INCISORS OF RODENTS the nature meted out to Box and Cox is adopted. While one beast sports in the water the other gazes enviously from the interior of a shed, and separated by a gate; otherwise misunderstandings might arise. Sea lions are fish eaters in a wide and non-zoological sense; for they are partial to crustaceans as well. An ingenious "dodge." was adopted at the Zoo by the late Mr. A. D. Bartlett some years since to tempt the appetite of a sickly sea bear, which had been left for its health's sake by a travelling menagerie. The otary was turned into the pond in company with some live eels; and the pleasures of the chase induced it to make a hearty meal. The intelligence of a sea lion is on a fairly high level, and most persons have seen its dexterous catching of morsels of fish and its obedience to the commands of its keeper; there will be some too, who remember Leconte, the old Frenchman who long presided over the sea lions at the Zoo. THE GNAWING Mammals, orDER RODENTIA There is no difficulty whatever in recognizing a rodent, and in distinguishing it from any other group of existing mammals. There are only two living creatures which might cause confusion, and they are the Magadascar lemur, Chiromys, and the ungulate, Hyrax. But we have seen that there is no need to perplex ourselves over their correct placing. In all rodents the canine teeth are entirely absent, and in all of them there are but one pair of efficient incisor teeth in each jaw which are long and chisel-shaped and allow the rodent to perform its typical function, that of gnawing. It is true, that in the hares and rabbits there is a minute supplementary pair in the upper jaw; but these are so small that they do not impair the general rodent-like aspect of the animal. There is an extraordinary variety of rodents, scattered practically over the whole surface of the world. They VIZCACHERAS are more abundant in generic and specific types than any other existing order of mammals; and the reason for their abundance and variation may perhaps be sought for in their small size and retiring ways. They skulk, burrow, hide in holes, secrete themselves in leafy retreats, dive under the water, and generally shun observation. Besides the few forms of rodents which will be noticed in the following pages, a good many forms are usually on view in the Zoological Gardens. There are, for instance, commonly to be seen beavers, once, and that within the historic period, a denizen of the British Islands; squirrels of many kinds, besides the so-called flying "squirrels with a parachute stretching from arm to leg; the marmot of the Alps, and that of India; many rats of diverse kinds; the South American agouti, and its ally the guinea pig (really Guiana pig); the hopping jerboa of the East, so like a small kangaroo, and related Cape jumping hare (Pedetes cafer); the little sandy coloured gerbilles and other rat-like creatures. THE VIZCACHA South America, which fosters the muff-producing chinchilla, also is inhabited by the vizcacha or Lagostomus trichodactylus, a smallish rodent of the same family, Chinchillidæ. The tail is long and the colour is dark, agreeably diversified by white patches on the cheeks and below. Unlike the chinchilla, the vizcacha dwells on the Pampas, and constructs there burrows in the soil, which are associated in number to form veritable cities, the so-called vizcacheras." Like many of the cursorial rodents, the Lagostomus has its toes reduced to four on each front limb, and three on each hind limb. The underground cities which the vizcachas build and inhabit, consist of many burrows which intercommunicate, so that if an enemy enters by one door the vizcacha can bolt by another, like a pickpocket through SOCIABILITY OF VIZCACHA those convenient houses modified for his benefit. Like the burrowing marmot of North America miscalled the prairie dog, the vizcacha harbours, apparently not unwillingly, a varied assortment of lodgers. They belong to many classes of the animal kingdom. A fox is the largest of these boarders, and though he and his vixen devour the young vizcachas, it is apparently regarded merely as "churchyard luck" by the parents, who exhibit no particular symptoms of animosity against vulpes. A weasel also lives almost entirely with the vizcachas, and in his sheer innocence of intent it is hard to believe. Quite harmless are two species of swallow which build their nests upon the sides of the burrows like sand martins at home. Various wasps and beetles complete the list. In North America the rattlesnake and the burrowing owl live with the prairie dog in harmony. In South America the same owl visits the vizcacheras occasionally, and sits outside. This seems to be pure sociability on the owl's part, for the bird. does not apparently make any use of its acquaintance. The chief foes of the vizcachas are the jaguar and the puma; the domestic dog they do not care about, but baffle his frantic attempts to catch them, by coolly, but with an exact appreciation of the moments necessary for the action, dive into their burrow just before his jaws close upon them. Mr. Hudson, who is the chief authority upon the habits of this sociable little rodent, doubts if there is any other four-footed beast so loquacious or with a dialect so extensive" as is the vizcacha. Being a white-fleshed rodent who does not lead too active a life the meat of the vizcacha is good to eat. PORCUPINES Such terms as "the sharp quilled porpentyne" and the "werely porpapyne," though bewildering in their DERIVATION OF PORCUPINE spelling, and tending to the concealment of the origin of its name, illustrate the principal external feature of this large rodent. You cannot, however, tell the " warlike porcupine" by its quills; for such thick, solid and sharp hairs, they are nothing else, are common, not only among rodents, but in the insectivora, and even in the spiny anteater of Australia, which is a representative of the most ancient type of mammal known. How then is a porcupine to be distinguished from an overgrown rat, a magnified representative of the spiny mice? For one thing, it has spines on its tail, which the spiny mice have not. But to be absolutely certain, recourse must be had to bony and other internal characters. The porcupines are also larger than any other spiny rodent, and there is of course no possibility of confusing them with sharp-nosed and sharp-toothed hedgehog, or Centetes. The tail will betray the mouseShow him a mouse's tail and he will guess With metaphysic swiftness at the mouse and at the Porcupine. The spines have of course given its name to the Porcupine. But it is not certain. whether the derivation from "Porc Epic," i.e. pigspine, is correct, or the more probable "Porte Epic," i.e. spine bearer. As to the pig alternative, the fondness for calling beasts pigs with a qualification, is universal. The porpoise is the pig fish; the "Porcus marinus" of the ancients was a beast of some kind, but one does not know what. The only claim which the porcupine puts forth to this derivation is that, according to the Indian naturalist, Jerdon, the flesh of the porcupine resembles roast pig, with a dash of veal, however, a flavour that seems, according to travellers and gastronomic experimenters, to be the flavour of almost everything new to the palate. The spines enter largely into the genuine natural history of the porcupine, as well as into legend. They are plainly |