lateral incisors or false
canines, not longer than molars; feet formed for
walking or swimming.

Genus MYGALE, Cuv., Desman. — Dent. form, in-
cis. f, can. \-\, mol. ^-$ = f f = 44 ; but according
to Pallas, the Russian species incis. f , cones §-§, mol.
f-$ = 44. — They have the nostrils placed within
two prolonged tubes, forming a kind of proboscis,
exceedingly sensitive and moveable ; small eyes ;
no external ears ; feet five-toed, those of the hinder
extremities, in particular, webbed ; claws long and
curved; tail naked, compressed. These animals
reside about watery places, dig subterranean gal-
leries, opening out beneath the surface of the water,
but rising further on, so as never to fill entirely.
They swim with the greatest ease, remain long
below, or raise only the extremity of their tubed
nostrils to the surface. They smell of musk, and
feed on aquatic insects, leeches, &c.

M. moscovitica. — Moscovite Desman. — With all
the feet webbed is the Sorex moschatus of Linn.,
and was known even to Clusius ; is the size of a
rat, or larger ; burrows in galleries of great length ;

144: ORDER IV.

the eyes are extremely small ; it swims with great
facility, but is slow on land. The colour is brown,
white beneath. According to Pallas, the Desman
does not occur in Russia proper, but is abundant
to the south in the Volga, at about "Woronetch.
There is a species in Europe, the

M. pyrenaica. — Pyrenean Desman. — With the
tail longer, hairy, cylindrical, excepting towards
the tip, where it is compressed ; fur brown above,
grey beneath ; claws much more powerful. Of
this species, found near Tarbes in France, the man-
ners are wholly unknown.

Genus SOREX, Linn. — The Shrews. — The shrews
are, in general, small, some even are among the
smallest of mammalia ; on each flank, beneath the
fur, they have a narrow band of bristly hairs, stiff
and close, from among which, in the pairing season,
exudes from a particular gland an odorous humour.
They live in holes dug by themselves, seldom appear-
ing abroad except towards night, feeding on worms
and insects. Dent. form, incis. interm. f, false
canines or lateral incis. f-f or f-f , true molars. £-f
= 28 or 30. • — The ears are short and rounded ;
eyes very small ; toes weak ; mammae six ; tail
sometimes tetragonal, at others compressed towards
the end.*

* Mr. Gray arranges the Sorices in the following order :—
A, LAND SHREWS. — Tail simple ; feet not ciliated on the

sides.

1. Corsira. — Front lower cutting teeth sharp edged, toothed

above ; tail with short close pressed hairs.

INSECTIVORA. 145

Sorex tetragonurus, Herm. — Common Shrew —
Is about two inches in length, and with the tail
3" 3"'; fur grey, and paler below; tail squared,
shorter than the body. Resides in Europe. In
Great Britain they occupy holes in the summer,
and nestle under hay stacks in winter, feeding on
insects. They are not detrimental to cattle. We
have, also,

S. remifer. — The Oared Shrew. — The largest of
those found in Europe being four inches, and the
tail 2" 9'" in length ; dark brown, paler beneath.

S. fodlens. — The Water Shrew. — Somewhat
larger than the square-tailed ; black above ; white
beneath. In England they frequent ditches and
pools, sometimes in numbers, swim about with
great activity, penetrate between aquatic plants,
and utter a shrill squeak ; they dive, swim with
great ease below the surface, and assume a silvery
appearance from the bubbles of air which hang upon
their fur. On shore they form extensive and intri-

2. Myro-sorex. — Front lower cutting teeth sharp edged,
entire above ; tail with short close pressed hairs.

3. Sorex proper Front lower cutting teeth rounded, and

simple above ; tail with short hairs, and longer scattered
bristles.

B, WATER SHREWS. — Tail with a series of bristles beneath;
feet and toes ciliated on the sides.

4. Amphisorex. — Front lower cutting teeth simple; four
hinder cutting teeth gradually smaller ; hinder very small.

5. Crossopus. — Front lower cutting teeth sharp edged, and
toothed above ; hinder cutting teeth rapidly smaller. — .See
Proceedings ZooL Soc., 1836, p. 123.

146 ORDER IV.

cate galleries, generally beneath some overhanging
bank, from whence an aditum is contrived, free
from obstacles and leading direct to the water.

The Sorex ar emeus ^ or Continental Shrew. — Does
not seem to inhabit Great Britain ; and, among the
very small species, may be enumerated S. etruscus
of Savi ; S. parvus, or small shrew of Richardson ;
S. minimus of Pallas ; S. exilis of Pennant, found
in Siberia, and probably the smallest of all ; and one
species, the giant among shrews, is the East Indian,
S. giganteus of Isid. Geoffrey, above six inches long,
exclusive of tail, which is nearly four inches. Mr.
Pennant mentions a tailless shrew, S. minutus^
which seems to belong to the new genus MACROCE-
LIDES, or long-snouted shrews, of which there are
two species,* both from Barbary, and lead to the
Tenrecs. Here may be placed the new

Genus SOLENODON of Brandt. — Formed upon the
Sol. paradoxus, brought from Hayti, but not as yet
distinctly characterized.

In the next, we find the fur gradually passing
from a bristly to a spinous character, forming a
small group of animals, which have a kind of coun-
terpart in a similar group of rodents.

Genus CENTENES, Illig. — The Tenrecs. — Dent.

* There existed besides, in antiquity, a species of Sorex, no
doubt held sacred by the Egyptians, since Mr. Olivier dis-
covered their remains preserved, or mummified, like those of
the Ibis, in the catacombs of Sakkara ; but the species is not
at present known to science ; the head alone being above an
inch in length, and the fur rufous.

INSECTIVORA. 14?

form, incis. f or f , can.^4? m°l- f "i :==: 34 or 38.
They have the hody more or less covered with
spines, hut are unable, like hedgehogs, to roll them-
selves into a ball ; the snout is very pointed ; five
toes to all the feet ; no tail. They are nocturnal ;
and, although natives of the Tropics, they pass
three months of the year in a lethargic state. Seve-
ral species belong to Madagascar : such are,

Centenes setosus, or Bristly Tenrec.* — Of a brown
colour ; has six incisors hollowed out in each jaw,
and is larger than a hedgehog.

C. armatus. — The Armed Tenrec. — Has the
head shorter, thicker; ears larger; is of a light
colour, and wholly covered with short spines.

C. semispinos2is, or Half-spined Tenrec. — Size
of a mole ; striped yellow and black ; very long
snout, having spines mixed with the hair. Incisors
and molars are all crooked, slender, and pointed.

Mr. Macgillivray, we believe, has separated from
them, and formed a minor group of the Tendracs^
under the name of Ericulzts ;t but we know not by
what diagnosis, unless the lower incisors, amount-
ing to only four, constitute the character. It in-
cludes Ericulus nigrescens, or swarthy tendrac, in
form very like a hedgehog, and a more doubtful
small species, E. spinosus^ with a long white head,

* Mr. Gray remarks, that Cuvier has, by mistake, mis-
placed his characters of the Tenrec and Tendrac, which last
is C. setosus.

t Telfairs eckinops from Madagascar, described by Martin.
— See Proceedings ZooL Soc. for 1838.

148 ORDER IV.

and dark back, closely beset with slender spines.
These bring us to the

Genus ERINACEUS, or the Hedgehogs. — Dent,
form, incis. |, can. {-\, mol. f-f = 34 Desm. —
Body covered with spines; the skin of the back
provided with muscles, which enable the animal to
roll itself into the form of a ball, offering the points
of the spines in every direction; the tail is very
short; the middle incisors very long. They are
nocturnal, live on larvaB, snails, and grubs, but also
eggs and fruit ; they can devour quantities of can-
tharides, without causing the least uneasiness, while
a single one is sufficient to injure if not to kill a
dog or cat. They are torpid in winter. Hedgehogs
belong to the Old Continent. Beside the

Erinaceus Europceus, or Common Hedgehog, —
generally known, there is a second, but rarely
found in Europe, and distinguished from the other
by a vivid, rufous, coarse fur; the spines on the
back not extending so low on each side, and the
muzzle shorter : it might be denominated E. cani-
ceps. We have met with this animal on the edge
of the forest of Soignies, near Brussels.

There are enumerated besides, E. auritus, or
Long-eared Hedgehog; E.frontalis, "White Fronted;
E. spatangus, Himalayan ; E. concolor, Trebisond ;
E. Grayii, &c. — See History of British Quadru-
peds, Vol. III. Naturalist's Library, where the Bri-
tish species is described.

Genus GYMNURA. — Oriental Hedgehogs. — Have
a long unarmed tail, and plantigrade feet ; the snout

INSECTIVORA, 149

rery long ; ears round. Dent. form, incis. f , can.
g-g,p. mol. f-f,moL$-* = 44.

G. Raffltsii. — Raffles" (iymnura. — Black, with
head and neck whitish, a black streak passing on
each side from the nose through the eyes ; terminal
part of the tail white.

Genus OLADOBATES. — The Tupaias. — Have teeth
similar to the hedgehogs, though the intermedial
incisors are shorter in proportion ; they have four
long ones in the lower jaw, and have no back tuber-
cular tooth. They are climbing and active little
animals, which might be mistaken for squirrels;
but that their long sharp shrew-like snout distin-
guishes them even at a distance. The species,
hitherto observed, were first made known by Sir
Stamford Raffles and Dr. Horsfield, and belong to
the great Australian Islands ; such are the Tupaia
of Java, or Banxring, T. Tana, and T.ferruginea.

With regard to the fossil remains of the insecti-
vorous order, there have been found, in caverns of
the recent tertiary, and in peat bogs of a post
tertiary era, bones of species of Talpa, and of
Erinaccus.

ORPER

THE CAENIVORA.

WE now come to the fifth order, including several
families; but all exclusively, or partially, feeding
on flesh. They are unguiculate, and have three
kinds of teeth. The two last orders were, by their
want of bulk and power, and by the conical tuber-
culous form of the teeth, nearly all, in their appetite
for animal substances, reduced to grubs and insects;
but in those we are about to consider, there is im-
parted more or less of strength to satisfy the lust
for slaughter. In this order, we always find four
great laniary or canine teeth, having between them,
in each jaw, six incisors; the molars are either
entirely formed for cutting, or are mixed with parts
that have low tubercles, but no conical points.

Their carnivorous propensity is greater in pro-
portion as the teeth are more exclusively trenchant;
and, by comparing their tubercular surface to that
which is shaped for cutting, what the degree of their
appetite for blood in the choice of food is, may be
indicated almost with unerring precision. The an-
terior molars are always the most trenchant, upon
them follows a molar more voluminous than the

CARNIVORA. 151

others, commonly furnished with a tuberculous heel,
more or less extensive, and behind this tooth there
are one or two smaller, entirely flat. It is with
these last that dogs masticate herbs, which they
sometimes swallow. The great molar here men-
tioned, both in the upper and lower jaws, is called
the carnassial ; those before it with points, premo-
lars, or false melars, and those behind it tubercular
teeth.

Those genera which are least provided with false
or premolar teeth, and whose jaws are the shortest,
have naturally the greatest power in biting; this
offers the most certain indication for establishing
the genera ; but it is further necessary to take
notice of the hind foot. Several, like in the last
described orders, rest the sole of the whole hind foot
upon the ground while walking, or when sitting up,
which habit is readily ascertained by the absence
of fur on the surface so applied : other, and more
numerous genera, walk entirely on toes, keeping the
tarsus elevated; they move with greater rapidity,
and this first marked distinction is accompanied by
many others, in the habits and in the internal con-
formation of the animals. Both, however, have
only rudimerital clavicles suspended in the muscles.
Of the genera whose locomotion is on the toes,
some, like the dogs, have their claws unmoveable ;
others, such as cats, have them retractile ; and the
seal tribes have the hinder extremities fettered, the
feet palmated, and a dentition, not in strict accord-
ance with the general characters of the order.

152 ORDER V.

Mr. "Water-house divides the carnivora into six
families, of which the dog, viverra, cat, weasel,
bear, and seal, afford familiar examples : of these,

The Canidce have already heen the subject of
detailed account in two volumes of this work ; we
shall, therefore, merely state, that the family are
distinguished by having six incisors, two canines in
each jaw, three false molars above, and four below,
and two tubercular teeth behind each of their car-
nassiers, or incis. $, can. \-\, pr. mol. f-f, mol. \-\,
tuberc. f-f = 42. But when connecting this order
with the last, by means of the indications in some
genera, which attest a partial insectivorous diet,
we find it necessary to transpose the arrangement,
as it was given in the two volumes of the Canidce^
and then we have this partially evinced in the

Sub-genus AGRTODUS, with its additional teeth in
both jaws, and perhaps still more in the first section
of Chaon, where we place the Fennecs or Zerdas.
We give in this place only an abstract of the clas-
sification, and refer the reader, for more detailed
information, to Volumes IV. and V. Thus, we find

Genus CANTS. — Forms, with the insectivorous
propensities, gradually vanishing.

Sub-genus AGRIODUS, — Sub-genus CHAON, —
Containing the sections of

Megalotis, the Fennecs or Zerdas.
Cynalopex, Day Foxes.
tiacalius, Jackals.
Thous, Jackal Wolves.

CARNIVORA. 153

GREYHOUND DHOLE.
PLATE III.

Clryseus, Red Wild Dogs.*

Lyciscus, Dog Wolves.t
Lupus, Wolves.

ttub-genus CANIS. — Dogs, properly so called, con-
taining the groups of

C.feri, Feral Dogs.

C. lachnei, Wolf Dogs.

C. laniarii, Watch and Cattle Dogs.

C. venatici grayii, Greyhounds.

C. sagaces, Hounds. J

C. domestic^ Cur Dogs.

C. urcani. Mastiffs.

* TVe give in this volume, a figure of a greyhound dhole, still
more lightly made than Chryseus scylax, described in Vol. IV.

*t* Canis pallipes, Sykes, appears to be a Lyciscus.

i' To the article of feral dogs in Vol. V., we wish to add,
that we have, since the work was written, found, in the
library of the India House, a Persian painting, where a couple
of the Ictini or Natolian wild dogs are being hunted by the
Princes of Fetch Shahs family. A pair of the animals is
drawn almost the size of life, and resemble wolves with mu-
tilated or shortened tails. There is an error in Vol. V. in
naming Plates XXIII. and XXX—XX1II. should be Agriodm
auritus, and XXX., Proteles Lalandi.

154 ORDER V.

The domestic races intermix freely with the cre-
puscular Canidoe of America, which have elliptical
pupils.

Sub-genus CHRYSOCYON, Aguara Wolves.

Sub-genus DUSICYON, Aguara Dogs.

Sub-genus CERDOCYON, Aguara Foxes,—
which again pass imperceptibly into true foxes, with
elliptical pupils, that dilate and contract with facility;
and, therefore, are more particularly nocturnal.

Sub-genus YULPES. — Foxes. — The first, form, or
Arctic Foxes, is still indifferently capacitated to con-
tract the pupils ; but the True Foxes of the Old Con-
tinent and of the New, possess the faculty com-
pletely, They may be divided into two groups in
each continent, distinguishable by the tips of the
tails being either black or white.

Sub -genus LYCAON, of which only one species is
known, externally resembling the hyenas, and at
first named Hycena venatica ; it is the Lycaon tri-
color of Brooks, and has four toes on all the feet.

Genus HY^NA has the same general form of
skull as the Canidce, with the posterior portion
more produced ; the bony palate prolonged further
back, and the small back molar of dogs wanting,
there being only five molars on each side above, and
four below ; four toes on all the feet, and a glan-
dular pouch beneath the tail, which evinces approx-
imations towards the civet group of the next family.
There are four or five species known ; and fossil
hyaana skulls, abundant in cases of the recent ter-
tiary period, attest that there was a time when they

CARNIVORA. 155

swarmed in Britain, and over the whole of Europe ;
being the principal agents that consumed the nu-
merous carcases of huge Pachydermata and Ru-
minants, whose bones, fractured, and bearing the
marks of teeth, are invariably found mixed with
them.

Genus PROTELES, in form between the hyena and
civet, remarkably high on the legs, with a fifth
toe high on the joint of the fore foot, but only four
on the hind foot. Incis. g, Ian. ^-^, mol. f -f = 30 ;
but it is still a question if that dentition is complete,
all the cheek teeth being simple tubercles.

The Viverridce have the tongue covered with
hard sharp pointed papillae ; their claws in walking
are somewhat withdrawn, and they have, beneath
the tail, a pouch containing glands, which secrete
an unctuous, often very odoriferous matter ; their
form is lengthened and comparatively low. They
are active, petulant, and mostly cruel plunderers,
destroying for the love of bloodshed; in general,
nestling under roots of trees, and in the crevices
of rocks. Some approximating the felinaa by the
structure of their claws, and others with pads, be-
coming more and more plantigrade ; both more or
less arboreal and nocturnal in their habits, feeding
on eggs, birds, small mammals, lizards, frogs, and
serpents ; in the last respect, they have been prin-
cipally beneficial to mankind, and, no doubt, this
quality procured for some species, in Egypt, that
high veneration which ranked them with gods.

Genus HERPESTES. — The Mangustas. — Eyes

156 ORDER V.

diurnal, with the bony orbit complete ; pad of the
hind feet bare.

Sub-genus RYZ^ENA. — The Surecat. — Have the
dentition of civets ; only four toes on each of ail the
feet ; a dog-like face, and still rather elevated legs ;
but the back is arched, and though the tail is some-
times tufted only at the tip, it is, in general, like that
of ferrets ; the anal pouch opens within the vent,
and the hind feet somewhat plantigrade. There is
only one species known, it is the

Ttyz. tetradactila. — Surecat of the Dutch. —
Rather less than a domestic cat, still barred across
the back with dark markings ; a playful and rather
gentle animal, producing a not unpleasant sourish
smell, whence the Dutch have given it the name of
Sure or Sour. It is found in Africa. The Senik of
Sormerat appears to be the same animal.

Sub-genus CYNICTIS, Ogilby, likewise with the
masticatory organs of civets, but the locomotives of
dogs. Incis. g, Ian. \-\, mol. f-f, wanting the
second tubercular below ; their toes are 5-4, and
claws long and like the preceding, fit for digging;
feet more digitigrade. There are two species known

UNIVERSITY

CARNIVORA. 157

/
MEERCAT BARROW.

PLATE IV.

Cynictis Steedmanni, OGILBY.

RCFOUS-BROWN, on cheeks and sides mixed with
grey ; tip of tail dirty white ; length of head and
hody one foot, tail one foot ; appears like a small
fox with short limbs. From the Cape.

Cynictis melanurus. — Black-tailed Meercat. —
Seems to he deficient in tubercular teeth behind
the carnassial ; darker coloured ; tip of tail tufted
and black, a trifle smaller, the fur closer. Found at
Sierra Leone, and may be the Koheboe of Bosnian.

Sub-genus CROSSARCHUS, like the former, inter-
mediate between Ryzcena and the Ichneumons^ hav-
ing the round head and anal pouch of the first, and
the five toes and claws on each foot of the second,
but a plantigrade walk ; the same number of teeth
as Ryzcena^ but their form is like that of Herpestes
Proper. The only species known was brought from
Western Africa ; it is the

Cross. olscuruS) F. Cuvier. — In size similar to
Ryzcena, with pointed nose, rounded ears, dark
grey-brown, paler cheeks, a full brush tail, black
feet ; a gentle and very cleanly animal in captivity.

Sub -genus HERPESTES Proper. — The Ichneu-

153 ORDER V.

mons. — With a simple and voluminous pouch,
pierced within the vent ; hair ringed alternately
with light and dark colours. Teeth f , £-i, f-f =i
36. They are low on the legs, toes 5-5, semipal-
mated ; reside about the borders of rivers and lakes ;
swim well ; do not climb. The most remarkable
among them, on account of the misstatements of
the ancients, is the

Herp. pharaonis. — The Egyptian Ichneumon,
Nems and Got Pharaoon of the Arabs, measures
above three feet in length, with the tail included ;
brown-grey, with coarse hair, and a long vertical
bush of black hairs at tip of tail ; keen, mistrustful,
yet easily tamed : was once adored by the ancient
Egyptians on account of its enmity to crocodiles, of
which animal it is probable the Nems has the faculty
of discovering the deposits of eggs, and devouring
them. Modern Egyptians likewise assert, that they
attack serpents. But it is remarked, that the spe-
cies abounds in lower Egypt, where no crocodiles
now exist, and is scarce in the upper country where
these reptiles are numerous. Rats, and domestic
poultry, have most to fear from them.

Herp. major, H. Urinatrix. — The Great Ich-
neumon.— Somewhat larger than the last; nearly
the same colours.

Herp. griseus. — The Grey Nems. — Likewise
from Egypt : somewhat smaller ; paler grey.

Herp. fusca. — Black and yellow annulated fur ;
throat yellowish-brown ; tail very hairy ; total length
35 inches. Native of India.

CARNTVORA. 159

PLATE V.

Herpestes mungo.

NOT above 18 inches in length from nose to end of
tail ; bright rufous, with twelve or thirteen dark
bands ; tail pointed. Baron Cuvier does not notice
the transverse bands on the back. This species
is renowned for victorious conflicts with the most
dangerous serpents, and for causing the discovery
of that antidote against their poison, known by
the name of Ophioriza Mongos.

Herp. vitticollis, Ben. — Grisly, with red back
and tail ; a black spot from the side of ear to the
shoulder ; end of tail black ; length 22 inches ; tail
12 J inclusive of the hair. From Travancore, East
Indies.

Herp. javanicus. — The Java Ichneumon. — Is
rufous-grey. Total length 20 inches.

Herp. paludinosus, uniform grey-brown; Herp.
penicillatus, rufous-grey ; Herp. melanurus, and
Herp. albicaudatus from Africa, and recently a
species discovered in Spain ; it is the Herp. Widd-
ringtonii ; but Herp. Rufa. Desm., is most likely a
species of Cynictis.

1GO ORDER Y.

Sub-genus ATILAX. — The Vansire. — Differs from
the preceding by the cerebral chamber being pro-
portionably more enlarged, and by the apophyses of
the jugal and coronal wanting length to form a
complete bony orbit round the eye.

At. galera. — Vohang-shira of Madagascar. — Total
length about 20 inches ; dark brown, stippled with
buff; tail full to the end. Is said to be fond of the
water.

Here might be placed the sub-genus AMBLIODON,
of which we hare not found the distinguishing
characters.

Genus PARADOXURUS.* — Instituted by F. Cuvier,
on account of the facility most of the species possess
of rolling up the tail. They have the same number
of teeth as Viverra, §, i-i, f -f = 36 ; but the
molars indicate a more frugivorous appetite. The
eye is linear ; the sub-anal pouch assumes more the
form of a fold ; the feet are plantigrade, with the )
toes united by a membrane to near the claws, j
They are not remarkably agile, and prefer to reside j
in the crevices of rocks, though, no doubt, they all lj
can climb trees. They appear to be exclusively ;
natives of India, and the great Asiatic islands. Mr.
Gray enumerates the species as follows : —

Par. typm^ F. Cuvier — Viverra Nigra

* The greater number of species of this and the
genera of Viverridce, were discovered by Sir Stamford
and General Hardwicke, who brought them to the notice of
Messrs. Diard and Duvaucel, and thus facilitated their beini
first described in French works.

CARNIVORA. 161

—Total length above three feet, whereof the head
and body constitute about half; body blackish,
with some indistinct darker marks along the flanks ;
a white spot above the eye, another beneath it ; tail
entirely black. It may be the musky and musk
weasel of Pennant, but there are, under this specific
name, several varieties, and probably species con-
cealed. In the Paris Museum, there is a variety
with a larger head in proportion, and an additional
white spot below the ear.

In a description, with a drawing by Mr. Reynolds
Gwatkin, sent from Mussorie in the Himalaya
mountains, there is no spot beneath the eye, but
a lengthened white streak above it, and a whitish -
grey collar round the throat ; the general colour is
dark badger grey ; head, feet, and tail, nearly black ;
42 inches total length, and resides in the crevices
of rocks, is very shy, but not very agile.

Par. Pennantii. — Pale brownish-ash colour, with
indistinct darker lateral bars; nose flesh colour;
ears thinly covered with hair; head white about
the orbits ; limbs, and extreme half of tail black ;
total length 44 inches. Extremely destructive to
poultry and game.

Par. londar. — Viverra bandar Desm., Musk Cat
in Bengal. — Fallow coloured, but with the tips of
the longer hairs black, and a black band along the
back, and one on each side narrower on the flanks ,
feet and tip of tail same colour ; total length 49
inches.

Par. jirehensilis. — Fiver, prekensilis Desm.—

162 ORDER V.

Yellow-grey, with dorsal line ; the end of the tail,
legs, two lines of elongated spots near the back, and
many small round spots on each flank black; tip of
the tail white, spot of the same colour behind each
eye, passing round it, and extending on the chaffron
to that of the opposite side; another spot at the
angle of the lower jaw. It is asserted this species
winds the tail round the body.

Par. musanga Fiver, musanga, Horsf. — F.

fasciata Desm. — Clear yellow, with dark brown
spots in longitudinal lines ; end of the nose, and a
transverse band on the forehead above the eyes
whitish ; lower parts uniform grey.

PLATE VI.

Paradoxurus dubiu*.

PALE yellowish-grey, the longer hairs pointed with
brown ; below whitish-yellow grey ; three dorsal
streaks, and fainter spots on the sides brown ; ears
hairy ; feet chestnut ; tail at base and point brown-
black ; a spot on each side the nose, another above
the cheeks, and a band between the ears whitish.

It is probable the fur of all the species varies :
one caught on a wharf, among timber, at Philadel-

ft

•

CARNIVORA. 163

phia, and most nearly allied to the P. dubius, had
the forehead, region of the temples, sides of neck,
throat, nose, and spot beneath the eye, white ; the
base and summit of tail rust colour, exclusive of
the tip, which was with the limbs, outside of the
ears, cheeks, and lower jaw, black; the darker
streaks, and spots on the yellowish-grey of the back
not very distinct. In size equal to Par. typus,
but the nose less pointed ; under the tail, apparently
a large pouch. The native country unknown.

Par. hermaphrodite. — Fiver, hermaph., Pallas.
— Resembles the last ; but is distinguished by the
throat being entirely black.

Par. Pallasii. — Blackish-grey, intermixed black
and white, below paler ; the back with a rather
broad streak, and small spots on each side black ;
limbs, lower parts, and tail, of the same colour; face
black, with a spot on each side the nose, another
beneath the eyes, and a cross band extending over
the forehead and cheeks to the throat, white ; ears
nearly bare; throat anteriorly blackish-grey, pos-
teriorly whitish ; tail longer than the body. Native
of India.

Par. crossii. — Above blackish, the hairs being
lead colour, tipped with black ; below yellowish, the
hairs tipped with white ; ears bare at the points ;
at the base of the ears externally, the face, feet, and
three fourths of the terminal portion of tail, brown-
black ; pale round spots on each side the nose ; a
smaller of the same beneath the eyes: forehead
yellowish. Total length 37 inches.

164 ORDER V.

Par. Hamiltonii. — "With hairy ears ; back ashy-
grey, with six or seven rows of round black spots ;
dark streak along the back; a narrow stripe between,
and one above each eye ; on the middle of the neck
another black, and on each side a pale, shorter,
brown streak; the tail one half longer than the
body, brownish rufous, with narrow black rings.

Par. larvatus. — Gulo larvatus. Ham. Smith. —
Olive-brown grey ; tip of tail and feet black ; white
patches about the face, particularly one running
from nose to occiput.

Par. trivirgatus. — Fiver, trivirgata, Rein. —
Blackish-grey ; below grey ; head darker ; no white
spots; three black streaks along the spine; feet
and tail black, the last mentioned exceeding the
body in length. Resides in the Moluccas.

Par. Gray ii. — Total length 40 inches, of which
the tail measures 20 ; fur woolly ; light fulvous-
brown above ; cinereous beneath ; ears and face
black with forehead, a stripe down, and spot be-
neath the eye grey ; tail always twisted, cannot be
rendered strait in the living animal.

Par ? aureus, F. Cuvier. — Smaller than the for-
mer species; fur a uniform golden-yellow; hair
very long.

Viverra binotata of Rein wart, and Viverra malac-
censis of Sonnerat, are probably species belonging
to this genus.

Mr. Gray has indicated several other species, but
the genus at present seems to be a receptacle for all
plantigrade Viverridce that are not finally classified :

;

CARNIYORA. 165

several are already, and others may be expected to
form new sub-divisions.

Sub-genus CYNOGALE, Gray. — In. f, can. {-{,
mol. g - § = 40. Is allied to Paradoxurus^ but
differs in the length of the face, compressed form
of the false molars, the small size and triangular
shape of the carnassial tooth : toes 5-5, half webbed;
plantigrade soks, bald nearly to heel ; tail long,
hairy ; fur soft, with longer crisp rigid hair.

Cyn. BennetiL — Brown, with elongate black
hairs; a broad sub-terminal silver band; ears short,
rounded: whiskers, upper lip, and chin, white.
Inhabits Sumatra.

Here we place, provisionally, the

Genus CRYPTOPROCTA, Bennet. — Dentition not
as yet fully known, but plantigrade feet ; toes web-
bed to near their tips ; retractile claws on the fore
feet, resembling those of cats; a mephitic pouch
under the tail ; a close pressed fur and slender
tapering tail ; all approaching Paradoxurus^ but in
anatomical structure, allying with Viverra and with
Fells.

Of this genus, the type is

Crypt, ferox A young specimen from Mada-
gascar; slept rolled up; was vehemently excited
at the sight of flesh.

Genus GALIDIA. — Incis. f , can. \-\, mol. f-f =
38. Though feet and hands are elongated as in
digitigrades, the palms are naked, but narrow be-
hind ; the number of toes as in Herpestes, jet more

166

ORDER V.

free ; in the upper jaw a false molar is often want-
ing ; tail moderately long.

Gal. elegans is the type.

Genus GALIDICTIS. — Founded on Mustela striata
of authors; has the canines more powerful, the
true molars broader, more contracted in the an-
tero-posterior direction, f, \-\, f-f = 36; in both
genera the dentition more blunt and simple, indi-
cates a partial frugivorous habit, that separates it
widely from Hemigalea and Prionodon.

Gal. striata^ V. fasclata ? Chat Sauvage a Ian-
des noires, Sonner. — Grey rufous, with six longitu-
dinal black streaks. Plantigrade.

167

GWATKIN'S CTiLIDICTIS.

PLATE VII.
Galidktis dtrysogaster^ NOB.

BACK, shoulders, and legs, black ; body deep brown-
ish, paler on the flanks ; the throat white ; breast
and abdomen orange-tawny; digitigrade; toes cat
like ; claws white ; tail long ; total length forty-two
inches. Is fetid ; sits up erect, gambols actively,
ascends trees, and leaps from one to another ; barks
with a distinct hoarse note. Female exactly like
the male. Specimen shot at Mussorie in the Hima-
layas. From notes of Reynolds Gwatkin, Esq.

Genus VIVERRA. — The Civets. — We now arrive
at the typical genus of the Vwerridae, itself con-
stituting a small group of sub-generical forms, seve-
ral of the species being once held important in the
Pharmacopoeia of nations, and of great interest to
the fashionable world, on account of the so called
musk, deemed valuable for scenting clothes, and
still esteemed in Asia. The species stands higher
on the legs than the other allied genera; their
dentition is §, \-\, §-f = 40 ; the nose pointed ;
eyes linear ; feet pentadactylous, digitigrade ; tail
long, beneath which is the pouch, wherein an odo-

168 ORDER T.

rous unctuous substance is secreted from two inter-
nal follicles, and independent of another secretion of
a very offensive matter. It is this double secretion,
which, as one or the other prevails, causes the scent
to be called offensive or agreeable.

Vivwra civetta. — The Civet. — Grey, marked with
stripes of black, in general directed downwards, but
in some forming curved, and even circular figures ;
a mane along the back, black, erectile ; tail shorter
than the body, marked with six or seven black
rings, including the tip ; cheeks and limbs black.
Size of a fox, being nearly four feet in total length.

This animal has been confounded by earlier natu-
ralists with the Genet, Zibet, and other allied species,
similarly producing a scenting substance. It is, how*
ever, one of the most powerful among the Viverridce^
but little known in a wild state, though abundant
in Abyssinia, where great numbers are kept in
confinement ; and some trade is carried on by the
natives with the Civet secretion, which they collect.
Dr. Shaw relates, in his natural history, how the
same substance was formerly obtained at Amster-
dam by the Dutch, while it was held valuable in
the drug market. In captivity, the Civet is a lazy
sluggish animal, sleeping constantly and feeding,
seemingly not even roused by the darkness of night,
although that period is their time of activity. As
the manners of Civets are most likely the same in
different species, we may infer the habits of the
present by those of the next.
Fiv. BengalemiS) Gray. — The Bengal Civet. — We

CARNIVORA. 169

take this species to be the Kuttauss of India, well
known to sportsmen ; a fierce and vigorous animal,
equal in size with the former, hut differing from
it chiefly hy the tail heing longer, and the hlack
streaks running obliquely from the shoulders to the
haunches, at first in four lines on each side, and
from the hips in round spots continued to the edge
of the buttocks ; the tail is black, with ten whitish
oval spots, the tenth forming the tip, which, there-
fore, is white ; on the neck and shoulder there are
four vertical black stripes on each side, and there
are several round spots on the cheek and temple ;
the abdomen is white.

The Kuttauss does not bear an agreeable musky
smell, but one rancid, and so strong, that dogs, in
full chase after other game, lose the scent if they
rouse one of these animals, and are immediately
impelled to worry it to death, remaining unfit to
use the nose for the rest of the day. It is a night
prowler, dexterous, noiseless, and ferocious, killing
for the love of blood, young sheep and pigs, and
making great havock in poultry yards ; retreating
from its depredations to the reedy, brambled, and
jungle borders of jeels and water tanks, as near a
Mahommedan village as possible, because the people
of that creed in India rear poultry, which the Hin-
doos, reckoning fowls unclean, do not. It is diffi-
cult to get at them with dogs, because they escape
into trees, or, if they are overtaken, defend them-
selves by biting, so sharply, as often to break the
limb, and refusing to relax the gripe though worried

170 ORDER V.

by a dozen dogs. See Captain Williamson's Ori-
ental Field Sports.

Viv. fmca, Gray. — Brown Long-nosed Civet. —
This animal we are only acquainted with through
the figure published by Mr. Gray.* It appears that
the forehead is very remarkably arched, the nose
considerably longer than any other of the genus ;
and the livery, brownish-buff, is totally without
darker streaks or spots, the end of the tail alone
appearing to be dusky.

Vw. Zibetha. — The Zibet. — Grey, legs trans-
versely spotted with brown ; head long ; throat
white, with two black bands on each side ; no mane;,
tail with eight or ten semiannuli, black and white.
Native of the great Indian Islands, where it is kept
in captivity for the sake of collecting the musky
secretion.

Vw. Rasse.—The Rasse, Horsf. — Fulvous, with
short rounded ears ; eight close parallel broad dark
lines along the back; numerous small black spots
on the flanks in three lines ; tail shorter than the
body, with eight black annuli; feet brown. In-
habits Java, the woods of the Western Ghauts,
India; yields the Dedes of the Javanese, and the
Zibet of the Malays.

Viv. Indica. — Buff grey, with erect, more length-
ened ears, eight narrow longitudinal dorsal black-
ish lines, and three rows of sub-continuous spots on
each flank. Found in India, on the table land
eastward of the Ghauts.

* Illustrations of Indian Zoology.

CARNIVORA. 171

Sub-Genus GENETTA. — The Genets. — Anal pouch
reduced to a mere fold of the skin containing very
little secretion ; limbs shorter ; tail in general long ;
molars f-g. Resides in Africa and Southern Asia.

Gen. vulgaris — The Genet. — Grey, with small,
round, and elongated spots, forming a kind of lon-
gitudinal rows; feet dark; tail with nine or ten
black annuli. Resides in France and Spain, probably
also in Barbary.

Gen. fossa. — The Fossane. — Reddish-grey marked
with brownish-black spots ; tail with ten or eleven
annuli ; tip black. Inhabits Madagascar.

Gen. pantherina. — Pantherine Genet.— A large
species, having four rows of ocellated spots on each
flank, with the middle reddish, while the general
colour of the fur is yellowish-grey ; tail long, with
about eight broad annuli ; tip black.

Gen. Senegalensis. — Senegal Genet. — Smaller
than the former. Whitish-yellow grey, with four
rows of lengthened oval spots on each flank ; feet
white ; about nine annuli on the tail ; tip white.
Inhabits Western Africa.

Gen. Barbara. — Barbary Genet. — Still smaller,
but with similar coloured fur, with four rows of
rounder oval spots on the flanks ; feet white ; eight
rings on the tail, including the tip, which is white.
Is found in Barbary.

Gen. pallida, Gray. — Pale Genet. — Likewise
small ; rufous and buff; beneath white ; a few spots
forming two interrupted rows obliquely from shoul-

172 ORDER V.

der to buttocks ; six narrow black rings on the tail ;
tip white ; feet black. Inhabits China.

Although from the time of Boddaert and Sonne-
rat, certain species of Viverridce were occasionally
classed with cats, because they had, like them,
retractile claws, while their lengthened form, and
prolonged jaws, with a different dentition, seemed
to deny the justness of the arrangement, systema-
tists persisted in not feeling the necessity of an inter-
mediate genus; latterly, however, Dr. Horsfield's
Prionodon led the way, and other forms, likewise
with retractile claws, have since been established.
The generic names of Hemigalea^ which, with the first
mentioned, we place after the digitigrade civets, hav-
ing left, as may have already been remarked, the other
cat-toed species, Cryploprocta, Galidea, and Galidic-
tis, all partially plantigrade, with the Paradoxuri, so
that from a genus they now appear to constitute a
small family. The greater part bear liveries so
exceedingly like Genets, that it may be suspected
there are among the last named, some at least which
will ultimately pass into the present, if not already
so located; and, among others, the Musang of
Marsden ; the Cape Cat of W. Daniel, figured in his
sketches of native tribes, animals, &c., of Southern
Africa ; and the following species, which we leave at
present undetermined, because its precise dentition
cannot be ascertained.

,

173

PLATE VIII.

SIZE of a domestic cat, equally high on the legs,
but longer in tne body ; legs strong, with the thumb
of the fore paws armed and placed as in the cat ;
head sharper, with black about the eyes ; general
colour rufous white, clearer below ; irregular black
bar from ear to shoulder ; streak over forehead pass-
ing interruptedly along the spine ; six irregular
large spots forming two oblique rows from withers
to flanks; on the loins and thighs large irregular
blotches; nine black annuli on the tail, exclusive
of tip, which is likewise black. This specimen we
found in the Museum of Baltimore, and agrees
sufficiently with the figure of Boddaert's Chat Bi-
zaam, to be considered identical. It was brought
from one of the great Asiatic Islands.

Gen. villosa, Nobis, Linsang ? Horsf. — Size of a
polecat, with pointed snout ; small round ears ; long
and slender neck and body ; tail equal to the length
of the body ; legs robust, long ; five toes on all the
feet, middle toe longest ; colour white ; an irregular
band passing from the ear to the fore leg, another
from behind the ear to the withers ; from the shoulder
on each side a wavy band, obliquely along the flank,

1 ?4 ORDER V.

inclosing three rows of large oval spots, each row
consisting of three ; across the loins three broad bars ;
on the fore legs, lower flanks, and thighs, irregular
blotches and specks ; tail with six annuli, tip white.
Supposed habitat the great Asiatic Islands. Spe-
cimen in possession of the late Dr. Leach. The
species is nearly allied to, if not absolutely one of,
the following genera, which connect the Viverridce
with the Feline family. We think both these spe-
cies or varieties will ultimately be referred to the
genus PRIONODON.

Genus HEMIGALEA. — Thoroughly retractile claws;
no anal pouch; body elongated, transversely marked.
Dent. form, incis g, can. \-\, mol. §-$ = 40. All
the molars lobate and jagged.

CARNTVORA.

Hemigalea Zebra.

FIRST noticed by Mr. Gray under the name of
Paradoxurus Derbianus. Viverra Derbyii, Temm.
Low on the legs ; robust in make ; very pale yellow-
ish-brown, with dark brown marks and broad cross
bars. Total length about 30 inches.

Genus PRIONODON DELUNDUNG, Horsfield. — Anal
pouch none ? head elongated ; muzzle very pointed ;
body and limbs slender; tail long. Dent. form,
incis. f , can. \-\, mol. §-f = 38. All the molars
lobate and jagged ; toes 5-5.

PrL gracilis. — Slender Delundung. — Fur clear
yellow, whitish below ; three or four irregular large
cross bands on the lower part of the back ; irregular
oblique spots from the ear towards the shoulder ;
tail with nine annuli, tip whitish. Inhabits India ?
and Java. It is the Lesang of Hardwicke.

THE FELID^E

are, of all the carnassier order, the most completely
organized for subsisting on animal food, and pro-

176 ORDER V.

vided with arms for subduing their prey. The
whole family is cast in the same mould, differing
very little except in size, and apparently trivial dis-
tinctions ; the muzzle is short and round ; the jaws
short, in which there are two false molars both
above and below ; the superior carnassial tooth has
three lobes, and a blunt heel inwards, and the lower
two pointed and sharp edged lobes without a heel ;
behind there is only a small tubercular tooth in the
upper, and none corresponding in the lower jaw.
Some Felidse have vertically contractile pupils, and
in others they remain constantly round, yet all have
chiefly nocturnal habits. But what offers a marked
distinction, and proves to be a most destructive
weapon, is the complete power they have of with-
drawing the claws by means of ligaments, which, in
the usual state of repose, bring the points upwards,
and thus keep them always very sharp and ready
to be drawn down, giving great efficiency to the
stroke of the fore paws, which, particularly in the
larger species, are peculiarly heavy. There are
many species known, and others, even of the largest
size, such as the Wobo of Abyssinia, are still ob-
scurely noticed ; but these, and the new continually
discovered, with few exceptions, or rather normally
considered, all without exception, are spotted, streak-
ed, or barred ; the young Lion, the young Puma,
and the black species, not being exempted from the
general livery. Where so much uniformity of de-
sign in their structure exists, it follows, that no
characters of real importance can be pointed out, to

'-• >

CARNFVORA. 1 77

sub-divide the Felidaa into separate genera, though
there are distinctions in the markings, and the form
of the tail and ears, sufficient to indicate groups.
For the particular history and synopsis of the family,
we refer to the second volume of the Mammalia of
this work, under the title of Felinaa. We notice
here only some species which have become known,
or clearly distinguished, since that volume was
written.

la the Genus LEO, Leach., we figure the

BLACK MANED LION.
PLATE X.

Leo melanocliaittts, NOB.

THE Black Maned Lion of the Cape ; a very large
variety, not distinctly noticed by late writers, though
figured in Griffith's Vertebrated Animals. The spe-
cies is of the largest size, with a bull dog head ;
the facial line much depressed between the eyes ;
large pointed ears edged with black ; a great mane
of the same colour extending beyond the shoulders ;
a fringe of black hair under the belly ; a very stout
laii, and the structure in general proportions lower
vnan in other Lions. Habitat the Cape.

178 ORDER V.

THE MANELESS L 1 0 X.
PLATE XL

Felis leo gougeratensis.

SOMEWHAT smaller than the African Lion,* desti-
tute of mane, but with a frill of long hairs under
the throat, and a large bushy tuft of black hair at
the end of the tail. A proud and noble beast,
though probably less enterprising than the other
species. It may be regarded as a mere variety,
even in the case of the double infra orbital foramen,
being the common property of all the Asiatic Lions,
while it is single in the African. The Maneless
Lion is found in Guzzerat, and westward in South-
ern Persia to the borders of Arabia.t

The second genus, or rather group, is that deno-

* Weighs about 550 pounds, or 50 less than a large African
Lion. The maned Asiatic species we have examined had
the naked part of the nose, and pads of the feet, black ;
those of Africa flesh coloured. Both have the spine on the tail.

*f* It may be remarked, that this variety is the sacred Lion
of the most ancient Egyptian sculptures, and of the earliest
Budh representations of the Sine; in Ceylon. Unless the
"Wobo of Abyssinia be a Maneless Lion, it offers a collateral
proof of the eastern origin of the religious system of the first
mentioned people, for, in Upper Egypt, the Lion is maned.
As for the Ceylon Sing, the banks of the Indus alone *ould
have furnished the type.

CARNIVORA. 179

minated POMA, the Oouguar of South and North
America, distinguished from the rest, because the
species are without clear spots, excepting the last,
which we formerly discovered in Bullock's Museum.
The species of the group are not well defined ; in
Puma concolar, the South American is distinctly
marked with a black streak behind the vibrissa3, a
white spot on the back of the ear, and is larger
than the North American, where all these marks
are often missing. But there are, in the South, two
others ; one, which we measured, was from nose to
tail % 2", and the tail 2' 6", making a total of 6 feet
8 inches : deep blackish-red, with a few darker
specks on the forehead and on the sides; tip of the
tail not black, nor any white on the back of the ear.
This is our Puma discolor ; from the spots it must
be distinct, for in the young Puma the marks are
ringed. The second was 2' 9" from nose to tail, 1'
3" the tail, total 4 feet ; liver colour, paler beneath,
white spot on back of ear ; fourteen brown rings,
and tip of tail black ; numerous dark brown round
spots on the body, largest on the rump, inner arm,
and abdomen. This we take to be the JaguarondL
Both were in Bullock's Museum. There remains
still the true Black Couguar, Puma atratus, Nobis,
(perhaps Jaguar-ete-pope ), already figured by Pen-
nant, and of which we drew a specimen from a
living adult. The animal appears larger than the
South American Couguar, is of a glossy jet black,
excepting the lips, chin, cheek, temple, jowl, throat
breast, belly, and knee joint of the hind leg; the

180 ORDER V.

eyes vivid, greenish ; black spot at the angle of the
mouth continued on the lower jaw. Compared
with the specimen of Black Jaguar in the Museum
of the Prince of Wied, the head is much smaller,
the stature higher, and the form more slender.
The Black Jaguar has, besides, well denned jaguar
spots and markings all over the body, still darker
than the brownish black of the main colour, and is
destitute of any white.

In the genus FELIS, Auctorum, or Spotted Cats,
we think that a distinct variety of Panther has not
received due consideration by naturalists, excepting
by Ehrenberg. It is the Nimr or Syrian Panther (not
Leopard), with little more than three rows of irre-
gular roses or circles of spots, and the lower flanks
marked with single, or with sets of open spots ;
jowl, throat, breast, abdomen, and inside of the
limbs, white ; the tawny colour of the back much
mixed with longer whitish hairs. A reverend friend,
well known for his long residence in Asia Minor,
informed us, that he was present at the measure-
ment of one recently killed, which, from nose to tip
of tail, amounted to the length of thirteen times the
heavy shoes of a tall and powerful native shepherd !
The animal stands high on the legs, has the tail
longer than the body, and the head proportionably
smaller than the common panther. It is found in the
snowy peaks of Ida, above the plains of Troy, and
occupies all the high ranges of Natolia, and south-
ward of Libanus. — We take this to mark the transi-
tion to a subordinate group of large Felinae, of which

CARNTVORA. 181

Felis uncia.

FIGURED by Buffon, and in Griffith's Cuvier, is the
type. Although drawn by us from a living speci-
men in the Tower, and already figured by Buffon, it
was by some naturalists not only doubted, but even
denied to exist. There is now, however, a stuffed
specimen in the British Museum, to convince the
most incredulous. By this the characters common
to the group may be fixed ; namely, a comparatively
small head ; short, but powerful limbs ; a very long
tail, apparently more bushy at the end than at the
base, and a system of markings neither striped, nor
rose shaped, nor of single spots, but of irregular or
angular diagrams, upon a whitish rufous or grey
livery.*

Besides the above mentioned, we regard the Ri-
mau dahan, Felis macrocelis, Temm., as a second
species, and, probably, Felis nebulosa, Griffith, is a
third; we described this before the other was known,
from a living specimen in the Menagerie of Exeter

* The figure in Volume II., Felinse, of this work, is colour-
ed wrong, the fur being white, with very little tawny ; that
In Griffith's Cuvier was negligently copied, and the terminal
portion of the tail apparently forgotten.

182 ORDER V.

Change. "We have now before us our own and
Mr. Hewitt's drawing ; we have likewise examined
the details or separate sketches of the head in dif-
ferent positions ; the limbs, and the tail ;* and have
noted M. Agassi z's picture, in oils, of that from
Sumatra ; another we believe by Mr. Landseer ; and,
finally, that published by Dr. Horsfield; and con-
clude, unless there be great difference in the size,
form, colour, and characteristics of the markings,
that they are distinct species.

The Jaguars, of which two very distinct varieties,
if not species, have been pointed out, form, we
believe, another group, there being a third with
irregular or mizzled spots, and a longer face. Buf-
fon's Mexican Jaguar is either the last of this, or
the first of the group of Ocelots. The Servals form
again one, of which Forster's Cape Cat is a young
specimen (not a Viverra) ; but remarkable for an
elevated form of the frontals, and small pointed
turned up nose. This is distinguished from the
Common Felis Serval, by three virgate streaks on
each side the neck, passing upon the shoulder.

Genus LYNCHTJS, Gray. — The Lynxes. — Contain-
ing the Short Tailed and Pencilled Eared Cats,
which spread furthest north, and are the most
robust in structure, and dense in fur, of the whole
family. All the species are . not as yet clearly
distinguished.

* Yefc he copied Col. Hamilton Smith's, probably because
his own was faulty in the ensemble, as is sufficiently evident
in the drawing we have, where the head is much too large.

CARNIVORA. 1 83

Genus CYNAILURUS, Wagler. — The Hunting Leo-
pards are distinguished from all the Felinae by the
imperfect power of withdrawing the claws, which,
consequently, are always observed to be worn at the
points.

Felis jubata, or the Maned Hunting Leopard, is
the type of the group, and occurs wild in Africa,
India, and Ceylon ; according to Colonel Sykes,
Fells venatica differing in appearance only by being
domesticated.*

In a fossil state, the bones of a large feline animal
have been discovered in the caverns of Geulenreuth,
which Baron Cuvier found to have a greater resem-
blance to the Jaguars of South America than any
other species.

THE MUSTELID^:.

THIS family Mr. Waterhouse regards as standing in
the same relation to the Felidoe, as do Vlverrldce
to dogs. They have, like the cats, a short obtuse
muzzle, but the skull more elongated, having on
either side in each jaw one true molar, the upper
being well developed, and generally transverse. The

* All the specimens, whose origin was unquestionable, that
we have hitherto been able to compare, offered a black tip to
the tail, and a more silky fur, in those of Asia ; a white tip,
coarser fur, and bristly hairs about the neck, in those of
Africa, whose skulls we think comparatively larger.

184 ORDER V.

false molars in the typical species are f-£, but in
some they are reduced to J-J.

jy'igitigrade mustelidce^ with one tubercular tooth
behind the great carnassial of the upper jaw.

Genus MUSTELA — Dent. form. §, \-\, f-f =34;
muzzle short ; animal fetid.

Must, putorius. — Th^ Fitchet, Foumart, or Pole-
cat.— A well known animal. For detailed descrip-
tion, we refer to Mammalia, Volume VII. of the
Naturalist's Library.

Must. furo. — The Ferret is considered to be a
mere variety of the polecat, for they certainly breed
together, and have prolific offspring ; the first, never-
theless, is a native of temperate Europe, and the
second was originally introduced from Africa to
Spain, in order to counteract the ravages of rabbits,
which, in the time of the Romans, desolated the
Peninsula. The Ferret is sufficiently well known,
both in manners and figure, in its pale yellow fur,
grizzled with longer black hairs, and in the dllino
variety with pink eyes, which we most commonly
keep domesticated, or rather captive, for sporting
purposes.

Must, alpina. — The Alpine Foumart. — Smaller
than the common polecat ; head more elongate,
acute ; colour sulphur-yellow ; chin white ; canine
teeth without internal tubercle. Resides in the
Altaic Mountains, and seems to differ from Must.
Altaica only in the length of the tail.

Must, nudipes. — Java Ferret. — Fur brilliant
golden-yellow ; anterior head and tip of tail white ;

CARNIVORA. 185

soles of the feet quite naked ; total length 16 inches.
Inhabits Java.

Must. Sarmatlca. — The Perouasca — Deep rich
brown; back and flanks mottled with yellow; throat
and belly black. Inhabits Poland and southern
Russia.

Must, vulgaris. — The Common Weasel Red-
dish-brown above ; white beneath ; total length 7 \
inches. Inhabits the temperate zone of the northern
hemisphere ; towards the north it assumes a white
livery in winter, and is interesting, on account
of the singular boldness of character evinced by
them, when roused to fury attacking even man,
with a spirit far surpassing the bull dog or the lion,
and displaying in quest of their prey a wonderful
recklessness, often seizing animals far larger than
themselves by the throat, and remaining suspended
till their victim drops from exhaustion.

The African variety is double the size ; yellowish
underneath, with a brown line along the abdomen.

But one of the animals most interesting of this
genus, though perhaps not actually distinct, is

Must, erminea. — The Stoat or Ermine. — Yellow-
ish-white in the winter dress, and light brown in
summer. In Southern Persia, £c., the colour never
changes; but, towards the north, even in Wales
and Scotland, the winter fur is white, with the tip
of the tail black. In this state it is the Must.
ponticus of Pliny, and is found in the Arctic re-
gions, as far as birch forests extend, spreading over
Northern Europe, Kamtschatka, Siberia, the Kurile

186 ORDER V.

Islands, and the greater part of North America. It
is trapped by means of bait placed beneath stones,
which drop and crush the animal when attempting
to feed ; shot with blunt arrows, or in other ways,
and is in both hemispheres an article of value in
commerce, and important for adorning the dresses
of princes, judges, Moslem dignitaries, and chiefs
of savages. A century ago the skins were already
valued at three pounds sterling per hundred on the
spot, in Russia. In Scotland, Norway, Sweden, and
Western Russia, the animals are now rare, or much
diminished ; but from Northern Asia 30,000 skins
have been sent in one season, exclusive of what
may have been forwarded to Persia and China ; and
from North America, the Hudson's Bay and the
United States fur companies, annually collect at
least as many, without reckoning the immense con-
sumption of this peltry by the native Indians, whose
chiefs, braves, and even women, adorn themselves
profusely with slips of the skin which contain the
back and tail, refusing the rest, so that we have
reckoned above 200 applied to one single dress.
Finally, a considerable traffic in furs, including Er-
mine skins, is carried on, from the west coast of
America, with Japan and China, attesting, notwith-
standing the immense numbers of the animal, the
importance and value of a commercial article, which
the luxury of the ancients did not comprehend, and
Western Europe first learned from the Goths.

In severe winters, these animals have been observed
to migrate southward in considerable numbers.

CARNIVORA. 187

Must. Silirica. — The Chorock or Siberian Weasel.
— Size of a polecat ; pale fulvous, darker on the
back ; muzzle brown ; round nose white.

Genus MARTES. — Dent. form. incis.,f, can. ^-i,
mol. |-§ = 38, the additional tooth being one more
false molar, and the carnassial, in the lower jaw,
has a tubercle on the inner side.

Maries vulgaris. — The Pine Marten. — Total
length about 28 inches ; tail shorter than the hind
legs ; brown, with a space of clear yellow under the
throat. Inhabits Europe and Great Britain. Does
not frequent habitations.

Maries fouina. — Beech Marten. — Total length
about 25 inches ; pale brown, with under part of
throat whitish. Infests out-houses ; but destroys
other vermin. Is found on the continent of Eu-
rope.

M. Hardrcickii. — Yellowish white; face, ears,
cheeks, back of the neck, the fore paws, the whole
hind quarter, and tail, brown -black ; tail as long as
the body. Inhabits the East Indies.

M. Zibelina.—'Yhe Sable.— The Sable also of
heralds, and Zobal of the Sclavonic nations, is
another fur animal of the greatest value in com-
merce. It is in size about equal to the Marten,
with a fine glossy fur in the proper season, and then
also deep black, with scarcely any greyish hairs
about the head, shoulders, and throat ; the ears are
round ; the feet large; the claws white; and the
tail bushy. In warmer latitudes it is sometimes of

J 88 ORDER V.

a tawny cast, and in Western America of a bright
chestnut ; in that variety, if it be not distinct, the
tail is also shorter, and the ears larger. The fur of
the animal consists of a downy under-wool, with a
dense coat of hair overtopped by another still longer ;
this upper covering will lie in any direction, back-
wards or forwards ; and a skin is valued in propor-
tion as this coat is abundant, black, and glossy.
They are caught in traps set by hunters, who for-
merly were convicts or exiles in Siberia, and passed
the rigorous winters of that climate in the woods,
from before the time the rivers freeze, until they
are open to navigation. Their natural habitat is the
most northern forests of both the continents, and in
the Kurile Islands. Albinism is sometimes observed
to affect their colour.

M. huro. — Huron (Weasel) Marten. — Has the
paws beneath furred like the sable ; is of a light
yellow colour ; size of a Marten from Canada.

M. leucotis. — White Eared Marten. — First figured
by ourselves. Total length about 20 inches ; nose
rather pointed ; ears large, inside pure white, on the
outer surface a black edge; lips and cheeks pale
brown ; nose, head, throat, and body, deep brown ;
feet and tail black.

M. lutreola The Mink. — Total length 17 inches;

blackish-brown ; upper lip, chin, and beneath the
throat, white ; feet semipalmate ; has been referred
to the others, but the teeth are like those of Mus-
telidce : feeds on fish, frogs, &c., frequenting rapid

CARNIVORA. 189

waters in spring, more tranquil rivers in autumn.
Is common in Finland, Norway, and Russia to the
Black Sea.

M. vison. — The American Mink. — Total length
about 2 feet ; fur deep brown ; under jaw white ;
feet semipalmate, hairy ; tail black.

M. rufa. — Chestnut Mink — Total length 2 feet
4 inches ; bright fulvous chestnut ; tail of the same
colour; chin white; webs between the toes but
little perceptible in preserved specimens. Male and
female observed in the museum of New York.
Habitat North America.

M. Canadensis. — The Pekan. — Total length
about 30 inches : head, shoulder, and upper part of
back, grey -brown, clear at first, and darkening
towards the back ; the rest of the body, tail, and
feet, brown-black ; often a white spot on the throat.
Frequents the borders of water in Canada and the
United States.

We made a drawing of another specimen noted
in the Mustelidce, without the locality whence we
obtained it, but named

M. nigra. — Sable Mink and Fisher Weasel. —
Having the head and sides of the neck fine grey,
and the rest entirely deep black, with a cast of
brown ; total length about 26 inches. The deno-
mination does not agree with Pennant's Fisher, but
more with the Sable, excepting that the form of the
body, and of the tail, resembles that of a Mink, while
the ^ahle is like a Polecat, and the tail is shorter
and somewhat tufted.

190 ORDER V.

M. Pennantii. — Fisher Weasel of Pennant. —
Fur dark at the base, yellow above, and tipped
with black, becoming chestnut instead of yellow on
the back ; tail shining black ; throat brown with a
few white hairs ; ears short, lighter at tips,

Genus ZORILLA. — The name Zorillo, a little fox,
was originally given by the Spaniards to the skunk ;
and Buffon, we believe, applied it to the Cape spe-
cies, under an impression that it was of the same
genus as the American MEPHITIS. — Fur barred
longitudinally, with two or four irregular black and
white streaks; nose short; two superior false molars,
three inferior ; claws stout, obtuse.

Zor. Capensis. — Cape Zorillo. — About the size
of a polecat ; black, with four white bands ; head
rather round, sometimes with white spot on cheek ;
tail very bushy ; burrows in holes of its own digging.
Is found at the Cape of Good Hope.

It appears to be spread over the whole of Africa;
and recently specimens, either varieties or distinct,
have been sent to England from Trebizond, in Asia
Minor.

THE PLANTIGRADES.

IN classifying the Plantigrade carnassiers, we have
felt the anomaly of disconnecting those placed among
the Viverridce, on account of slight modifications of
their teeth from the true Plantigrades admitted in

CARNIVORA. 191

all modern classification. If, in attempting a natural
system, considerations of dentition were alone to be
the rigorous elements of construction, no question
°ould be raised on the subject; but the laws of
general anatomical structure, although never in real
opposition to the dentition of species, in many cases
demand and obtain predominant influence, and, we
apprehend, should be allowed greater weight than
they appear to have, where they are to be viewed
solely as confined to locomotion, even in that degree
of difference which exists between the Digitigrade
and Plantigrade Mammalia ; because we find prac-
tically, that minor modifications in the teeth, such
as occur among the Plantigrade viverridce, keep
the several genera so circumstanced, in a location
between the Canidce and Felidce by the side 01
Digitigrades with and without retractile claws, even
though all the preponderant characteristics of struc-
ture assimilate them with the analogues of Ursidce,
and yet without disturbing the harmony with the
masticatory combinations. The teeth, therefore, to
a certain degree, are, in their minor modifications,
subordinate to more important organs ; and where
the predominance is demonstrated, we submit the
ordination of systematic connection should be taken
from it. Now, appplying this maxim to the three
carnassier families of Canidce, Felidce, and Ursidce,
we find that they have each one great and predo-
minant feature of general structure, to which the
teeth are subservient rather than sole, or even prin-

192 ORDER V.

cipal influential organs, since dentitions, with scarce
a modification, occur in the intermediate families,
and are accommodated to the successive changes of
form, till the whole modifying cycle is exhausted;
for it takes, within the sphere of combinations, even
the retractile claws of Felidce, and the nocturnal
eyes of Digitigrades, but touches the Plantigrade
structure rarely, or not at all, without immediately
aifecting the whole habit of the species. Thus, all
all the Plantigrades can be arboreal, the Digiti-
grades only so in part : all Plantigrades, however
ferocious, even when partially or fully armed with
retractile claws, bear evident tokens in their denti-
tion of a more frugivorous habit ; thus the influence
of general form on character, and even on dentition,
is so universal, that in the present instance it ap-
pears advisable to give so much more weight to the
Plantigrade conformation, as to arrange the whole
of the hitherto detached genera from Ryzasna to
GalidictiS) into one connected series with the Ursidce
and other groups already admitted in that tribe.
But, in the present volume, we find the innovation
would require more space than can be spared for
the full demonstration of our views ; and, therefore,
we leave the suggestion to Zoologists in a better
position than ourselves for verifying the considera-
tions it involves.

If the transposition were admitted, the Planti-
grade mverridce would form the first family, ana
might be called Cynarctidw.

CARNIVORA. 193

In the second, we would propose to include the
long-bodied species of Plantigrade mustelidce, whose
anterior extremities terminate in paws with long
non-retractile claws.

THE ARCTOGALID^E.

Genus MEPHITIS. — The Skunks. — Dent. form,
incis. f, can. \-\, mol. f-f =34. The false molars,
like those of polecats; the tubercular teeth above
nearly equally broad as long ; and the carnassial
below with two tubercles on the inner side like
badgers. Muzzle obtuse ; soles of the feet, and
fore paws, hairy; claws strong for digging; fur
rather coarse, and very long and bushy on the tail ;
anal glands containing a most fetid liquid, which
the animal can eject to some distance. The spe-
cies are thick-set in form, generally wanting in
dexterous activity ; occupying holes dug in the
earth ; living on birds, eggs, small mammals, honey,
frogs, &c. They enter into human dwellings, pe-
netrate into store rooms and cellars, and, if alarmed
by detection, are apt to emit the offensive fluid,
which immediately taints bread, meat, vegetables,
and even the beer that may be within the walls.
We have witnessed the case of a maid servant,
seated by the coachman driving his vehicle through
a wood, in the State of New York, when a Skunk,
crossing the road, failing to spring through a split
fence before the horses came up, was alarmed,

194 ORDER V.

and flung, by what was said to have been a whisk
of its tail, the contents of the fetid Lag, chiefly
upon the clothes of the young woman; and we
were assured that the offensive smell could not be
entirely removed but by time, although repeated
washing and baking in an oven would in a great
measure subdue it. Dogs, who have an uncontrol-
lable instinct to worry these animals, no sooner feel
the effluvia in their nostrils, than they dig with their
snouts like hogs into the ground, and often scratch
their noses till they bleed profusely : yet it is said
that Skunks, long kept in captivity, are nearly des-
titute of the offensive faculty. They reside in both
Americas, from Canada to Chili.

It is difficult to enumerate the species of this
genus, because, like other Carnivora that have the
contrasting colours of black and white disposed
upon their liveries, the form of the marks, though
sufficiently constant in one region, is greatly liable
to vary in another, and again in a third ; but taking
for type, according to Mr. Gray's distribution (#),
with tail elongate, hairs sparse, long, and pen-
dant,—

Mephitis ( Americana) bwirgata. — The Common
Skunk. — We have a species of which we have beeji
enabled to make designs of the adult male and
female, and two young ; the male about 14 inches
long from nose to tail, and the tail, from root to the
extremity of long hair, about 10 ; the female some-
what less, and the young little more than five inches,
exclusive of about 2 inches of tail. All were pro-

CARNIVORA. 195

fusely clothed with jet black hair ; but the male
had on the forehead a small round space, and on
the neck, close behind the ears, a broad one of
white, passing backwards to behind the shoulders,
where it divided into two, and terminated upon, or
just beyond the hips, in the form of the lower
limbs of a saltier ; the tail, when erect, caused the
long hairs to hang gracefully in curves like a military
feather, having, in the quantity of black, perhaps a
third of white hairs. The female had only two
short lengthy patches of white reaching from the
neck over each shoulder. The young, a male, had
a wrhite spot on the forehead, but on the back there
was a short streak half way down, on each shoulder
another, and between that and the central one, a
small oval of white. The other young was like the
mother.

Comparing these with the Chinche of F. Cuvier,
we find the same colours similarly distributed on
the back, for there the white forms a kind of letter
A or V, according as the animal is viewed. There
is no white mark on the forehead, but one beneath
the root of the tail, which, further up, is entirely
black.

Another Chinche, copied from the Paris Museum,
is still the same, but that the white comes over
the forehead to the nose, spreads laterally over the
thighs, and beneath under the throat, and occupies
the whole of the tail. This is like Buffon's figure ;
thus we find the bivirgate type to pervade most
of the descriptions left by travellers, and, practi-

196 ORDER V.

cally, we have noted no departures from it in any
of the museums we have examined, excepting the
occurrence of specimens entirely black.* A second
species is no doubt to be admitted, consisting of
those with more than two longitudinal streaks,
which we shall name

Meph. plurilineata, and refer to it the Polecat of
Catesby, with nine white stripes ; the Conepatl of
Buffon, perhaps a made up figure from Catesby's,
but marked with six white stripes.

Meph. varians, Gray. — Black, with a narrow
white streak on the forehead ; large square spot on
nape ; and two narrow streaks between the blade
bones; tail black, base of hairs white. Inhabits
Texas.

Meph. Mexicanus. — Fur very soft and silky,
black ; narrow streak on nose ; broad band across
the crown; broad vertebral streak, and two narrow
dorsal streaks, and small spot on each shoulder
white. Inhabits Mexico.

Tail short, bushy, sub-cylindrical, ending with a
pencil of hairs.

Meph. bicolor. — Length 15 inches'; tail 7 inches;
fur soft, short, black ; oval spot on nose ; larger spot
on each temple in front of the ears ; broad stripe
on each side of the nape and fore part of the back ;
two narrow stripes between them ; two or three cross

* In this species we include the Conepatl of Hernandez,
the Chinche of Buffon, the Chinche of Feuille'e, Skunk of
Kalm, Puant of du Pratz, Zorra of Quito of Humboldt, and
probably the Zorillo of Gemelli Carreri.

CARXtVORA. 197

rows of small spots on the loins ; spot on each side
of the tail ; and large pencil at the tip white. In-
habits North America.

Mr. Gray places others, with similar dentitions,
under the sub-generical name of

CONEPATUS. — They have the hind feet large,
broad; the bald soles half the length of the feet,
oblong, broad, rugose, and warty, rounded behind,
scarcely divided into smaller pads ; front claws very
long ; tail short, bushy, sub-cylindrical.

Conep. Humboldtii. — Meph. Conepat. Desm. —
Black, with some longer shining hairs ; broad white
band on each side the back, united over the crown ;
tail very bushy, white, with some of the hairs having
long black tips. Var. fur softer, brown, with the
white band continued on the base of tail ; may be
the summer coat. Inhabits the Straits of Magellan.

Sub -genus MARPUTIAS. — Teeth of mephitis ; hind
feet moderate ; bald soles to the heel ; front claws
elongate ; tail rather short ; nose acute, produced ;
fur bristly, close pressed.

198 ORDER V.

PLATE XIII.

Marp. Chilensis, GRAY. — Meph. Chilensis, GEOFF*

TOTAL length 1 foot 6 inches ; colour deep chest-
nut brown, with two white streaks on the sides,
united on the shoulders, and again connected in the
form of a crescent at the hack of the head, where it
forms a ridge of standing hairs ; tail white, mixed
with hrown, which increases towards the rump, and
leaves the white to pass up towards the descending
streaks from the shoulders ; nose, cheeks, and feet,
buff.

Mephitis nasua, of Bennet, and Viverra marputio^
Gmel., may belong to this section.

There may be other species in the numerous va-
rieties that are noticed; and even the Coaze of
Buffon may be a real Skunk of the brown species,
without the white markings, or a large Grison
wanting the band on the forehead, such as we have
ourselves seen in Guiana.

We form a group of the following genera, which
seems to constitute the gluttons of different parts
of the world.

CARNIVORA. 199

Genus GALICTIS, Bell. — The Grison. — Likewise
an inhabitant of the New Hemisphere, and probably
of South America only. Dent. form. §, {-\, £-|
= 36 ; one tubercular, a carnassial, and two false
molars, above ; and one tubercular, a carnassial,
and four false molars, below ; body elongated ;
ears simple ; five toes on all the feet ; tail middle
sized, not forming a brush ; mephitic pouch ; hair

COOTS'1..

200 ORDER V.

BANDED ORISON.

PLATE XIV.

(ralidis vittata.

ABOUT a foot and a half long, and the tail six indies ;
the head long, thick, with prominent muzzle ; from
forehead to tail grey, hy the hairs being annulated
deep chocolate and white ; the anterior head, cheeks,
sides, limbs, and tail, black ; a broad white band
passing across the forehead above the eyes and
below the ears to the shoulders ; the grey on the
upper parts of the body increasing in whiteness with
age. The species resides in hollow trees, is active
in hunting birds and lizards, swims and is remark-
ably irritable. The white about the forehead we
have seen extended over the lips, nose, and around
the eyes, but not much beyond the ears. The spe-
cimen was not so large (13 inches, tail 7) as the
first described, with the black less distinctly sepa
rated from the liver colour, and another, of the same
proportions, was destitute of white, and similar to
the young, which are still entirely of a dull choco-
late grey, when they have already 8 inches in length.
It is the brown variety which may have served for
type to the Coaze of Buffon .*

* That is, supposing the fore paws had five toes, otherwise
the animal is still doubtful, or unknown.

CARNIVORA. 201

Gallc. Allamandi. — Allamand's Grison. — Is a
second species, according to Mr. Bell ; but the diffe-
rences above noted seem to point out mere varieties.

Genus EIRA, wherein we intend to include a
small group of American Carnassiers, on one side
so nearly allied to the Grisons, and on the other to
Otters, that they might be referred to that genus,
having their lengthened form, and the white heads
and throats which are frequent in both genera, and
swimming with a facility which is only equalled by
their power of climbing trees. The name Eira is
itself a generical term, employed for these animals
by the Brazilian natives, and has led to considerable
uncertainty among Zoologists, because it is nc%
solely used for one species in the country, is not
spelt or pronounced alike by different tribes — Taira,
Leira, Eyra, Era, being likewise used ; and those
who have noticed species, have, by inadvertence, or
by error in the press, used the name of Guinea as
the native country, whereas they should have written
Guiana, "We believe Mr. Pennant, as well as Brown,
fell into the mistake, and so late as 1826, when
Mr. Fred. Cuvier wrote his article Galera, we may
still see how much confusion there was remaining
on the subject. The dentition is as in the Grisons,
incis. g, can. \-\, mol. f - f = 34, whereof in the up-
per jaw, 1 tubercular, 1 carnassial and 2 false molars
on each side ; below, 1 tubercular, 1 carnassial and
3 false molars. The toes are always five, armed
with strong claws, mostly white ; the fingers united
to the last phalanx by a membrane ; the hind legs

202 ORDER V.

plantigrade, not equally decided in all ; the head is
roundish, somewhat Otter like ; eyes diurnal ; the
tongue is rough ; the ears small, round ; the tail
long ; there are four abdominal mamma3, hut no
anal pouch ; the fur of two kinds. We doubt whether
Mustela lutreola, M. Canadensis^ M. vison, and
M. rufa, do not, in reality, find a more appropriate
location in this genus, they having likewise semi-
palmate paws, and the rufous mink in particular a
plantigrade walk, and in Canadensis the whitish
head, which seems to be a distinctive livery of all
the true Eiras.

Eira barbara. — Must, barbara. Linn. — The Taira
of French writers, Yaguape of the Indians, ac-
cording to Desmarets not larger than the Marten ;
similar lengthened form ; blackish-brown fur, with
a yellowish- white spot on the throat ; but there are
mixed under this name several species, or at least
very distinct varieties. We made sketches and
measurements, in the Paris Museum, of a specimen,
designated by the name of Taira, which measured
from nose to tail, 2' 4", tail V 8", making a total of
four feet, or double the size of a Marten ; it was
entirely deep black, with a large rhomboidal spot of
pure white upon the throat ; the claws strong and
crooked ; and the sole of the hind feet bare. This
species has a strong musky smell.

The so called grey headed civette, Viverra paleo-
cephala, with a grey head, pale buff throat, the
colours separated from the dark ashy grey of the
neck and body, by a black line, appears to be no

CARNIVORA. 203

other than a variety of the above, and probably
identical with the Taira of Bullock's, or London
Museum, scarcely differing in figure, and in fur
solely that the neck is likewise whitish, but sepa-
rated by the black line as before. This variety ?
has been believed to be an Otter, residing in the
rivers of Guinea, in Africa, but is South American.

Here we place also the

Eira ilya of Markgrave ; Carigueba of the In-
dians, very correctly, but somewhat coarsely figured
in the original drawings of Prince John of Nassau,
in the Berlin library. This species, or variety, is
entirely blackish-brown, with the head, neck, and
throat clear grey ; no trace of a black line from the
jaw to the shoulder. It is some inches smaller than
the first mentioned Taira ; burrows, climbs, and was
pointed out to us by the Indians of Guiana, swim-
ming, and occasionally diving for prey : at least the
grey head, coupled with the foregoing name, was
distinctly visible; and no doubt this, or a Taira,
was intended by Sonnini, when he mentions the
Grey Headed Otters of Guiana.

Comparing these with the Pekan figured in the
French Encyclopedic, we take the animal, there re-
presented with a grey head and neck, gradually be-
coming darker on the shoulders and back, to be the
North American variety of the species, badly set up
and made digitigrade.

Eira galera, F. Cuv. — The Galera is in form so
like the first (E. larbara), that it may still be only
a variety of colour, the head, neck, and throat in

204 ORDER V.

this being yellowish grey, with a narrow, clear, white
line across the throat ; the rest of the fur black ;
length of body 19", tail 12", total about 31 inches ;
height at shoulder nearly 9".

PLATE XVI.

Eira ferruginea.* — Gulo castaneus9 GRIFFITH'S CUVIER.

THIS is an aberrant Eira, assuming more the livery
of a glutton, but has still the lengthened body and
otter head of the genus ; is in length at least equal
to the Taira ; that is, from the nose to the end of
the tail about four feet, but in structure much more
muscular. With the exception of extremities and
tail, which are sepia black, the whole fur is of a
fulvous chestnut brown. The specimen was per-
fectly plantigrade, and the only one we know of
existed in the London Museum.

Genus MELLIVORA. — Ratellus Desm. — There is
likewise only one species satisfactorily established of
this genus, which represents the gluttons of the
liorth in the southern hemisphere, and in tropical
Asia; it is very similar, in compactness of struc-

* Not having been able to examine the dentition of this
species, it may still prove distinct from this genus.

'

•

CARXIVORA. 205

ture : dense and tough skin ; but the fur is rather
rare, short, and coarse, and the hide so loose,, that
dogs, in biting, can scarcely fasten upon any solid
part. It is not a climber, but a most powerful dig-
ger in the ground, by means of its strong claws,
feeding, it is probable, in South Africa, on, ail kinds
of animal substances and carrion. According to
Sparrman, it is a great searcher of honey, and has
sufficient instinct to observe the Honey Cuckoo s note,
follow his guidance to a nest of bees, and to share
the plunder with its feathered partner. In the East
Indies, a variety, or perhaps a distinct species,
somewhat smaller, is found, and accused of making
long and deep subterranean galleries, working its
way into the graves of men, and subsisting on the
putrid flesh.

Mel. ratel The Ratel. — Has the molars f-f , of

which two are false on each side in the upper, and
three in the lower jaw. Above two feet in length,
with the tail one foot ; form of a badger, with very
small ears ; grey on the forehead, neck, back, and
tail ; beneath all black, with a whitish line sepa-
rating the two colours, from ears to tail, often form-
ing a patch or band upon the forehead. There
appears to be no marked distinction between the
Indian • variety and the African, and the difference
in manners may be merely arising from the obser-
vers themselves taking their notices under different
aspects and circumstances.

The Ratels offer one more instance of the colours
of the fur being light on the upper surface of the

206 ORDER V.

oody, and dark beneath, producing a kind of family
livery, alike in this and the Orisons, Taxidea, and
Meles, and not obliterated in Eira and Arctonix.

Genus GULO. — The Glutton. — We retain for the
true Gluttons alone the generical name of Gulo,
because, notwithstanding the similarity of dentition,
they have a more compact and vigorous structure,
a short tail, a totally different aspect, different man-
ners, are remote in habitat, and fitted for a very
opposite temperature from those we have grouped
together under the generical name of Eira. They
are, in general form, resembling the badger rather
than a marten or an otter, stand higher on the legs,
never willingly enter water, and even abandon their
prey if it can plunge into a stream while they hang
to its neck ; though, on all other emergencies, they
evince a ferocious tenacity of purpose unsurpassed
by any other carnivorous animal. All the Eiras,
we believe, are tropical; the Gluttons, probably
forming only one species, are nearly Arctic, tenant-
ing, in their greatest state of perfection, in bulk and
beauty of fur, the most northern forests of both
continents, and becoming rare south of Canada,
Sweden, and Poland. Heavy, and rather slow, they
have been endowed with considerable intelligence,
as is evinced when they are kept in domestication ;
without it, indeed, although they are by no means
select, food for their incessant cravings could not be
otherwise supplied. Hunters in both hemispheres
agree, that preying on the northern stags and on rein-
deer of the woods, they can only obtain this quarry

CARN1VORA. 207

by carrying in the mouth a quantity of lichen, with
•which they ascend a tree, crawl on a protruded limo,
and drop it, while they lie close and motionless .
thus they wait patiently till a deer passes, which,
stooping to smell at the bait, uncovers its neck from
the protection of its horns, and affords time for the
glutton to drop down upon its shoulders, where,
fixing the long and formidable claws, the canine
teeth are directed at the great blood-vessels of the
neck, and there the remorseless brute hangs, regard-
less of blows from the horns, or of being dashed
against trees ; and, if no deep water is at hand, he
never quits hold, nor fails of destroying his prey in
a few minutes. It is said to be but rarely the case
that a horned animal is thus caught, because deer
do not much frequent woods until their attire is
gone ; and the elk is said to be protected by the
thickness of his mane.* They have an acute sense
of smelling, detecting buried food at great depths,
and labouring, with prodigious energy and skill, to
dig it up, often to the great distress of hunters, who
vainly conceal their provisions in what they call
caches, well fenced with stones, from their depreda-
tions. They are no less destructive to the snares
of the fur-trappers, whose track they follow, de-

* Although these accounts are discredited by recent tra-
vellers, who have little or no direct knowledge of the manners
of these animals in woody regions, and reason from their
condition in the open snowy tracts, yet they are the common
belief in America, in Sweden, and in Siberia ; and their ge-
neral sagacity cannot be disputed.

208 ORDER V.

priving the traps of the bait, by opening it from
behind.

Dent. form, f, {-{, f-f =38; characterized liks
those of Galictis ; the head somewhat dog-like ; ears
short, round ; body low ; feet pentadactylous, armed
with long crooked claws ; mephitic pouch under the
tail ; fur fine, soft, rather long. Habit not hiber-
nating.

Gulo vulgaris. — The Glutton. — Nearly 2 feet
4 inches from nose to tail ; tail, including hair,
8 inches ; stature at the shoulder 1 foot ; fur long,
brilliant; face dark chestnut; white band across
the forehead, spreading on the cheek, and passing
down the throat to the breast, marked with blacK
marbling spots ; nape and shoulders bright chestnut ;
after-body reddish-buff; but the whole breadth of
back and loins covered with a deep brown patch :
the fore feet and terminal half of tail black. The
lighter colours are often replaced by the chestnut,
but the white band is seldom wanting.

Gulo luscus. — The Wolverene. — Is probably onJy
a variety, though somewhat larger. A drawing whicn
we made of one in Canada, represents the whole
head, neck, shoulders, and a border along the lower
part of the sides, uniting at the root of tail, and the
basal half, all yellowish- white, leaving a broad space
from behind the shoulders backwards, bright bay,
darkening to black towards the tail ; the feet and
terminal part of tail black ; toes brown grey ; nose
grey. This was a female.

Genus HELICTIS, Gray. — Melogale^ Isid Geoff.—

CARXIVORA. 209

Dentition f , ^-^, £-f = 38 : the f-f anterior molars
false, the carnassial above trilobate, with large in-
ternal central lobe; tubercular, middle-sized, trans
verse, below small ; head elongate ; toes 5-5, claws
strong, the anterior long, compressed ; feet planti-
grade, soles naked to near the heel ; tail moderate
length. The species known belong to Eastern Asia.

Hel. moschata. — Twenty-three inches long, in-
cluding eight inches of tail ; above silvery grey ;
silvery white at the sides and at tip of tail ; head
and fore feet brownish-ash ; a white streak between
and two others near the eyes, with other spots on
lips and near the ears, and the limbs of the same
colour. Inhabits China.

Hel. orientalis. — Gulo orlentalis^ Horsf — Bay-
brown, a white streak from between the eyes passing
over the forehead and neck to the loins ; the orbits,
region round ears, lips, throat, and breast, of the
same colour.

The next group returns again to the skunks, by
the mephi;ic qualities of Mydaus ; but in form,
organs of motion, and powers of digging, they asso-
ciate with badgers.

Genus MELES. — The Badger. — Dentition $, ^-{,
i'S = 38 ; the second incisors placed backwards;
first molars above very small, the second and third
pointed, the fourth tirenchant externally, and the
fifth large and tuberculous; below the penultimate
the most trenchant ; body thick, limbs short, eyes
and ears small ; fetid secretion from a pouch be-
neath the tail ; fur coarse, rather long,
o

210 ORDER V.

Mel. vulgaris. — Common Badger. — About 2' 5"
from nose to tail, tail 8", height at shoulder 1' ;
head rather long, whitish, with a black streak pass-
ing from the nose through the eyes to the ears ;
colour in general brownish-ash above, black beneatb.
We have drawn a specimen as red as a fox ; white
beneath, bat with the black bars on the face ; five
toes, well armed on all the feet ; has the manners
of a bear; is solitary in the holes which it digs,
coming forth only in the night to feed on fruit and
animal substances ; when young is easily tamed ;
when attacked, fights obstinately and with great
tenacity of life, and therefore is often the miser-
able victim of the sport of boys, who learn brutality
sometimes under the tuition of those whose educa-
tion and position in life should have taught them
better. The species extends over all Europe and
tbe north of Western Asia.

Sub-genus TAXIDIA. — Is the Badger of North
America, separated from Meles by Mr. Waterhouse,
on account of the difference in the greater expansion
of the occipitaL region of the skull, which is also the
most elevated : the want of the first false molar of
the lower jaw, the greater size of the carnassial, &c.
The dentition, therefore, is §, {-{, £-£ = 32.

Tax. Labradoria. — The Carcajou or American
Badger, stands higher on the legs than the common
badger. The head is shorter, and the fur being
long, full, and rather fine, it appears smaller. In
both sexes (we describe from a living pair) the head
is white, with a black bar down the jowl from n<

.

CARNIVORA. 211

the ear, and two others longitudinal, first encircling
the muzzle, passing upwards between the eyes over
the nape, and gradually changing to a fine grey, re-

[ unite on the middle of the hack, having, the whole
distance, a broad white space between them, broader
and more intense in the male than in the female ;
the back itself is silvery grey, changing on the sides
to pale yellow ; the tip of the tail and the four ex-
tremities are black, each with five toes, and all arm-
ed with powerful long claws. The pair was harmless
to visitors, and had no offensive smell. There is a
Californian variety, with darker colours and finer fur,
which may be the Tlacoyotl of Hernandes.

Sub-genus URSITAXUS. — Bear Badger. — Formed
by Mr. Hodgson, and described by him with teeth
B> T"i5 I "I = 3% ; the molars strong, broad, low,
and furnished on the crowns with obtusely conical
processes ; the tubercular of the upper jaw trans-
verse, narrow, sub-parallelogrammatic ; smaller than
the carnassial, and essentially a grinder ; no tuber-
cular in the lower jaw. The author indicates a
species from the Himalaya mountains, in the 19th
volume of the Transactions of the Asiatic Society,
and in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.

Sub-Genus ARCTONYX, F. Cuv. — Balisaur, or
Sand Hog. — Has the skull more expanded than
Mydaus, and in that character approaches more to
Taxidea. Dent. form. §, J-}, £-£ = 32 ; the false
molars are one less in the lower jaw, and those that
remain are smaller ; the carnassial and true molar
nearly correspond with those of the badger ; the

212 ORDER V.

carnassial abovfe triangular ; below long ; the molar
above large in plane, rhomboidal, below almost tu-
bercular ; the canines are much compressed, long,
and turned outwards.

Arc. collaris. — Collared Sand Hog. — Is classed by
Mr. Gray with Mydaus ; both have in truth a hog
snout and plantigrade walk, with but little difference
in dentition ; but the present species has a somewhat
lengthened tail, beset with a few bristles ; does not
appear to be mephitic, and is, in aspect, between a
small bear and hog ; not like a badger. The animal
is about 21 inches in length, exclusive of the tail,
which measures above 9 inches ; there are five toes,
terminated by very strong and crooked claws on all
the feet ; the ears are round ; movement rather slow,
and habit burrowing ; the fur is yellowish-grey, rare
and coarse ; a dark band passing from the commis-
sure of the mouth through the eyes and ears, then
bending down to the middle of the shoulder, and at
an acute angle returning upon the breast, where it
meets that from the opposite side ; within this space
the hair is yellowish; the limbs are black. The
species eats animal food, but prefers fruit ; sits up
like a bear in defence, and grunts somewhat like a
hog. Is found in the Himalaya range. Mr. Gray
figures another specimen, destitute of black marks.

Genus MYDAUS. — Telagon. — Dent. form. in. §,
can. J-J, f. mol. f -f , car. J-J, mol. H = 34 '> the
incisors in a curved line; the carnassial and true
molar sub-quadrangular ; snout prolonged, hog-like ;
tail very short ; ears small ; round ; claws 5-5.

CARNIVORA. 213

PLATE XV.
Mydaus meliceps^ Cuv.

ABOUT 18 inches total length; deep brown, head
almost bare and buff; from forehead to croup a
broad white streak, sometimes interrupted; tip of
tail and claws white. Is found in Java and Su-
matra; mephitic; burrowing.

THE URSIDJE

HAVE the true molars nearly of equal size, remark-
ably tubercular in structure, the tubercles being
more numerous, more elevated and pointed than in
the former genera ; the limbs are longer, causing the
animals to be proportionably much higher at the
shoulder ; and the fore feet more completely planti-
grade, as well as the hinder, are all pentadactylous,
and armed with strong claws.

Genus ARCTICTIS. — Ictides of Valenciennes. —
Dent. form. J, \-\, f-f = 36 ; no anal pouch; feet

214 ORDER T.

plantigrade; claws semi-retractile; tail prehensile,
very strong ; eyes nocturnal ; ears pencillated ; fur
long.

Arct. albifrons. — The Benturong, Raffles. — Of the
proportions of a large cat ; tail longer than the body,
very thick at the base ; fur long, grey, or mixed
white and black ; on the head and limbs short ; the
forehead, nose, and often a great part of the head,
white; legs and tail blackish. Native of Bootan
and Northern India.

Arct. Niger. — Black Benturong. — Larger than
the former ; pencils of the ears very long ; nose and
face flesh colour ; some grey on the forehead ; the
rest all black.

Genus AILURUS. — The Panda. — Dent. form, g,
H» f- mol. f-f, car. {-{, true mol. f -f = 38. Might
be viewed as the racoon of Asia, their canines being
similar; but the five claws on each fore paw are
slightly retractile--

CARNIVORA. 215

.SHINING PANDA.

PLATE XVII.

•

• Ailurvs fulyens.

Is in size equal to a large cat, with a dense fur ;
above golden fulvous, more red on the shoulder,
and below dark sepia ; the head short, whitish on
the sides and forehead ; the tail rather long, very
bushy and obscurely barred with brown. Inhabits
the forests of the lower Himalaya range.

Genus CERCOLEPTES. — The Poto. — The Kinkajou
of Buffon may represent, in the Western World, the
Arctictis of the East, both having plantigrade feet
and prehensile tails. Dentition f , \-\, f -f = 36 :
the upper molars with flattened crowns, show a de-
cided preference for vegetable diet, although known
also to suck the blood of animals, but scarcely to eat
them. Mr. Pennant, under the name of Mexican
Weazel or Kinkajou, describes a true Cercoleptes ;
having by inadvertence skipped a line in translating
Buffon, where the naked flesh-coloured skin applies
to the hind feet, and not to the tail, as the English
version represents it.*

* Elle eat grosse (la queue) a I'origine du trar^on et va en
dimiimant imperceptiblement, et Jinit en pointe a 1'tjxtremite.

216 ORDER V.

The Potos inhabit tropical America, and are the
size of a domestic cat; nocturnal; in confinement
gentle, sit on their hams, and use the fore paws like
squirrels ; with the tail they can draw to them a
weight nearly equal to themselves, it is doubtful
whether there be more than one species; Mr.
Martin, however, by recent comparisons, establishes
two. •

Cer. megalotus. — Long-eared Poto. — With ears
narrow, elongated, rounded at tip ; general colour
deep reddish- yellow, with an obscure band of darker
colour, almost chestnut along the head, spine, and
tail ; sides pale, but throat and abdomen nearly as
dark as the back; and similarly marked with a
bund from breast to croup ; tail slender ; hair very
rigid.

Cer. Brachyotus. — Broad-eared Poto. — Fur full,
soft, moderately long, entirely glossy yellowish-grey,
clouded with brown, especially over the nose ; top of
the head, back, and abdomen, dusky straw colour ;
ears broad, short, and rounded.

Genus NASUA. — The Coatis. — Are a kind of mi-
niature long -tailed bears, of South America, with the
nose in form of a snout, much elongated and singu-
larly moveable. Their semi-palmated feet have five
toes, and are armed with powerful claws, which
serve both for digging and for climbing. Dentition
§, T~T' §'f = 40. Tail long, bushy, not prehensile;
body lengthened. The species are nocturnal, active,

Le dessous des pattes, qui est sans poil et couleur de chair
vermeille. — Buff. Hist, du Glouton.

CARNIVORA. 21?

omnivorous, feeding greedily on bird's eggs, winch
they find in trees, and no less pleased with earth
worms, rooted up with the snout ; they descend
from trees head foremost, by turning the hind feet
outwards. The Coatis have a strong disagreeable
smell.

Nasua socialis of the Prince of "Wied, includes
both the following, —

Nas. rufa. — Rufous Coati. — Somewhat less in
size than a domestic cat ; almost entirely bright ru-
fous; the muzzle greyish-black, with three white
spots about each eye, but no white streak down the
nose; ears and lower part of limbs black; tail with
eight or ten dark brown spots, lips, chin, and throat,
white. They live in the deepest forests of Brazil,
forming small troops or families, from six to eighteen;
and. in danger, caution each other by a shrill warn-
ing pipe.

Nas. fusca. — Brown Coati. — This species is pro-
perly the Quasji of the Dutch ; in Guiana, the word
more properly pronounced quastje, denoting a droll
fellow, a pantomime, clown, which, in truth, is not
inapplicable to the ludicrously meddling, active,
climbing, inquisitive character of the animal, when
in captivity. In size, the brown is equal to the
former, but the fur on the superior parts of the body
is deep brown, dun, grey, or even orange yellow ;
below orange grey ; there are three white spots
round each eye, and a white streak passes down the
forehead ; the nape grey ; the extremity of the feet

218 ORDER V.

black ; and the tail annulated with about six rings,
having the tip black.

Nas. solitaris, P. of Wied.— The Coati Mondi ,

Larger than N. socialis, measuring from nose to tail
T 11" 2'", and the tail 1' 9" ; total length, 3 feet
8 inches 2 lines ; the tail proportionablj shorter
than in the former, and the snout fuller ; the teeth
much stronger ; in manners, the greater part of the
year entirely solitary ; not frequenting the smaller
forests, and seldom seen even on the borders of the
primeval woods. This species does not dig, but se-
cures one or more places of rest, and hunts by day
alone, feeding on fruit, insects, worms, eggs and
birds. Whether mice, or other small mammals are
objects of prey, is doubtful; but the search after
food is undertaken sedately, ascending and descend-
ing a tree without the petulant haste of the social ;
and, in captivity, the character is still evinced in a
greater capability of education ; more docility, but
also confidence in personal powers, and proneness to
revenge and resistance. In this respect, a single
house dog is no match for him, and even two sport-
ing dogs cannot master a full grown animal in the
open wood. Dr. Rengger had one of his dogs kill-
ed, by a single bite opening the carotid artery ; and
in the same moment another, who already endea-
voured to escape, had the tendon of the heel cut
through.

The face is nearly black, but with the usual three
white spots about the eyes ; no white streak on the

CARNIVORA. 219

nose ; the chin black, hut the edge of the lower jaws
white ; ears black, with grey edges ; the hair of the
head, neck, and back, flanks and extremities, to near
the feet, grey at the root, is brown, with a citron
yellow tip ; and hence, in different lights, the colour
is yellowish-brown, or brownish-yellow ; on the un-
der parts the colour is more reddish; the tail is
marked with seven alternate rings of yellow-brown
and brown-black ; no great variation of these colours
is recorded.

220 ORDER V.

PLATE XVIII.

Nasua monachus.

A SPECIMEN, which we drew from life, measured
from nose to tail 2' 3", the tail 1' 4", total length
3 feet 7 inches : the nose, lips, and lower jaw, were
white, that colour passing upwards to between the
eyes ; the three usual white spots were present, and
the white of the throat passed up the jowl, covered
the temples and space round the base of the ears,
and hairs within them ; it came down the breast,
and went round the arm above the elbow : the neck,
shoulder, and upper arm dirty ochry-grey; the
cheeks, forehead, back, flanks, under parts, thighs,
and base of tail, deep sepia-brown ; the four legs
and paws, with the rest of the tail, pure black. See
the Plate. We will designate it by the name of
Nasua monachus^ to mark its sober monk-like livery,
as well as the steady and sedate mode it had of
moving and eating, so different from the petulant
activity of Nasua fusca. The species is certainly
allied to N. solitaris ; but we doubt the identity,
because, in the variations of its fur, we find none to
correspond with the above, or with the dimensions
here given, the tail being still shorter.

CARXIVORA. 221

Genus PROCYON. — The Racoon. — This constitutes
another form of American plantigrades, with man-
ners, locomotive organs, and dentition, not far dif-
ferent from the preceding, but possessed of one
characteristic quite peculiar, and that is, the habit
of moistening with water whatever it uses for food ;
the practice must, however, be taken in a restricted
sense, since, in a wild condition, Racoons often find-
ing their prey in trees, cannot possibly be believed
to descend for the purpose of washing it. Their
dentition is f , {-{, §-§ = 40, whereof the three
first molars are pointed, the three following tu-
bercular. They are robust, and in habit nearest
approaching true bears, though their limbs are com-
paratively slender ; they have the tail shorter by
nearly one half than coatis, still ringed like them,
but the cranial part of the head is much wider, and
their legs comparatively higher. The native Indians
call them by names denoting depressed dogs. In
captivity they become tame and playful, but never
domesticated nor particularly attached ; they ascend
trees with the greatest facility, and, in North Ame-
rica, are an object of sport much relished. The
species most commonly seen, is the

Procyon lotor. — The Common Racoon of North
America. — It is a tenant of the woods and plains,
abounding in trees. The fur is usually of a deep
greyish-ash, produced by the different coloured rings
on each hair ; below, the colours are lighter, in
this respect departing from the common livery of
Ursidce, whose limbs are usually dark ; the face is

222 ORDER V.

whitish, with a hroad blackish streak or band pass-
ing across the forehead, and descending on each
side to the angle of the jaw ; the tail has five or six
rings of brownish-black, interchanged with as many
of a lighter colour. We have drawn a specimen
at New York, which was rufous-grey like a fox,
with muzzle, limbs, under surface, and the lighter
rings of tail, nearly white. The Californian have
often much bright rufous about the limbs and in the
rings of the tail, and we have heard of a case of
albinism. A full sized Racoon measures, in our
notes, about 2' 8", the tail 10"; total length 3 feet
6, and in height at the shoulder 10 inches. The
species is nocturnal, although the pupils of the eyes
are round. Like most of the Carnivora of America,
it will feed on fish and mollusca.

Procyon gularls. — Black-throated Racoon. — Is
described, by Desmarets after M. Beauvoir, as
smaller, with a longer tail and narrower head than
the common. A specimen which we examined alive
in the State of New York, was larger than that
whose dimensions are given above, and differed by
the colours being in general darker and lighter ; the
whole throat was black, and the tail, not more
than 8 inches long, was equally thick to the end.
We were told that the two varieties are never found
together.

CAHNIVORA. 223

CRAB-EATING RACOON.
PLATE XIX.

Procyon cancrivorus.

Is the Aguarapope of the Brazilians. The fur is
fulvous and grey, with dirty white limbs and face,
the same blackish marks on the forehead, and round
eyes, and rings on the tail less distinct. We have
once met this animal in Guiana, with the fur very
short and close, and the tail covered with close
hairs; and we have another drawing of one with
the hair long, and even undulating like a bear's in
winter; the tail very bushy, and the whole pure
black, excepting on each side the ridge of the nose,
and the fore paws, which were rust colour. This
specimen was inferior in size to the adult cancri-
vorus. The Crab-eater is about 2' 6" from nose to
tail, the tail proportionably longer is 1' 3"; total 3
feet 9 inches ; and the animal is also taller, being
about T 3" at the shoulder.

The species occupies all South America east of
the Andes, for the mammalogy to the west of that
chain is scanty and generally different ; it does not
frequent high forests, still less the plains, but trees
and regions along watery places. His food is pro-

224 ORDER V.

bably quite similar to that of P. lotor, but that the
more abundant rivers in the south, and a peculiar
crab very common in all, has made it believed that
this object is the principal and most desired prey.

Genus URSUS. — The Bears. — We now come to
the most important group of the Plantigrades, claim-
ing attention no less on account of the bulk, the
ferocity, intelligence, peculiar manners, and varied
extent of habitat of the several species, but also for
the economic use to which their flesh and skins are
applied, and the mystical and awful faculties rude
nations in both hemispheres, and in every climate,
have been prone to ascribe to them. The genus
Ursus, now divided into four groups, is composed
of species, all of which possess considerable sagacity,
and, probably, without exception, are omnivorous:
in general, flesh and blood are not objects of pre-
dilection, but fruit, vegetables, and, in particular,
honey. Bears, of all mammalia, are the larges
animals still possessed of the facility of climbing
trees, only one or two species appearing to be denied
the power after their full growth, or not in want of
it, because no trees grow in the localities assigned
them.

The genus in possession of the whole Northern
Hemisphere, from the pole to the tropic of Capri-
corn, and not even excluded the high mountain
regions below and beyond the equatorial line, is
represented by a secondary type, particularly ap-
pertaining to the dense intertropical vegetation of
the low lands in several of the great Australasian

CARNIVORA. 225

islands, and thence spreading to the higher peaks
of the same latitudes, appears to extend on the
continent, through the forests, to the high lands of
Indo-China.

In these regions, where the ratiocination and
legendary knowledge of the natives is apparently
a result of total disconnection with the races of man
on the north, the indigenous bears have caused
similar mystical impressions to arise with those
which we know to exist alike among the red men
of America, the yellow Mongole of Tartary, and the
ruddy Christian of Arctic Europe. Unquestionably
these notions are a consequence of human fear,
endeavouring to investigate the real and supposed
phenomena observable in bears, such as the power
of sitting, and for a few paces walking erect ; the
propensity of suffocating in their fore paws such of
their enemies as attack them ; the expression, of
their eyes, evincing thought and a settled purpose
more than malignity, but changing to a menacing
spectral appearance when the white nictitating mem-
brane is half drawn across the eye ball. Nor is
the voice without peculiar power of impression on
the imagination, sometimes resembling the ravings
uttered by human brutality in the last stage of
intoxication, proffering sounds which the ear would
fain attempt to catch, as if they might be connected
with articulate words in an unearthly language,
changing into growls deep and threatening, or form-
ing rapid nasal ejaculations, indicating an anxious
but direful intention. If to these we add occasional

226 ORDER V.

ferocity, and constant tenacity of life, strength that
can lift a dead horse into forks of trees, and an
unaccountable but universally asserted habit of not
attacking a sleeping man, we may infer, though
other particularities might be added, that these are
sufficient elements of awe and wonder, associated
with the idea of bear, to create all the legends and
opinions entertained on the subject.

It would be, besides, a mistaken view of nature,
if among the Camivora, species of such strength,
so much sagacity, and among themselves of socia-
bility, species which have not an imperative call to
shed blood, but can subsist with satisfaction on
vegetables, and, in autumn, are often excessively
fat, we should not find occasional traits of forbear-
ance, or even of capricious affection, such as was
strongly evinced by the domesticated bear at Nanci
in 1709, which, in a severe winter, took a starving
Savoyard boy under his protection, kept him sleep-
ing in his arms, reserved part of his food for him,
and, though he allowed him full liberty, was furious
when the child was offered to be taken from him.
The wild she bear, in more than a single instance,
lias been known to bestow her forbearance, and
even affection, on human beings; and the Indian
stories of women having been preserved unhurt, by
the caprice of bears, are not without some founda-
tion. Hence, among the red Indians of the west,
the bear is often regarded as the original progenitor
of the tribe, as still animating the substantial or the
shadowy forms of men, as having mysterious powers

CARXIVORA. 227

of mischief and of beneficence, which should be
deprecated or invoked by offerings, prayers, and
ceremonies ; such as smoking tobacco over the body,
as soon as one is slain in the chase, breathing the
smoke into its nostrils, calling upon its spirit aloud,
or by whispering into its dead ears, deprecating
wrath for having made it a victim, and imploring
its good will during the hunting season; dancing
in its honour; and, finally, having communication
with the invisible power by the intervention of the
tribal medicine man, priest, sachem, wizard, and
impostor.

Similar superstitions are scarcely less in vogue
among several nations of the Mongole race in North-
ern and Central Asia, and the mummeries of the
Pagan Troll of Scandinavia still vibrate with re-
sponsive terror in the ears of Christian Northmen of
the present time. Heroes and grandees have gloried
in the name of Biorn, and two houses, renowned in
England and France, still bear the patronymic of
Biron, which is generally considered as a mere
mutation of the same Biorn, so often in the Latin
of the middle ages translated by Ursus.

It is this fear, respect, or interest, which the ima-
gination of mankind confers upon the genus, that
caused the denomination to stand, in the north, in
similar estimation as the idea of lion is regarded
in the south: it made the teeth and claws to be
similarly worn in the form of necklaces, and the
shaggy skin to be desired for mantles by the brave,
as tokens of prowess and victory. To them must

228 ORDER V.

be referred the selection of bear skins for military
ensigns by several nations, or, when they are of un-
usual colours, such as yellow, pied, or white, they
caused them to be assumed by wizards in their incan-
tations; and, more lately, as donations to churches
in the north, where they are even now spread for
rugs to warm the feet of the humble pastors during
service.

In Southern Asia, where another sub-genus is
most common, the natives still have similar ideas
of supernatural influence ; and something like a
sacred character belongs to their Badger-bol (pro-
bably the common Prochilus labiatus). Captain
Williamson relates a characteristic anecdote of an
English officer, passing in his palankeen through a
forest, being encountered by one, and left to his
fate by the bearers, who, during a gallant struggle
with the brute, stood aloof, alternately exclaiming
as the soldier or the bear rolled uppermost in the
conflict, " well done master ! well done bear !" and
at length coming forward to congratulate " Sahib"
on his victory, when the officer was observed to be
master. Here the chief cause of admiration may
depend upon the histrionical habits of the animals
in question, who often appear in the travellers' path,
and perform numerous tumbling antics, as if to
entertain them, and then depart without attempt-
ing mischief.

Bears were long said not to exist in Palestine,
and Pliny, more peremptorily than is usual with
him, denies their presence in Africa ; yet, that they

CARXIVORA. 229

once abounded in Syria, is proved by the existence
of a particular species in the country, which shall
be noticed in the sequel. Nor are the high lands
of Abyssinia, or the range of Atlas without a bear,
though neither are as yet described ;* and, there*
fore, the notice of Lybian Bears, recorded to have
been exhibited at Rome by Domitius ^Enobarbus in
his edileship, during the consulate of M. Piso and M.
Messala, deserves more credit than the negative of
Pliny, who was certainly in error respecting stags.

The dentition of this genus consists typically in
all, of incis. §, can. {-{, mol. f -f = 42 : the crowns
of the molars evince a decided predilection for a
ftugivorous habit, but little modified in the sub-
genera, and several incisors and premolars occasion-
ally drop out, or are not evolved. The feet are all
pentadactylous, armed with strong claws more or
less in line, not much curved, and formed more for
digging and climbing than tearing. The limbs are
robust and high, compared with other adjoining
Carnivora. The ears ample enough, rounder or
obtusely pointed ; the tail always short, or almost
nul ; the eyes small ; and the fur, in all cold cli-
mates, exceedingly abundant and long. In those
climates also, the males, and, in some species, all

* Mr. Bly th, from a notice by Mr. Crowther, states an
adult female of the Atlas Bear to be inferior to the American
Black Bear, but more robust ; the face shorter, broader,
muzzle pointed ; toes and claws very short ; fur shaggy,
brownish-black above, below orange-rufous. The specimen
\vas killed at the foot of the Tetuan Mountains. Does not
climb with ease.

230 ORDER V.

the females, are disposed to hibernate during the
prevalence of snow and cold, without taking food,
and there produce the young, which are fostered for
many days, before the mother rises to break out of
her retreat. It appears to be a singular fact, that
all the individuals slain during the period of repose,
have the excretory passage stopped up, or plugged,
by what in Norway is called the tappen, or plug
found in the rectum ; and, it seems, where hiber-
nation is interrupted by captivity, cub bears so
situated, are liable to a temporary blindness. This
we have witnessed in the case of a young black
bear, brought from Quebec late in the autumn :
the nictitating membrane, early during the passage
home, spread over both eyes, and became fixed,
although the animal was as lively as ever, being
permitted to go free about the ship ; he could, in.
in this state, walk over the sides into the chains,
climb up the ropes, and was a full match for the
tricks the young midshipmen played him, by retort-
ing occasionally with extraordinary quickness and
precision, greatly damaging their sea clothes : he
trusted entirely to the acuteness of his olfactory
sense during the whole period of his blindness,
which continued until the last days of February.

Sub-genus HELARCTOS, Horsf. — The Sun Bears.
— First instituted by Dr. Horsfield ; and there is a
figure engraved by Howitt after our drawing, in
1820, taken from the specimen sent to Lady Banks.
The Sun Bears differ from the other sub-genera by
being clothed with a short close fur : they have the

CARXrVORA. 231

body long in proportion to their height at the shoul-
der ; the ear small and round ; the muzzle short
and broad ; the lips extensile ; the tongue very long ;
a distinct clear or whitish space on the breast, and
long crooked claws. Of the sub-genus, the two
species known are both equatorial; and if one of
these, or a species still undescribed, exists in Ma-
laya, it is not probably found beyond the tropic.

Hel. Malayanus, Horsf. — The Bruang Is a

species found in Sumatra ; about 4 feet long from
nose to tail, and 2 feet high at the shoulder ; the
fur glossy black, close, from the shoulder and throat
running forward to the region between the ears, and
down the jowl, where that from the head running
back, the two together form a ridge : the face to
behind the eyes and lower jaw is buff; on the breast,
between the arms, a large white crescent, the horns
of which point forward ; the tail not an inch long.
It is the Hel. typus of Leach, Ursus and Prochilus
Malay anus of Raffles and Gray, an animal remark-
ably docile in captivity, feeding chiefly on vegetables,
exceedingly fond of plantains and young cocoa plants
and fruit; but, above all, greedy of honey, sugar,
and similar delicacies. It is inoffensive and saga-
cious, though possessed of very great strength, and
armed with powerful claws ; and, no doubt, in its
native forests, it may, when excited, be a formidable
enemy to man. There is one living in the gardens
of the Zoological Society.

Hel. Euryspilus, Horsf. — The Bornean Sun Bear.
— Differs chiefly in the form of the mark on the

232 ORDER V.

breast, which in this species is nearly square, and
of a yellowish or orange colour. The only speci-
men known was brought from Borneo, and had
not grown to the size of the Bruang, being 3 feet
9 inches in length. In manners this animal is most
likely quite similar to the former. The indivi-
dual which existed in the Tower of London, stood,
however, with more facility on his hind feet, pro-
truded the lips into a kind of funnel more com-
pletely, and the tongue equally or farther than the
Malayan. It had the tumbling propensities which
are still more characterized in the next species,
making, with the head on the ground, antics as if it
ivould stand upon it; and was killed by its own
gluttony.

Sub-genus PROCHILUS. — Labiated or Tumbler
Bear. — First noticed in England by the name of
Bradipus ursinus, Ursine Sloth, from the circum-
stance of the individual having no incisor teeth;
M. Blainville considered them to have been extracted,
and, therefore, named the species a true bear, " Ours
Batteleur," or Tumbler Bear; but it appears that
there are at any time only four incisors above, and
the six below have commonly the two middlemost
wanting, while several, and often all the remainder,
fall out without being removed by violence : there-
fore dent. form, incis. f or f or g, can. \-\, pr. mol.
f-f , mol. f -f = 36 or 34 or 26. The cartilage of
the nose is extensile and moveable, and the lips are
protrudable. Beside these characters, the ears are
narrow, small and pointed, and there is a profusion

CARNIVORA. 233

of long semi-erect hair on the nape and sides of the
neck, with a white crescent under the throat, but
not so low down between the fore-arms as in the
sun bears. The only species known, is remarkable
for its powers of smell and sagacity. The old blind
specimen at Paris, having been removed to a new
cell, soon discovered that one of the pannels of the
partition would slide upwards ; and we have watch-
ed him, for a quarter of an hour together, in the act
of getting his claws under the edge and raise it up,
always with the intention of passing into the next
cell, which was empty ; and, of course, as soon as
he withdrew his paws, to walk forward, the pannel
would slide down, still renewing the same manoeuvre
again and again. It is this species, also, which in
India is accused to have occasionally attacked single
travellers, and by whole families to have munched
the hands and feet of their victim, breaking and
crushing the bones, and then sucking the limbs, al-
most reduced to a pulp, with little laceration of the
skin. Captain Williamson attests being witness to
an event of this kind * in the vicinity of Dacca,
where they were formerly numerous. Colonel Sykes
found them in the Deccan, seeming every where to
delight in the wildest rocky mountain forests, climb-
ing trees with more activity than true bears, and not
unfrequently showing their wild and gamboling an-
tics while they run in the path before the traveller.
Proch. labiatus. — The Bauloo, Sloth Bear, Aswail
of the Mahrattas. — This species has also been called
* Oriental Field Sports, Vol. II. " The death of the Bear/*

234 ORDER V.

" labiated," and, by the French, Jongleur, &c. It is
a low legged heavy animal, about 3 feet 6 inches
from nose to tail, is covered with a great quantity
of long black hair, and has a prolonged muzzle,
which, with the lips, cheeks, and the crescent, or
rather V shaped mark beneath the throat, is white.
In captivity its manners are melancholy, but not
slothful ; and where two or more are kept together,
they are sociable. They make a kind of humming
noise while a fore paw is kept at the mouth, which
by some has been called their song. Although the
particular mode of injuring human beings above
noticed is perfectly consonant with their dentition,
it may be, that in the notices derived from India
relating1 these facts, more than one species are con^
founded, and the munching propensity may belong
to one of the following species, perhaps that of
Thibet.

Sub-genus URSUS. — The Bears Proper. — The
Bears, properly so called, are the typical form of
the whole genus, and occupy by far the greatest
range on the terrestrial surface ; they form, conse-
quently, the greater number of species and very dis-
tinct varieties ; and though the centre of their
habitat appears to be in the colder regions of the
north, true Bears are found in the Andes of South
America.

235

Ursus Arctos.

THE size of this species, the most commonly seen
in Europe, is about 4 feet in length, by two and a
half in height at the shoulder ; but specimens occur
of much larger proportions. It is a square-built
powerful animal, with a large head, a prolonged
nose terminating in a broad muzzle ; the forehead is
convex above the eyes ; the eyes are small, the ears
sub-triangular, more or less hidden in a great quan-
tity of brown shaggy hair, which is more rufous on
the back in the summer, and always darker beneath ;
the soles of the hind feet not very large. We figure
Plate XX. (under the name of " The Yellow Bear
of Norway"), one copied from a stuffed specimen in
the museum of Dresden, which appeared to be a
very distinct variety, if not a separate species, mea-
suring 4 feet at the shoulder, 6 feet 8 inches from
nose to tail, and 22 inches from muzzle to ear.
The colour on the back was brilliant golden ful-
vous, paler on the shoulder and forehead, bright red
on the flanks, and browner below ; inside of the
ears, lips, and chin, white, and the feet sepia-brown ;
but the breadth of the forehead, and a very deep

236 ORDER T.

depression on the plane of the nose between the
«yes, gave the head what appeared to us a complete
resemblance to that character in fossil skulls of
bears, found at Geulenreuth. This animal, it will
be observed, was equal in size to the largest Grizzly
and Polar Bears, and was sent alive, a present from
the King of Denmark to the last Elector of Saxony.
It came from Norway.

The Brown Bear assumes an erect posture with
facility, walks on the hind feet, and sits on his
hams : the same attitude is assumed when the ani-
mal is at bay; and it will then suffocate dogs or
men that can be clawed within its arms. There are,
however, peasants in the north, who will venture
single handed to encounter a bear : for this purpose
they are armed with a rather long, broad, and very
sharp pointed knife, with the blade of great thick-
ness at the back, arid the edge very keen, and they
wind round the left arm several folds of bear skin
fur : thus prepared, they watch the moment of en-
counter, when the bear rears up, to make two or
three quick and repeated stabs, keeping the enemy
off as much as possible, in order to guard chiefly
against one of his hind feet, which, it is asserted,
the animal lifts, if he can grapple with his fore paws,
and tears his victim down at one effort. The com-
mon practice now is, to shoot them with rifles ; but
formerly, in Germany and Poland, a bear hunt was
reckoned among the most princely of sports. Hun-
ters on horseback, armed with spears, others on foot,
with similar weapons, packs of bounds, sustained

CARNIVORA. 237

by numerous couples of bear dogs and mastiffs, and
whole troops of country people, some bearing nets
of great length, others implements to make fires, and
all furnished with horns, trumpets, drums, and other
kinds of noisy instruments, assemble to drive the
game together, and destroy it by open force.

British, or Caledonian Bears, are noticed by the
classic writers, and were taken for the purpose of
supplying the Roman games ; and gladiators, at one
time Christian victims, and malefactors always,
were exposed to fight, or to be torn by them, and
administer to the ferocious taste of the city, so long
and so deeply inured to sanguinary pleasures, that
even the efforts of Christian authority could not en-
tirely subdue it, till a foreigner, and that foreigner a
Goth, spoke in the language of a conqueror, and
was obeyed. Bear baiting in England was likewise
a pastime of all classes, from the sovereign to the
beggar ; and a bear garden is still a proverbial ex-
pression, to denote what is emphatically vulgar, if
not ferocious.

The Pyrenees and the Asturian mountains still
contain a variety of the Alpine Bear, which, in youth
more particularly, is clothed in a dirty whitish livery,
with only some brown about the head and shoul-
ders.

The Black Bear of Sweden, with a permanently
narrow white ring round the neck, if it be only a
variety, as Baron Cuvier was latterly inclined to be-
lieve, still is one constantly found in the country
where the brown species is likewise abundant ; but,

238 ORDER V.

from the specimen of a Bear, figured in Plate XX. ,
it is clear, that the black is not the larger of the two,
as he seemed to think. The pair we have seen were
little larger than the short legged American Black
Bear. In winter, this species has the tips of the
hair on the back white, which produces a hoary cast ;
and then it may be the Silver Bear of the north of
Europe.

Urnus collaris of F. Cuvier. — The Siberian Bear.
—Is nearly allied to the last, but distinguished by a
large white collar, passing round the neck, and ex-
tending upon the anterior part of the shoulders. In
form it is more like the Brown Bear of Europe, and
is most likely identical with

The Barren Ground Bear of Dr. Richardson,
found in the inhospitable regions between the nor-
thernmost woods and the Arctic Sea of America. It
is larger than the Common Black, with broader soles
of the feet, and longer tail and middle sized claws,
is allied to the Brown Bear, generally dusky and
sometimes yellowish-brown ; and the shoulders and
flanks covered with long hairs, which, in summer at
least, have very pale tips. All these bears still form
an article of subsistence to nations in the north,
where the oil, fat, hams and skins, are preserved,
dressed and exported, or used on the spot, and the
rest of the flesh is eaten in a fresh state.

U. Tkibetanus —The Thibet Bear of F. Cuvier.
— Occurs in the mountains of Sylhet and Nepaul.
It is distinguished by a large flat head, thick neckr
large ears, heavy limbs, and comparatively small

CARNIVORA. 239

claws. The colour is black, with a V shaped spot
of white on the breast ; the limbs of the spot being
more open, and marking not the inside of the breast
but the edge of the shoulders. It is this species we
suspect to be mistaken, in India, for the Common
Bauloo, to which it bears considerable resemblance.

U. Isabellinus, Ilorsf. — The Isabella Bear. — Is a
variety or species from Nepaul, but little known.
Apparently allied to the Brown Bear, with small,
obtuse, straight claws, and a fawn coloured fur. One
more of these questionable varieties is,

U. Syriacus. — The Syrian Bear. — Mentioned in
the Scriptures, noticed in the wars of the Crusades, *
and still found, but rarely, in Syria, The animal is
of a fulvous white, with large ears, a mane of stiff
erect hairs on the shoulders ; the rest of the body
with woolly fur, above which there is a longer,
rather soft coat of hair ; the tail, six inches long, the
claws small, the stature rather high, and bulk about
equal to the common Black Bear ; it feeds on flesh,
but more commonly on vegetables.

Ursus Americanus. — American Black Bear. —
Head narrow, ears more remote, no depression be-
tween the eyes ; the muzzle prominent. The species
is lower on the limbs, and clothed with glossy black
longish fur; the nose and cheeks, to beyond the

* One of these animals had nearly proved fatal to Godfrey
of Bouillon, at the siege of Antioch, as related by Math. Paris,
for, while riding alone, he encountered the beast, which had
attacked a poor wood cutter, and slew it ; but not without
receiving himself a dangerous wound.

240 ORDER V.

eyes, are rufous. In character more frugivorous than
the brown species ; it is consequently less dangerous ;
is also more active, climbs with greater alacrity, and
hibernates regularly about the period when the snows
begin to form, remaining concealed until they have
disappeared. This bear is somewhat smaller than
the Brown, or rather lower on the legs ; although it
must be observed, that the Indians and hunters re-
cognise two varieties, one of which is taller than the
other : it may be, that the last mentioned is identical
with the variety before noticed, as the Swedish and
Silver Bear.

The Cinnamon and Yellow Bear are considered
as varieties of the black. It may, however, be worth
mentioning, that a black, and a Carolina yellow,
of the same stature, and nearly of the same age,
were compared by us: the last mentioned being
more slender ; less covered in fur ; the plane of the
nose more convex ; the muzzle more pointed ; and,
in intelligence, more active, for while the black
lay down in perfect apathy, and our attention was
directed to drawing another object, a familiar breath-
ing over the shoulder made us fancy some uncere-
monious intruder was looking over our work, but,
on turning round, perceived it was the Yellow Bear,
carefully raised on his hind feet, not touching our
clothes with his fore paws, but having his snout
over the shoulder, most curiously intent upon what
was doing on the paper.

The Gular Bear. — " Ours gulaire" of Geoffroy. —
We take again to be the High-lefified Black Bear,

CARNIVORA. M

and Silver Fear, because the true young Black Bear
Las no collar, and is not black, but greyish.

But a very distinct species from all these belongs
to South America, and appears to spread from Ca-
raccas to Chili ; it is the

Ursus ornatus, F. Cuv. — The Spectacled Bear.
— This species is a new discovery made in South
America. The fur is smooth, black and shining ;
the muzzle yellowish, and a semicircle of the same
colour, rising from the forehead, nearly encompasses
each eye, leaving the orbits themselves black, and
there is a light coloured patch on the throat. It is
about 3 feet 6 inches in length, and is the hand-
somest of the ursine genus. The species is found in
the Andes of Chili, but the late Sir R. Ker Porter
noticed one slightly different in markings, which
was found in the Andes, not far from Caraccas,
which indicates an extended habitat along the whole
chain of the ridge in South America.

There remains yet one more species of land bears
to be noticed ; one, so remarkable in character, that
Mr. Gray has placed it in a distinct sub-genus,
which he denominated Danis. It has the muzzle
narrowed, lengthened, and flattened ; the canine
teeth, and the claws of the fore paws very much
developed, and scarcely more than a rudiment for
tail ; but these characters, including the great pro-
portions of the animal, do not, in our view, amount
to more than a specific difference.

Ursus ferox^ Lewis and Clarke. — The Grizzly
Bear. — Is the Meesheh Musquaw of the Cree Indians,

242 ORDER V.

and Hohhost of the Chopunish ; and, by hunters of
the west, familiarly called " Caleb." It differs in
outward appearance very little from the brown bear,
excepting that the colour is of a sepia-black, the back
being entirely grizzled with white, and the limbs
darkening into positive coal-black ; the muzzle is
more or less rust-coloured ; and the ears very hairy,
appear rather large. The most remarkable charac-
ter consists in the very great size of the claws, which,
on the fore paws, border on 6 inches in length,
and are not sufficiently curved for climbing ; hence,
the adult Grizzly Bear does not ascend trees. This
bear, if measurements may be credited, is the
largest of the genus ; Lewis and Clarke having
found one that was 9 feet from nose to tail, and
weighed 800 pounds. Of the eight or nine we
have seen, none exceeded a common brown bear,
nor approached in size the specimen we have
figured, nor one that was exhibited in Plymouth
some years since, which walked erect without a sup-
porting pole, arid, in this posture, was more than
seven feet high. But it is in the bulk of the limbs,
and the great girth and size of the head, that this
bear appears gigantic, and where these characters
are coupled with the ferocity and tenacity of life
which belong to it, we need not wonder at the
capricious characters that it evinces, nor at the
mysterious notions which the Indians, and even the
Anglo American hunters, entertain of it. Mr.
Cdtlin describes an instance where one of these
bears, a female, walked round him and his com-

CARNIVORA. 243

•panions while asleep, as the track of her paws
most clearly demonstrated, and then went to their
canoe, which she plundered of all the eatables. It
seems to be an understood thing among the back-
woodsmen not to meddle with " Caleb," for, on
this occasion, when Mr. Catlin was going to fire,
although he and his companions had embarked,
and were on the water, it was overruled : con-
sidering that the species swims exceedingly fast,
and that it can bear several bullets through the
lungs without arresting its progress, the resolution
to depart may have been very proper. In most
cases, this bear is not disposed to attack human
beings if unmolested ; it will rear itself on the hind
legs, show its teeth, then turn round to depart, and,
perhaps, again repeat the same menace ; on other
occasions, it may be scared by noise, such as that
Mr. Drummond used, by beating a large tin box ;
still, it is by far the most formidable animal of the
American Continent, capable of striking down a
bull bison, notwithstanding its enormous strength,
and of dragging the carcase to a convenient place,
there to bury it, in order to have several meals from
the prey, which may weigh from 1000 to 1200 or
more pounds. The bears from the eastern side of the
rocky mountains, more abundantly supplied with
animal food, are much more ferocious than those
on the west, where they are in a great measure
subsisting on berries. The species extends to the
north beyond the latitude of 61°, and to the south
into the Mexican territories.

244 ORDER V.

Pennant, on the authority of Condamine and
Ulloa, mentions a brown bear of the Peruvian
Andes ; but this may be the spectacled bear before
mentioned, or is a species still undescribed.

Sub-genus THALARCTOS. — Marine Bears. — The
North Polar region is frequented by a species of
bear, which is sufficiently distinct from the fore-
going to be placed in a separate section : it is longer
in the body ; the head is lengthened and flattened ;
the ears and mouth comparatively small ; the neck
very thick and prolonged ; the soles of the feet very
large and clothed with fur, and the whole coat,
dense and long, is silvery white tinged with yellow ;
the claws black, rather short and stout, not much
curved; an additional conic tooth behind the ca-
nines. Habits almost amphibious.

Ursus (thalarctos) maritimus. — Polar Bear. —
Sufficiently described in the foregoing characters,
though, we may add, that the species has a very
large naked black muzzle, and a keen sense of
smelling. It is affectionate to its young, ferocious
to all other living beings; feeds chiefly on seals,
young whales, and carcasses of dead cetaceae ; and
will attack the walrus, who is, nevertheless, able
to cope with it : Cartwright saw one dive after a
salmon, and catch the prey; — this is a sufficient
evidence of the power and agility these bears have
in the water : and the distance they can swim was
shown to Captain Lyons, who observed one mid
way, in Barrow's Straits, twenty miles either way
from land.

CARXIVORA. 245

The males reside all the winter on ice, and are
often carried out to sea to a great distance ; some-
times they reach Iceland or Norway, and commit
such devastations, that the peasantry assemble to
destroy them. The females hibernate, and pro-
duce their young under the snow. On land they
have a shuffling kind of canter, certainly faster than
the best running pace of a man ; and, on snow and
ice, their hairy feet prevent them from slipping.
In size these bears are much longer and broader,
though not higher, than the brown. The measure-
ments of French and English zoologists, taken from
living specimens in menageries, are necessarily from
animals whose growth was checked by captivity and
uncongenial climate. A full grown male bear is
commonly between 7 and 8 feet in length, and
weighs from 1000 to 1200 pounds; and Captain
Lyons killed one 8' 7J" in length, which weighed
1600 pounds. In a Dutch narrative, the length
of one is given as 23 feet, by the ancient method
of measurement, which is an evident misprint for
13; now, measuring Captain Lyons' specimen, from
the nose to the extremity of the feet, it would
scarcely be less ; and, therefore, we see no attempt
at wilful misrepresentation.

Fossil bears were long known under various fan-
ciful names, until Blumenbach distinguished among
the bones, found in the caverns of Bareuth, and, in
particular, at Geulenreuth, the skulls of two species,
which he denominates Ursus speleus, and Ursus
arctoides ; the former in size equal to a horse, and

246 ORDER V.

the latter smaller, and approaching the existing
black bear : a third species Goldfus detected near
Muggendorf, and named Ursus priscus. Ursus
cultridenS) with dentilated edges to the canines, is
most likely a misnomer, the teeth not being those
of a bear, though we doubt Kaup's opinion of their
resembling those of saurians, at least not in the
root, which, we think, proves that they belong to a
mammal, and not to a saurian.

THE PINNATIPEDES.

HITHERTO Lutra, as a genus, was located among
the ill-assorted Digitigrades, between the Planti-
grade MephiteS) and the Canidce, in consequence of
an unrestricted subservience to the dentition alone,
although the otters show a gradual transition into the
amphibious series, by their webbed feet, their length-
ened form, prominent seal-like eyes, and the articu-
lations and muscular structure of their hind quar-
ters and tail, which last begins to have the qualities
of a skulling oar ; and, in one case, even is provided
with a kind of fin. The question of location appears
to us merely to be, whether the group should close
the land carnassiers, or be the first of the Carnivora
that make their constant residence in the water*
Undoubtedly, there is great weight in the objection,
that they are not strictly Pinnatipedes, and that
semi-palmated weasels and martens might as well
be transferred to this order, and thus totally derange

CARNIVORA. 247

the natural connection which now is observed in the
carnassiers of the elongated form. We shall not
enter here into the question, whether these semi-pal-
mated animals are in their most natural location, but
simply remark, that as otters are neither Digitigrade
nor Plantigrade, but swimming Carnivora^ some
having the soles bald to the heel, others only the
palms, and a third class are hairy footed like a
polar bear ; as the dentition of seals and morses is
exceedingly various, without dislocating the connec-
tion of the genera that it answered as an order;
according to F. Cuvier, a family, or at least a con-
tiguous series ; and as these have differently formed
anterior extremities, they appear to us, when com-
pared with the sea otter (Enhydra), to be only one
remove further in transition towards the fish form,
of which Enhydra, the last of the true otters, is the
link; on one- side drawing after it the Lutrine
genus, and on the other passing into that of seal,
which likewise declines towards Cetacea : we con-
clude, therefore, taking the whole of the conforma-
tion together, that it is better to place the several
species, more and more approximating towards the
marine structure, notwithstanding they have the
dentition nearly of Mustelidce in one series with the
Pinnatipedes, than retrograde towards the lengthen-
ed land carnassiers, with whom they have less affi-
nity in manner of life, residence, and conformation.
We include, therefore, in the Pinnatipede tribe,
the Carnivora with various structures of dentition,
having a lengthened form fitted for swimming, web-

248 ORDER V.

bed feet, eyes constructed for distinct vision under
water ; habits of residence in, and food derived from
the watery element ; and these we station in two
families, the Otters and Seals.

Family I. The Enhydridce. — Having Musteline
'forms and dentition ; but the four feet distinctly
webbed ; skull assuming the Phoca character ; sub-
marine eyes; constrained movement on land; the
articulations in general admitting to form a line
with the body ; mostly an habitual residence in
fresh waters.

Genus LUTRA. — The River Otters. — Incis. §,
can. \-\, mol. H or f -| =36 or 38. Above the first
molar, small, deciduous ; the fourth carnassial mid-
dle sized, with two external points and an internal
heel ; the fifth with three small external points ; in
the lower jaw first molar often wanting, the rest
similar to the upper ; all bearing the pointed charac-
teristics required for the seizing and retaining a
slippery fish -form prey. Body very long ; legs
short ; toes 5—5, webbed ; tail long, powerful, de-
pressed, tapering ; close furred ; head depressed ;
eyes large, plane ; ears small ; vibrissee very strong ;
upper lips covering the lower, and closing it firmly,
as in the Phoca ; an anal scent bag ; under the skin
a layer of fat, and other approximations to seals.*

* If we could point out which species have compressed
and which depressed tails, and attest the manner of using
this organ in swimming, we would have an additional element
of distinction.

CARNIVORA. 249

They may be divided, according to Mr. J. E. Gray,
by the characters of the toes, and the nakedness of
the soles. This arrangement we transpose.

A, Toes half webbed, first joints of middle, and
next outward finger, united ; claws obsolete.

Sub-genus AONYX, Lesson.

A. Horsfieldii, Gray. — Lutra leptonyx, Horsf. —
Java Otter. — Head narrower, more lengthened ; the
neck shorter ; fore legs longer ; the entire habit
slender ; the tail likewise shorter and pointed. The
fur is brown and soft, with the lips, cheeks, throat,
and breast, whitish. This form evidently retains
terrestrial habits not in general belonging to the
group ; it must swim and dive with less power, and
reside in shoal waters.

AonyxLalandii, Lesson. — Lutra Capensis. — Cape
Otter. — Fur soft and thick, chestnut-brown, deepest
on the upper after parts; brownish- grey on the
head ; below white. Total length 4' 6" — Resides
in the salt lagoons and rivers of the Cape, mostly
apt to dry, and leave only holes of deep water.

B, Toes equal, separate, webbed ; claws acute.

a, Mufle bald.

* Soles of the hind feet bald to the heel.

Sub-genus LUTRA, Lutra vulgaris. — The Com-
mon Otter. — Brown ; head sometimes coloured
whitish ; size from 25 to 42 inches total length,
and weight from 20 to 40 pounds. Runs on land
with difficulty, but swims and dives with great
vigour ; lurks under banks in sedgy and overgrown
watery places, beneath roots of trees, and in holes

250 ORDER V.

often infected by the remains of putrid fish, upon
which it feeds almost exclusively, although larvae
and worms are not refused when pressed by hun-
ger, and young lambs are said to fall sometimes
a prey to these marauders, in land excursions ; but
the otter, it should be remembered, is destructive
to fish, and affords excitement to country sports-
men; two causes sufficient for even more serious
accusations, and for disregarding the positive utility
it can be made of by domestication, which, maugre
Buffon's incredulity, is not unfrequently accom-
plished in North Britain with this species, and
largely with a^ Indian Otter; and, in both cases,
rendered available for the most successful fish-
ing.

Otters do not confine their search for prey exclu-
sively to fresh waters, but will, in Great Britain at
least, go out to sea : they have been observed, among
others by ourselves, above a mile from the land.

L. roensis, Ogilb. — Var.? The Irish Otter. —
Considered a distinct species, chiefly on account of
its salt water habitat and very dark fur; will re-
quire not only further investigation, but also a com-
parison with the otters that fish out at sea on the
coasts of Cornwall and Devon, and with the spotted
otter, Lutra vulg., Varlegata of Desmarets, since
a specimen killed in the vicinity of Plymouth, by
J. C. Bulteel, Esq. of Fleet, exhibits the sepia-black
colour, larger size, and somewhat larger ears of the
Irish, and is, moreover, scantily freckled with white
specks.

CARNIVORA. 251

The common otter occupies the whole of Europe,
and extends into Northern Asia eastwards, to an
unknown distance.

L. Oanadensis. — The Canadian Otter. — Head pro-
portionably larger than the common, size altogether
more bulky, being nearly 5 feet total length ; lips,
chin, and throat, often white ; general colour of the
fur, which is close, fine, and soft, a rich deep brown.
The tail compressed from near the base to the end,
shows this species to use it by alternate gyrations
from side to side, and to possess inferior powers of
diving. It abounds in the lakes and all the affluents
of the St. Lawrence, and probably to a considerable
distance southward in the United States ; but the
fur is nowhere so close and fine as in Canada and
the northwest.

** With the soles naked anteriorly, but hairy at
the heel.

Lutra nair, Indian Otter. — We take this to be
the same as the L. Indica ; is of a deep chestnut,
lightest on the sides ; cheeks, lower part of neck,
and throat, bright reddish -brown ; above the eye
a yellowish -white spot. This species is kept by
Indian river fishermen, in small packs of ten or
twelve, commonly secured, by strings and straw col-
lars, to bamboos at the edge of the water, and used
to drive fish into the nets. The otter of Deccan is
without spots above the eyes, but it may be of the
same species.

L. Chilensis. — Above, deep vinous-brown; below

252 ORDER V.

paler; tail darkening to blackish, in length only
half the body.

In this division also occur L. Calif or nica, L. Chi-
nensis, and L. Barang.

It is here likewise that several of the seven species,
noticed by Mr. Hodgson in Nepaul, will most likely
be located, there being at present no further infor-
mation that we have seen concerning them, than
that they vary materially in length, bulk, and pro-
portions, and in colour, one being yellowish-white
all over, and the rest brown; and some with the
chin and throat, or under surface, pallid or whitish-
yellow.

*** Soles of the feet covered with hair. Lutra
latrix. .

b, Without mufle.

Lutra Braziliensis. — Brazilian Otter. — Body
and neck long ; head comparatively small ; tail com-
pressed near the tip. The specimen we measured
was 5 feet 3 inches in length, entirely of a rich
brown ; this was one of those which frequent the
sea coasts, and, we believe, to have been observed
near Honduras ; it is said to extend into the Florid as
and up the Mississippi. But the species described
by Azara, we doubt, is distinct, having more or less
white about the head and under surface of the body ;
smaller dimensions; habits occasionally of wandering
on land, and on the rivers and lakes, forming so-
cieties of many together, fishing with a common
purpose, £c. We doubt even whether the absence

CARNIVORA. 253

of the muffle be alike in both ; in our specimen it
was small but distinct.

Another species, slightly described by Mr. Gray
from a specimen shown at the meeting of the British
Association at Liverpool, came from Demerara ; it
forms the passage from true otters to the Enhydra
or sea otters, differing from both by the size of the
tail, which is long, and has two finny edges, and the
feet are anteriorly large and webbed beyond the
insertion of the claws, and posteriorly rather small.

Sub-genus ENHYDRA, Flem. — Has 6 incisors above
and only 4 below, all very sharp, the molars rather
broad and strong ; body very long ; no anal scent
bag ; tail shorter than the hind legs when stretched
but ; hind feet large ; external toes longest, slightly
skirted with a web ; head rather small, round ; ears
strait, conical ; eyes large, plane, with a nictitating
membrane covering more than the anterior half of
the ball ; articulations of the hind quarters resem-
bling Phoca ; head of femur without ligamentum
teres ; and, consequently, the species are reduced to
an almost total aquatic life, never visiting further
than the rocks bordering on the sea. From the in-
complete descriptions extant, we suspect at least
two, if not three species, are confounded together.

254 ORDER V.

THE SEA OTTER,
PLATE XX.*

Enhydra marina, FLEM.

THE species which we take to he the true Enhydra,
is that noticed by Captain Cook, and figured hy Mr.
Webber. We believe it was the same skin, subse-
quently stuffed, which served for the engraving of
the Sea Otter in Pennant's Hist, of Quadrupeds, 4 to
title page, vol. 2d. Large specimens of this species
are above 4 feet in total length ; their fur is exceed-
ingly fine and close, of a shining deep sepia, occa-
sionally grizzled with white tipped hairs ; or of a
rich chestnut-brown ; the head, as in other species,
is liable to be whitish, and this colour extends some-
times to the abdomen and feet. This animal is the
boldest swimmer of the amphibious tribe, for troops
of them are met with at three hundred miles from
land. They perform many antics in the water, and
are occasionally seen balancing themselves in an
erect posture, holding a fore paw over their eyes, in
order to look about them with more distinctness. *
It is found in the Northern Pacific, frequenting the
coast of Behring's Island, Kamschatka, the Aleu-
thian Islands, &c., all through the latitudes from 49
* Thus balanced, with a " hand" up, they are sea apes.

-

CARNIVORA. 255

to 60 north, and east longitude 126 and 150 ; afford-
ing still a lucrative trade with China, where the skins
are much prized.

The second species, of which we gave a figure in
Griffith's Cuvier, is a large white-headed animal,
with vinous brown fur ; but, we think, clearly dis-
tinguished by the very short hind legs, terminating
in small webbed feet, not so long as the tail, which
appears to be depressed considerably, and may act
in the water like the flukes of a whale. We take
it to be the " variete A. Loutre marine a tete
blanche" of Desmarets. The specimen is in the
museum of Paris.

The third appears to have been disregarded by
late zoologists, though noticed by Mr. Pennant, Hist,
of Quad. vol. ii. p. 85, under the name of Slender
Otter. We found two skins of this species in the
stores of G. Astor, Esq., at New York, and fancied
at first that their extreme slenderness and length
were the result of the manner of stripping them off
the body. They are about 3 feet from nose to tail,
and that organ 12 or 14 inches more. The head is
small ; apertures of the eyes diminutive ; the exter-
nal ears almost rudimental; girth of the body 13^
inches; fore legs 3J inches; toes palmated; hind
legs 4 inches, with the palms wider and fully web-
bed. The colour is, by Pennant, said to be a rich
chestnut-brown; but those we saw were rufous
brown, and he assigns them Staten Land, in the
Southern Pacific, for habitat, unless there be a mis-
take, for we understood Mr. Astor's to be brought

256 ORDER V.

from the Northern Pacific ; but, it must be recol-
lected, that his ships necessarily came round by
Terra del Fuego.

Family II. The Phocidce. — This family presents a
remove further from the terrestrial form, and a com-
plete pinnatipede structure, adapted almost solely to
the water. Although they are animals strictly sus-
tained by atmospheric air, they breathe slowly, and
can sleep with the head under water. In size some
are superior to the elephant, and only second to the
larger whales : the fore feet are in all cases approxi-
mating to fins, or rather flippers, though there are
still some species retaining five fingers, armed with
strong claws ; but the hinder extremities, peculiarly
articulated, have only the power of striking out with
the feet, in a direct line backwards, which are al-
ways five toed ? with very broad membranes ; and
cannot be brought separately beneath the body ; for
they are placed so far back, and close together, that
they act like the flukes or tail of the whale tribe ;
hence their progress on land, though in some cases
rather quick, is mostly a painful grovelling, abortive
leaping and rolling, never extended beyond the im-
mediate border of the sea, excepting in a season of
repose among the males of some of the largest spe-
cies, who then struggle onward, sometimes to above
a mile, where they remain several weeks absolutely
without food. None have a tail of sufficient length,
01 formed to be serviceable in swimming. They are
all totally or partially carnivorous, with incisors va-

CARNIVORA. 25?

riable in number and structure ; six of four above,
and four or two below. Their character is passive,
in general gregarious and affectionate, willing to aid
each other in distress. The species appear to be
distributed in three general localities, namely, the
Northern Atlantic, the Northern Pacific, and the
Southern or Antarctic region. We refer, for details
of the genera and species, to Volume VIII. of the
Mammalia of the Naturalists' Library, confining our
notice, in this place, merely to our arrangement of
them, and to point out a few species, which appear
to have escaped the notice of the author of that vo-
lume. But, before we enter upon them, it is proper
to notice the fossil remains of Phocidce^ which, it ap-
pears, Baron Cuvier first mentioned as being found
in the marine and shell deposits of Angers, by Pro-
fessor Renou : there were but few fragments, indi-
cating two species, or perhaps individuals only, of
Phocce, of much greater size than the common. Those
which Esper described, from the caverns of Fran-
conia, are not of seals, but of terrestrial carnassiers.
The Angers specimens were found along with frag-
ments of dolphins and manatees ; and it is rather a
singular fact, that fossil remains of seals are not
more common than they appear to be ; for even in
England they are rare in the Pliocenes and Miocene
strata.

In the first group we place the Phocce proper,
which have no external ear ; they embrace the ge-
nera Calocephalus, which includes the common seai,
containing varieties so constantly distinct in size*

258 ORDER V.

markings, and even manners, that it is probable two
at least, if not three species, are confounded together
under that name.

To the species enumerated in the Eighth Volume
might be added —

Phoca arcuata of the Paris Museum. — About 4
feet in total length, with the chaffron much arched,
the upper lips tumid, provided with strong vibrissae.
The fur is plain dull ochre colour, and the flippers
of the fore paws protruding beyond the claws, cut
round, and without the appearance of fingers.

In the genus STENORHINCUS, we find S. Lep-
tonyx, or Small Nailed Seal, from the South Seas,
figured very differently from a specimen brought
from Brazil, and now in the museum of Brussels,
under the name of Ursine Seal ? It is about 6 feet
long; dark yellow grey; upper lip and abdomen
white ; the anterior extremities in the form of flip-
pers, have the thumb alone distinct, and armed with
a nail, the rest forming four broad festoons, quite
black, and without hair. The hind feet have five
long, nearly strait claws, beyond which a black,
naked, and scollop skin, extends several inches.

On the genus STEMMATOPES, or Crowned Seals,
we find some remarks in the narrative of Charles
Goodridge, wrecked with his companions, and detain-
ed two years on one of the desolate islands, named
Crozet, in the South Seas *. He says, " the dog

* Njirrative of a Voyage to the South Seas, and Shipwreck,
&.c. : by Charles M. Goodridge, 8vo, p. 180. Exeter, 2dedit.
personal interviews.

CARNIVORA. 259

seals are named by South Sea men Wigs, and the
females Clapmatches. The males are larger than a
Newfoundland dog : their bark is somewhat similar ;
they bite severely, and their skins made clothes.
The voice of the females resembles the human.*
They bring forth in December on shore, and there
also suckle their young, though the sea is their ge-
neral resort. The young, denominated Pompeys,
are excellent food ; at first glossy black, and almost
without fur : between two and three months old
they become silvery grey ; but, being no longer fed
by their mothers, they become lean, and not choice
for eating." We presume this account refers to Les-
son's Patagonian Seal, and Mr. Gray's Sub-genus
MIOUROUNGA.

In the next group we place the Otarice or Eared
Seals, with a longer neck, fore paws formed into
flippers, and the skin of the hind feet prolonged
beyond the claws. The molar teeth more simple
and conical.

They form two genera, Platyrhincus, Sea Lions,
and Arctocephalus or Sea Bears, described in detail
in the Eighth Volume ; but, in our collection of
drawings, we find one taken by us from a specimen
in the museum of Erlangen : it was about 4 feet
in length, remarkable for its elongated cylindrical
form, with the anterior flippers nearly medial ; the
nose protruded, making the head somewhat pointed.

* These are, no doubt, the mermaids of the South Seas,
noticed by Captains Colnet and Weddell. See Nat. Lib.,
Vol. VIII. page 290, &c.

260 ORDER V.

The general colour an olive-brown above, paler at
the side, and turning yellowish- white beneath ; the
back marked with a number of somewhat semi-
lunate dark-brown spots : on the forehead, which
was of the same colour, a broad streak passed across
the nose on the cheeks to the ears, leaving the orbits
buff. Supposed to be from the South Seas.

Another specimen, formerly in Bullock's Museum,
in size nearly equal to the common seal, was there
denominated Otaria Australis, and was entirely dull
black, though the species figured under that name
is larger and rufous.

A third among our drawings, only three feet long,
with a velvety black fur, and naked orange-coloured
extremities, might be the young of some large spe-
cies; not the elephant seal, for it has external ears,
and cannot be very young, since the bristly piles of
the whiskers are long and abundant.

Otaria cinerea of Perron, appears to be the same
as the Porcine Seal of Pennant and Molina.

But the most remarkable among the Otarias, in
our series of drawings, was obtained in the museum
of Philadelphia, and may be 0. pusilla of authors,
distinguished by an accidental addition in the teeth,
for they were incis. f , can. f -f , molars, not entirely
visible, showed f-f , all conical, with a small ante-
rior and posterior lobe. The size was about 4 feet
6 inches to the extremity of the hind feet ; the head
dog-like, with a full mufle, surrounded with white,
and the lips and vibrissaB the same ; throat and un-
der surface whitish ; all the upper surface brownish-

GARNI VORA. 261

olive ; the anterior flippers apparently without nails,
the posterior rather small, with the inner or under-
most toe shortest, the rest increasing in size in regu-
lar succession ; the claws very small, and all with-
out any prolongation of the skin beyond them. It
was brought from the South Seas.

0. flavescens, the Yellow Seal of Shaw, may be
the young of 0. molossina of Lesson.

We now pass to the third group, containing the

Trkhechi, which forms the genus TRICHECHUS,
the Morse or Walrus, whereof not more than one
species is yet fully established. Their structure, ex-
cepting in the form and position of the tusks, with-
out inferior laniaries, and flat crowned molars, which
indicate their food to be more molluscous and vege-
table, is very nearly the same as that of seals : re-
ceding from the carnivora, they are also more strictly
marine, never truly on shore, but resting occasion-
ally on flues of ice, close to the water.

Last of the family, we place the Macrorhme or
Proboscidean Seals, whose dentition, consisting en-
tirely of cones, approximates them to cetacea. They
have no external ears, large prominent eyes, the
males provided with a double folding dilatable skin,
forming a kind of proboscis, by the South Sea sealers
termed snotters ; have the body greatly elongated,
and the hinder extremities still more terminal and
involved in the skin ; their medial digits are little
conspicuous, and the external disproportionally lon-
ger and robust ; their stomachs containing only

262 ORDER V.

mollusca and algae, with some stones of consider-
able weight, seem to show that their aliments require
trituration after they are swallowed, and the great
bulk of their bodies, together with the aggregate of
other characters, constitute them the last genus in
the order of carnivora, and next on this side to the
true cetacea.

Of the genus MACRORHINUS, the species
Mac. proboscidia^ or Elephant Seal, is described,
as far as yet known, in the Eighth Volume ; but
it seems that there are other species ; one we shall
distinguish by the name of

Mac.heminasutm. — Short- trunked Elephant Seal.
— The mariner Goodridge found this on the Crozet
Islands, and during two years it served him and his
companions almost entirely for food, raiment, fire,
shelter of house, roof, and numerous other purposes ;
even the blood acting as a detergent much better
than soap. The descriptions of Anson and Cook's
Sea Lions did not at all answer to the animals he
saw, though in colour and manners there appeared
no great difference. " The large Sea Elephant is
about 25 feet long, and 18 round the body ; the
blubber often 7 inches thick." The hind feet he
described and drew with a pencil, to show in what
manner they differed from Lesueurs and Anson's
figures, which were shown him ; and by that sketch
(not ill made) the external toes of both feet gave
them, in juxtaposition, the appearance of a Roman
W, the three intermediate of each being totally sunk

CARNIVORA. 263

in the skin, and externally scarcely perceptible.
" The males made their appearance regularly, about
the middle of August, and towards the latter end
came in great numbers, ranging themselves along the
beach, close to the water's edge, and severe contests
ensued for possession of a location. In September,
the females came up to calve, and suckle the young,
for five weeks. At first, the calves are quite black,
and their skin is beautifully glossy. By the middle
of October all the females return to the water, being
by that time quite lean, from want of food and
nursing : the old males and young then proceed in-
land, some to two miles distance, and as many as
a Hundred in one herd ; living together amicably to
the middle of December, when both old and young
return to the sea, the old in particular very lean, as
they do not make use of any food. While being
nursed by their mothers, the calves grow with ama-
zing rapidity, and become a beautiful silver grey,
similar to seals. From December to August, year-
lings and bull elephants are always to be found on
shore." Other particulars are scattered in different
pages, and we learned from him, verbally, that the
inflatable nasal skin is not a very conspicuous cha-
racter.

Mac. simw, nolis. — It would seem that there is
a third species, almost without the appendage, for,
although by no means inferior in size to the for-
mer, it is not readily observed even by an artist,
as we were informed by Mr. Earle, by whose kind-

264 ORDER V.

ness we were enabled to copy a finished drawing,
on a large scale, made by him of a group he obser-
ved on shore at the island of Tristan d'Acunha : it
consists of a large male, without a distinct probos-
cis, two females and a young calf: all the adults
pale buff, and the calf black ; and we learned from
him that the South Sea whalers, in their desire to
find fresh meat on deserted islands, have left pigs
on several, and thereby driven off the Sea Elephants,
who fear, or rather dislike, the vicinity of animals
always prowling along the beach, and unpleasantly
noisy, where they seek repose. We suspect this to
be the Phoca coxii of the isle of St. Paul, and pro-
visional? Y name it Mac. simus.

265

ORDER VI.
THE CETACEA.

THE Cetacea are divided into two very distinct fami-
lies, having, in common, the anterior extremities
shaped into flippers, and the posterior no longer
divided, but forming one horizontal flattened tail.
They are destitute of a pelvis, having barely two
bones suspended within the muscles, as a rudiment
of it. In the first we place the typical or true Ce-
tacea ; in the second the herbivorous Cetacea.

The typical Cetacea^ or whales, are clearly mark-
ed by the nostrils, no longer at the point of the
snout, but terminating in one or two fistulous aper-
tures, at the anterior and upper part of the head.
The teeth are all conical or wanting, having in lieu
a horny substance, called balein or whalebone. We
refer for the details of this order to the Sixth Volume
of the Naturalists' Library, and repeat here only the
general distribution into BAUEN^J, or Whales, form-
ing the genera

Balcena, or Typical Whales.

Rorqualus, Finners or Fin Fish.

Cachalot, Spermaceti Whales.

NarrvhaluS) Narwhal or Sea Unicorn.

266 ORDER VI.

Diodon, Two Toothed Whales.

Hyperoodon, Bottle Nosed Whales.

Aodon, or Toothless Whale of Havre.

Zipheus, a Fossil Species.

The Delphinice^ with teeth in hoth jaws.

Beluga, White Whale, of which we think the
" Poisson Blanc" of the St. Lawrence distinct from
the large open sea species.

Delphinapterus, Dolphin without back fin.

Globicephahts, Round Headed Dolphin.

Phocoena, The Porpoise.

Delphinus, the Dolphin.

DelphinorhyncuS) Long Billed Dolphin^

Soosoo, Gangetic Dolphin.

Ima, Inia of Bolivia.

Oxypterus, Rhinoceros Whale.

The second family contains the herbivorous ce-
tacea already described in the Eighth Volume of
this Work. They are distinguished from the true
cetacea by the want of blow holes, which, in the
skull, indeed, are pierced upwards, but still are nos-
trils opening in the snout. Their teeth have flat
crowns ; which circumstance determines their her-
bivorous character. The head is scarcely separated
from the body by a neck, and the body fish-like,
having an horizontal tail instead of posterior extre-
mities. We arrange them in an inverse order from
the cetaceous genus RYTINA. The Stelleri, who
appear to have only one molar on each side, above
and below, a very simple stomach, and are even
destitute of the small nails on the anterior flippers.

CETACEA. 28?

Genus HALICORE or DUGONGDS, with teeth re-
sembling two cones united, and incisors that grow
out somewhat like the defences of morses ; they have
no nails on the flippers, and their tail is shaped like
the flukes of whales. Of the several species still
extant, it may be surmised, that some existed for-
merly in the Mediterranean, and gave occasion for
the narratives of the ancients, which record the tame-
ness and placability of their DelphinL

The third genus, MANATUS, makes some slight
approaches more towards the great Pachydermata
that frequent the water. The flippers have four flat
nails on their edges, and the tail is in the form of a
spatula.

One of the species, Manatus Americanus, is re-
ported to heave itself up, and bring nearly its whole
length out of the water in the rivers of Guiana ; and
the marks of their presence among the luxuriant
herbage, overhanging the borders, near deep holes,
at the confluence of two streams, have been pointed
out to us, by negro boatmen, who did not fail to
throw plantain peels, &c., overboard, in the manner
recorded by Stedman.

268

ORDEE VII.

THE PACHYDERMATA.

THE Pachydermatous, or thick-skinned order of
mammalia, is less uniform in general characters ;
and owing perhaps to the generally great size of
many species, it appears to have constituted, in a
more primordial zoology, a great proportion of the
inhabitants of the earth ; for, not only bones of
existing forms are abundantly found in the Pliocene
and Eocene strata, but numerous genera, totally ex-
tinct, and several affording a considerable number of
species, have been discovered, all indicating aqua-
tical habits, and a residence in localities where fresh
water lakes and rivers abounded. Those whose struc-
ture necessitates a continual resort in the waters,
having more the manners, and even conformation of
Manatees, might be placed first in order, but that
nearly all have at least similar propensities ; and if
the whole structure of the extinct species were known,
we would most probably find a series of modifica-
tions from the last order passing into the present, of
which, for detailed descriptions, we refer to the
Fifth Volume of Mammalia of the present work,
where the genera and species are described in detail.

PACHYDERMATA. 269

But we arrange their classification somewhat in a
contrary order, taking, for leading genus, that which,
though extinct, is admitted by physiologists as in-
termediate between herbivorous cetacea and pachy-
dermata, some referring it to the former, on the
supposition that it was not provided with hinder
extremities, others as most nearly allied to Tapirus^
in consequence of the conformity of their teeth. We
include it in

The Proboscidean pachydermata. — Genus DINO-
THERIUM. — With tusks projecting from the chin,
and turned downwards in the shape of hooks. Of
two species indicated,

Dinoth. giganteum was the largest terrestrial ani-
mal known, being computed to have measured 18
feet in length.

Here also may be placed other imperfectly known
fossil genera, such as Chalicotherium, two species;
Lophicodon, containing no less than fifteen species ;
Paleotherium, eleven or twelve species, beside seve-
ral of

Tapirus, among which one nearly equal in stature
to the elephant. For the existing species of Asia
and America, vide Volume Fifth of the Mammalia,
already referred to. All these have a proboscis more
or less lengthened ; three visible toes of the hind
feet, and lacustrine habits.

In the next group we have the true Probosci-
deans, with tusks, whereof the extinct genera had
still the same predilection for water ; and even the
existing species of elephant evidently delight in it.

270 ORDER VII.

AVith the exception of the fossil species of the
north, their skin was, and is rough, and with little
fur ; their molar teeth are composed of vertical
laminae, alternately of bony and of enamel substances.
They have five toes to all their feet, huge defensive
tusks, and a proboscis of great length and admirable
structure. See Volume Fifth, ut supra.

Among these, the lost genus,

MASTODON, chiefly distinguished by the crowns
of the molars, consisting of numerous high cones,
wearing down in various discs with age. The spe-
cies Mastodon giganteum, or Great Mastodon, is
well known by the enormous skeletons brought from
America and exhibited in Europe. Three or four
other species have left their debris in Asia, Europe,
and South America.

The elephants, properly so called, furnish two
well determined existing species ; that of India,

Elephas Indicus, with middle sized ears, often
with small tusks, and only four nails on the hind
feet,* and

E. Africanus, with very large ears, large tusks,
and often with only three nails on the hind feet.

Fossil elephant bones are also abundant in the
tertiary strata of both continents, and from the north
Polar Regions to the southern extremities of Asia,
Africa, and probably of America : they are very
numerous in all the stages of growth in European

* By this is meant the Ceylonese, for the Indian Elephant
of the Saul forests, has a larger head, higher hind quarters,
and sometimes five toes on the hind feet.

PACHYDERMATA. 271

caverns, and particularly in the Devonshire lime-
stone formations ; molar teeth, &c., not unfrequently
being washed up by the sea in Plymouth sound.
At least nine species have been enumerated, and
among these Elephas mammonteus, or Primigenius,
has been found complete in the ice of Siberia, with
hair on the body, and tusks nine feet in length.

Besides these, in a former zoology, there existed
in the same habitat with Dinotheria, Tapirs and
Mastodons, the nearly allied genera, called Tetro-
caulodon and Anthracotherium.

We place next to the Froboscidens, the Pachy-
derms, with four tusk-like lower incisors.

Genus HIPPOPOTAMUS, or River Horse, is pre-
eminently aquatic ; having the head so shaped that
the nostrils, eyes, and ears, can be protruded above
the surface without showing any other part of the
animal. For description of the living species we
refer to Volume Fifth as before, where the probability
of the Cape species, H. Capensis, being different
from the Senegal, H. Senegalensis, is discussed; and
the three known fossil, H. major, H. medius, and
H. minor, are likewise named.

In the next group the incisors vary, some having
four in each jaw, and others none in either ; but all
have three toes on all the feet.

Genus RHINOCEROS, containing the living species

of R. Indicus, R. Sumatranus, R. Sondaicus of

Tenasserim and Indian Islands, and R. Africanus,

and R. Simus, are described in Volume Fifth ; and

R. Keitloa. — The White Rhinoceros, another

272 ORDER VII.

large species more recently described by Dr. Smith,
possesses two lofty nasal horns, a pale whitish hide,
and resides in the interior of Africa, beyond the
boundaries of the Cape colony, where it seems two
more undescribed species are known, one approxi-
mating in character to Keitloa, and the other of
much more attenuated form, and bearing one horn,
is affirmed to be the true unicorn, a species which
Riippel appears likewise to have 'heard of on the
north side of the equator.

The fossil species are numerous, and much diver-
sified in the structure of the skulls, in the presence
or absence of lower incisors, and in the obliquity
of the posterior surface of the cranium : some have
the bony septum and nasal bones prolonged and
firmly attached to the incisive, forming a fitting
basis for enormous horns, far surpassing in solidity
any of the existing species.

The species enumerated are, R. tichorinus, R. in-
cisivus, R. leptorhinus, R. minutus, R. elatus, R.
pachyrhinus, R. hypsetorhinus, R. Goldfusii, and R.
leptodon. Of these R. minutus, not larger than a
hog, shows a reduced size compatible with the
next.

Genus HYRAX. — The Proboscideans have several
points of approximation to the Rodentia and the
Hyrax in size, and part of its structure offers a still
nearer similarity, though, in other respects, it may be
viewed as a minute rhinoceros without horn, having
similar molars, and the incisors may be termed f ,
although the upper external are perhaps more pro-

PACHYDERMATA. 27 C

perly canines. There are two species known, and
one as yet insufficiently indicated.

Hyrax Syriacus or Daman, is probably the cony
of the English version of the Scriptures, and the
Cape species, Hyrax Capensis, or Klrpdas of the
Dutch, may be the same, both having four toes ou
the anterior, and three on the hind feet.

Hyrax arboreus may be that with three toes on
all the feet, for which we refer to Volume XXIII.

In the next group, we place the solidungular
family, which, in its osteology, bears still the rudi-
ments of three toes, and the incisors are §, usually
accompanied by tusks in the male ; it embraces the
Equidce or Horses, whereof a detailed account is
found in Volume XXII. of this work.

In the last of the Pachydermous order, those
with cloven feet and two additional false hoofs, we
begin to have ruminantial characters of organisa-
tion, although there are still incisors in both jaws,
the dentition varying in the genera. It includes all
the species of Hog described in Volume XXIIL,
to which we add the fossil

Genus ANOPLOTHERIUM of Cuvier, with a den-
tition §, \-\, If-li = 44, of which he recognized
three species, A. commune, of the stature of a pony ;
A. secundarium, shaped like a roebuck, with no
succintorial hoofs to the cloven feet ; A. minus, not
larger than a hare ; and A. minimum, of the size
of a guinea pig, besides several other small, and one
large species distinct from the above.

But there were discovered besides debris of ex-

274 ORDER VIII.

tinct wild boars, teeth and bones of an animal, by
the Baron considered intermediate between the
existing Peccaries and the order Ruminantia, which,
with the gazelle-like Anoplotherium, appear to be
the links for connecting the Pachydermous order to
that of

ORDER VIII.

THE RUMINANTIA,

LIKE the Felidce, an order remarkably homoge-
neous, and, consequently, most difficult to separate
into groups. Notwithstanding the numerous dis-
coveries in zoology, and the vigilant researches of
physiologists, little has been added to the stock of
our knowledge since the publication of Griffith's
Cuvier; and that little of no greater importance
towards the determination in question, than other
confessedly trivial characters anteriorly used. No
doubt, some trifling modifications resulting from the
progress of science, might approximate the group-
ing still more closely to a natural arrangement, but
they are not of a nature to deserve the lengthened
discussions in this work, which the considerations
they involve would demand ; and there is, we appre-
hend, in classification, a paramount importance in

THE RUMINANTIA. 275

assisting the human mind to the most obviously
natural position of each species, without obscuring
the study with fancies which have no truth in
nature, and technicalities which substitute conven-
tional phrases, as quasi facts to the true realities
of the creation. We, therefore, refer to Volumes
XVIII. and XIX. of the Mammalia, in the Natu-
ralist's Library, for detailed information, restraining
our review mostly to the recapitulation of the names
of groups, and notices of a few important species,
made known since the above named volumes were
published.*

THE CAMELID^E.

Genus CAMELUS. — The Camels.

Genus AUCHENIA. — The Llamas.

Of both these genera fossil remains have been
found, and, in particular, of the last mentioned.
One of gigantic proportions was discovered by Mr.
Darwin, and described in the zoology of the Beagle.

THE CERVID^E.

IN the first group, Mr. Gray has made some mo*
difications and additions to Moschus, by dividing

* " Attachez vous a la connoissance des especes, c'est Tessera
tiel en histoire naturelle."— Cbnvma&ow with Baron Cuvier*

276 ORDER VIII.

them, under the term MOSCHID^:, into three sub-
genera.

1. Moschus, containing the true musk-hearing
musk, and possibly an undescribed species of the
central mountains of China, smaller than M. mos-
chiferus, paler in fur, and always marked by still
paler round spots all over the body.

2. Memina, without musk- bag ; a naked space
on the outside below the hock.

3. Moschiola, or Tragulus, which embraces the
small species of Java and Sumatra.

In this section, the Roryes of Herodotus, probably
the Boura, found in Koldagi, a large ruminant, said
to be without horns, but having a long black mane,
should be placed ; but we think it is a Salipede.
See the account of Koomrah, in Volume XXII.,
page 294.

In the next group, or great genus CERVUS, we
have the sub-genus ALCE or Elk, of which we now
consider those of the New Continent as distinct
from the Elks of the Old : there still remain some
in the forests of Bialowitz in Poland. True Elks
have likewise been observed is a fossil state.

In the consideration of distinctive characters,
Mr. Gray has pointed out and described the loca-
tion of the brushes on the hind legs of deer; the
Muntjaks, whose horns likewise are not regularly
deciduous, being alone without them.

The sub-genus RA.NGIFER appears to have an
aberrant form in the mountain forests of High India.
It Is noticed by Mr. Gray under the name of Cer~

RUMIXAXTIA. 277

vus Smithii, and is marked, according to a drawing
in the Hardwicke Collection, with white spots like
the Axine group. A species of reindeer has been
found fossil in France.

Of the sub-genus DAM A, only one species, the
fallow deer, appears to be at present in existence ;
but at least three, of very large proportions, are
fossil, and among these the Cervus giyantem, or Irish
Elk, is supposed to have belonged to the present
zoology. Among1 other evidence, we have been in-
formed of a large deposit of- horns, black animal
mould, coals and ashes, being found on digging near
the Serpent's Head, or the oval part of the serpent
temple, at Avesbury, in Wiltshire.

Sub-genus ELAPHUS, or Stag Proper, contains,
beside the species described, one of Africa, C. Bar-
barus, wanting the bisantler, extending as far east
as Syria, and probably the Ail or Hart of Scripture,
whose back is always marked with rows of specks,
and C. elaphoides of Hodgson ; Barainsa^ which
forms the link with the next group, or

Sub-genus RUSA. — The Saumurs or Sauburs of
India. — Bishop Heber noticed a species, named by
him Goonh, which may have been one of these
with the single prickets of the first year, for the
beam had no antlers; and, another, Mohr, with
horns of such length, that a man could stand be-
tween them.

Mr. Blyth has observed an apparent sub-division
in both the Rusa and Axine groups, each having
species with canines, and species without. Saubur

278 ORDER vra.

and Axis being more equally proportioned ; short-
bodied as compared with true stags, and more ro-
bust ; they have short pedicles to the horns, and a
very characteristic gait. The other comprises C.
Moluccensis, equinus of Cuvier, C. nudipalpebra,
and the true hog deer, all with long pedicles.

Sub-genus Axis. — (7. nwJipalpebra^ Ogilb., may
be a distinct species, retaining the coarse hair and
nakedness about the orbits of some Rusce, and the
Axine spots indistinct, almost invisible.

Sub-genus CAPREOLUS. — Roebucks.

Sub-genus MAZAMA. — Here may be added the
Cervus humilis of the mountains of Chili.,

Sub-genus SUBULO. — The Brockets.

Sub- genus STYLOCERUS. — The Muntjaks.

Cervus tunjuc. Vigors, by Mr. Gray considered
one of the Rusa group, is evidently intermediate
between them.

Cervus ratwa, Hodgson, is a Muntjak we do not
find described.

The Styloceri, with elevated bony pedicles, often
deprived of horns, connect them with the

GIRAFFID^E ;

OF which it is not yet proved there is more than
one species in existence. A singularity in the or-
ganisation of the Giraffe, according to Professor
Owen's researches, is the presence of a double gall-

RUMINANTIA. 279

bladder in one specimen, and the total absence of
that organ in two others. We find, also, in the
skulls of some males, a central plate of bone be-
tween the two frontals, elevated into a boss, like
the peduncle of a horn, showing that a bony horn
in the forehead of a ruminant is not excluded pos-
sibility in the plan of nature. Whether the Mery-
cotkerium Sibiricum, a large ruminant found in a
fossil state by Bojanus, really belongs to this tribe,
is, we believe, still doubtful. For the

CAPRID^E,

We still refer to Volumes XVIII. and XIX. of the
Mammalia of this Work, and maintain in addition,
that excepting the tabular view of the inguinal
pores and maxillary sinuses of Professor Owen, in
themselves not sufficient for a systematic classifica-
tion, and the additions of interdigital pores, not
more important than other trivial characters before
adduced, no sensible progress has been made for a
more natural distribution of the groups and genera,
particularly of Antilopine series, than before shown
in Volume XVIII. ; nor do we think it likely any
other can be adopted, but that which applies the
same elements, notwithstanding their unimportance
to grouping the species, according as the aggregate
of their characters will best indicate analogies and
juxtaposition. We have the

280 ORDER VIII.

ANTILOPINA, * or great genus Antelope, embrac-
ing more species than all the other ruminants taken
together, although it is said to have no typical group
or species, as if Nature planned her purposes accord-
ing to the cabalistical interpretation we think fit to
bestow upon certain words. We consider every
real species as constituting its own type, notwith-
standing that it may, or may not have affinities, ap-
proximations, similitudes, or analogies with others,
which science, for the convenience of generalisation,
forms into groups and juxtapositions, but can never
so wholly arrange, as to do away with much that
is arbitrary. We begin with the

Sub-genus DICRANOCERUS, or Prong-horned An-
telopes of America, which it is now admitted are of
two species, A. palmata being ascertained to reside
in the mountains of Mexico, and most likely much
further to the north, although the local name, Be-
renda, as in the case of Mazama, is really applied
to other ruminants, such as the Californian Sheep,
and A.furcifer of the Missouri.

* We regret that in the Synopsis of Ruminantia, in Griffith's
Cuvier, we did not note every species of which we had figures,
about eighteenths, as the want of such reference seems to
have been since generally felt. We possess at present above
one hundred drawings of Antelopes alone, exclusive of de-
tails.

RUMIXANTIA. 281

SUB- GENUS AIGOCEBUS.
PLATE XXI.

Aigocerus Niger.

WE place after A. leucophwa, or Blue Antelope, and
A. equina^ or Roan Antelope, the magnificent spe-
cies Aigocerus Niger of Captain Harris. Horns of
the male 37 inches over the curve, more slender than
in Leucophcea, more regularly curved, annulated
three-fourths of their length, with about 30 incom-
plete rings ; head elongated, muzzled, with whitish
marks down each side the chaffron ; neck and body
robust, deep ; withers elevated ; hoofs short, black,
obtuse ; hair short, close, intensely black, with
gleams of deep chestnut ; ears 10 inches, narrow,
pointed ; black standing mane, pointing rather for-
ward, extending to the middle of the back ; belly,
buttock, and inside of the thighs, white ; tail with
hair reaching the hocks ; stature, 4 feet 6 inches at
the shoulder ; 9 feet in length. Resides in the in-
terior of Caffraria, near the tropic of Capricorn,
where the species appears in the highlands, forming
small families. In the next,

Sub-genus ORYX, Mr. Ru'ppel seems disposed to
place his A. beisa, ^n account of its similarity to the

282 ORDER vm.

•Caffrarian Oryx ; but the female being hornless, we
suspect, that along with A. ellipsiprimnus, Ogilby,
it will be referrible to the reduncine group, or to the
genus DAMALIS. The species, although as yet not
completely described, is noticed unuei tLc Lame of
Baeza by Isenberg and Krapf, who describe it as a
fine animal, of the size of a cow, shaped like a deer,
with upright, not branching horns ; flesh exquisite.
Seen near Melkukya.

Another large species, the Damma of the Arabs,
with long strait horns in both sexes ; white forehead
and yellowish general colours. Seen by Riippel in
the great plains of Haraza, and by him taken to be
the Dama of Pliny, is no doubt a true Oryx.

Of the sub-genus GAZELLA it may be proper to
observe, that we suspect A. cora. Ham. Smith, or
A. Bennetii, ranges next to A. subgutturosa. A.
Ckristii we have not yet found described.

In this division, Mr. Bennet has formed a farther
section of the Damce, characterized by their slender,
very anteriorly uncinated horns and long neck,
marked with a white spot on the throat : he enu-
merates A. mhorr, A. nanguer, or Dama (which
last name it will be advisable to drop, for reasons
assigned under the head of Oryx damma), and A.
addra ; but the three denominations refer evidently
to mere varieties produced by geographical separa-
tion ; although it must be confessed there are dif-
ferences in the brushes, &c., of some importance.

In the sub-genus ANTILOPE, the ceruminous sub-
stance, secreted in the lachrymal sinus, is in its

RUMIXANTIA. 283

highest development ; and Mr. Rennet's conjecture
respecting the sexual relations it may bear, is pro-
bably correct ; but we suspect the animals most
largely provided with the organs are precisely those
which have least perspiration under exertion, and
that the superabundant odours thus generated and
cast on the winds, serve these delicate scented spe-
cies, all with very little voice, to find out each other,
and keep together for their common security.

It may perhaps be advisable to detach from this
sub-genus, A. Coins or Saiga, and A. gutturosa ;
both having peculiarities of structure in the nostrils
and throat, and sub-lyrate horns, in order to place
them in the new

Sub-genus PANTHOLOPS of Hodgson. They may
constitute a little group of the temperate and high
regions of the Old World, and include A. kemas or
Hodgsonii) likewise provided with a peculiar appa-
ratus in the nostrils, sub-lyrate horns, and other
assimilating characters.

Sub-genus REDUNCA. — Here the recurved horns
are generally coincident with a more robust form,
longer, coarser fur, dull, or mixed colours, absence of
horns in the females, small muzzle, and sub-orbital
sinus, &c.

OREOTBAGUS may form another sub-genus, and is
so noticed in Vol. XVIII., page 221, by the name
of Saltatrix.

The sub-genera TRAGULUS,* RAPHICERUS, TETRA-

* Add to this sub-genus A. montana, RUppel.

284 ORDER VIII.

CERUS,* CEPHALOPHUS, we pass over with the re-
mark, that A. philantomba, of the cephalophine
group, was first detected in the British Museum,
named and subsequently noticed by ourselves in
the synopsis of Griffith's Cuvier, No. 855. f

Of sub-genus NEOTRAGUS, the Madoka, or Salt's
Antelope, is not identical with that figured under
the same name in Uiippel's work.

In sub-genus TRAGELAPHUS we place A. decula
of Riippel, which, according to him, represents, in
Eastern Africa, A. scripta of the west.

In sub-genus N^MORH^EDUS, Mr. Hodgson has
proposed some modifications of character; but A.
Duvaucelii is more nearly allied to the Cambmg
ootan and A. thar^ than to Goral and A. (kemas)
hylocrius, Ogilb., or Jungle Sheep, is an additional
species. It is to be regretted that we have had no
convenient opportunity of publishing the figures of
the whole series, such as it is in our possession.

We pass on to two groups having domesticated
species, which attest a plural origin, but of which
we cannot here subjoin the details.

Genus CAPRA. — Beside the species noticed in
Vol. XIX. p. 108, of the Naturalist's Library, several
have since been added, chiefly through the resear-
ches of Mr. Blyth, such as the Himalayan Ibex or
Skyn, and the Markbur of Kabul, which, if it be

* Unless the colossal fossil Sivatherium giganteum, found in
the Sewallic Hills, belong to it.

f This is a case for saying, with the Templaup : " Non
nobis Domine !"

RUMINANTIA. 285

feral, appears to be from a species not yet described.
Capra jael, nolis, is, we think, identical with C Nu-
liana, J?\ Cuvier ; Sinaitica of Ehrenberg, Aralica
of Riippel, and Sedan of Wagner. Capra Walie
of the snowy peaks of Abyssinia. C. Jharal may
turn out to be identical with C. Jemlahica. The
Neelgherry Ibex is not yet described.

The genus Ovis has been the subject of special
investigation by Mr Blyth, and is divided by him
into two sub-genera: Ovis proper containing the
species ; Ovis Polii, the Rass or Kuss of the Pamere
table land : 0. montana, or our 0. pygargus, O. am-
mon, 0. nivicola, Eschscholtz, 0. Californica, O.
Nahoor, 0. Burrhel, O. cylindricornis, 0. Gmellinii,
O. Vignei, 0. musimon, 0. ophion, 0. aries. Here
he places Ixalus probaton, Ogilby, which we con-
sider to be an imperfect Aplocerus mazama, No. 865,
Synopsis of Griffith's Cuvier.

In the second sub-genus AMMOTRAGUS he places
the Tragdaphm aoudad, or Bearded Sheep, Kebsch
of the ancient Egyptians ? which, according to our
arrangement, being intermediate, should form the
first, as more nearly allied to Capra than the rest of
the genus Ovis *.

Beyond these we continue the classification of
the greater ruminants, formerly arranged with an-

* See Zoological Transactions, July, 1840, p. 77. It may
be proper to .add, tliat in Griffith's Cuvier, the plate repre-
senting Tragclaplius is, by mistake, named Capra Jaela, or
Abyssinian Ibex.

286 ORDER VIII.

telopes, but more or less approximating the bcvin?
groups.

They constitute the genus DAMALIS, and it is
probable, that when several of the as yet indistinctly
described species of Central Africa and of the inte-
rior of Arabia, such as the Bahr-el-Wahhash of
Burckhardt, having short horns, with the form of
Oryx, shall be better known, it will require more
sub -genera than we have as yet established.

In the sub-genus ACRONOTUS, additional species
will be found, for we possess these several years, a
drawing from a young specimen in Frankfort Mu-
seum, which indicates an animal like A. lubalis,
but marked like A. caama; it appears distinct from
A. nigripes of Blyth.

In sub-genus BOSELAPH us, a species allied to Canna,
appears noticed in Riippel's descriptions ; and

Sub-genus STREPSICEROS may claim A. torticornis,
A. tendal, and A. Eurycerm of Northern Africa.
It seems even that from the notes, drawings, and,
we believe, the head of an individual received by
General Hardwicke, a true Damalis strepsiceros or
Koodoo exists in Eastern Asia ;* and the

* Sir. sylhetanus 1 supposed Buffalo Deer of India. Speci-
men shot by the late Mr. Lane, collector of the revenue at
Dacca ; the only one he ever saw : the description was lost,
but the head, sent by Captain V to General Hard-
wicke, is new in the Museum of the India Company : it is a
complete head of Strepsiceros, measuring from tip to tip of
horns 2 feet 5 inches ; from tip to base 2 feet 9 inches ; cir-
cumference at base of horn 9| inches ; length on curve 3 feet

RUMINANTIA. 28?

Sub-genus PORTAX proper, is said to contain two
species, the slate coloured Neelghau, and a second,
the Ghorangay of Cuttak, never bluish but dark
dun. The large new Antilope ellipsiprymnus of
Ogilby, and A. defassa, the same as Cora, imper-
fectly described by Riippel, may form other species,
perhaps also a small cow -like hunched animal,
brought from Africa, we believe named Ant. Lan-
diana?

Some of 4;hese large species might be multiplied,
and become valuable additions for domestic con-
sumption. We believe the late Duke of Norfolk
at one time endeavoured to propogate the Neelghau
in his parks, we having seen at one time five head
of them together, all his property, but the experi-
ment failed, it is to be feared from the indifference
or secret dislike which park and gamekeepers have
to additional trouble.

We now come to

5| inches ; skull, from crest of occiput to point of upper jaw,
1 foot 5 J inches ; across the forehead 5 J inches ; from horn
to point of jaw 10J inches; points of horns white, the rest
dark. But we still question the reality of the habitat.

288 ORDER VIII.

THE BOVIO&.

AND passing the genera Catollepas* and
for which we refer to Vol. XIX. p. 180, arid
sequence. It may be remarked, that of this family
are found abundant fossil remains, in general of
larger stature that the present : they consist chiefly
of Bos urus, Bos bison, &c. accompanying the debris
of Mastodons, Elephants, Rhinoceroses, Tapirs, and
Cervidae.

The Bovidae Proper, having since Baron Cuvier
wrote, undergone considerable investigation, we
think cannot again be strictly divided into three
sub-genera, there being intermediate forms of skull
sufficiently important, as it would seem, to consti-
tute at least a fourth. Mr. Hodgson, in a detailed
paper on this subject, has furnished diagnostics for
the addition of one, but it is palpable that in his
position, he was not sufficiently conversant with
species that are not inhabitants of the high central
mountain chain of Asia ; therefore, we regret, that
the extensive collection of materials on Ruminantia,
made by Mr. Blyth before his departure for India,
remains for the present unpublished. The Sub-
genera, such as we present them by their consimi-

* From the contents of a letter from Mr. Blyth, Proceedings
ofZool. Soc., IQtk Aug., 1842, it is evident that Bos pegasus of
Griffiths' Cuvier is another Catollepas.

RUMINANTIA. 289

larities ; and, indeed, in whatever arrangement they
may be placed, offer again that peculiar disposition
of nature, which Almighty wisdom appears to have
impressed on the mammalia destined for domestica-
tion, admitting within certain limits species evidently
different to commix, and producing a kind of hybrids
permanently fertile, but, in general, returning more
or less to one or the other forms of the progenitorial
stock : thus, the Bison poephagus or Yak, breeds
readily with the -domestic races of cattle, whether
with or without the hunch, and these breed likewise
with the domesticated Gayal ; and the progeny of
all is reported to remain in undiminished vigour :
facts applicable to the two species of camel, but not
quite in the same degree. We believe these con-
siderations to be the more important, as they evi-
dently support the views which we have endeavoured
to advocate, in the history of the Canidce and Equidce,
in former volumes of this work, and we find again
corroborated in the Bovidce of Africa.

The Genus Bos, or Bovine tribe, whose general
characters are described in Volume XIX. of this
work, we apprehend to be best classified by thteir
affinities, in a series which, leaving the Catolle-
pas or Gnoos, nearest the Acronotine group, most
similar in their cervine limbs, commences the Bo-
vidcc, by a structure of forehead, and disposition of
the horns, that can be traced onwards through Ovibos
(whose ovine nose shows a mere adaptation to his
arctic location), and is most remarkable in Bos
Caff'er, that species in youth exhibiting a black fur,

290 ORDER VIII.

sufficiently long and soft to be mistaken for a J
Bison's.

Sub-genus BUBALUS tberefore includes Bos Coffer \ \
or Cape Buffalo, but not B. pegasus, Ham. Smith,
Griffith's Cuvier; that species having characters
which refer it to the Gnoos. But BOB Bornouen-
sis* nobis, the Zamouze of Clapperton, with horns
only divided by a narrow ridge, on the frontals
exceedingly broad, rugged, solid, and black, not j
turned down or sideways, but directly back and
upwards, the two forming a crescent, is a true Bu-
lalus ; it may be the same as

B. corniculatus, Blyth, known by the pair of ,
horns only, which we formerly copied and took to
be of a semi-adult B. Coffer, but that judgment
may have been hasty. Africa contains likewise
B. brachyceros, Gray ? remarkable for its large
pendant ears, filled with long tufts of hair : in this
species the horns, in general, have the same form as
those of the Bornou buffalo, are considerably smaller,
and have a flexure downwards and again upwards.
In Eastern Asia and Europe, there are, we think, two
species ; Z?. Arnee and the common B. bubalus.

Sub -genus BISON, distinguished from Bubalus, >
whose frontals form a convex line between the
horns, by having that convexity lower and consider-
ably broader, while the horns are set on below the
crest and behind the frontal line. In this group
we reckon the Bos bison, or Bison antiquorum, Bos
Americanus, Bos poephagus, or Yak of Tahtary;
and, probably, the Burmese Phain, a small red spe-

RUMINANTIA. 291

cies, as we are informed, at a distance looking like
Devonshire cattle, but with raised withers, showing
perhaps the original animal from which the domestic
ox, Bos sacer is derived, or a feral race long esta-
blished in the forests of Indo China. We doubt
whether the recently discovered Bos Atlanticus,
Blyth, or Sherif-al-Wady of the valleys of Atlas be
of the present sub-genus, or one more of the colossal
species of the next.

After this group, we place the

Sub-genus BIBOS of Hodgson, wherein we include
the giant Bomdce, which surpass in height, at the
shoulder, even the largest Bisons and Uri now ex-
tant. The Urus of antiquity (not the fossil) may
have belonged to the same form, for we include in
the group also the Gayals of India, though somewhat
inferior in stature, and slightly different in skull ;
but they have a similar livery and markings, which,
to some extent, occurred also in the German Uri of
the middle and feudal ages. Bibos, in our arrange-
ment, has the elevated ridge on the shoulders even
higher, and, in some species, further prolonged
down the spine than Bison. The group is inter-
mediate between the bisontine form and the bovine,
having the horns set on very near the frontal crest,
which is considerably elevated, and the forehead
broader proportionably, and depressed or concave as
in the domestic ox, but, towards the centre, rising
again, and forming a convexity more or less pro-
minent ; the horns rather short, lateral, regularly

292 ORDER VIII.

curved, at first obliquely backwards, then up, and
the points inclining rather forward are very bulky ;
at base oval, 15 to 20 inches in circumference,
smooth, greenish, with black tips, 24 to 30 inches
on the curve ; and, internally, the horny sheath is
provided with two strong ridges, ascending from
base to tip.

Bos gaurus. — The Gaur. — Eighteen hands and
more at the shoulder ; several inches lower at the
croup ; crest of the frontals bluish-grey ; general
colour rich purple-brown ; the four legs dirty white.

The Asl Gayal of Hardwicke, Bibos cavifrons,
Hodgson, Great Bison Gaour, Gor, Bison of Dan-
dely, are all names of varieties, or of the same animal,
occupying many glens in the mountain forests of
India and Indo China.

Bos Sondaicus, B. leucoprymnus. — The Banting.
— Little, if at all inferior in size, with horns more
spread out laterally, similar colours or reddish, and
always with a white oval disk on each buttock. It is
an admitted fact, that this giant species will breed
with the domestic cattle of Java.

Bos Sylhetwus, or Gayal of Sylhet, described in
Vol. XVIII. of this work, likewise breeds with the \
domestic Indian races ; and it is doubtful whether

Bos gayaem of Tenasserim, the Ceylonese Wild
Bull, that of the Mahabalishwar Hills, and others
indicated in the drawings and papers left by the
late General Hardwicke, are of one or more distinc
species.

RUMINANTIA. 293

Sub-genus TAURUS, with horns attached to the
sides of the summit of the frontal crest, and the
forehead plane or slightly concave.

To this group belong the skulls of some enor-
mously large fossil oxen, and, probably, also the
more recent Urus or Wizend of the Germans,
from which it is supposed strait backed cattle are
descended. This domesticated species must have
existed in its present perfection, at least these tnree
thousand years, since most beautiful and correct
representations of it are abundant on the oldest
sculptured monuments of Egypt. The cream colour-
ed Bush Cow of Western Africa, shaped like the
white variety or Scottish wild bull, but with blue
eyes, and a long mane of white hair on the shoulder,
and a long succentorial hoof on each foot, may be
the species noticed by Pliny, but more likely is a
feral race long independent : it might be denomi-
nated B. taurus Lilycus.

We take a second species to be the Bos Tndlcus
or Sacer, the Hunched Ox of India and Egypt,
equally figured on the monuments of Egypt of the
earliest date, and divided into many races and breeds,
but, we believe, always born with teeth protruded
through the gums. Both these taurine species in-
termix freely, and continue a prolific breed with the
Gayal, the Banting, and the Yak.

For details we refer to Vol. XVIII., as already
stated.

294

OREER IX.
THE EDENTATA.

HITHERTO, the succession of orders has shown a
gradation of characters, passing without very ahrupt
transitions into the descending or ascending scales,
notwithstanding that several families, exceedingly
homogeneous, or constructed with little deviation
upon one general plan, seem to forbid all approxi-
mation. Where there is thus an hiatus, fossil re-
mains of genera now extinct have occasionally filled
up the chasm, and many forms in nature, now
missing, may, in the course of time, come to light,
and show that the whole circle of combinations,
proper for a zoology, adapted to the conditions of
existence on the globe, are in being, or may at one
time or other have existed, and that such links
as are now unknown, may, at a future period, be
recovered. In the instance before us, the question
arises whether Rodentia or Edentata should follow
upon the Ruminantia : the brain and several other
organs unquestionably claim precedence for the
Rodents, but that in a lineal artificial succession,
such as a systematic arrangement ever necessitates ;
these display a nearer approach to the Marsup
than the Edentata, who, although they are deficie

EDENTATA. 295

in dentition, and even in locomotive activity, still
evince characters, such as their huge claws, which
approach Ungulata ; and the remains of a large
extinct edental, at this moment under the inspec-
tion of Professor Owen, actually possesses the un-
expected combination of both hoofs and claws on
the same foot. It is, however, to the pachydermous,
rather than the ruminant tribes that the last gigantic
forms of Edentata most nearly approximate.

The Edentata are so named, because they are
deficient in front teeth, for, in other respects, the
order hangs together by almost negative characters
which it has in common ; such as the great claws
which invest the anterior part of the fingers having
more or less the form of hoofs, and a deficient
activity resulting from the disposition of the mem-
bers : these, however, are sufficiently different in the
species to require separating them into three families.
We take, for the reason above indicated, — first, the
fossil remains which appear nearly allied to the
tribes of Edentata, and are likewise, we believe, con-
nected with the extinct species before mentioned;
but of this the description is yet to appear.

The extinct animals we place here are two of
very great size, apparently allied to sioths, anteaters,
and even to armadillos : they are the Megatherium,
above twelve feet long, and the Megalonyx, some-
what less^ and not so completely investigated.*

The family of the Tardigrades, or Sloths, have

* See curious note, in Volume XXII., page 147, of this
Work.

296 ORDER IX.

the face short ; structure such as to be incapable of
active motion.

Genus BRADYPUS. — The Sloths. — Have cylindri-
cal molars and pointed canines ; two pectoral mam-
mas ; and the fingers of the paws wrapped within the
skin show externally only very large claws ; their
arms are disproportionably long, and the hind legs
short : they feed on leaves, and never quit a tree
until it is stripped of verdure.

B. tridactylus. — The Ayei. — Three-toed, and B.
didactylus, Unau or Two- toed Sloth, are sufficiently
well known. They are both from tropical America,
and other species named, differ but little in colour
and quantity of hair. »

The ordinary Edentata hare a pointed snout;
some have likewise a few molars. We reckon two
genera.

Genus DASYPUS. — The Armadillos. — Remark-
able for the scaly shields, or bony armour, forming
a kind of marquetterie of f egular patterns upon the
defensive plates which cover them ; there being a
plate on the forehead, a second covering the shoul-
ders, a third forming a succession of segments on
the back, and a fourth on the croup ; the tail itself
being similarly covered by a series of cylinders ; and
the animal thus entirely protected, by a kind of
armour, has, besides, the faculty of rolling itself into
a ball, and very often in this state setting itself in
motion, bowls down hill without hesitation. They
are inoffensive to man, unless the alleged fondness for
human flesh, in a state of decomposition, be regarded

EDENTATA. 297

as an offence, for the largest are reported to be avid
of animal matter ; and the fossil giants of this genus
may, in their time, have thus chiefly served the end
of their creation ; while an existing species lately
noticed by Mr. Schomburgk, perhaps still, as the In-
dians assert, feeds in the same manner, it being one
that weighed above 110 pounds, was about 3 feet
high at the back, and 5i feet in length, with the
tail 16 inches long, and nearly as thick as a man's
thigh at the root ; the middle toe of the five on the
fore feet was 7i inches in length, and armed with
claws capable of digging with the greatest rapi-
dity.

No doubt, this species was provided with the
same kind of numerous conical teeth which we find
in others of the genus.

The Armadillos having seven teeth on each side,
above and below, may be divided into sub-genera,
taking for one, those with only four toes on the
anterior feet, such as Dasypw novemcinctus, or
Nine Banded Armadillo ; Das. septemcinctus^ or
Seven Banded Armadillo; and Das. tricinctus, or
Three Banded Armadillo.

The second division has five toes on all the feet,
and contains Das. sexcinctus,* and Octo decimcinctui,
or Six arid Eighteen Banded Armadillos.

In a third, the toes of the anterior extremities
are placed obliquely, the thumb and index being

* Das. sexcinctusi or Weasel Headed Armadillo, shows, in
the Genetalia^ the first traces of approximation to the oviparous
type which particularly characterize the Marsupial Edentata.

298 ORDER IX.

long, and the middle toe bearing a strong sharp
edged claw.

This has eight or nine teeth on each side in both
jaws, and contains the Das. unicinctus of Linnseus,
Twelve Banded Armadillo of Pennant.

Finally, we have the Priodontes of F. Cuvier,
Das. gigas, or Giant Armadillo, with long tuber-
culous tail, very large trenchant claws, and with
twenty-two or twenty-four small teeth on both sides
and both jaws, making eighty-eight or ninety-six
teeth in all. It is to this division the animal above
mentioned may belong, but the tail being short,
and very bulky at the root, makes it distinct, and
approaching in that particular to a fossil species of
enormous size. The Giant Armadillo does not
weigh more than 70 pounds.

The next genus is that of CHLAMYPHORUS, Harlan,
known as yet to possess but one species.

PLATE XXIII.

WITH ten teeth on each side above and below ; five
toes to all the feet, the claws of the anterior very
large, sharp, and compressed ; the back covered
with a series of transverse scaly pieces, broken in
zones or rows, but without separate solid pieces on
the shoulders and croup ; this covering being simply

EDENTATA. 299

attached to the body on the spine, and the hinder
parts protected in a truncated shape, with the tail
secured beneath the body. This little animal was
discovered in Chili.

The Anteaters, Myrmecophagidce. We include
in this family the African genus and the American,
although the former still possesses a few cheek
teeth : both have lengthened and pointed heads,
extensile tongues, and feed on ants.

Genus ORYCTEROPUS, with flat nails, or claws for
digging ; their cheek teeth possess the unique struc-
ture of being cones, pierced vertically by numerous
pores like those of a cane reed.

Oryc. Capensis, — Cape Anteater. — Aardtvarken
of the Dutch. — In size larger than a badger, bulky,
long, low, with a small head and prolonged snout ;
tail less than the body ; colour pale-brownish grey :
burrows. The next genus is totally without teeth.

Genus MYRMECOPHAGA. — The Anteaters Proper.
— Hard-skinned, hairy, lengthened animals, with
tapering long head and snout, small mouth, ex-
tensile tongue, for the purpose of protruding into
ants' nests and termite hills, to draw out the insects ;
the anterior claws long, powerful, and cutting, to
tear open their retreats, and to serve for defence ;
the anterior paws usually bent inwards, having a
callosity on the outer part of the wrist, upon which
their weight presses in walking. All the species
belong to tropical America. The smaller have pre-
hensile tails, and all bearing only one young, are
in the habit of placing it on their own backs.

300 ORDER IX.

THE TAMANDUA OR GREAT ANTEATER.
PLATE XXII.

Myrmecophaga jubata.

NEARLY 5 feet long, with four toes anteriorly, and
five on the hind feet ; has a long brushy tail, with
vertical hairs above and below, frequently carried in
the form of an umbrella : the hair is coarse, longish,
grey-brown, with a broad band of black, edged
white, passing obliquely from the breast upon the
shoulder; the feet dark brown or black. This
species is said to be a match for the Jaguar, being
protected by its fur and tough hide, and able to use
its cutting claws with great force. We have our-
selves seen a large and very hard termite nest, which
had been torn open a few hours before by one of
these animals ; giving ample proof of their strength
and the power of their claws.

The Myrm. tetrodactyla, commonly called Three-
toed Anteater, is much smaller, inhabits trees, and
is sooty black, or flaxen white, or party coloured ;
and the Two-toed Anteater, still smaller, with a
soft downy fur, is likewise arboreal; and, we be-
lieve, always whitish.

Genus MANIS. — The Manis. — These are the Scalj

EDENTATA. 301

Anteaters of some travellers, being very long, rather
slender, low, and long tailed animals, destitute of
teeth, covered with several rows of broad horny
scales, which they raise when rolled up for their
defence. They inhabit Africa, South-eastern Asia,
and the Australasian islands. One species was
known to the ancients.

There are several species, one, the Short-tailed
Manis, or Manis pentadactyla^ is the Phatagen of
jElian : another, the Long-tailed Manis, or M. tetra-
dactyla, belongs to Senegal, and others have been
recently described.

In the Palatinate an ungueal phalanx, or claw
joint, has been discovered in the earth, of an ex-
tinct Manis, which must have beea above 20 leet in
length.

302

ORDER X.
THE RODENTIA.

THE Rodentia are so named, from the structure of
the incisor teeth, which, to the number of two in
each jaw, give them the power, and necessitate the
practice of gnawing, for they grow up from the roots
with such rapidity, that, when not sufficiently used
upon hard substances, they rise so that they cannot
act upon each other, and the animal perishes of
hunger. Behind the incisors is a void space, there
being no canines, and the molars are either with
flat crowns, or tuberculated. The cranium is very
flat, the orbits not separated by temporal fossae ; the
brain almost without convolutions, though rather
more complex than in Edentata, approximates the
order in more respects to the Marsupials, and, in
particular, by the additional character of the teeth,
with the genus PHASCOLOMYS ; the eyes are directed
sideways, and their organisation, perhaps with some
exception of the Edentata, is in general inferior to
the preceding.

So late as the publication of the " Mammalogie*
of Desmarets, 1822, the genera of Rodents were only
24, making 144 species ; Mr. Waterhouse, however,
in 1839, enumerates no less than 58 ; and new

RODENTIA. 303

forms being constantly discovered, several additions
have been made and others proposed ; but, as we
have neither in all cases the means of furnishing the
characters, nor space left in our volume, and as
most of them obtain but a very secondary attention
from readers, who are not decidedly attached to the
study of Mammalogy, and, moreover, as several
species, such as squirrels, hares, rats, and mice, have
already obtained a partial review in the Seventh
Volume of this Work, where the British Quadrupeds
are described, we shall pass over them in rapid
notice, dwelling, as on former occasions, only with
more detail on a few of the most interesting. Iii
the 58 genera, which, however, do not include Cte-
nodactylus, Helamys, Otomys of Dr. Smith, Akodon
of Meyen ; Heteromys of Desmarets, and Scccomys
of Fred. Cuvier ; there are, nevertheless, enumera-
ted by Mr. Waterhouse, 380 species ! So that this
order alone will be found to exceed 400, or more
than nearly double the number mentioned in Grif-
fith's Cuvier, published in 1827, for his Synopsis
contains only 180.*

* We have to notice here the genus Cheiromys, one of those
forms in nature which baffle systematists in lineal classifi-
cation, but nevertheless represent the Rodents among Qua-
drumana^ or the Qadrumanous among Rodentia. "We think
now, that, among the Quadrumana, it should follow imme-
diately after Tarsius, although the dentition offers, as in Ro-
dents, incis. f , can. §, m. |-| = 18 : fore legs short, hinder legs
long ; tail long, brushy, and the teats, two in number, are in-
guinal ; but the fore hands are each provided with very long

304 ORDER X.

Although, they have been neatly divided into
genera with and without clavicles, and that the pos-
session of these bones appears to furnish a greater
degree of energy, we nevertheless arrange the Ro-
deniia^ according to Mr. "Waterhouse's tabular view,
into three great tribes, whereof the first embraces
the

MURINA, all of which possess clavicles.

1st, The SCIURID^E, or Squirrels, constitute a
family of several genera, whereof the Squirrels, pro-
perly so called, form the

Genus SCIURUS, already described specifically in
Volume XV., sufficient for the generalities, which
are nearly the same in all the species. Their petu-
lant energy is not without discrimination, and edu-
catable instinct. We have owned a species from
South America, which ran at liberty about the house,
and, in cases of alarm, would instantly spring on its
master's shoulder, and conceal itself in his sleeve.
"We figure, as a specimen of this form,

and slender fingers, armed with sharp claws, and the hinder
have short thumbs with round nails. The Aye-aye of Mada-
gascar, Charomys Madagascar iensis, is the only species known.

RODENTIA. 305

DTJVAUCEL'S SQUIRREL.
PLATE XXIV.

Sciurus hypoleucus.

IN size equal to the cat squirrel, with a long flat
tail ; the upper parts and outside of the limbs ru-
fous ; nose, cheeks, throat, breast, flanks, abdomen,
and central under side of tail, white. Native of Ma-
dagascar.

We have not space even to name the numerous
species known; Mr. Waterhouse enumerating, in
Europe and Northern Asia, five species ; in North
America, twenty; Africa, five; India and Islands,
twenty-five ; South America and West Indies, five*
— making sixty. The genus PTEROMYS, or Flying
Squirrel, whose form is well known, though there be
but one species in Europe, we pass without further
notice.

The further divisions of the family, which have
slight differences in dentition, and are known under
the names of the genera Tamias, Xerus, Spermo-
philus, or Marmots, with cheek pouches ; and
Arctomys, without cheek pouches, and a new genus ?
Aplodontia> which terminates the Sciuridce, includ-

306 ORDER X.

ing 107 species ; — we think, by no means the
whole.

In the next \ve have the

2d, MuRiDjE or Rats, with the molars varying in
the different genera from f-f to f-f, the first of which
is Myoxm or the Dormouse, and Graphwrus, not
generically different. They are still destitute of an-
terior thumhs, and have a well furnished brush to
the tail.

M. glis, or the Fat Dormouse, described in Vo-
lume VII., is one of the best known of the eight or
ten species enumerated. The genus DIPUS, twelve
species, and MERTONIS, two species, include the
graceful Jerboas, or Jumping Mice of Africa, Cen-
tral Asia, and North America. Here we think may
bo placed Helamys or Pedetes, the Spfinghaas of the
Cape; and next Mus, the Rats and Mice Proper,
sub-divided into Mus hisperomys, Dendromys, Ger-
billus, ReithromyS) Psammomys, Phlceomys^ Sig-
modon, Euryotis and Rhizomys, form at least njnety
species of every quarter of the world, and in great-
est number in South America and the West India
Islands ; and Cricetus, or the Hamsters, reckon eight
more.

3d, The ARVICOLIDJE, Voles or Campagnols, with
molars f-f, enumerate first, the

Genus CASTOR, or Beaver, the most important
animal to the fur traders ; and remarkable for its
bulk, trowel-shaped scaly tail, and instinctive habits
of building in society, making dams to keep the
water up a^d for the superstitions to which these

RODENTIA. 307

peculiarities give origin. There are two species, one
of North America, the other of Europe, more chiefly
confined to Poland, under the name of Bolr. FIBER
or ONDATRA, a second genus, shaped like an enor-
mous rat, with a long and compressed tail, of which
the F. zibethicuS) or Musk Rat of North America,
is the only species. Then the genus ARVICOLA
Proper, which includes our Water Rat, Field
Mouse, &c., forming twenty-eight species. The
genus LEMMTTS, the Lemmings, with four or five
toes on the anterior feet, eight species ; SPALAX, or
Blind Rats, two ; and GEOMYS, ten species.

HYSTRICINA. — In the second division are placed
the Rodents with imperfect clavicles, of which the
first family is that of Hystricice, or Porcupines, form-
ing the sub-genera HYSTRIX, ERETHISON, CERCO
LABES, ATHERURUS, and SYNETHERES, to include
only ten species, of which the Crested Porcupine,
H. cristata, is the most conspicuous; Erethison Buf-
fonii, or Prehensile Tailed Porcupine, the most com-
mon in museums. The Canada Porcupine, E.
dor sata, we have seen defending itself by striking
with the cluster of spines at the end of its tail,
leaving some of them sticking in the hand of the per-
son who gave it offence.

The next group contains the Dasyproctidce, the
Agoutis. The cheek teeth f -f , four toes and tuber-
cles on the fore feet, three toes on the hinder, sole
of the feet callous, naked. They inhabit South
America and the West India Islands : three or four
species. We have seen D. Acuschy^ or Olive Agouti,

308 ORDER X.

dressed for the table, at Roseau, in Dominica, in

1797.

Genus CGELOGENYS, the Pacas, approaches the
former species, but is heavier, with very small addi-
tional toes on the feet, making them 5-5. The only
species is brown or buff, with round white spots.

The CAPROMYIMJ, or Houtias. — Divided into
nine genera, forming twenty-eight species, have mo-
lars £-£ ; resemble very large rats, with four toes
and rudiment on the anterior, and five toes on the
posterior feet, three species ; Aulacodus one ; Qryc-
terus, one ; Bathyergus, or Mole Rats, four ; Myopo-
S) or Racoonda, one, with fur like the beaver.
yS) or Spinous Rats, ten species, of which we
give

LONG-TOED SPINOUS RAT.
PLATE XXV.

Eckimys dactttinus, GEOFF.

THE back covered with short spines, partly con-
cealed by the hair. This species has the two middle
toes of the fore feet very long ; the colour is brown.
Habitat, South America. Petromys, one ; and Ne-
lomys, six species.

The Octodontidce^ with molars still £-£, and feet
5-5, are composed of the genera Ctenomys^ two

f

RODENTIA. 309

species ; Poephagomys, one ; Octodon, one ; and,
Abrocoma, one — all animals externally bearing re-
semblance to rats. They are natives of South
America. We now come to

The Chinchillidce, a small family entirely herbi-
vorous, with a dentition we have not been able to
ascertain. They have four toes and a rudiment on
the anterior, and only three toes on the posterier
extremities. The species known, are, Chinchilla,
one; Lagotis, two; and Lagostomus, one. We
figure

PLATE XXVI.

Chinchilla Diana, Viscachial

A SPECIMEN under this name was formerly in the
possession of Mr. Cross, already engraved in Grif-
fith's Cuvier. We could not find, at the time, an
opportunity of examining the animal, which was in-
accessible for that purpose.

THE CAVIID^E,

ALL natives of America, among which the Cavia
cobaia, or Guinea Pig, is well known. There are, of
this family, the genus CAVIA, six species ; Kero-
don, two ; Dolichotis, one ; and

310 ORDER X.

THE CABYBARA.
PLATE XXVII.

HydrochcBrus Cabiai,

ONE species, in bulk equal to a Chinese Pig, the
largest animal of the Rodentia, having a very deep
square head ; coarse hair ; the feet webbed ; no tail ;
the animal is gregarious in the rivers of Guiana, and
very delicate food.

In the 3d division Leporina, forming
The LEPORID^E or Hares, well known, and having
three species described in Volume VII. of this
work. There are two genera, Lepus or the Hare,
whereof thirty-one species are known, among which
we figure

PLATE XXVIII.

Lepus Brasiliensis, The Tapett,

DRAWN from life ; specimen not larger than a wild
rabbit ; ashy-brown ; yellowish- grey above ; a white
half collar on the throat, and a very short tail : in-
habits Brazil and the uplands of tropical America.

Genus LAGOMYS, or Pica, with shorter ears,
similar teeth to the former; legs nearly of equal
length ; no tail.

L. pika, or Alpine Hare, and four other species.

•3H

ORDE;R xi.

THE MARSUPIALIA OR POUCHED ANIMALS.

FOR this order we refer entirely to the detailed de-
scriptions given in the Eleventh Volume of this
work, wishing to add only one species, which ap-
pears to have escaped the author, Mr. Waterhouse,
and we have not yet found, in the splendid work
on this order, now publishing by Mr, Gould. It is

PLATE XXIX

HcUmaturus Rutilans, LIGHT.,

OF which species we found specimens both of male
and female in the Museum of Berlin. They are
beautiful animals, about three feet high from the
head to the ground, in a seated erect posture ; the
back and upper parts entirely bright reddish ; the
inferior white, and the feet and tip of tail black.

312

ORDER XII.
MONOTREMATA.

THIS is likewise treated in detail in the Volume
already mentioned. We give only the figure of a
species, we believe not hitherto published, of

PLATE XXX

Echidna setosa,

ONE nearly allied to Echidna hystrix, but with the
snout still more slender, the spines fewer and hid
within the fur ; we believe, always destitute of spurs
on the hind feet. ORNITHORYNCHUS forms the only
other genus of this order.

THUS we terminate the Introduction to the Mam-
malia, wherein it has been found necessary to refer
to the Volumes of the Naturalist's Library for those
orders, genera, and species, which are therein de-
scribed at length : we have likewise abbreviated, or
treated summarily, groups which presented less in-

MONOTREMATA. 313

terest to readers who are not professedly students in
the science, in order to preserve somewhat more
space for genera of greater importance, and close
this incomplete Essay, in the hope that a full and
detailed Synopsis of the Mammalia may he shortly
undertaken, illustrated with ahundant Plates, and
sufficiently detailed to notice all the discoveries and
additions made by the zealous Naturalists of the
present time.

LONDON :

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