CHAP. XXXVI. THE JERBOA. THIS animal as little resembles a quadruped as that which has been described in a former chapter.* If we should suppose a bird divested of its feathers, and walking upon its legs, it might give us some idea of its figure. It has four feet, indeed, but in running or resting it never makes use of any but the hinder. The number of legs, however, do not much contribute to any animal's speed; and the jerboa, though properly, speaking, furnished but with two, is one of the swiftest creatures in the world. The jerboa is not above the size of a large rat, and its head is sloped somewhat in the manner of a rab bit; the teeth, also, are formed like those of the rat kind, there being two cutting teeth in each jaw; it has a very long tail, tufted at the end; the head, the back, and sides are covered with large, ash-coloured, soft hair; the breast and belly are whitish; but what most deserves our attention, in the formation of this little animal, is the legs: the fore legs are not an inch long, with four claws and a thumb upon each, while the hinder legs are two inches and a quarter, and exactly resemble those of a bird, there being but three toes, the middlemost of which is longest. The jerboa is found in Egpyt, Barbary, Palestine, and the deserts between Busserah and Aleppo: its hind legs, as was said before, are only used in running, while the fore paws, like those of a squirrel, grasp its food, and in some measure perform the office of hands. It is often seen by travellers as they pass along the deserts, crossing their way, and jumping six or eight feet at every bound, and going so swiftly that scarce any other quadruped is able to overtake them. They are a lively, harmless race of animals, living entirely upon vegetables, and burrowing like rabbits in the ground. Pennant tells us of two that were lately brought to London, that burrowed almost through the brick wall of the room where they were kept: they came out of their hole at night for food, THE GENUS JERBOA.-This genus approximates considerably to the rat, properly so called, by a great number of characters of internal organization, but is sufficiently distinguished by the shortness of the anterior limbs and the length of the hinder extremities. As to the external conformation, the ierboas exhibit some relations with the kangaroos. The form of the body is the same in general. The hinder limbs are likewise five or six times stronger than the fore. In both genera the tail is very long; the ears elongated and pointed, and the eyes very arge and round. But though the kangaroos have so many traits of external conformation similar to the jerboas, they are infinitely removed from them in most important points, such as the organs of generation, ventral pouch, &c. The genus jerboa is now composed of several distinct species, one of which is extremely abundant in Barbary, in Higher and Lower Egypt, and Syria, and again in the more northern climates, situated between the Tanais and the Volga; the other occupying an immense space in Siberia and the north part of Russia, from Syria to the Eastern Ocean, and as far as the northern parts of Hindostan.-CUVIER. and, when caught, were much fatter and sleeker than when confined to their burrows. A variety of this animal is found also in Siberia and Circassia, and is, most probably, common enough over all Asia. They are more expert diggers than even the rabbit itself; and when pursued for a long time, if they cannot escape by their swiftness, they try to make a hole instantly in the ground, in which they often bury themselves deep enough to find security before their pursuers come up. Their burrows in some places are so thick as to be dangerous to travellers, the horses perpetually falling into them. It is a provident little animal, and lays up for the winter. It cuts grass in heaps of a foot square, which when dried it carries into its burrow, therewith to serve it for food, or to keep its young warm during the rigours of the winter. But of all animals of this kind, that which was first discovered and described by Sir Joseph Banks is the most extraordinary. He calls it the kangaroo; and though from its general outline, and the most striking peculiarities of its figure, it greatly resembles the jerboa, yet it entirely differs, if we consider its size, or those minute distinctions which direct the makers of systems in assorting the general ranks of nature.* The largest of the jerboa kind which are to be found in the ancient continent do not exceed the size of a rabbit. The kangaroo of New Holland, where it is only to be found, is often known to weigh above sixty pounds, and must consequently be as large as a sheep. Although the skin of that which was stuffed and brought home by Sir Joseph Banks was not much above the size of a hare, yet it was greatly superior to any of the jerboa kind that have been hitherto known, and very different in many particulars. The snout of the jerboa, as has been said, is short and round, that of the new-discovered animal long and slender: the teeth also entirely differ; for, as the jerboa has but two cutting teeth in each jaw, making four in all, this animal, besides its cutting teeth, has four canine teeth also. But what makes a more striking peculiarity, is the formation of its lower jaw, which, as the ingenious discoverer supposes, is divided into two parts, which open and shut like a pair of scissors, and cut grass, probably this animal's principal food. The head, neck, and shoulders are very small in proportion to the other parts of the body; the tail is nearly as long as the body, thick near the rump, and tapering towards the end; the skin is covered with a short fur, excepting the head and the ears, which bear a slight resemblance to those of the hare. We are not told, however, from the formation of its stomach, to what class of quadrupeds it belongs. From its eating grass, which it has been seen to do, one would be apt to rank it among the ruminant animals; but from the canine teeth which it is found to have, we may on the other hand suppose it to bear some relation to the carnivorous. Upon the whole, however, it can be classed with none more properly than with animals of the jerboa kind, as its hind legs are so much longer than the fore: it moves, also, precisely in the same manner, taking great bounds of ten or twelve feet at a time, and thus sometimes escaping even the fleetest greyhound with which Sir Joseph Banks pursued it. One of them that was killed proved to be good food; * a second, THE GIGANTIC KANGAROO.- Buffon, whose only errors were those of genus, clearly perceived that every continent, in its animal productions, presented the appearance of an especial creation; but he gave a universality to this proposition of which it is not altogether susceptible. It is, nevertheless, true, even at the present day, within certain limits. A great number of the Asiatic animals are not found in Africa, and vice versa. The lemurs seem only to exist in Madagascar. America is peopled with a host of mammalia exclusively peculiar to itself; and there are many more in Europe, not to be found in any quar ters of the globe. The discovery of Austral. asia has given an additional support to this opinion of Buffon. The species of animals there discovered have not only no affinity with those of the other continents, but, in fact, belong for the most part to genera altogether different. Such are those mammalia which the natives of New Holland call kangaroo; and which offer to the observation of the naturalist organic peculiarities, perceivable in no other animal, with the exception of one single species. It is in this tribe that, for the first time, we view the singular phenomenon of an animal using its tail as a third hind leg in standing upright and in walking. which weighed eighty-four pounds, and was not yet come to its full growth, was found to be much inferior.* With this last described and last discovered animal I shall conclude the history of quadrupeds, which of all parts of natural knowledge seems to have been described the most accurately. As these, from their figure as well as their sagacity, bear the nearest resemblance to man, and from their uses or enmities are the most respectable parts of the inferior creation, so it was his interest and his pleasure to make himself acquainted with their history. It is probable, therefore, that time, which enlarges the sphere of our knowledge in other parts of learning, can add but very little to this. The addition of a new quadruped to the catalogue already known is of no small consequence, and happens but seldom; for the number of all is so few, that wherever a new one is found it becomes an object worthy our best attention.t THE CHINCHILLA.-An animal somewhat resembling the jerboa, but which has not yet been classified by naturalists, is the chinchilla. Notwithstanding the extensive traffic carried on in the skins of this animal, little was correctly known regarding it until 1830. "The earliest account of the chinchilla with which we have met is contained in Father Joseph Acosta's Natural and Moral History of the East and West Indies, published at Barcelona, in Spanish, in the year 1591. The chinchilles,' says he, is another kind of small beasts like squirrels: they have a wonderful smoothe and soft skinne, which they weare as a healthful thing to comfort the stomacke and those parts that have need of a moderate heat: they make coverings and rugges of the haire of these chinchilles, which are found in the Sierre of Peru.' "The chinchilla is a woolly field-mouse which lives under ground, and chiefly feeds en wild onions. Its fine fur is well known in Europe; that which comes from Upper Peru is rougher and larger than the chinchilla of Chile, but not always so beautiful in its colour. Great numbers of these animals are caught in the neighbourhood of Coquimbo and Copiapo, generally by boys with dogs, and sold to traders, who bring them to Santiago and Valparaiso, from whence they are exported. The Peruvian skins are either brought to Buenos Ayres from the eastern parts of the Andes, or sent to Lima. The extensive use of this fur has lately occasioned a very considerable destruction of the animals." -SCHMIDTMEYER'S TRAVELS INTO CHILE. 1824. INDIVIDUAL OF THIS SPECIES.-An individual of this interesting species was lately presented by Lady Knighton to the collection of the Zoological Society. When the new comer was first introduced into Bruton Street, it was placed in the same cage with a former specimen; but the latter appeared by no means disposed to submit to the presence of (The Chinchilla.) the intruder. A ferocious kind of scuffling fight immediately ensued between them, and the latter would unquestionably have fallen a victim, had it not been rescued from its impending fate. Since that time they have inhabited separate cages, placed side by side; and although the open wires would admit of some little familiarity taking place between them, no advances have been made on either side. AGENCY OF MAN IN EXTINGUISHING AND SPREADING THE SPECIES.-Let us make some inquiries into the extent of the influence which the progress of society has exerted, during the last seven or eight centu ries, in altering the distribution of our indigenous British animals. Dr. Fleming has prosecuted this inquiry with his usual zeal and ability, and in a memoir on the subject has enumerated the best authenticated exam ples of the decrease or extirpation of certain species during a period when our population has made the most rapid advances. We shall offer a brief outline of his results. The stag, as well as the fallow-deer and the roe, were formerly so abundant that, according to Lesley, from five hundred to a thousand were sometimes slain at a huntingmatch; but the native races would already have been extinguished, had they not been carefully preserved in certain forests. The otter, the marten, and the polecat, were also in sufficient numbers to be pursued for the sake of their fur; but they have now been reduced within very narrow bounds. The wild cat and fox have also been sacrificed throughout the greater part of the country, for the security of the poultry-yard or the fold. Badgers have been expelled from nearly every district which at former periods they inhabited. Besides these, which have been driven out from some haunts, and everywhere reduced in number, there are some which have been wholly extirpated; such as the ancient breed of indigenous horses, the wild boar and the wild oxen, of which last, however, a few remains are still preserved in the parks of some of our nobility. The beaver, which was eagerly sought after for its fur, had become scarce at the close of the ninth century, and, by the twelfth century, was only to be met with, according to Giraldus de Barri, in one river in Wales and another in Scotland. The wolf, once so much dreaded by our ancestors, is said to have maintained its ground in Ireland so late as the beginning of the eighteenth century (1710), though it had been extirpated in Scotland thirty years before, and in England at a much earlier period. The bear, which in Wales was regarded as a beast of the chase equal to the hare or the boar, only perished as a native of Scotland in the year 1057. Many native birds of prey have also been the subjects of unremitting persecution. The eagles, larger hawks, and ravens, have disap. peared from the more cultivated districts. The haunts of the mallard, the snipe, the redshank, and the bittern, have been drained equally with the summer dwellings of the lapwing and the curlew. But these species still linger in some portion of the British isles; whereas the large capercailzies, or wood grouse, formerly natives of the pine forests of Ireland and Scotland, have been destroyed within the last fifty years. The egret and the crane, which appear to have been formerly very common in Scotland, are now only occasional visitants. The bustard (Otis tarda), observes Graves in his British Ornithology, "was formerly seen in the downs and heaths of various parts of our island, in flocks of forty or fifty birds; whereas it is now a circumstance of rare occurrence to meet with a single individual." Bewick also remarks," that they were formerly more common in this island than at present; they are now found only in the open counties of the south and east, in the plains of Wiltshire, Dorsetshire, and some parts of Yorkshire." In the few years that have elapsed since Bewick wrote, this bird has entirely disappeared from Wiltshire and Dorsetshire. These changes, we may observe, are derived from very imperfect memorials, and relate only to the larger and more conspicuous animals inhabiting a small spot on the globe; but they cannot fail to exalt our conception of the enormous revolutions which, in the course of several thousand years, the whole hunan species must have effected. The kangaroo and the emu are retreating rapidly before the progress of colonization in Australia; and it scarcely admits of doubt that the general cultivation of that country must lead to the extirpation of both. The most striking example of the loss, even within the last two centuries, of a remarkable species, is that of the dodo-a bird first seen by the Dutch when they landed on the Isle of France, at that time uninhabited, immediately after the discovery of the passage to the East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope. It was of a large size and singular form; its wings short, like those of an ostrich, and wholly incapable of sustaining its heavy body even for a short flight. In its general appearance it differed from the ostrich, cassowary, or any known bird. Many naturalists gave figures of the dodo after the commencement of the seventeenth century; and there is a painting of it in the British Museum, which is said to have been taken from a living individual. Beneath the painting is a leg, in a fine state of preservation, which ornithologists are agreed cannot belong to any other known bird. In the museum at Oxford, also, there is a foot and a head in an imperfect state; but M. Cuvier doubts the identity of this species with that of which the painting is preserved in London. In spite of the most active search, during the last century, no information respecting the dodo was obtained, and some authors have gone so far as to pretend that it, never existed; but amongst a great mass of satisfactory evidence in favour of the recent existence of this species, we may mention that an assemblage of fossil bones were recently discovered, under a bed of lava, in the Isle of France, and sent to the Paris museum by M. Desjardins. They almost all belonged to a large living species of land tortoise, called Testudo Indica, but amongst them were the head, sternum, and humerus of the dodo. M. Cuvier showed me these valuable remains in Paris, and assured me that they left no doubt in his mind that the huge bird was one of the gallinaceous tribe. Next to the direct agency of man, his indirect influence in multiplying the numbers of large herbivorous quadrupeds of domesticated races may be regarded as one of the most obviate causes of the extermination of species. On this, and on several other grounds, the introduction of the horse, ox, and other mammalia, into America, and their rapid propagation over that continent within the last three centuries, is a fact of great importance in natural history. The extraordinary herds of wild cattle and horses which overran the plains of South America sprang from a very few pairs first carried over by the Spaniards; and they prove that the wide geographical range of large species in great continents does not necessarily imply that they have existed there from remote periods. Humboldt observes, in his Travels, on the authority of Azara, that it is believed there exist, in the Pampas of Buenos Ayres, twelve million cows and three million horses, without comprising in this enumeration the cattle that have no acknowledged proprietor. In the Llanos of Caraccas, the rich hateros, or proprietors of pastoral farms, are entirely ignorant of the number of cattle they possess. The young are branded with a mark peculiar to each herd, and some of the most wealthy owners mark as many as fourteen thousand a year. In the northern plains, from the Orinoco to the lake of Maracaybo, M. Depons reckoned that one million two hundred thousand oxen, one hundred and eighty thousand horses, and ninety thousand mules, wandered at large. In some parts of the valley of the Mississippi, especially in the country of the Osage Indians, wild horses are immensely numerous. The establishment of black cattle in America dates from Columbus's second voyage to St. Domingo. They there multiplied rapidly; and that island presently became a kind of nursery from which these animals were successively transported to various parts of the continental coast, and from thence into the interior. Notwithstanding these numerous exportations, in twenty-seven years after the discovery of the island, herds of four thousand head, as we learn from Oviedo, were not uncommon, and there were even some that amounted to eight thousand. In 1587 the number of hides exported from St. Domingo alone, according to Acosta's report, was thirtyfive thousand four hundred and forty-four; and in the same year there were exported sixty-four thousand three hundred and fifty from the ports of New Spain. This was in the sixty-fifth year after the taking of Mexico, previous to which event the Spaniards, who came into that country, had not been able to engage in anything else than war. All our readers are aware that these animals are now established throughout the American continent, from Canada to Paraguay. The ass has thriven very generally in the New World; and we learn from Ulloa, that in Quito they ran wild, and multiplied in amazing numbers, so as to become a nuisance. They grazed together in herds, and, when attacked, defended themselves with their mouths. If a horse happened to stray into the places where they fed, they all fell upon him, and did not cease biting and kicking till they left him dead. The first hogs were carried to America by Columbus, and established in the island of St. Domingo the year, following its discovery in November 1493. In succeeding years they were introduced into other places where the Spaniards settled; and, in the space of half a century, they were found established in the New World, from the latitude of 25 deg. north, to the 40th deg. of south latitude. Sheep, also, and goats have multiplied enormously in the New World, as have also the cat and the rat, which last, as we before stated, has been imported unintentionally in ships. The dogs introduced by man, which have at different periods become wild in America, hunted in packs like the wolf and the jackal, destroying not only hogs, but the calves and foals of the wild cattle and horses. Ulloa in his voyage, and Buffon on the authority of old writers, relate a fact which illustrates very clearly the principle before explained by us, of the check which the increase of one animal necessarily offers to that of another. The Spaniards had introduced goats into the island of Juan Fernandez, where they became so prolific as to furnish the pirates who infested those seas with provions. In order to cut off this resource from the buccaneers, a number of dogs were turned loose into the island; and so numerons did they become in their turn, that they destroyed the goats in every accessible part, after which the number of the wild dogs again decreased. As an example of the rapidity with which a large tract may become peopled by the offspring of a single pair of quadrupeds, we may mention that, in the year 1773, thirteen reindeer were exported from Norway, only three of which reached Iceland. These were turned loose into the mountains of Guldbringe Syssel, where they multiplied so greatly in the course of forty years, that it was not uncommon to meet with herds consisting of from forty to one hundred in various districts.LYELI'S GEOLOGY, vol. ii. SUPERSTITIONS, Fables, &c., RELATIVE TO ANIMALS.-A superstition prevails both in England and Scotland (Qu. Are Wales and Ireland excepted?) that goats are never to be seen for twenty-four hours together, owing to their paying Satan a visit once during that period to have their beards combed; indeed, since the classical representations of Pan and the satyrs, from whose semi-brutal figures we derive our own superstitious idea of the form of the evil one, goats, rams, and pongos have shared with serpents and cats the obloquy of being in a manner his animal symbols. The offensive smell of this animal is thus accounted for by the natives of South Guinea : Having requested a female deity to allow them to use an aromatic ointment which she used, the enraged goddess rubbed them with one of a very different description, and the smell of this has been ever since retained by the descendants of the presumptuous offenders. We We may here remark, that of late years some doubts have arisen, and not without |