Part 18

From the fact which we formerly stated, namely, that the hamster which we kept confined in a cage, and in a room where water was frozen, was not reduced to a torpid state, we cannot but regret that M. Sulzer has not stated the degree of cold, or want of air, which rendered them so. M. Allemand has confirmed this fact in the observations he has added to the hamster in the Dutch edition of my work. Among other remarks, he says, this animal is of the mouse kind, and sleeps during winter, like the marmot; he is of a forbidding external appearance, and his manners are not less disgusting; for he has not a single social quality; he destroys and devours every animal he can conquer, not excepting his own species; and even the females, to whom he is led by instinct, would suffer no better fate, after the gratification of his passions, which are of short duration, if she did not contrive her escape, or secure her own life by the killing of him first. These animals pass the winter in a torpid state, and are the only ones of Europe which have pouches in their cheeks. They avoid extremes, and are not to be found either in very warm or very cold countries. As he feeds upon grain, and dwells under the earth, it is necessary for the construction of his habitation that the soil should neither be hard, sandy, nor marshy, but one that is easily penetrated, and yet so firm as not to crumble down; and it is for this reason that the hamsters are more numerous in Thuringia than in any other place, where also they have the equally great advantage of procuring all kinds of grain with ease, it being an abundant article in that country.

The hamsters come in season about the end of April, when the males seek out the females, who always have separate habitations, but do not remain with them above a few days. If two males meet in the same hole they instantly attack each other, and never give over until one has laid the other dead at his feet. The victor of course takes possession of the female, and during their amours they lay aside that ferocity with which at other times they constantly persecute each other; nay, they will at this time act for their mutual defence, and if their hole happens to be opened, and the female perceives the male in danger, she will fly at their disturber, and inflict deep and painful wounds. The females bring forth two or three times every year, they seldom have less than six young, and more frequently from sixteen to eighteen; they grow very fast, for they begin to dig the earth when they are fifteen days old, and are entirely thrown off by their mother when they are three weeks old. They have little attachment to their offspring, for if their habitations are attacked the mother's only solicitude is to take care of herself; for which she penetrates deeper into the earth, and is so regardless of the cries of her young that she even blocks up the hole after her to prevent their following.

They feed on all kinds of herbs, roots, grain, and the flesh of those animals which they can subdue. As they are not calculated for going a great distance, they lay in their first store of such provisions as the fields in their immediate vicinity present, and this is the reason why one of their chambers is often found full of a single sort of grain; but as the harvest is got in they go to greater distances, carrying back with them every thing they can meet with, without distinction; and for this purpose Nature has bestowed on them a pouch in each cheek, the outsides of which are smooth and membranous, and the insides furnished with a number of glands, which supply a fluid, and keep them so flexible that they receive no injury from any kinds of grain they may wish to convey, however rough or sharp. In each of these pouches he can carry an ounce and a half of grain, and which he empties by pressing his fore-feet against his cheeks. When a hamster is met thus loaded he may be taken with the hand, because at that time he cannot bite; but if he is not laid hold of instantly he soon empties his pouches, and will defend himself. An old male will collect a great quantity of grain in this manner, and there have been instances of finding 100 pounds weight in a single hole; but the females and the young ones do not store so much.

If their holes are opened in winter, the animal is found lying upon a bed of soft straw, with his head bent between his two fore-legs under his belly, and his hind feet turned up and resting on his nose; his eyes are quite shut, and if forced open they close again immediately; in a word, he has every appearance of a dead animal, and his whole body feels as cold as ice. This torpid state of the hamster has been attributed to a certain degree of cold; but although that may be the case with bats and dormice, yet it is necessary with this animal that he should also be deprived of the impression of the air; for if he be shut up in a cage, and put in a room where water will freeze, he will not become torpid; but if that cage is buried some feet under the earth, and so covered that the air cannot penetrate to him, he will in the course of a few days become equally so as if he were in an habitation of his own framing. The cage being brought up the animal soon recovers in the air, and if put under the earth he sinks again into his torpid state; and this he will continue to do as long as there is any frost. The same circumstance takes place if they are dug out of their holes during their torpor, after being a few hours exposed to the air, they invariably awake, whether it is night or day, which proves that light is not part of the cause. In recovering from his torpid state the limbs of the hamster first begin to lose their stiffness, he then breathes, but at long intervals; by degrees opens his mouth and eyes; at length he endeavours to get upon his legs, and continues his efforts until he has accomplished that point; when after standing perfectly still for a few moments, he begins to walk and go about as usual.

This animal seems to be influenced by no other passions but rage, for he invariably makes war against all that come in his way, regardless of their superiority in size or strength. He has no idea of flight, and will suffer himself to be beat to pieces rather than yield. When he sees a dog coming towards him, he empties his cheeks, if he happens to be loaded, then swells them up to an enormous size, waits the approach of his enemy, who being sufficiently near, he rises upon his hind legs, and darts furiously upon him; and if he once makes good his hold he never quits it without the loss of life; but the dogs, who are fond of hunting them, generally avoid the first attack, and then seize them by the back. His ferocious disposition is not only exercised against other animals, but even his own species, for two hamsters never meet but they attack each other, and fight till one is slain, whom the conqueror devours; and in this respect there is no difference even if the rencounter is between a male and female.[AQ]

[AQ] This animal is very common in all the southern parts of Russia, principally in the most fertile countries and the best cultivated. He is not even rare in Tartary and the most southern parts of Siberia. In the desarts they live a wandering life; and they choose from preference those places where there is a great quantity of liquorice, the seeds of which serve them for provision.

THE BOBAK,[AR] AND OTHER MARMOTS.

[AR] This is its Polish name. It is called _switsch_ from the cry of the animal.

The name of the _Strasburgh marmot_ has been affixed to the hamster, and that of the _Poland marmot_ to the bobak (_fig. 171._). But it is as certain, that the hamster is not a marmot, as it is probable the bobak is one; for he only differs from the marmot of the Alps by the colour of his hair, which instead of being brown is rather a pale yellow: he has also a thumb, or claw, to the fore-feet, while the marmot has only four toes and no thumb; but in every other respect they perfectly resemble, which makes us presume they do not form two distinct species. It is the same with respect to the monax, or Canadian marmot, which some travellers have termed the _whistler_: he only seems to differ from the marmot by the tail, which is longer and thicker of hair. Therefore the Canadian monax, the Poland bobak, and the Alpine marmot, appear to be all the same animal, which from the influence of different climates have undergone those alterations we have before particularized. As this species prefers the coldest and highest mountains, and inhabits Poland, Russia, and other parts of the north of Europe, no wonder it is found in Canada, where it is only somewhat less, a circumstance not particular to it alone; for all animals common to both continents are smaller in the new than in the old.

The Siberian animal, called by the Russians _jevraschka_, is a kind of marmot, still less than the Canadian monax, the head of which is round, and the snout snubbed. It has no external ears, nor can the auditory passages be seen without turning back the hair. The length of the body, including the head, is not above a foot; the tail, which is scarcely three inches long, is nearly round towards the body, then flat, and truncated towards as extremity. The body is thick, the hair yellow, mixed with grey, and blackish towards the end of the tail. The legs are short, but those before are somewhat longer than those behind. The hind feet have five toes, with five black claws, a little crooked: the fore feet have but four. When these animals are irritated, or when they are surprised, they bite violently, and make a shrill noise like the marmot. They sit upon their hind legs to feed, and carry the food to their mouths with their fore paws. They copulate in spring, and bring forth in summer; commonly five or six at a time. They dig burrows for their winter residence, and the females suckle their young at the bottom of their habitations. Though these animals bear a great resemblance to the marmots, they nevertheless seem to be a different species, for the Poland or Alpine species of marmot are found in the same parts of Siberia, which the inhabitants call _suroks_, and these two species have never been observed to mix together, nor produce an intermediate race.

THE JERBOA.

Jerboa is a generic name, which is made use of to denote those remarkable animals whose legs are extremely disproportionate; those before being not above one inch long, and those behind two inches one fourth, exactly resembling those of a bird. There are four distinct species, or varieties, in this genus; first, the _tarsier_, which we have already spoken of, and which is certainly a particular species, having five toes on each foot, like those of a monkey. Secondly, the _jerboa_, which has four toes on the fore-feet, and three on those behind. Third, the _alagtaga_, whose feet are formed like those of the jerboa, with this difference, that it has five toes on the fore-feet, and three on the hind, with a spur, that may be considered as a thumb, or fourth toe, much shorter than the others. Fourth, the _daman Israel_, or _lamb of Israel_, which has four toes to the fore feet, and five on those behind, and which may possibly be the same animal that Linnæus has described under the name of _mus longipes_.

The head of the jerboa is sloped somewhat in the manner of a rabbit; but the eyes are larger, and the ears shorter, higher, and broader in proportion to its size. Its nose is deprived of hair, and is of a flesh colour, and its muzzle short and thick, the orifice of the mouth very narrow, the upper jaw very broad, and the lower narrow and short; the teeth are like those of a rabbit; the whiskers are composed of long black and white hairs; the fore feet are very short, and never touch the ground; they are furnished with four claws, and are only used as hands to carry the food to the mouth; the hind feet have but three toes, the middle one is longest, and all of them have claws; the tail is three times longer than the body, and is covered with short stubborn hair, of the same colour as those on the back, but tufted at the end with longer and softer hair; the legs, nose, and ears, are bare, and of a flesh colour; the upper part of the head and back are covered with reddish hair, the sides, throat, and belly, are whitish; below the reins, and near the tail, there is a large black, transversal band, in the form of a crescent.

The alagtaga is smaller than a rabbit, its body is shorter, its ears are long, wide, bare, thin, transparent, and sprinkled with blood-vessels, which are very apparent; the upper jaw is much larger than the lower, but blunt and pretty wide at the extremity; the whiskers are large; the teeth are like those of the rat, the eyes full, with the iris and pupil of a brown colour. The body of this animal is narrow before, but very broad and round behind; the tail is very long, it is not so thick as the little finger of a man, and about two-thirds of it is covered with short and rough hair, which grows longer, softer, and thicker, towards the end, till at length it forms a kind of tuft, black at the beginning, and white towards the extremity. The fore-feet are very short and have five toes, the hind ones, which are very long, have only four, three of which are placed forwards, and the fourth, which is a kind of thumb, stands at about an inch distant from the rest. All these toes are furnished with claws, shorter in the hind than in the fore-feet. The hair of this animal is soft, pretty long, yellow on the back, and whitish under the belly.

By comparing these two descriptions, the first of which is taken from Edwards and Hasselquist, and the second from Gmelin, we shall perceive, that these animals resemble each other as much as possible. The jerboa is only smaller than the alagtaga, and has only four toes on the fore-feet, and three on the hind ones, without any spur; while the other has five on the fore-feet, and three and a spur on those behind; but I am inclined to think this difference is not universal, for Dr. Shaw, who has given a description of the jerboa of Barbary, represents it with this spur, or fourth toe, on the hind-feet; and Mr. Edwards remarks, that he carefully examined two jerboas he saw in England, and that he saw no spur in either of them. Thus this character which would specifically distinguish the jerboa from the alagtaga, not being universal is of no consequence, and rather remarks the identity, than the diversity of the species. Neither is the difference of size any greater proof of their being two different species; possibly Edwards and Hasselquist have only described young jerboas, and M. Gmelin, an old alagtaga. There are only two things which create any doubt in my mind, viz. the difference in the size of their tails, and the variety in the climates they inhabit, for the jerboa is common in Circassia, Egypt, Barbary, and Arabia; and the alagtaga, in Tartary, along the Wolga, and as far as Siberia. It is seldom that the same kind of animal inhabits such different climates; and whenever it does happen the species undergoes great changes; which, we presume, is the case with the jerboa, of which the alagtaga, notwithstanding these differences, seems to be only a variety.

These little animals commonly conceal their hands, or fore-feet, among their hair; so that at first they appear to have only hind-feet. When they move from one place to another, they do not walk, that is advance one foot before the other, but jump or bound with the greatest ease, four or five feet at a time; they rest themselves in a kneeling posture, and only sleep in the day. In the night they seek for food, like hares, and like them, feed on grass and all kinds of grain. They are of a gentle nature, but are not to be tamed beyond a certain limit. They burrow like rabbits, and in much less time. They lay up a store of grass towards the end of summer in their habitations, and in which, in cold countries, they remain during the winter.

With respect to the daman, or lamb of Israel, which seems to be of the jerboa kind, as its fore-legs are much shorter than those behind, having never seen it, we cannot do better than copy the description of it as given by Dr. Shaw, who speaks of these two animals as of different kinds: "The daman (says this author) is also a native of Mount Lebanon, and common to be met with in Syria and Phoenicia; it is a very harmless animal, resembling the common rabbit in size, shape, and also in the disposition of the fore-teeth; but it is somewhat browner, has smaller eyes, and a head more pointed. Its fore-feet are short, and those behind long, much in the same proportion as those of the jerboa. Although it sometimes conceals itself in the earth, its common retreat is in the hollows and clefts of rocks, which is a strong reason to conclude that it is this animal and not the jerboa, which is meant in Scripture by the _Saphan_. I have not been able to learn from any one why it was called the _daman_ of Israel, which signifies the _lamb_ of Israel." Prosper Alpinus, who mentioned this animal before Dr. Shaw, says, that its flesh is delicate food, and that it is much bigger than the European rabbit; but this last circumstance seems doubtful, for Dr. Shaw has omitted this passage of Prosper Alpinus, whom, in other respects, he has fully quoted.

THE ICHNEUMON.

This animal in Egypt is called _mangutia_, but we shall adopt the name _ichneumon_ (_fig. 172._) given it by Aristotle, and others. It is as domestic in Egypt as the cat is in Europe; and is alike serviceable to destroy rats and mice. But its inclination for prey is much stronger and more violent, for it hunts and eats with the same avidity, birds, quadrupeds, serpents, lizards, and insects. It attacks every living creature, and feeds entirely on animal flesh; its courage is equal to the sharpness of its appetite, being neither intimidated by the anger of the dog, nor the malice of the cat; it even dreads not the bite of the serpent, but pursues, seizes, and kills them, however venomous. As soon as it begins to feel the effects of their venom, it immediately goes in search of antidotes, and particularly of a root which the Indians call by its name, and which, they say, is a most sure and powerful remedy against the bite of the viper or asp. It sucks the eggs of the crocodile, as well as those of fowls and birds; it also kills and eats the young crocodiles, though they are very strong even when scarcely come out of the shell; and as fable commonly precedes truth, it has been alleged that, in consequence of this antipathy, the ichneumon enters the body of the crocodile when he is asleep, and never quits him till it has devoured his entrails.

Naturalists have supposed that there are several kinds of ichneumons, because there are some larger, and of a different colour from others; but if we consider, that being often reared in houses, they must, like other domestic animals, undergo changes, we shall readily perceive that this diversity of colour and size only indicates simple varieties, not sufficient to constitute a separate species; especially as in the two ichneumons which I have seen alive, and in many stuffed skins I examined, I did not observe that the intermediate shades both of size and colour differed from the rest by any evident and constant character; and it only appears, that in Egypt, where the ichneumons may be said to be domestic, they are larger than those in India, where they are wild.

Nomenclators, who are never willing that a being should be only what it is, have greatly varied on the subject of the ichneumon. Linnæus first made it of the badger kind, and directly after of the ferret. Hasselquist, following the lessons of his master, also makes it a badger. Klein and Brisson have placed it in the weasel class, others in the otter, and some with the rat.[AS] I only quote these ideas to shew the want of consistency, and the contradictions, which are to be met with in what are called generic denominations, and which are generally false, arbitrary, vague, and equivocal.

[AS] Professor Cuvier classes it with the bear.

The ichneumon is fond of living by the sides of rivers. During the inundations it quits its habitation, and even seeks for prey near inhabited places. They walk without making any noise, and change their manner as occasion requires. Sometimes they carry their heads erect, foreshorten their bodies, and rise upon their hind-legs; at other times they creep and lengthen their bodies like a serpent. It often sits upon its hind-legs, and more often darts like an arrow upon its prey; its eyes are lively and full of fire; its physiognomy is beautiful, its body very agile, legs short, tail thick and very long, and its hair rough, and sometimes curled. Both male and female have a remarkable orifice, independent of the natural passages; a kind of pouch, in which an odoriferous liquor is secreted; and some have asserted that the ichneumon opens this pouch to refresh itself when too hot. Its nose is very sharp, and its mouth narrow, which prevents it from seizing any thing very large; but these wants are amply supplied by agility and courage. It very easily strangles a cat, though bigger and stronger than itself; it often fights with dogs, and however large commonly gets the better of them.

Their growth is very quick, and their lives but of short duration: they are very common throughout all the southern parts of Asia, from Egypt to Java; and are even to be met with in Africa, as far as the Cape of Good Hope; but they will not live and produce in our temperate climates; they are distressed by wind, and the frost destroys them; to avoid the one, and to counteract the effects of the other by warmth, they roll themselves up with their heads under their bellies. The ichneumon was much esteemed by the ancient Egyptians, and is still protected with much care upon account of the essential service it performs in the destruction of noxious animals, particularly the crocodiles, whose eggs it knows how to discover even in the sand, and which creatures would become very formidable, from their great multiplication, one female laying near five hundred eggs, if it were not that the ichneumons destroy them.

THE FOSSANE.