placed close together, being very small, and seeming scarce separated; so that with respect to this part of its formation, the animal has some resemblance to the viper. However, it is a very harmless, little creature, doing scarce any injury. On the contrary, as it lives chiefly in the fields, and feeds more upon insects than corn, it may be considered rather as a friend than an enemy. It has a strong disagreeable smell, so that the cat, when it is killed, will refuse to eat it. It is said to bring four or five young at a time.*

THE DORMOUSE.-These animals may be distinguished into three kinds : the greater dormouse, which Buffon calls

the Loir; the middle, which he calls the Lerot; the less, which he denominates the Muscardin. They differ from each other in size, the largest being equal to a rat, the least being no bigger than a mouse.

They inhabit woods or very thick hedges, forming their nests in the hollow of some tree, or near the bottom of a close shrub, humbly content with continuing at the bottom, and never aspiring to sport among the branches. Towards the approach of the cold season they form a little magazine of nuts, beans, or acorns; and, having laid in their hoard, shut themselves up with it for the winter. As soon as they feel the first advances of the cold, they prepare to lessen its effect, by rolling themselves up in a ball, and thus exposing the smallest surface to the weather. But it often happens that the warmth of a sunny day, or an accidental change from cold to heat, thaws their nearly stagnant fluids, and they revive. On such occasions they have their provisions laid in, and they have not far to seek for their support. In this manner they continue usually asleep, but sometimes waking, for above five months in the year, seldom venturing from their retreats,

*THE ECONOMIC CAMPAGNOL. - The length of this animal is about four inches. It is found in various parts of Siberia and Khamtschatka, where they make their burrows. The migration of these quadrupeds have been noticed by Dr. Grieve and Pennant. "In the spring," says the former writer, "they assemble in amazing numbers, and proceed in a direct course westward, swimming with the utmost intrepidity over rivers, lakes, and even arms of the sea. Many are drowned, and many are destroyed by water fowl or rapacious fish. Those that escape, on emerging from the water, rest awhile to bask, dry their fur, and refresh themselves. The Khamtschatdales, who have a kind of superstitious veneration for these little animals, whenever they find any of them on the banks of the rivers, weak and exhausted, render them every possible assistance. As soon as they have crossed the river Penschinska, at the head of the gulph of the same name, they turn in a south westernly direction; and about the middle of July, generally reach the rivers Ochetska and Judoma, a distance of about a thousand miles! The flocks are also so numerous, that travellers have

waited about two hours for them to pass. The retirement of these animals is considered by the Khamtschatdales as a serious misfortune; but their return occasions the utmost joy and festivity, a successful chase and fishery being always considered as its certain consequence."

Kerr informs us, that the Khamtschatdales never destroy the hoards of these rats. Sometimes, indeed, they take away part of their store; but in return for this, they invariably leave some caveare, or other food, to support them in its stead.

MANNER OF CROSSING RIVERS. - The manner in which the economic campagnol on their foraging excursions cross the rivers of Iceland, is thus described by Olaffen: "The party, consisting of from six to ten, select a flat piece of dried cow-dung, on which they place the berries they collected in a heap on the middle. Then with their united force, drawing it to the water's edge, they launch it, and embark; placing themselves round the heap, with their heads joined over it, and their backs to the water, their tails pendent in the stream, serving the purpose of rudders."

and consequently but rarely seen. Their nests are lined with moss, grass and dead leaves; they usually bring forth three or four young at a time, and that but once a year, in the spring.†

THE MUSK RAT.-Of these animals of the rat kind, but with a musky smell, there are also three distinctions, as of the former; the Ondatra, the Desman, and the Pilori. The Ondatra is a native of Canada, the Desman of Lapland, and the Pilori of the West-India islands. The ondatra differs from all others of its kind, in having the tail flatted and carried edgeways. The desman has a long extended snout like the shrew-mouse; and the pilori a short tail, as thick at one end as the other. They all resemble each other in being fond of the water, but particularly in that musky odour from whence they have taken their name.

Of these, the ondatra is the most remarkable, and has been the most minutely described. (g) This animal is about the size of a small rabbit, but has the hair, the colour, and the tail of a rat, except that it is flatted on the sides, as mentioned above. But it is still more extraordinary upon other accounts, and different from all other animals whatever. It is so formed that it can contract and enlarge its body at pleasure. It has a muscle like that of horses, by which they move their hides, lying immediately under the skin, and that furnished with such a power of contraction, together with such an elasticity in the false ribs, that this animal can creep into a hole where others, seemingly much less, cannot follow. The female is remarkable also for two distinct apertures, one for urine, the other for propagation. The male is equally observable for a peculiarity of conformation; the musky smell is much stronger at one particular season of the year than any other; and the marks of the sex seem to appear and disappear in the same manner.

The ondatra in some measure resembles the beaver in its nature and disposition. They both live in society during winter; they both form houses of two feet and a half wide, in which they reside several families together. In these they do not assemble to sleep as the marmot, but purely to shelter themselves from the rigour of the season. However, they do not lay up magazines of provision like the beaver; they only form a kind of covert way to and round their dwelling, from whence they issue to procure water and roots, upon which they subsist. During winter their houses are covered under a depth of eight or ten feet of snow; so that they must lead but a cold, gloomy, and a necessitous life, during its continuance. During summer they separate two by two, and feed upon the variety of roots and vegetables that the season offers. They then become extremely fat, and are much sought after, as well for their flesh as their

PERIODICAL LETHARGY.-A. M. Mangili, of Pavia, has published his observations on the periodical lethargy of this species in particular, among lethargic quadrupeds. His hypothesis is, that the arterial blood necessary to excite and revive the fibres of the cerebral organ, flows less copiously to this organ in the hybernating animals, on account of the small number of the arteries he had found in such animals, and of the smallness of their calibre; these concurring with other exterior causes of debility, diminishes the energy of the fibres of the brain, and produces at first sleep, and eventually, continued lethargy.TRANSACTIONS ROYAL SOCIETY.

THE FAT DORMOUSE.-This species is still used for food in Italy, and is taken simply by preparing a fit place for its winter quarters in the wood, which is large enough for many of them to retire to, whence they are taken toward the end of Autumn. The Romans were very fond of them as food; they kept and fattened them for the table in receptacles called Gliraria. Martial tells us that they are fattest after hybernating, when they have had nothing but sleep to fatten on; on which Buffon observes, that the Loir, at all times fat, keeps itself in condition in winter by waking occasionally, and taking food at intervals.

(g) Buffon, vol. xx. p. 4.

skins, which are very valuable. They then also acquire a very strong scent of musk, so pleasing to an European, but which the savages of Canada cannot abide. What we admire as a perfume, they consider as a most abominable stench, and call one of their rivers, on the banks of which this animal is seen to burrow in numbers, by the name of the stinking river, as well as the rat itself, which is denominated by them the stinkard. This is a strange diversity among mankind; and, perhaps, may be ascribed to the different kinds of food among different nations. Such as chiefly feed upon rancid oils and putrid flesh, will often mistake the nature of scents; and, having been long used to ill smells, will by habit consider them as perfumes. Be this as it will, although these nations of northern savages consider the musk rat as intolerably foetid, they nevertheless regard it as very good eating; and, indeed, in this they imitate the epicures of Europe very exactly, whose taste seldom relishes a dish till the nose gives the strongest marks of disapprobation. As to the rest, this animal a good deal resembles the beaver in its habits and disposition; but, as its instincts are less powerful, and its economy less exact, I will reserve for the description of that animal a part of what may be applicable to this.

THE CRICETUS.-The cricetus, or German rat, which Buffon calls the Hamster, greatly resembles

the water-rat in its size, small eyes, and the shortness of its tail. It differs in colour, being rather browner, like the Norway rat, with the belly and legs of a dirty yellow. But the marks by which it may be distinguished from all others, are two pouches, like those of a baboon, on each side of its jaw, under the skin, into which it can cram a large quantity of provision. These

(Hamster.)

bags are oblong, and of the size, when filled, of a large walnut. They open into the mouth, and fall back along the neck to the shoulder. Into these the animal can thrust the surplus of those fruits or grains it gathers in the fields, such as wheat, peas, or acorns. When the immediate calls of hunger are satisfied, it then falls to filling these; and thus, loaded with two great bunches on each side of the jaw, it returns home to its hole to deposit the spoil as a store for the winter. The size, the fecundity, and the voraciousness of this animal render it one of the greatest pests in the countries where it is found, and every method is made use of to destroy it.

But, although this animal is very noxions with respect to man, yet, considered with regard to those instincts which conduce to its own support and convenience,

THE MUSK RAT. The Indians kill these animals by spearing them through the walls of their houses, making their approach with great caution, for the Musquashes take to the water when alarmed by a noise on the ice. An experienced hunter is so well acquainted with the direction of the chamber, and the position in which its inmates lie, that he can transfix four or five at a time. As soon as, from the motion of the spear, it is evident that an animal is struck, the house is broken down, and it is taken out. The Musquash is a watchful, but not a very shy animal. It will come very near to a boat or canoe, but dives instantly on perceiving the flash of a gun. It may be frequently seen

sitting on the shores of small muddy islands, in a rounded form, and not easily to be distinguished from a piece of earth, until on the approach of danger, it suddenly plunges into the water. In the act of diving, when surprised, it gives a smart blow to the water with its tail. Hearne states that it is easily tamed, soon grows fond, is very cleanly and playful, and smells pleasantly (!) of musk.

The fur of this animal is used in the manufacture of hats. Between four and five hundred thousand skins are annually imported into Great Britain from North AmeRICHARDSON'S NORTH AMERICAN

rica.

ZOOLOGY.

it deserves our admiration. (g) Its hole offers a very curious object for contemplation, and shows a degree of skill superior to the rest of the rat kind. It consists of a variety of apartments fitted up for the different occasions of the little inhabitant. It is generally made on an inclining ground, and always has two entrances, one perpendicular and the other oblique; though, if there be more than one in a family, there are as many perpendicular holes as there are individuals below. The perpendicular hole is usually that through which they go in and out: the oblique serves to give a thorough air to keep the retreat clean, and, in case one hole is stopped, to give an exit at this. Within about a foot of the perpendicular hole, the animal makes two more, where are deposited the family's provisions. These are much more spacious than the former, and are large in proportion to the quantity of the store. Beside these, there is still another apartment warmly lined with grass and straw, where the female brings forth her young; all these communicate with each other, and all together take up a space of ten or twelve feet in diameter. These animals furnish their storehouses with dry corn well cleaned; they also lay in corn in the ear, and beans and peas in the pod. These, when occasion requires, they afterwards separate, carrying out the pods and empty ears by their oblique passage. They usually begin to lay in at the latter end of August; and, as each magazine is filled, they carefully cover up the mouth with earth, and that so neatly that it is no easy matter to discover where the earth has been removed. The only means of finding out their retreats are, therefore, to observe the oblique entrance, which generally has a small quantity of earth before it; and this, though often several yards from their perpendicular retreat, leads those who are skilled in the search to make the discovery. Many German peasants are known to make a livelihood by finding out and bringing off their hoards, which, in a fruitful season, often furnish two bushels of good grain in each apartment.

Like most others of the rat kind, they produce twice or thrice a year, and bring five or six at a time.

THE LEMMING.-Having considered various kinds of these noxious little animals that elude the indig

nation of mankind, and subsist by their number, not their strength, we come to a species more bold, more dangerous, and more numerous than any of the former. The lemming, which is a native of Scandinavia, is often seen to pour down in myriads from the northern mountains, and, like a pestilence, destroy all the productions of the earth. It is described as being larger

than a dormouse, with a bushy tail, though shorter. It is covered with thin hair

INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE.-Nothing so greatly shows the power and extent of the resources of Nature, as the modes in which she supplies by instinct the want of intelligence, and puts a blind and necessary force in the place of judgment and reason. When this is done, we find those beings which are in reality the most stupid, appear to possess the most extensive intellectual faculties. They seem to approximate to man, to equal, nay, to surpass him in foresight and sagacity. What is most singular is, that these

remarkable faculties are usually accompanied by organs the most limited, and physical qualities the most feeble. The circumstance, however, which separates instinct from intelligence, and gives to the latter the most decided superiority, is, that instinct is circumscribed to a small number of actions, out of the range of which it is absolutely nothing. But intelligence, on the contrary, always present, and always ready for action, extends itself to all circumstances, to all times, and to all places. With instinct the world is (g) Buffon, vol. xxvi. p. 159.

of various colours. The extremity of the upper part of the head is black, as are likewise the neck and shoulders, but the rest of the body is reddish, intermixed with small black spots of various figures, as far as the tail, which is not above half an inch long. The eyes are little and black, the ears round and inclining towards the back, the legs before are short, and those behind longer, which gives it a great degree of swiftness. But what it is much more remarkable for than its figure are, its amazing fecundity and extraordinary migrations.

In wet seasons, all of the rat kind are known to propagate more than in dry; but this species in particular is so assisted in multiplying by the moisture of the weather, that the inhabitants of Lapland, sincerely believe that they drop from the clouds, and that the same magazines that furnish hail and snow, pour the lemming also upon them. In fact, after long rain, these animals set forward from their native mountains, and several millions in a troop deluge the whole plain with their numbers. (g) They move, for the most part, in a square, marching forward by night and lying still by day. Thus, like an animated torrent, they are often seen more than a mile broad covering the ground, and that so thick that the hindmost touches its leader. It is in vain that the poor inhabitant resists or attempts to stop their progress, they still keep moving for ward; and, though thousands are destroyed, myriads are seen to succeed and make their destruction impracticable. They generally move in lines, which are about three feet from each other, and exactly parallel. Their march is always directed from the north-west to the south-east, and regularly conducted from the beginning. Wherever their motions are turned, nothing can stop them; they go directly forward, impelled by some strange power; and, from the time they first set out, they never once think of retreating. If a lake or a river happens to interrupt their progress, they all together take the water and swim over it; a fire, a deep well, or a torrent, does not turn them out of their straightlined direction; they boldly plunge into the flames, or leap down the well, and are sometimes seen climbing up on the other side. If they are interrupted by a boat across a river while they are swimming, they never attempt to swim round it, but mount directly up its sides; and the boat-men, who know how vain resistance in such a case would be, calmly suffer the living torrent to pass over, which it does without further damage. If they meet with a stack of hay or corn that interrupts their passage, instead of going over it they gnaw their way through; if they are stopped by a house in their course, if they cannot get through it, they continue there till they die. If they are interrupted in their course, and a man should imprudently venture to attack one of them, the little animal is no way intimidated by the disparity of strength, but furiously flies up at its opponent, and, barking somewhat like a puppy, wherever it fastens does not easily quit the hold. If at last the leader be forced out of its line, which it defends as long as it can, and be separated from the rest of its kind, it sets up a plaintive cry different from that of anger, and, as some pretend to say, gives itself a voluntary death, by hanging itself on the fork of a tree.

bounded to it alone, but the reign of intelligence extends beyond the dominion of the

senses.

The hamster, presents a curious example of extended instinct and boundless intelligence. For man alone the future exists in the present. No other animal is capable of foresight, or of conforming his actions by anticipated knowledge to future contingencies. Other animals exist but in the present, and they appear in fact, to have little or no perception of time. The hamster lays in magazines more than its wants require, and thus it is enabled to wait the return of spring, and the maturity of the harvest. In other

(g) Phil. Trans. vol. ii. p. 872.