DONOVAN
THE
NATURAL HISTORY
BRITISH QUADRUPIDS:
CONSISTING ON
COLOURED FIGURES,
ACCOMPANIED WITH
SCIENTIFIC AND GENERAL DESCRIPTIONS,
or all the species that are known to inhabis
THE BRITISH ISLES:
including
AS WELL, THOSE POUND IN VED AS IN THE DOMESTICATED STATE ;
SC as are
CEEARIL TIDAD TOT
ORIGINALLY IND. TALBOT ARE YOU
TEME EXTREVEL2RI
XIRZAT...
THE WHOLE ARRANGED IN SYSTEJI ATIC ORDER,
AFTER THE WINNER OF LINNÆUS.
BY E NONO TAN, F.L.S. W.S.
Author of the Natural Histories of British Birds, Fishes, Insects, Shells, &c.
nosi22222
IN THREE POLUMES,
VOL. 1.
London:
T:RINTED FOR THE AUTHOP.;
AND pa
PS. TON, 62, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YAEU
TDS, WATL 160-PIACE, PALU-MALL
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THE
NATURAL HISTORY
OF
BRITISH QUADRUPEDS;
CONSISTING OF
COLOURED FIGURES,
ACCOMPANIED WITH
SCIENTIFIC AND GENERAL DESCRIPTIONS,
of all the species that are known to inhabit
THE BRITISH IS L ES:
inclading
AS WELL THOSE FOUND IN A WILD AS IN THE DOMESTICATED STATE ;
and also such as are
CLEARLY AUTHENTICATED TO HAVE BEEN ORIGINALLY INDIGENOUS, BUT ARE NOW
EXTIRPATED, OR BECOME EXTREMELY RARE;
THE WHOLE ARRANGED IN SYSTEMATIC ORDER,
AFTER THE MAN:NER OF LINNÆUS.
By Edward
DONOVAN, F.L.S. W.S.
Author of the Natural Histories of British Birds, Fishes, Insects, Shells, &c.
THREE VOLUMES,
VOL. 1.
London:
PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR;
AND FOR F. C. AND J. RIVINGTON, 62, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD,
AND 3, WATERLOO-PLACE, PALL-MALL.
1820.

GBC
-)
«
در
Printed by R. Gilbert, St. John's Square, London.

шахматли
12-2-29
ADVERTISEMENT.
0 12-2-29. K.c.k.
The present Work is intended to elucidate the
Natural History of British Quadrupeds, in the same form
and manner, and with the same peculiar attention to scien-
tific accuracy, as characterize the several works on the
Zoology of the British Isles, which the author has already
submitted, with very flattering success, to the world.
It is not incumbent upon us to insist on the very
decided
claims which the larger and more dignified tribes of the
British Quadrupeds has, and ever will maintain to the
particular regard of man. The Horse and Dog, the im-
mediate companions of his pleasures and his toils, his
profits and his wishes, the inmates of his household, and
one gradation only removed beneath the rank of social
creatures; the Ox, the Sheep, and all the minor tribes of
beasts domesticated, and rendered useful to the purposes of
human life, both obtain and deserve attention ; while
others, descending even to the lowest orders of the Qua-
druped race, are recommended to his notice by their good
or evil qualities, and become too important in our views of
life to be neglected, or treated even with calm indifference.
A 2

ADVERTISEMENT.
In point of beauty, or, in other words, of those happy
combinations of symmetry, elegance, and brilliancy of
colours, with which our ideas of beauty are associated, it is
not to be denied that few of the inferior tribes of Quadru-
peds possess any very prominent attractions, and in respect
of colour in particular, they unquestionably shrink from
competition, amid that rich variety of gay and splendid
objects with which the hand of Nature has adorned creation.
We must regard them in another and more philosophic
view, and we shall then be better satisfied : we must examine
them not according to our analytical conceptions of exterior
beauty, but of their mind and manners, and we shall then
perceive their immediate, we may almost say their irre-
sistible importance. In their organization we shall observe
their relative approach to the perfections of the human
frame, and in their manners, their versatility, their caution
in avoiding danger, and their address and courage in the
hour of peril, peculiarities of instinct which assimilate
so closely to the gradations of human reason, as fully to
entitle them to our primary consideration in the great scale
of animated Nature,
The history of the generous tribes of our native Qua-
drupeds has so oft engaged the pen of panegyric, and
called forth the praise of eloquence, from the loftier strains
of the poet and the historian of Nature, to the humblest
sphere of rural courtesy and demonstration, that many
readers might rest persuaded little novelty remained un-

ADVERTISEMENT.
gathered in a path so often trodden ; with respect to these,
the larger tribes of Quadrupeds it assuredly is so, and as
the same remark must be extended likewise in a more re-
stricted manner to the minor tribes, it appears rather within
the province of the plagiarist than the naturalist, to
repeat what has been so largely written, and has ap-
peared so often. This is not intended, nor is indeed
requisite ; for the history of these animals is by no means
yet so entirely complete, as to discourage perseverance :
enough remains to reward labour, without digressing very
far upon the paths of others; and in the enlarged view,
which the present work affords, the author will endeavour
to render it in this respect as useful as the nature of a
general and popular undertaking may with propriety
admit.
When we contemplate the widely extended field for
observation and research that the history of Quadrupeds
affords us, it cannot indeed but be considered as a peculiar
advantage that so much has already been written upon the
subject : it is undoubtedly to this cause, more than any other,
we may attribute that lively share of interest with which
the general class of readers are ever disposed to enter into
the minutiæ of this particular branch of zoological enquiry ;
and where the observations can be relied upon, it tends
assuredly to lessen the labours of further research and
investigation.

ADVERTISEMENT.
a
Nor is it the pen alone that has been engaged in the
elucidation of the history of Quadrupeds, all the talents of
the painter, and the excellence of the graphic art, have
been occasionally called forth in unison, to present them
to the admiring eye in their most pleasing and enchanting
forms; and, as might be expected from such a combination
of ability, many works of uncommon merit have been
pro-
duced. But works of this kind relate chiefly to the sports
of the turf and the field, and are calculated principally for
that purpose. It is not within the contemplation of the
author to emulate, on this occasion, the splendour of such
productions, his only aim, at present, is to produce a work
of sufficient accuracy to satisfy the wishes of the student of
Nature: and that, considering the extent of such an under-
taking, at a price so moderate, as to meet the wishes of a
general class of purchasers :-a work, it is respectfully
presumed, that may be equally applicable to the library
of the hunting villa, and not unworthy of a place in the
study of the naturalist.
a
Besides innumerable varieties of Horses, Dogs, and other
domesticated Quadrupeds, which are familiar to every one,
it might be readily imagined that the known species indi-
genous to the British Isles were restricted to a very incon-
siderable number. This is not exactly the fact, although
they are not numerous : several among their number are
of rare occurrence, and consequently scarcely known; and
there are others which, although originally inhabitants of

ADVERTISEMENT.
the British Isles, as appears indubitably from the page of
history, are now entirely extirpated from this country, and
to be found only in the less cultivated parts of Europe.
The whole of these, including every materially interesting
variety, the author of this undertaking once endeavoured
to collect together, and in the result considered himself
particularly fortunate, after many years exertions, in ren-
dering the collection of them perfect. As this series of
Quadrupeds constituted a conspicuous feature in his Mu-
seum, it is presumed it cannot be unknown to the naturalist,
and the admirer of Nature; and that it will be therefore
only requisite in this place to observe, that it is this series
of the British Quadrupeds which constitutes the basis of the
present Work
The plates intended for the illustration of the three
volumes of this work, will amount altogether to seventy-two
in number. At the close of each volume will be inserted
a systematic, as well as alphabetical index, and a general
Linnæan index of the contents will be given at the conclu-
sion of the whole.
JANUARY 1st, 1820.

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London, Pubd as the Act directs, by E.Donovan & F.C.J. Rivingtons, Jan.2.2815.

THE
NATURAL HISTORY
OF
BRITISH QUADRUP EDS.
PLATE I.
OVIS ARIES.
SHEEP.
MAMMALIA.
PECORA.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Horns hollow, wrinkled, turned backwards and outwards into
a circular or spiral form: fore teeth in the lower jaw eight: tusks
none,
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
co
SYNONYMS.
Horns compressed and lunate,
Ovis ARIES: cornibus compressis lunatis Lin. Fn. Suec. 45. —
Amon. Acad. IV. p. 169.-Gmel. Linn. Syst.
197.
Nat. I. p.
VOL. I.
B

PLATE I.
Aries laniger cauda rotunda brevi.
Briss. regn. an. p. 74,
n. I.
Ovis domestica, Raj. Quadr. p. 54. t. 22.
Pecus, Aries, Ovis, Vervex, Agnus, Plin. Hist. Nat. VIII. c. 47.
48.
Gesn. quadr. p. 872. 912. 925. 927.
Aldrov. bisulc. p. 370.
Jonst. Quadr. p. 54. t. 22.
Charlet. exerc. p. 8.
Sibbald Scot, an. p. 8.
IIçoßatov. Aristot. Hist. Anim. V. c. 11. VI, c. 19. VIII. c. 13.
IX. c. 4.
Brebis et Belier. Buff. V. p. 1. t. 1. 2.
Schaaf, Widder, Hammel, Lamb. Gesn. Thierb. p. 320, 321.
327. 329,
RAM. Penn. quadr. p. 10. n. 8.
e two
Of all the quadrupeds which are indigenous to the soil, or cul-
tivated by the hand of industry within the regions of the British
isles, there can be none deserving more immediately our first
attention than the common sheep. The horse and the ox have
each a decided claim upon our views, the dog and many others
merit our peculiar observation; but considered duly, not one of
these can be esteemed of greater, we had almost said of equal
moment to the land of Britain, than that invaluable creature the
common sheep.

PLATE I.
The facility with which these fleecy flocks are cultivated, and
the rich reward with which the fostering care bestowed upon them
is repaid, becomes every where apparent to the observers of rural
life: upon our heaths and downs, in the meadow-pastures, the
vale, and cliffy shores, upon the most barren waste, and the
bleakest mountains ; for in every situation within the temperate
influence of our climate, the greater portion of the year
is
pro-
ductive of increasing riches in the flocks that enliven and adorn
them.
These passive beings, endowed by Providence with the mildest
passions, demand no more than ordinary care, the humblest that
can be allotted, the patient gaze of some shepherd hind and his
ever faithful dog seated upon an eminence to watch, and recall the
stragglers to his flock, to conduct them homeward with retiring
day, and give them safe escort back to the pastures in the morn-
ing. - With the approach of winter these cares indeed increase;
the flocks must be sheltered from its inclemencies, its rains and
drifted snows, or they would perish; and the provision hoarded
with much rustic care in autumn be furnished for their sustenance
during that season, when
.“ frosty night
Her mantle black thro’ heaven
gan ovehal.”
SPENCER.
Since nature happily for man has never gifted these victims of
our wants with foresight: never forewarned them to set aside for
themselves a winter store from the abundance of summer, and cast
off the yoke of their dependance-Thus truly just becomes the
а.
B 2

PLATE 1.
native imagery of the ancient poet, a faithful picture of their
imbecility.
“ When winter's wasteful spite was almost spent,
All in a sunshine day as did befall,
Led forth his flock, that had been long y pent,
So faint they woxe and feeble in the fold,
That now uneths their feet could them uphold.”
SPENCER. Shep. Calend.
But this is only the labour of a few short weeks, and the arrival
of another spring repays the care of their “winter housing” with
an increase of flock and fleece in a proportion amply grateful for
the obligation.
As the sheep is one of the most useful, so also is it one of the
most prolific animals, and it is their amazing increase that renders
them the source of inexhaustible riches.- The mutton and the
lamb is sweet, delicious in flavour, and wholesome food ; its redun-
dant fat is applicable to an endless variety of useful purposes in the
domestic concerns of life, and its wool as an article of value must
be far beyond any estimate we can appreciate, to the manufacture,
trade and commerce: and consequently to the stability of that
inherent wealth which justly constitutes the pride of the British
nation.
The importance of this valuable creature was by no means neg-
lected by our early British ancestors, as it is very possible from
the remains of ancient history to determine; and this we would
wish to impress upon the mind of the reader the more distinctly,
because the contrary has been sometimes understood.

PLATE 1.
Among the more respectable authors who have treated upon this
subject, and by their writings partly sanctioned such opinions, we
may be allowed to refer to Mr. Pennant, whose observations have
long since appeared in the pages of the British Zoology. These
remarks are far from calculated to afford a favourable picture of
the ingenuity, or the industry of the ancient Britons in this respect,
and although in a certain measure true, are much too vague and
general to be admitted to the extent that writer seems to have
intended.
“ It does not appear (says Mr. Pennant) from any of the early
writers, that the breed of this animal was cultivated for the sake
of the wool among the “ Britains ;" the inhabitants of the inland
parts of this island either went naked or were only clothed with
skins. Those who lived on the sea-coasts, and were most civilized,
affected the manners of the Gauls, and wore like them a sort of
gar-
ments made of coarse wool, called Brachæ *. These they probably
.
-
* When the author expresses himself in such vague terms of the Britons,
we are inclined to believe he imagined them to be one people only, while
every authority could have assured him they were divided into many. He
seems to consider that those on the coast were so far improved in their man-
ners by their intercourse with the Gauls, as to adopt the coarse cloathing of
the Bracha, while such as inhabited the inland parts remained a horde of
savages. But this is not correct, the ancient histories of the Gauls do not
tend to prove they were more civilized than the natives of Britain.—Mr.
Owen, an able writer of our own time upon the subject of ancient Welsh
History, has well observed, that the name of the Cynmry is to be found
among the classic writers of Greece and Rome, from the earliest periods,
under the various terms of Kimbros, Coimbri, Cimbri, and Cimmerii. From
the same authority we further learn, that the Cynmry settled in Britain were
called Ceiltwys, and Ceiltiaid, (from Celt a covert) and which signifies the
people of the coverts; there were also Belwys, Belgwys, and Belgiaid, literally
meaning those who made irruptions out of the borders, (or warriors.) The
exposed people were expressly distinguished by the name of Peithwys; but
whether because, as Mr. Pennant intimates upon the authority of the Romans,

PLATE 1.
had from Gaul, there not being the least traces of manufactures
Britains," in the histories of those times *.”
60
among the
that they were naked, or only because they dwelt in an open or desert country,
is not certain. Other people of the country were in like manner distin-
guished from the local peculiarities of the tract they inhabited, as for exam-
ple, Ireland y werddon, or the western country; the people Gwyddyl and
Gwyddelod, the inhabitants of the woods or wilds, and thus also the great
forest in North Britain is called Coed Celyddon, the wood of shades or
coverts.
It has been remarked by a Scottish writer of the last century, that the
Greeks and Romans knew very little concerning the dress of the Caledonians,
excepting such as they wore on the day of battle. “Upon such occasions
(says this writer) they are indeed very slightly clad, if cloathed at all. Before
the engagement began they threw away their upper garments, and marched
against the enemy, having only a piece of thin stuff wrapped about the mid-
dle. Besides the skins of beasts worn by the Caledonians, like the more
barbarous inhabitants of Britain and Germany, there is reason to believe the
Caledonians imitated the latter in another part of their habit. The Germans
wore woollen mantles, and these sometimes party coloured, though generally
otherwise. A mantle of one colour was called by the Romans sagum, the
party coloured either sagum or braccæ promiscuously. Varro observes that
the word sagum is of Celtic origin: so also is braccæ. There is some difficulty
in settling the precise meaning of these words; the braccæ is said to be pre-
served among the Highlanders under that of breac to this day, for an upper
garment of several colours. There is a tradition extant from time immemorial
in North Britain, that the inhabitants were clad with a sagum, tacked together
about the neck with a pin or buckle; and that the sagum of one colour was
called plaide ; if party coloured or streaked with different dyes, breaccan."
Macpherson's Crit. Dissert.
The preceding extracts will serve to shew that woollen cloths were very
early in extensive use in different parts of Britain, and we can scarcely doubt
they were the manufacture of the different tribes who wore them: nor could
the art of dyeing the wool be unknown among the Britons, if we admit the
testimony before us.
* This is one of the most singular assumptions we have ever read. It
would imply that the Britons were literally a horde of naked savages, without
the slightest trace of manufacture, and that the very cloth which the more
civilized among them wore was fabricated in Gaul, the Britons not possessing
sufficient art to weave the wool. Nor did he seem aware that they even had

PLATE I.
" On the coins or money of“ the Britains” are seen impressed
the figures of the horse, the bull, and the hog, the marks of the
sheep, except upon the authority of Dr. Pegge, who informed him he had seen on
the coins of Canobelin the figure of that animal; and “ since that is the case,
(adds Mr. Pennant) it is probable that our ancestors were possessed of the animal,
but made no further use of it than to strip the skin off and wrap themselves up
in it."
One could scarcely expect an observation so positive and at the same time
so remote from certainty, from the pen of any writer, and more especially
from one who claims in part the honours of a British ancestry. Let us take
the period of the Roman conquest, and we shall immediately perceive the
contrary: we shall find they not only reared sheep, but had them in abundance,
and also that they manufactured cloths of wool. Pliny, the most copious, and
.
one of the most authentic writers of that period, expressly tells us that “ Bri-
tain” was“ an island renowned both in Greek and Roman History” -how a nation
of naked savages could have rendered itself so celebrated, we must leave others
to determine ;-or where the glory of Augustus Cæsar upon the conquest of
the Britons, one of the achievements worthy of his immortality: for thus the
poet Horace celebrates his victory:
Coelo tonantem credidimus Jovem
Regnare : præsens Divus habebitur
Augustus, adjectis Britannis
Imperio, gravibusque Persis.”
Lib. 3. Carm. V.
This was within the space of thirty years after the Roman conquest of the
island, and it is obvious that long before that period Britain had risen to consi-
deration not with the Romans only but with the Greeks, and that celebrity was
conneeted even with the “Grecian records.” This is not the assertion of a Bri-
tish writer, or it would be doubted, but of a classic author, and may be adduced
to prove that the British people were more civilized than many among our-
selves are at this time disposed to allow. The British histories affirm that
they had arts and learning, and can it for a moment be believed that such a
people could be destitute of the art of weaving the wool of sheep, while they
cultivated the sheep in such abundance, and while the art of weaving was
universally understood and practised at that very period by all nations, and
by many even for ages before that time, as appears indubitable from the
works of Pliny.
The fabrication of cloth composed of the wool of sheep was the invention
of a period so early in the history of the world, that no writer has pretended
to ascertain its origin. Homer speaks of cloths made of coarse rough wool,
as being in much request in his time for tapestry. Varro relates that in the
Temple of Sangus there continued to the time he wrote, the woollen cloth

PLATE I.
tribute exacted from them by the conquerors, (Camden.) The
Rev. Mr. Pegge was so kind as to inform me, that he had
that Cata Cæcilia spun, together with her distaff and spindle. The image of
fortune was covered with embroidered robes of woollen cloth by Servius
Tullus, which robes remained whole and sound to the time of Sejanus; and
neither fell off nor was moth-eaten, says Pliny, in the space of five hundred
and sixty years.
The art of weaving or otherwise fabricating cloth of the wool of sheep had
been practised in Egypt from a period altogether unknown: it had extended
over the whole habitable part of the world, and it does appear in the time of
Pliny had risen to very great perfection. That author speaks of woollen
cloths of many different kinds, fabricated from the wool of the sheep of dif-
ferent countries, or differing in the style of workmanship. In point of
quality, the Arabian wool was most esteemed; next that of Apulia, of Italy,
Laodicea in Asia, that of the banks of the Po, Piedmont and Lombardy,
Spain, Languedoc in France, and Egypt, all of which differed in fineness,
colour, or other peculiarities. Among the kinds of cloth mentioned, some
were wrought with the nap high upon the surface; others shorn close, others
interwoven with gold, as invented in Asia by King Attalus, and hence called
Attalica ; the Babylonian of various colours, called Babylonica, &c. But
that which more distinctly proves the degree of perfection to which this art
had risen among the Gauls, was their tapestry, diversified with various
colours, and differing from that of the Parthians; and their invention of a
coarse cloth of wool, driven into a felt without spinning or weaving, and which,
as Pliny tells us, was so strong that if vinegar be used in the working, it
became proof against the edge or point of the sword. They also manufac-
tured quilted mattrasses, which they stuffed with the refuse of the flocks of
wool in making this cloth, both inventions confessedly of the Gauls, and
distinguished, as Pliny tells us, by Gaulish names. Besides these, he speaks
of a square or lozenge damask work, invented by the Gauls, which may be
somewhat similar to the net-work weaving in squares, wrought by the artisans
in Portugal, and which was no doubt similar to the knitted woollen cloths of the
Britons of the same period.
We could proceed further in the same train of enquiry and with success,
but we are really afraid the digression has carried us already to an extent
beyond the patience of the reader. It was our wish to prove that at such a
period no nation could be so unskilled in the art of weaving as to be destitute
of cloth of their own manufacture, at the least for common use; but we have
shewn more, for it appears that the beauty of the different kinds of woollen
cloths manufactured by the Gauls, not only obtained distinction in Rome,
for the art shewn in their fabrication, and in the variety of their colours, but
were distinguished even by the names assigned to them by the Gauls. It
a

PLATE I.
.
seen on the coins of Cunobelin that of a sheep *. Since that is the
case, it is probable that our ancestors were possessed of the animal,
would be then no matter of degradation to the Britons, if Rome herself at
such a period of luxury would deign to receive the Gaulish cloths, that they
should follow the example; but the truth is, we may be assured they had no
occasion, since the same arts prevailed in a greater or less degree among the
Britons of the isles as among the Gauls. The classic historians of their wars
against the Romans represent them both as naked and untutored savages,
and the best apology Cæsar offers for invading Britain was, that they had
been in alliance against the Romans. It is worthy of remark, that at the
same time these nations are thus represented by the Roman writers, Pliny,
one of their best authors, assures us, that the quilts stuffed with woollen
flocks was an invention introduced among the Romans by the Gauls;
the Romans before that time sleeping upon beds of straw, or upon bare
mats, as the soldiers in his own (Pliny's) time were compelled in camp to
use hairy rugs. Plin. lib. 8. c. 48.
* The authority of Mr. Pegge, as an antiquary, is not without considerable
weight, and when joined with the venerable and justly respected name of
Camden, stands entitled to every attention. Mr. Pegge, who communicated
this information to Mr. Pennant, was the author of a well-known dissertation
on the coins of Cunobelin and other useful treatises on the antiquities of
Britain :-we have considered therefore those combined observations with
some care, and trust our remarks may tend to elucidate the point of enquiry;
confessedly one involved at this time in some obscurity.
As the examination of those coins which are usually esteemed British
has engaged much of our own attention, we may venture to believe that
such an effigy as that of the sheep must be very unusual upon any such coins :
:
it has never occurred to our observation, although in gold, electrum, silver,
copper, and tin, the types of more than two hundred different kinds are
known to us, and familiar to our recollection.
Upon the authority stated by Mr. Pennant, we turned over again the pages
of Mr. Pegge's work without perceiving any coin impressed with such a
figure, or any description according with it. There is a small copper coin in
Class I. No. 4. executed from a very mutilated example, to which these
authors must, we think, allude, and which Mr. Pegge describes thus:-“It
is very difficult to determine what the animal on the obverse of this coin
may
be: Mr. Wise calls it a horse ; but it is more like a sheep or a dog ; either of
which is undoubtedly a proper device for a British coin; their dog's being
famous, and their sheep a most useful creature to them both for its Milk and
WOOL. It seems there were some letters on this coin, though now effaced.”
Page 65.
VOL. I.
C

PLATE I.
1.
but made no other use of it than to strip off the skin, and wrap
themselves in it, and with the wool inmost obtain a comfortable
protection against the cold of the winter season."
To what
age
of the Britons Mr. Pennant refers he has omitted
to mention, we may conclude from its tendency to an early period;
to that most probably which is described by Cæsar, Herodian,
Dio, Tacitus, Pliny, and others, and
,
,
and which must be familiar
to every classic reader ; the description, in fact, of the conquerors
of the Britons, the people who had subdued them, and whose
From this description it may be collected that the figure may be that of a
horse, a dog, or a sheep, and a very cursory inspection will serve to shew that
it bears the least resemblance to the latter. The conclusion of Mr. Wise
appears to be scarcely doubtful; it is certainly in our mind that of the horse,
and will be found to agree on comparison with many of the effigies of that
animal, (the most frequent of all the emblems) upon other coins of the same
kind. The first three letters CVN for Cunobline are distinctly expressed.--
We may hence believe that Mr. Pennant has been accidentally led by an
erroneous conjecture to the truth, for he has presumed apparently on this
surmise, that the Britons had sheep, and we have elsewhere shewn from their
own records that they had them in abundance. He might also have given
credit to Mr. Pegge, that their wool was useful to the Britons.
Among the number of coins of this class which we have seen, we observed
one which bears, (not the figure of the sheep) but the cornuted head of the
ram on one side, and the horse on the other, a figure of which occurs in the
twentieth plate of Dr. Stukeley's work on coins; but this, no doubt, refers to
Jupiter Ammon, and this we are the more confirmed in believing, because we
have another coin in copper, extremely rare, in which the cornuted human
head is impressed on one side, and the lion on the other. These are the only
emblems we can find that can possibly allude to the sheep.
But had any of these coins in reality occurred with the device or emblem
of the sheep impressed upon them, we should not have drawn the same con-
clusion from it as Camden, Fegge, or Pennant, each of whom consider the
horse, the bull, and the hog upon those coins as the marks of tribute exacted
from them by the conquerors, and would extend the same conclusion to the
sheep also. But there is a fallacy in this reasoning, or we might as well
imagine that the winged genii, the Sphinx, Pegasus, and piping Centaur were
among the articles of tribute, since these oecur upon several of their coins,
as well as the horse, the hog, and the ball.

PLATE I.
duty as well as inclination it was, to represent to their victorious
nation, and to posterity, that the Britons were an untutored race
,
of savages ; and in the language of every conqueror, in
every æra
of the world, that they were subdued not so immediately for the
benefit of the conquerors, as for the advantage of themselves.
This is the apostrophe, although the pretext for the invasion has
been stated otherwise *.
* Cæsar himself has told us, that those who inhabited the inland parts of
Britain in his time were cloathed with skins. Cæs. de Bel. Gal. lib. V. cap.
14.--So also Cæsar describes the Germans :—they are (he says) clad with
skins, or short mantles made of fur ; the greater part of the body being naked,
The lower orders in every country (says an intelligent writer) were always
poorly cloathed, and in the ordinary acceptation of the term, might be called
naked; and there were always gradations of rank in every state of society:
thus the servants and the slaves of Rome were called naked, and were
literally so, or covered only with a mean habit, and so in Britain. The
Belgic Gauls were accustomed to paint figures upon their bodies, to render
their appearance in battle more terrible to their enemies; but this implies
only custom and not poverty, as dress was incompatible with these decora-
tions. This military custom is very accurately described by Tacitus in speak-
ing of the Arians, one of the warlike tribes of Germany, and explains the
motive for their appearance in a state of nudity. “They are (he savs) pecu-
liarly fierce, and study to heighten their natural ferocity by the help of art,
Their shields are black; their bodies are painted, and they make choice of
the darkest nights for fighting their battles. The consequence is, that by the
horrible appearance they make, and by the dismal aspect of their death-like
armies, their enemies must be greatly terrified, nor can they stand against
such new infernal objects; for the eyes of men are first overcome in battle.”
After this elucidation, we can easily perceive the motive for such a custom,
and considering its probable effects upon the Romans, it may by a natural
inference be conceived that other nations less skilled in the art of war would
adopt the same means of intimidating their enemies.
Herodian, lib. III. V. 47. describing the barbarous nations of the Britons,
who defended themselves against Severus, informs us, they considered helmets
and coats of mail as absolute incumbrances; and alleges as a reason, that
the country being full of lakes, morasses, and inaccessible fastnesses, they
had no occasion for such defence; but besides this, it appears that when
they cast them off to attack the enemy, it was to shew their contempt of
danger. Lib. III. V. 47.
.
C 2

PLATE 1.
But the antiquary will seek further; and prompted by a generous
impulse, he will examine fairly, not the assurance of a victorious
conqueror alone, but together with it the annals of the people
conquered, and in doing so he may elicit truth.
Notwithstanding the havoc of time, and the cruelly disastrous war-
fare which each succeeding victor, instigated by the same motives,
have made upon the ancient histories, and historic literature of
the antient Britons, there are remains enough to testify the fallacy
of many general observations, and enough to prove that Mr. Pen-
nant had not bestowed all the care upon the history, arts, and
language of the Britons, which we at least conceive they merit.
That the cultivation of sheep and cattle was among the objects
of first consideration with the Britons, cannot be doubted. To
whatever æra of their ancient histories we refer, we shall perceive
that sheep, cattle, swine, goats, and corn were among the most
important riches of the country ; and that the art of spinning wool
;
and knitting it into cloth was a domestic occupation at a period
more remote than any to which this author can allude. Weaving
6
The same author calls the inhabitants of North Britain a naked people.
" These barbarians (says he) are strangers to the use of cloaths, but they
decorate their bellies and necks with iron trappings; considering iron orna-
mental and a sign of opulence, in the same manner that gold is esteemed by
other nations. They mark their bodies with a variety of figures resembling
different animals. For this reason they take care not to cover their bodies,
for fear of concealing these figures." Herod. lib. III. cap. 47.
But this writer has told us in a passage immediately preceding, that these
barbarians were far from being totally naked, the greatest part of their
bodies only being so.
“ The Britons of the North, (says Dio) till no ground, but live upon prey,
hunting, and fruits of the wood. They dwell in tents, naked and without
shoes, &c. Dio, lib. LXXII.
”

PLATE 1.
is likewise mentioned among the arts of the ancient Britons. We
also find the Britons at a very early period in possession of cloths
of various degrees of fineness, but whether of their own manufac-
ture may not be certain. An ingenious antiquary thinks it may
be allowable to argue the manners of the Britons from the Gauls;
this we shall not insist upon, or there would be no difficulty in
proving that the art of manufacturing woollen cloths had been
carried to a high degree of perfection before the Romans invaded
Britain ; and that the Romans themselves were indebted long
before that period to their ingenuity for several of the luxuries
as well as comforts in their articles of cloathing and furniture.
To what remote period of time we are to attribute the first
origin of the culture of sheep in Britain, we are unable to deter-
mine: it has been believed that sheep were introduced with the
first colonies, and some pains have been taken to convince us,
that
among
the first colonies was a race of shepherds, the imme-
diate descendants of the Patriarchs, or, according to others, of
Asiatic, or Indian shepherds. It is not less certain, there were
other settlers, whose chief occupation, at least for some time,
consisted in hunting, so that if the sheep was indigenous to Bri-
tain, it could not have remained long unknown, nor upon the
arrival of shepherds would the culture of this useful creature
remain long neglected. This appears at least certain, that sheep
and cattle, together with swine, goats, dogs, and horses, were
among the number of those domesticated animals which were
reared and cultivated among the first inhabitants of the British
isles, with which we are at this time acquainted.
From that inestimable remnant of ancient British history,
denominated the Triads, it may be clearly proved that sheep were

PLATE I.
cultivated with extraordinary care by the ancient Britons, that
even the wealth of states, of tribes, and princes, as well as the
lower orders of society, was in a material measure estimated
among them according to the number of their sheep, swine, goats,
and horned cattle. Sheep were indeed so abundant in the island,
that in order to ensure due protection for the flocks, laws were
enacted, by which the number of each flock was limited in pro-
portion to the number of shepherds appointed to superintend them.
An observance of these regulations assured the cultivator of the
protection of the nation of the Cynmry, in the event of being robbed
of any part of their flock, the benefit of which protection was
however lost if the flock contained a greater number.
We may collect yet further, that the number of sheep allotted
to the care of each shepherd, was about four hundred, and we
may
form some estimate of the abundance of these useful animals
at a very early period of time, by observing, that flocks not
exceeding 120,000 were allowed by law. Thus Colwyn, who was
the shepherd of Brân, the son of Llyr, in Siluria, (part of South
Wales) had the superintendance of a flock of this magnitude, with
the assistance of 300 under shepherds. This Brân was the father
of the celebrated Caractacus, who gave battle to the Roman
invaders: he died about the year 80 of the Christian æra.
That such flocks were not exclusively the property of princes
or of states, as might be imagined, but in part the riches of pri-
vate individuals, is easy to perceive, for according to the primitive
customs of the ancient Britons, national shepherds were ap-
pointed, to whom the people delivered whatever number of sheep
they found most convenient, and the shepherd was responsible
for their safety: the sheep thus committed to their care were

PLATE I.
united into flocks, and assistants appointed in proportion to their
number. Thus we find that Pybid Moel with three hundred
assistants had the care of the flocks of the people of Tegerin, of
the tribe of Llwydiarth in Mona, or Anglesea, amounting also to
120,000 sheep. Later events, recorded in the national histories of
the Cynmry, very amply prove the great care bestowed by the Bri-
tons in the cultivation of sheep and cattle, and the abundance that
prevailed for the space of many centuries after that period, even to
the time of the last Llewellyn, who fell in 1282. It need be
scarcely added, that attention was equally bestowed by the Saxons
in the culture of sheep in those parts of the island which they
possessed; and that every encouragement was given by the Eng-
lish monarchy under the Edwards, Richards, and Henries, to the
improvement of the wool and manufactory of woollen cloth, the
particulars of which are circumstantially related in the histories of
the country, by Rapin, Hume, and others.
That the sheep may have been originally a native of this country
is not very improbable: there is scarcely any extensive portion of
the globe allotted by providence to the habitation of man, in
which some of its varieties are not found in a state of domestica-
tion, and often under circumstances that afford reason to believe
they were originally indigenous. But such are the effects of climate
as well as culture, that the best informed would pause ere they ven-
ture to speak with certainty of the parent origin. There are varieties .
apparently peculiar to every climate, but in every country where
sheep are cultivated, varieties are found, which differ most mate-
rially; and it is a fact well known, that the nature and excellence
of the fleece is totally changed by transporting them from one
climate to another.
a

PLATE I.
Gmelin has collected the following principal or leading varieties,
found in different parts of the world, into one point of view, from
the writings of Linnæus and later authors.
ANGLICA A.
Head hornless: tail and scrotum pendulous to the
knees. Ovis anglicana Aman. Acad. IV.
p. 174.
HORNLESS SHEEP.
Penn.
The breed of sheep without horns are not entirely confined to
England; they are cultivated in other countries, though, we believe,
not commonly.
RUSTICA B. Horned: tail short: wool short and coarse.
Ovis rustica Aman. Acad. IV. p. 174.
Ovis brachyura ; Ovis rustica.
Pallas spic.
zool. XI. p. 59. 61.
.
SHORT TAILED SHEEP.
HISPANICA 7. Horns spiral, lengthened outwards : wool fine
and plentiful.
Ovis hispanica. Aman. Acad. IV. p. 174.
SPANISH SHEEP.
POLYCERATA). Horns, about three or six.
Ovis e Gotlandia 248 Pallas.
Ovis polycerata Amon. Ac. IV. p. 174.
Brebis à plusieurs cornes. Buff.
MANY HORNED SHEEP.
e
Occurs chiefly in the northern parts of Europe: most frequent
in Iceland.

PLATE I.
AFRICANA E. Covered with short down.
Ovis africana Amoen. Acad. IV.
P.
173.
Ovis æthiopica Charlet. exerc. p. 9.
Aries pilosus, pilis brevibus vestitus. Bris.
reg. an. p. 76. n. 4.
AFRICAN SHEEP.
GUINEENSIS 3. Ears pendulous, dewlaps lax, downy; hind part
of the head prominent. Linn.
Aries guineensis s angolensis. Marcgr. bras.
p. 234.
Moutons de Guinée. Desmarches.
Belier du Senegal Buff
Sheep of Sahara. Shaw it.
GUINEA SHEEP.
Most common in Guinea. The general aspect meagre : the
face arched, the neck beneath furnished with a pair of wattles : tail
long and slender: body covered with hair rather than wool.
LATICAUDATA n. Tail long and very broad. Gmel.
.
Arabica platyura. Russel.
Ois expaßios. Æliun.
Ovis turcica. Charlet.
Ovis laticaudata. Raj.
Aries s. Ovis alatutegws orientalis. Klein, .
Moutons de Barbarie ou à grosse queue.
Chardin.
BROAD-TAILED SHEEP.
Shaw it.
The tails of this kind are said to weigh from fifteen to fifty
pounds; and in order to enable the sheep to graze conveniently,
D
3
VOL. I.

PLATE I.
the shepherds are obliged to place a board furnished with small
wheels under the tail. The fatty substance of this part resembles
marrow, and is esteemed a great delicacy.
BUCHARICA J. Ears large and pendulous : smaller fatty cushions
on the hips. Pallas.
FAT RUMPED SHEEP.
LONGICAUDAL Tail.
very long
Aries (ovis longicauda) faniger, cauda longis-
sima. Briss.
Briss. regn. ann. p. 76. n. 3.
Ovis arabica. Jonst.
Ovis dolichura sive tscherkessica. Pallas.
CAPENSIS X.
LONG-TAILED SHEEP.
Ears large, pendulous: tail large.
CAPE SHEEP.
To these are added by some other writers the BEARDED SHEEP,
having the beard long, divided, hanging from the lower parts of
the cheeks and upper jaw; and the MORVANT, with the beard long
on the fore part of the breast, and the neck furnished with a short
mane.
Mr. Calley, in his “ Observations on Live Stock," affords us
the following interesting particulars respecting the different
varieties of the sheep reared in Britain.
The Lincolnshire sheep are of a large size, big boned, and afford
a greater quantity of wool than any other, owing to the rich fat
marshes on which they feed; but their flesh is coarse, leaner, and
not so finely flavoured as that of the smaller sheep.

PLATE 1.
This breed extends, with some variations, through most of the
midland counties of England. The Dorsetshire breed is likewise
remarkably prolific, the ewes being capable of bringing forth twice
a year. It is from these that the tables of our nobility and gentry
are supplied with young lamb at Christmas, or sooner if required.
Great numbers of those early victims to luxury are yearly sent to
the London markets, where they are sold at the enormous price of
10s. 6d. to 15s. per quarter. The manner of rearing the lambs is
curious; they are imprisoned in little dark cabins; the ewes are
fed with oil-cakes, hay, corn, turnips, cabbages, or any other food
which the season of the year affords ; these are given to them in a
field contiguous to the apartments where the lambs are kept ; and
at proper intervals, the nurses are brought in to give suck to their
young ones; while their attendants at the same time make thcir
lodgings clean, and litter them with fresh straw.
The Dorsetshire sheep are mostly white faced ; their legs long
and slender; and their bellies oftentimes bare or not covered with
wool. The wool these sheep produce is in small quantity, but
of a good quality, and is that from which our fine Wiltshire
cloths are made. The flesh is sweet and well flavoured. The
variation of this breed are said to be spread through most of the
southern counties; but the true kind is found only in Dorsetshire
and Wiltshire. There is a similar breed in Norfolk and Suffolk,
but their faces are all
grey or black.
The South Down sheep are of the same hardy nature as the
Cheviot breed: their wool fine, and mutton well flavoured.
a
The sheep in the lower parts of Northumberland are of a mixed
breed, between the long kind, the Teeswater, and the Lincoln-
shire.
D 2

PLATE I
The Mug or Muff kind was formerly common in Northum-
berland. They were 60 called from their wool growing
round their heads so copiously as almost to prevent them from
seeing. This breed is now exploded, being considered by breeders
of experience as unprofitable, as they thrive slowly, and are very
tender.
There is a breed of sheep in the northern districts of Scotland
and the islands of a small size, many of which when fed weigh no
more than six, seven, or eight pounds per quarter. They have
dun faces, without horns, and their wool, which is very fine,
is
variously mixed and streaked with black, brown, and red.
The mountainous tract running towards Lancashire southwards
and to Fortwilliam northward, is occupied by what are termed
the short sheep, called also the black faced or heath sheep: they
are wild and nimble: their flesh of a peculiarly high flavour, and
producing a coarse shaggy wool.
Another kind inhabiting the same parts have the head destitute
of horns : the body long and slender, and the legs and faces
white: the wool fine and thickly planted.
The Cheviot breed is very generally admired as an improved
kind for waste grounds, thriving well upon the most sterile heaths :
thcir wool is of the most desirable texture, and worth from 2 to
21 per pound more than the best of the other Northumberland
wools. They are large, easily fattened, and the mutton esteemed
.
for its flavour. They occupy the north-west parts of the county
of Northumberland, and the range of hills adjoining them in
Scotland : thriving best upon the heathy mountains, where the
natural produce of the grounds is ling, moss, hather, deer hair

PLATE 1.
and wire bent, with a mixture of greensward. Sir John Sinclair
introduced considerable numbers of these sheep into the High-
lands of Scotland, where they now breed successfully. The
Cheviot sheep is one of the hornless breeds, and has the face
and legs mostly white.
The Teeswater sheep are a breed of the largest in size known
in the island, and are so called from occupying the banks of the
Tees, which divide the two counties of Yorkshire and Durham.
The improved Teeswater breed, in the opinion of judges, are not
easily to be excelled. They are in a state for slaughter at an early
age, then weighing from twenty-five to forty-five pounds per
quarter, and sometimes more, and one instance in particular is
recorded of a sheep of this breed which weighed sixty-two pounds
ten ounces per quarter.
The ewes of this breed generally bring forth two lambs, some-
times three, four, or even five in the season.
The Leicestershire improved breed has been produced in great
perfection: the advantages of this breed are said to be, that they
feed quickly at almost any age, even on indifferent pastures, and
carry the greatest quantity of mutton on the smallest bóne. Their
carcases are round, backs broad, and legs short. This is the
celebrated “ Dishley breed,” or Leicestershire improved by Mr.
Bakewell of Dishley; rams of which kind have been obtained by
breeders in other parts at prodigious prices, to improve their
respective breeds.
>
The Lincolnshire Dunky or Dwarf sheep are very small, and
without horns; the heads short, deformed, with a woolly ruff or

PLATE I.
hood growing round it: the ears erect, and the under jaw pro-
jecting beyond the upper, leaving the fore teeth exposed.
Some sheep of these improved breeds have been introduced into
Ireland, with what advantage to the grazing interests we are not
informed.
The WELSH SHEEP are proverbially remarkable for their in-
feriority of size, the excellence and delicacy of their mutton, and
the comfortable warmth of the flannels manufactured from their
wool. Sheep are generally cultivated throughout the Cambrian
districts. Those which inhabit the mountainous parts are
smaller than those of the plains, or the more fertile counties, as
Flint and Denbighshires; but the mountain sheep conveyed to
pasture improve in size and fleece, as is sufficiently clear from the
vast flocks sent from Wales to pasture on the South downs, The
mountain mutton, though smaller, is unquestionably of a most
exquisite flavour, and, in the opinion of many, superior to that
of the more improved sheep. This is supposed to originate from
the abundance of aromatic plants which grow in these mountainous
districts where they are distributed to pasture, and especially the
wild thyme, which the sheep crop with much seeming pleasure.
The sheep upon the mountains of North Wales, as we have
ourselves very frequently observed, are shy and fearful, flying
immediately on the approach of man. They are a source of much
advantage to the mountaineers, and require little care, except in
the winter season, when they must be fed and sheltered from the
drifts of snow. About forty years ago, a fat mountain sheep
could be purchased for four or five shillings; which at the begin-
ning of the present century would fetch fifteen shillings, and since

PLATE 1.
that period the price has been still advancing, as might be ex-
pected from the successive advances in the rental of lands, even
the most mountainous and barren.
Carding and spinning their wool is one of the most important
branches of employment the Welsh possess. They manufacture
.
cloth for their own wear and for sale in the neighbouring fairs and
markets. Besides flannel stockings, shirts and blankets of flannel,
they manufacture what is termed linsey-woolsey, of various pat-
terns, chiefly blue and white, intermixed with brown, and dis-
posed in alternate stripes of various breadths : these are intended
principally for the dress of the female peasantry. When they can
be spared from the cares of their agriculturul pursuits, from feed-
ing the cattle, or the work of the dairy, the whole family is
employed, winter and summer, in this kind of manufacture,
carding and spinning, or knitting. Of late years, however,
machinery has been gradually introduced in the
process
of
prepar-
ing and manufacturing the wool. The surplus wool which the
family cannot work up is carried to the fairs, among which those
of Caernarvon and Llanrwst are the principal for the northern
districts. That of Llanrwst, which is held on the 21st of June,
may be considered as the principal mart for the Welsh wool, since
the price which it produces at that fair is usually the standard
price for the
year.
The Shetland sheep, as noticed by Dr. Anderson, are hand-
some, small, and in general destitute of horns; and are particu-
larly distinguished by the comparatively diminutive size of their
tails. They weigh when fat from eight to ten pounds per quarter.
The fleeces of the Shetland sheep are, on the average, about

PLATE 'I.
two pounds weight: the wool when dressed a pure and glossy
white, and some small specimens, compared with Vigonia wool,
were allowed by good judges to be fully as fine, and in softness
equal to that of which the Indian shawls are made. It is a sin-
gular circumstance, says this observer, that the Shetland sheep
are never shorn; but about the beginning of June, the wool is
pulled off without the smallest pain or injury to the animal, leav-
ing the long hairs with which the wool is intermixed; the latter
contributing to keep the creature warm and comfortable in the
less temperate or winter season.
The sheep producing this fine wool are said to be of the hardiest
nature; are never housed, and in the winter season are often so
pinched for food, that they are obliged to feed upon the sea-ware
or sea-weeds driven upon the shore. They come down regularly,
it is said by one writer, at the ebb of every tide.
-
From the spirited measures, adds this writer, which are now
taking to preserve this valuable breed, we are led to hope that the
British wool may in time regain that great superiority for which
it was once so famous; and that, by perseverance and attention
to this important object, we may in time be enabled to produce
not only as fine wool as can be obtained from any other country,
but may also in the same breed be able to conjoin with it
every
other desirable peculiarity, such as closeness of fleece, beauty
and utility of form, hardiness, a capability of being easily fattened,
largeness of size, and other valuable qualities adapted to every
peculiarity of situation in these islands.
It had been previously observed in the Flora Scotica of Lightfoot,
in speaking of the Caledonian sheep, that the fleeces of those in

PLATE İ.
the island of Jura were remarkably fine, but that otherwise the
wool of the sheep of Scotland was generally coarse. This work
was written about the year 1772, at which period we are told that
sheep were found in all parts of Scotland, only scarcer in the
north, as the violent rains disagree with them. The wool of those
bred in the south, it seems, at that period was sold chiefly to the
clothiers of Yorkshire ; and much cheese was made of their milk,
the com-
The perfection of the sheep, with regard to the flavour and
excellence of its mutton, besides that no less important requisite,
the superior quality of its wool, depends so greatly upon
bination of various circumstances, of climate, food, and culture :
so much on crossing the more improved breeds, and in pairing
the unimproved with others advancing towards perfection, that it
is hardly possible to lay down any fixed general rules that can apply
to the improvement of the whole. All these considerations afford
an ample field to the industry of the grazier. Much depends upon
paying due attention to the localities of situation most applicable
to the breed of sheep they cultivate, and on rendering the less hardy
capable of enduring the privations and severities which those
experience which depasture in the wastes and sterile hilly lands :
for in a rich and fertile soil they are sure to thrive. So much
indeed relies upon the ingenuity and sagacious industry of the
grazier, and so clearly bave the advantages resulting from prac-
tical knowledge and experiment been evinced by the more suc-
cessful breeders of latter years, that the most experienced need
not despair of reaping benefits from future trials combined with
talent, and patient industry.
Experience teaches us that much of the variations observable in
the quality of the wool arises from the effect of climate. We
VOL. I.
E

PLATE 1.
a
know that the sheep producing wool of much excellence in tem-
perate parts of Asia and Africa, becomes converted into a kind of
hair, woolly only at the roots, and very unfit for the same pur-
poses when transported into warm climates; and that it again
assumes a character altogether different, if conveyed to a colder,
the wool then becoming harsh and closely planted: these are the
extremes of heat and cold ; but intermediate climates produce
also, though in a less remarkable degree, the same effects.
a
The fleeces of certain breeds of sheep cultivated in warm cli-
mates are of a superior silky quality and softness, as well as
strength, to many of those in colder climates. There was a breed
anciently peculiar to Egypt, the wool of which was highly extolled
at Rome; nor was the excellent quality of that of the Spanish
sheep unknown to the ancient world before the time of Pliny.
The colour of the fleece of the sheep tribe is far from constant.
In Europe, the fleece is usually white, inclining more or less to
yellowish, and is for this reason well adapted to receive the dye
of any colour at the pleasure of the manufacturer. In other coun.
tries there are sheep with fleeces varying from a tawny white to
brown and darker. In the time of Pliny, when the Roman states
began to display much luxurious taste in dress, they had a per-
manent brown wool from Egypt; and there must have been in
use a wool entirely black, since this historian observes, that the
wool of that colour will not take the dye of any other. With
respect to the art of dyeing, it is of great antiquity ; besides the
ordinary colours employed by the Romans, every reader is in-
formed of the celebrated Tyrian dye, with which their cloths of
woollen were converted to a rich purple, the admiration, either
for its cost or beauty, and perhaps both, of the lower orders of
3

PLATE I.
the populace at Rome. Thus Horace tells us, the dramatic actor
of his time, clothed in the violet of the Tarentian dye, was no
sooner seen upon the stage, than greeted with the resounding
plaudits of the audience before he had uttered a word.
Dixit adhuc aliquid? Nil sanè. Quid placet ergo?
Lana Tarentino violas imitata veneno.
Horat. Lib. II. Epig. I.
Pliny tells us he has seen the fleeces of living sheep variegated
with the indelible Tyrian dye, and which must have borne a
singular and grotesque appearance: this was the fancy of some
curious or fantastic individuals.
The sheep is naturally an animal of a fearful, harmless, and most
inoffensive disposition: yet not entirely destitute of sagacity suffi-
cient for the humble rank which nature has allotted it. It is indeed
a poor defenceless creature, and has the presence of reflection to
perceive its own imbecility so far as never to be prompted beyond
the rules of prudence : it flies because it cannot resist aggression,
nor resent insult, and only faces danger when it can by no means
be avoided. Every writer refers to the character which Buffon
assigns it, and informs us after him, that the sheep“ is devoid of
every art of self-preservation, without courage or instinctive
faculty, and in a word, that it is the most contemptible and
stupid of animals."
But in contradiction to this, Mr. Smellie offers a very different
character of this pacific animal, in which we perceive he adverts
chiefly to those flocks that range at large among the wilds and
E 2

PLA TE I.
66
mountain pastures, and where necessity compels them to repel in:
a body the attacks of assailants, to avoid the greater evil of being
scattered, and destroyed singly. Sheep,” says Mr. Smellie,
“ when enslaved by man, tremble at the voice of the shepherd or
his dog ; but on those extensive mountains, where they are
allowed to range almost without controul, and where they seldom
depend on the aid of the shepherd, they assume a very different
mode of behaviour. In these situations a ram or a wedder will
boldly attack a single dog, and often come off victorious: but
when the danger is more alarming, they have recourse to the col-
lected strength of the whole flock. On such occasions they draw
up into a complete body, placing the young and the females in
the centre, while the males take the foremost ranks, keeping ,
close by each other. Thus an armed front is presented on all
quarters, and cannot easily be attacked without danger of destruc-
tion to the assailant. In this manner they wait with firmness the
approach of the enemy: nor does their courage fail them in the
moment of attack : for when the aggressor advances within a few
yards of the line, the rams dart upon them with such impetuosity,
as to lay him dead at their feet, unless he save himself by timely
flight. Against the attacks of single dogs or foxes, when in this
situation, they are perfectly secure. A ram, regardless of danger,
will often engage a bull; and his forehead being much harder
than that of any other animal, he seldom fails to conquer ; for the
bull by lowering his head, receives the stroke of the ram between
his
eyes, which usually brings him to the ground.” Accidents do
occur occasionally to persons employed in rural occupation, from
the vicious attacks of the older rams, who possess greater spirit
and more strength and cunning ; but instances of this kind are not
frequent. It is rather the shew of attack when they are molested
at certain seasons, and they seldom venture to betray their

PLATE I.
obstinacy, except to infirm and aged people and to children.
This, as it is well known, is not the case with horned cattle
..
Sheep are known to want the upper fore teeth, by which means
it is enabled to nip the shortest grass, the moss, and other kinds
of the lowest herbage, among which it has its favourites, and can
select toem to its pleasure.
The ewes carry their young five months, producing their lambs
in the spring : they have seldom more than two lambs at each
bearing, though sometimes more, as three, four, or, at the utmost,
five; and it is considered as a mark of great fecundity if they
produce twice within the year : this the Dorset breed is known
to do.
The sheep is not exempt from disease of various kind; they are
subject to the tormenting annoyance of a host of winged insects;
their skins are pestered with what is termed the sheep-tick, a
species of Pediculus * sufficiently troublesome; the Oestriť are
another class of its tormentors, and the fluke, a kind of intestinal
worm, well known to commit its ravages within the body of the
animal, which frequently prove fatal to its life. This last men-
tioned creature has been compared in form to the seed of a gourd;
it is of rather an ovate leaf-like form, with a kind of pedicle or
* Pediculus Ovis.
+ Oestrus Ovis, the larvæ of which hatching from the eggs deposited about
the nostrils, crawl up within the frontal sinuses of the head, the irritation of
which compels the suffering animal to seek relief, but in vain, by rubbing the
nostrils in the dust. When these larvæ have attained their full growth, they
crawl out, and drop from the nostrils upon the ground, where they become
Pupæ, and afterwards the winged insect of the dipterous order above named.
These larvæ occasion the vertigo in sheep, and sometimes prove fatal.

PLATE 1.
footstalk at one end, by means of which, and an aperture in the
middle of the body, it clings or affixes itself. It is the ravages
of this creature that occasions the disease, known under the
popular name of the rot; they are to be found in the liver of the
most healthy sheep during the hotter months of summer ; and in
such numbers as to render it uneatable.
Sa
ette
US
D
3


2
و این یعی
دیگر با با و جوان و پیرامونی و گرمای زیر کا نام دیا جاتا اور باقی می مواد رو به رو میز اتو و
2
UNIL

PLATE II.
VESPERTILIO HIPPOSIDEROS.
SMALL HORSE-SHOE BAT.
MAMMALIA.
PRIMATES.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Teeth all erect, acuminate, approximate: fore feet palmate,
formed for flying: a membrane surrounding the body.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
a
Smaller, caudate: nose like a horse-shoe: posterior nasal crest
subsagittate-leaf shape: ears longer than the head and pointed,
not valved: tail half the length of the body.
VESPERTILIO FERRUM-EQUINUM B minor, Schreb. Saeugth. I.
p. 174, 175, t. LXII. ic. inf.
VESPERTILIO FERRUM-EQUINUM B minor: caudatus, naso ferro
equino simili, auribus caput æquantibus non
operculatis, cauda dimidia corporis longi-
,
tudine,
Gmel. Lin. Syst. Nat. I. 50.
20.3
VESPERTILIO HIPPOSIDEROS. Bechstein. -
apele como estat

PLATE II.
VESPERTILIO MINUTUS. Montag. Tr. Linn. Soc. IX. 163.
RHINOLOPHUS UNIHASTATUS. Geoff. An. du. Mus. 20. 265.
RHINOLOPHUS HIPPOSIDEROS. Leach. Zool. Misc. 111. tab.
121.S?
LITTLE HORSE-SHOE Bat. Mont. Linn. Trans. v. IX. 163.
The horse-shoe bats are well distinguished by the peculiar
structure of the nasal membrane, which bears a general resem-
blance to the form of a horse-shoe. Till of late
years
this
character was considered as the distinction of a species to which
naturalists had assigned the name of Vespertilio Ferrum-equinum,
but since the discovery, or rather the more accurate observance
of the smaller kind, the former has obtained the name of the
greater, and the latter of the lesser horse-shoe bat.
It will be perceived from the synonyms which we have collected
above, that a new genus has been constituted for these two bats,
under the name of Rhinolophus. With respect to the occasional
adoption of new genera, it is sufficiently clear that in the present
improved state of science, this is oftentimes necessary, but in the
present instance it does not appear, to us at least, requisite. By
whatever name we may distinguish this animal, every general
observer will pronounce it a bat, and every Linnæan, with no
less precision than propriety, a Vespertilio. The remarkable
distinction which the nasal membranes afford, are, in our opinion,
to be regarded as specific only: a character by which we may
distinguish them from the other analogous species, and nothing
With regard to the other proposed essential characters,
we must speak more fully,
more.

PLATE II.
We are well aware of the importance attached by writers, and
by Linnæus before them, to the number, form, and disposition
of the teeth, and are willing to allow that the difference which the
horse-shoe bats exhibit in this particular, entitle them to be con-
sidered more maturely; the difference in this respect would
certainly constitute an excellent distinction for a natural family
of the bat tribe. But the character of the teeth is not very well
established. Authors do not agree respecting them, and those
even who establish their essential or generic character upon
them, are not entirely free from error in describing them. When
these points are well determined, it may remain for future natu-
ralists to describe the horse-shoe bats as a distinct genus ; for the
present it is certainly better to retain them in the Linnæan
genus Vespertilio. There is a considerable variation in the
teeth of different animals of this tribe, so great indeed as to
require their distribution into many genera, but their general
habits are so much alike, that we at once refer them to the same
natural tribe. The most zealous of the French authors have been
compelled to adopt the same idea, for while they constitute
many
genera, according to the number, form, and situation of the teeth,
they are all referred to the same genus, or natural family, Chauve-
sourris.-- They thus define the character of the new genus Rhino-
lophus: “ canine teeth short, and leaving between them space
sufficient for the incisive ones : incisive teeth, two or four above,
and four beneath : membranes upon the nose in the form of a
horse-shoe.”
With respect to the teeth, Mr. Montagu observes, that the
Vespertilio Ferrum-equinum possesses two minute distant fore
teeth in the upper jaw, which are not to be found in the Vesper-
tilio minutus, (hyposideros of later authors) “a circumstance that
F
VOL. I.

PLATE II.
1
seems to have escaped most naturalists, this genus being placed
in the division destitute of upper fore teeth: the canine teeth are
also much stronger in proportion in Vespertilio Ferrum-equinum
than in the other species.” Trans. Linn. Soc. IX. p.
166.
This conclusion of Mr. Montagu is not however altogether cor-
rect, for the lesser horse-shoe bat has been subsequently found to
possess the fore teeth, which he thought peculiar to the greater
kind: they are however small, and adhere so loosely to the jaw,
that it is imagined the specimens he examined must have acci-
dentally lost them *. In a specimen communicated to us by
* Rbinolophus Dentes incisores superiores 2. simplices, minuti, in os foræ-
maxillare sub cartilagineum distanter inserti :-inferiores-
lanarii in utraque mandibula 4.
molares in utraque mandibula 10.
Geoffr. St. Hillaire, Duméril, Leach, &c.
We observe also that the mamma are considered by various writers as am
essential distinction, and that those are defined as two pectoral, two inguinal.
Montagu discovered the lower teats, which he says are very near together,
and situated on the lowest part of the abdomen, close to the pubis. It was in
the lesser horse-shoe bat that these were found.
We did not ourselves perceive these teats in the living specimen that came
into our possession beforementioned; which might possibly be owing to their
contracted state, these not being apparently requisite at the time for the
pur-
pose of giving sustenance to the young.-One singularity we should remark,
however, namely, that at the time of its capture there was a very striking ap-
pearance of a teat among the fur situated below the breast; and which, upon
examining the creature a few minutes after, had, to our astonishment, altered
its position. A change so extraordinary could not be overlooked ; we ex-
amined it carefully for some time, when we at length discovered that the
supposed teat was no other than the abdomen of the Celeripes (of Montagu).
This creature affises itself so firmly to the body of the bat by the means of its
claws, as to appear immoveable till disposed to shift its position, and while
thuis ravening upon the breast and abdomen of the bat, remains so entirely
concealed among the fur, as to exhibit only the rounded or nipple-shaped
form of its body. Indeed, so specious is this appearance, that a hasty view
might have assured us of its being actually a teat of the animai; and upon

PLATE II.
Mr. Montag'u for our inspection, and which is now before us, we
cannot indeed perceive by the aid of a deep magnifier, any posi-
,
tive
appearance of such teeth in the upper jaw; but in counting
the number of fore teeth in the lower one, there is clearly a
greater number than has been described, the number being stated
at four, while in reality there are no less than eight, and two
equally minute situated at the base of the greater cutting teeth.--
It hence appears, that Gmelin and others are mistaken, and cannot
with propriety refer this bat to the family of Vespertilio, which he
defines Dentibus primoribus in Maxilla superiore 0, in inferiore 4.
Since the establishment of the new genus Rhinolophus, some
authors have thought it even necessary to divide these two bats
into distinct genera, and hence we find the lesser kind under the
name of Phyllorhina, the greater retaining that of Rhinolophus.
This extension into two genera, is not however general : on the
contrary, there are some respectable authors who do not consider
the two kinds, the greater and lesser, as sufficiently distinct
to constitute even a specific difference; but place them as mere
varieties of each other. Schreber is of that opinion, and Gmelin,
governed by his authority, has introduced them into the Linnæan
further search, we discovered three of these creatures among the ſur, about
the breast and abdomen.
We mention this circumstance to shew that some caution is required in
examining the mamma of the bats which are infested with these insects, or
the observer may possibly be led by this means into some serious error. The
bat appeared to suffer much from the tormenting grasp or bite of this creature,
and when the cause was discovered, we endeavoured to remove it: at first
the insects clung with great strength to their victim, nor could they be re-
moved without much goading ; when attacked, they only moved among the
fur, or if disengaged, run swiftly back, and sprang fiercely upon the bat,
again, suffering themselves to be taken rather than quit their
prey.
F 2

PLATE II.
system as a major and B minor of the same species. Geoffroy has
united them in the same manner.
Montagu, in the ninth volume of the Linnæan Transactions, en-
deavours to prove them to be specifically distinct; his arguments
are founded chiefly upon the dissimilarity that prevails in the struc-
ture of the nasal membrane, in addition to a variety of other
characteristic distinctions, which he believed he had discovered.
The General Zoology of Dr. Shaw had appeared before the
paper of Mr. Montagu was published, and upon this the latter
has remarked, that Dr. Shaw had nearly followed Mr. Pennant,
only adding as a remark, that “there are said to be a greater
and smaller variety : perhaps the male and female; the greater
above three inches and a half long from the nose to the tip of
the tail: the extent of the wings above fourteen.”—This remark
of Dr. Shaw we may perceive is precisely the observation of most
authors who had written previously on the subject.
66
Mr. Montagu observes in another part, that “it is now many
years since I first noticed this species of bat (the lesser) in Wilt-
shire ;"
once, in particular,” says this writer, " I recollect to
have seen a great many taken in the winter over the hollow of a
baker's oven, having got in through a small external fissure.”—
“ In the year 1804, about the latter end of the month of May, I
observed several in an old building at the verge of a wood at
Lackham, in the same county, erected for the shelter of cattle.
In this shaded dark abode, surrounded by lofty oaks, it is not
unusual to see several adhere to the plastered roof by their hind
claws ; and when approached, generally crawling a little to one
side, and shewing signs of uneasiness, by moving their heads

PLATE II.
about in various directions, but not seemingly inclined to take
flight till they had been repeatedly disturbed.”
66 With
Mr. Montagu after that time having taken nine of the larger
kind and seven of the smaller, many of which were conveyed
home alive, he was able to ascertain that of the larger there were
four males and five females, and of the latter five females and
two males. In colour the two species were perfectly similar,
except in some instances the sides and breast of the V. Fer-
rum-equinum were more of a ferruginous colour *.
respect to the face, which is so extremely curious, there appears
on a cursory view, (says this writer) scarcely a perceptible
difference, except that the upper lip of the V. Ferrum-equi-
num is much more tumid ; but the most material distinction is in
the formation of the nasal membranes, especially that which is
posterior and transverse.”—“ In these a very striking difference
is observable, and it will be perceived that the anterior longi-
tudinal membrane is by no means similar in both species t."
* This is not uniformly the fact, as we perceive from the specimen sent to
us by Mr. Montagu, the body of which is of a much paler hue than that of the
a
greater horse-shoe bat.
a
+ The characters represented by the outline figures that accompany this
paper in the ninth volume of the Linnæan Transactions, are less expressive than
might be wished: they exhibit a side view only, whereas the true character
is seen to more advantage in the front view of the animal. The leaf-shaped
form of the posterior, or, as he terms it, the transverse valve in his figure of
the lesser horse-shoe bat, appears subulate and round, and this is intended
for a profile of the erect leaf-like membrane, but which it is impossible to con-
ceive without comparing the figurc with the animal itself: this membrane is
besides much larger and longer in proportion even in the dried specimens
than the figure represents. So also the posterior membrane of the greater
horse-shoe bat appears in this figure elongated, round, and nearly of equal
thickness, instead of shewing the edge or margin of that lanceolate process.

PLATE II.
We are very far from wishing to deprive the memory of Mr.
Montagu of any credit due to him for the account which he has
left us of the lesser horse-shoe bat. The two kinds are well known
in France, being common among the ruins of old buildings in that
country: in England both are unfrequent, the lesser especially,
and we believe Mr. Montagu was the first to announce it as a
native of this country. We had ourselves met with a living spe-
cimen of this singular animal among the ivy that overhangs the
mouldering battlements of Ragland Castle in Monmouthshire,
in the summer of 1802, and in our correspondence with that writer
had informed him of the circumstance: we had found likewise
among the fur upon the body of the animal a living specimen of
its cruel persecutor, an apterous creature, which Mr. Montagu
names as a newly discovered insect Celeripes Vespertilionis.-
When therefore the paper of this author appeared in the Trans-
actions of the Linnæan Society in 1808, we were prepared to
accede to the general tenor of his conclusions, and admit the pos-
sibility at least of the two kinds of horse-shoe bats being speci-
fically distinct.
That our own decision on this point should not however be too
hastily drawn, we requested to have one of the lesser horse-shoe
bats which Mr. Montagu had found, and after due comparison of
the example we received from him, with the greater horse-shoe bat
of Dartford, we were persuaded if they be not really distinct
These and some few other defects are pointed out only because Mr. Montagu
refers to them expressly as the distinctions of the nasal crests of the two bats;
a character altogether essential in the formation of the character of the
species. The paper upon this subject by Mr. Montagu is both curious and
valuable ; but any specific character drawn from these figures must be evi-
dently ambiguous, and if reduced to the Linnæan mode of expressing such
characters, might become hereafter the source of much error.

PLATE II.
species, they are so dissimilar in appearance, that there can be
no great impropriety in believing they may possibly be so.
The greater horse-shoe bat, as the name implies, is the largest,
but it is not merely in the size: it is in the structure of the nasal
membranes that they differ most, and independently of these,
there are many minor points in which they disagree, as will be
more readily perceived from the respective figures we have given
of each, than from any general description that might be added.
yet this
That this dissimilarity should arise from a difference in the age
or growth of the animal, is more than can be readily conceived;
and
appears to be the most plausible conclusion, unless we
do admit them to be distinct species. From the favourable oppor-
tunity which occurred to Mr. Montagu of ascertaining both sexes
of the two kinds, we conceive it to be sufficiently proved that they
are not merely the two sexes of the same species, as Dr. Shaw
appears to conjecture.-The opportunities of our life have afforded
us the general acquaintance of the latter ingenious author, and he
was aware of our opinion respecting these bats. He is no more,
and we shall therefore only say that when Dr. Shaw saw both these
animals in our possession, which was after the publication of his
Zoology, he was so candid as to admit the possibility at least of
the two animals being really different.
Both kinds have the same habitat; numbers of them having
occurred together in the same situations, in caverns on the south
coast of Devonshire. One cave at Torquay is mentioned in par-
ticular as the habitation of these bats.

5
.


3
London Pubs as the dex directs by Donovan KC Rivingtons Hlav 1975.

PLATE III.
VESPERTILIO FERRUM-EQUINUM.
GREATER HORSE-SHOE BAT.
MAMMALIA.
PRIMATES.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Teeth all erect acuminate, approximate : fore feet palmate,
formed for flying: a membrane surrounding the body.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
a
Larger : caudate : nose like a horse-shoe, with an erect lanceo-
late crest; ears long as the head, not valved ; tail half the length
of the body.
VESPERTILIO FERRUM-EQUINUM a major, Schreb. Saugth. I.
P.
174. t. LXII. ic. sup.
VESPERTILIO FERRUM-EQUINUM a major: caudatus naso ferro
equino simili; auribus caput æquantibus non
operculatis cauda dimidia corporis longitudine,
Gmel. Linn. Syst. Nat. 1. 50. 20.
VESPERTILIO FERRUM-EQUINUM « major, Schreb. Saugth. I.
p. 174. t. LXII. ic. sup.
VESPERTILIO HIPPOCREPIS Hermann. Obs. Zool. 18.
VOL. I.
G

PLATE III.
RHINOLOPHUS UNI-HASTATUS. Geoff. Ann. du Mus. 20. 265.
RHINOLOPHUS FERRUM-EQUINUM. Leach. Zool. Misc. 111. 2.
LA CHAUVE SOURIS A FER A CHEVAL. Buff. Hist. Nat. VIII.
p. 131. t. 17. f. 2. p 132. t. 20.
P
HORSE-SHOE BAT. Penn. Syn. Quad. No. 186. Br. Zool. V. I.
p. 147. No. 39.
The greater horse-shoe bat exceeds the lesser by nearly one
fourth its size; the length of the former being about three inches
and an half in length, the lesser horse-shoe bat only two inches
and three quarters ; and the extent of the wings, which in the
lesser bat is nine inches and a half, is about fourteen inches in the
greater bat.
The species inhabits France, Germany, and England.
As a native of France, Buffon described this animal under the
name of fer a cheval, before it was made known as an inhabitant
of this country; this we may conclude from the following par-
ticulars recorded in the British Zoology.
“ This species was discovered by Mr. Latham *, surgeon, at
Dartford, Kent; who was so obliging as to communicate it
to me. They are found in greatest numbers in the salt-petre
houses belonging to the powder mills; and frequent them during
the evening for the sake of the gnats which swarm there. They
.
* Now Dr. Latham, of Romney, Kent.

PLATE III.
have been also found during winter in a torpid state clinging
to the roof. They often feed on chafers, but only eat the body."
a
“ The length from the nose to the tip of the tail is three inches
and a half: the extent fourteen. At the end of the nose is an
upright membrane, in form of a horse-shoe: ears large, broad at
their base, inclining backwards ; but want the little or internal
The colour of the upper part of the body is deep cinereous;
of the lower whitish."
ear.
This singular creature yet remains a rare or at the least a very
local species; the specimen from which our figure is copied, was
taken in the Kentish powder mills which Mr. Pennant describes.
It has been since met with about the walls and roof of the cathedral
church of Bristol, and also in lime-stone caverns in Devonshire.
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UNIL
OF
Mion

PLATE IV.
SOREX ARANEUS.
FETID SHREW.
MAMMALIA.
FERÆ.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Fore teeth upper two, long, bifid ; lower two--four ; interme-
diate ones shorter : tusks many on each side ; grinders cuspidate.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
Tail middle length: body above brown, beneath whitish.
SOREX ARANEUS: cauda mediocri, corpore supra fusco, infra
albido.
SOREX ARANEUS: cauda mediocri, corpore subtus albido. Linn.
Fn. Suec. 24.-Gmel. Linn. Syst. Nat. I.
p. 114. 5. Schreb. Sæugth. III. p. 573. t.
CLX.
Musaraneus supra ex fusco rufus, infra albicans. Briss. quadr.
p. 126.

PLATE IV.
Mus araneus Gesn. quadr. p. 747.-Aldrov. dig. p. 441. f. p.
442.-Ray. quadr. p. 239.
Musaraigne. Buff. Hist. Nat. 8. p. 57. t. 10. f. I.
FETID SHREW. Penn. quadr. p. 307. n. 235.
The fetid shrew, or, as more generally termed, the shrew mouse,
is the smallest of the English quadrupeds, if we except the har-
vest mouse, which also is a very diminutive creature. It never
exceeds the length of three inches.
The general colour is brown, the under parts white, or inclining
to yellowish : a variety is mentioned as a native of Hudson's Bay
and the Labradore Coast, in which the upper parts are darker.
This little animal inhabits throughout Europe, and the northern
parts of Asia, where it frequents old walls, out-houses, heaps of
stones, &c. and is common about granaries; as corn, in addition
to insects, is its chief or favourite food. Sometimes also it
ap-
pears in dunghills, and is observed to root with its nose like the
hog, and like that creature in quest of decayed or putrid animal
substances.
Cats will catch and destroy the shrew, but after killing it,
refuse to eat it, owing, it is believed, to the powerful odour
resembling musk, which these creatures emit. The shrew is known
in running by its lighter colour and slower progress than the
common mouse.

PLATE IV.
This like the water shrew occurs in swamps and marshy places,
and is distinguished sometimes by the voice, which is very shrill.
Its nest, which is formed on the surface of the turf, is composed
of grass and moss. It breeds in spring and summer, producing
five or six young ones at a litter.
a
Bewick observes that there is an annual mortality of the animals
in August, when numbers of them are found dead in the fields
and highways. We have ourselves met with them in distant parts
of the country, lying dead about pathways and the banks of ditches,
at the autumnal season of the year.


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PLATE V.
MUSTELA PUTORIUS.
POLECAT.
MAMMALIA.
FERÆ.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Fore teeth, upper six, erect, acuter, distinct, lower six obtuser,
crowded, two placed within : tongue smooth.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
Feet cleft: body blackish yellow, mouth and ears white.
MUSTELA PUTORIUS: pedibus fissis, corpore flavo nigricante,
ore auriculisque albis. Schreber Sæugth. III.
p. 485. t. CXXXI.
.
MUSTELA PUTORIUS. Linn. Faun. Suec. 16.-Gmel. Linn.
Syst. Nat. 96.7.
Mustela flavescente-nigricans, ore albo, collari flavo Syst. Nat.
VI. p. 5. n. 3.
.
Mustela pilis in exortu ex cinereo albidis colore nigricante ter-
minatis vestita, oris circumferentia alba Briss.
quadr. p. 186.
VOL. I.
H

PLATE V
Putorius Gesn. quadr. p.
767.
Aldr. dig. p. 329. fig. p. 330.
Putois Buff. Hist. Nat. VII. p. 199. t. 23. .
Iltnis Ridinger wild Th. t. 20.
Polecat Penn. quadr. 213. 2. 152.
The polecat is a species of the weesel tribe, found indigenous,
and in some plenty in most parts of Europe, and the adjacent
lands of Asia, particularly in the extensive regions of Siberia,
from the desert boundaries of the frozen sea to the Russian and
Chinese Tartary ; and is observed to be most abundant in those
countries which are least cultivated, or which from the incle-
mencies of climate are rendered almost impervious even to the
northern hunters.
In the more temperate parts of Europe, the colour is usually
brown, inclining morc or less to a dark or chocolate colour: or
sometimes brown with a yellowish hue. In northern regions, the
colours are occasionally varied, becoming whitish when the cold
is most intense. There is one variety in Siberia, the rump of
which is white, or white tinged with yellow, and surrounded by a
border of black. Throughout all these variations, which are the
obvious effect of climate, the species is found to retain the cha-
racteristic whiteness of the margin of the ears, and the band of
the same colour, which descending down the cheeks, passes along
the muzzle, surrounding both the upper and lower lip, and form-
ing a patch of white across the nose above the nostrils.

PLATE V.
This predaceous creature is of a pretty considerable size, and is
not to be attacked with impunity; for it is strong, vigorous, and
active, and when closely pressed, defends itself with a marked
degree of ferocity, although its usual habits of life are directed
rather by stratagem, and under the favour of midnight darkness,
than by open violence. Its ordinary length is about twenty-three
inches, of which the tail constitutes nearly one fourth part. The
slender or elongated form of this remarkable creature enables it
to enter buildings through very small openings; and the more
readily to facilitate its passage, it crawls upon its belly, lengthen-
ing itself at the same time to a great extent. When preparing to
attack its prey, or compelled to escape, it draws up its body,
bringing the feet nearly together, at the same time bending the
back into an arch or curve, and having thus concentrated all its
force, it leaps or springs forward with much strength and velocity.
By this means it bounds over low walls, up the sides of which it
can also climb with ease, and in running its progress is distin-
guished by unusual swiftness.
The polecat is said to prefer stony desert places ; its habitation
is subterraneous, generally a recess commodiously formed in the
earth, about six or eight feet long, with a concealed opening
through the hollow trunk, or between the roots of a tree, or a
heap of stones, which may serve to protect the entrance in the
event of an unexpected attack upon its burrow.
.
During the day time the polecat scarcely ever ventures to stir
abroad in quest of prey, unless severely pressed by hunger, sleeping
till night, when its prowling commences. It feeds on all the smaller
kinds of animals, as mice, moles, rats, and all the lesser kinds of
birds, and often during the winter season, at least, on frogs and
H 2

PLATE V.
fish. But in cultivated countries, the midnight wanderings of the
polecat are directed far more commonly to the poultry-yard and
pigeon-house ; where the work of havoc commences by his seizing
upon the helpless inmates, and sucking their blood while living.
At other times, when the polecat breaks in among them, he
springs upon his victims, bites off the heads, and bears these
away in triumph, leaving the bleeding bodies of the poultry other-
wise unmaimed, strewed about upon the ground. By such means the
polecat destroys a number infinitely greater than the mere wants
of its most voracious appetite could possibly require. The spoils
thus acquired, the animal deposits in his den, or not unfrequently
in some particular spots adjacent, to which he can with ease and
safety at another time gain access. The
eggs
suffer likewise, the
animal sucking out the contents. Nor does it make itself less
welcome in the dairy, being particularly partial to the new milk
and cream.
.
The propensity of this animal for fish is not unknown, several
of the early writers, and among them Aldrovandus, mention its
subsisting during the winter season occasionally on frogs and
fishes, which it takes out of the mud. Linnæus speaks to the
same effect. Mr. Bewick relates that during a severe storm, one
of these animals was tracked in the snow from the side of a
rivulet to its hole at some distance from it: as it was observed to
have made frequent trips, and as other marks were seen in the
snow, which could not be easily accounted for, it was thought a
matter worthy of greater attention : its hole was accordingly ex-
amined, the animal taken, and eleven fine eels were discovered to
be the fruits of its nocturnal excursions. The marks in the snow
were found to have been made by the motion of the eels in the
creature's mouth.

PLATE V.
In the rabbet-warren, the polecat is even more destructive
than in the hen-roost. Among those timid and defenceless crea-
tures, the rabbets, it tyrannizes with the comparative powers of
the tiger,
hunting them by droves into the holes, from whence
they cannot escape, and then indulging equally in its ferocity and
thirst of blood, seizing upon and destroying them by scores ; it is
indeed asserted, that two or three polecats would be sufficient in
space of time to destroy the rabbets of a whole warren.
a little
The female brings forth about five or six young at a litter, which
she suckles only for a few weeks, accustoming them as early as
possible to suck eggs and the blood of animals which she captures
in her nocturnal excursions, and brings into the den for that
purpose. Thus as soon as they have acquired sufficient strength
to seek and conquer their prey, they leave the den, and are able
to provide for their own necessities.
The stench of the polecat is proverbial ; this offensive odour
has its seat in the secretion of certain glands, in the posterior
part of the body: the fur is fine, long, of peculiar warmth, and is
much in esteem on that account in cold countries as an article
of clothing

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PLATE VI.
SOREX FODIENS.
WATER SHREW.
MAMMALIA.
FERÆ.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Fore teeth upper two long, bifid : lower two--four, intermediate
ones shorter: tusks many on each side; grinders cuspidate.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
Tail middle length, and somewhat naked, body blackish : beneath
cinereous : toes ciliated.
p. 124.
SOREX FODIENS cauda mediocri subnuda, corpore nigricante
subtus cinereo, digitis ciliatis Erxleb. Mamm.
Schreber Saugth III. p. 571. t.
CLXI.
SOREX FODIENS Gmel. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. p. 113. 7.
Musaraneus dorso nigro ventreque albo. Merret. pin. p. 167. .

PLATE VI.
Musaraigne d'eau. Buff. Hist. Nat. VIII. p. 64. t. 11 f. I.
WATER SHREW. Penn. quadr. p. 308. n. 236.
The water shrew is one of the rarer kinds of British quadrupeds ;
it exceeds in magnitude the sand shrew, and is also more uncom-
mon. Including the tail, the length is somewhat less than six
inches, of which the body, measuring from the tip of the nose to
the base of the tail, is about two thirds of the whole, or rather
less. The colour above is a deep purplish black, beneath whitish,
and generally tinged with yellow: the latter pervading the breast
and sides as well as the margin of the ears. All the feet and legs
are of the same pale or buff colour, the tail dark. The muzzle
lengthened, of a peculiar form, and dark above: beneath yel-
lowish.
This species acquires the name of water shrew from its usual
haunts being in swamps and watery places, in the banks of which
it forms burrows for its retreat. When in the water, it swims
with great ease beneath the surface, where it is supposed to feed
eggs and fry of fishes and upon aquatic insects. The sound
which it emits resembles that of the grasshopper, a circumstance
the less remarkable, when we recollect that the chirping sounds
of the rat and mouse tribe so nearly resemble those of small birds,
as to be sometimes easily mistaken. This we have ourselves par-
ticularly observed of the black English rat, when they go
and which seems to be the chirrup of invitation and encourage-
ment from the elder rats to the young ones, to proceed without
on the
in troops ;

PLATE VI.
fear in the excursions they have undertaken. The feet of the
water shrew are cleft, but the ciliations which surround the toes,
no doubt, assist the progress of the animal in swimming through
the water.
This little animal produces about nine young at a litter, and is
furnished with ten teats for the nourishment of this numerous
in ant offspring. The breeding season is in the spring.
The species does not appear to be very frequent in France,
which country it inhabits as well as England. It is known in
Germany by the name of Graeber or the Digger. It occurs rather
sparingly in other parts of Europe, and in Asiatic Russia.
VOL. I.
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PLATE VII.
MYOXUS MUSCARDINUS.
COMMON DORMOUSE.
MAMMALJA.
GLIRES.
GENERIC CHARACTER. .
Fore teeth two, upper cuneated, lower compressed: whiskers
long : tail hairy, round, near the tip thicker: feet equal in length,
the anterior ones with four toes.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
Rufous : throat whitish : hind thumbs without claws.
MYOXUS MUSCARDINUS: rufus, gula albicante, plantarum
pollicibus muticis. Schreb. Saugth. IV. t.
CCXXVII. Gmel. Linn. Syst. Nat. 1.
156. 4.
Mus avellanarum minor. Raj. quadr. 220. Jonst. quadr. p. 168.
Mus avellanarius, cauda elongata pilosa, corpore rufo, gula al-
bicante, pollicibus posticis muticis. Syst. Nat.
XII. 1. p. 83. n. 14. Fn. Suec. 35.
I 2

PLATE VII.
Mus avellanarius. Pallas glir. p. 89. n. 34.
Sciurus avellanarius. Erxl. mamm. p. 433. n. 16.
p
Muscardin Buff. Hist. Nat. VIII. P.
193. t. 26.
Dormouse Edw. av. 119. t. 266.
This pretty little quadruped is proverbially of a plump or rounded
form. Its size is rather inferior to that of the common mouse, its
contour more bulky, and its actions less distinguished for activity.
Although in magnitude it bears a near similitude to the mouse,
its general manners and appearance rather correspond with those
of the squirrel, of which the dormouse may be in some respects
considered as a dwarf resemblance. Less vigorous and lively
than the squirrel, it however never ventures to ascend to the tops
of trees, or to amuse itself by leaping from spray to spray among
the higher branches : its rambles, on the contrary, are confined to
the lowest bushes near its nest, among which it runs with much
caution, and with evident tokens of apprehension from surround-
ing dangers.
Like the squirrel, the favourite food of the dormouse consists
of nuts, whence it has obtained among the greater number of
early writers, the trivial latin epithet of Mus avellanarum, and
Mus avellanarum minor, (or the nut mouse.) These nuts it
cracks and eats with the assistance of the fore
paws,
while seated
in an erect posture, in the manner of the squirrel, and, like that
animal, it has the precaution to provide a store for the winter
season. It
may
be further added, that the resemblance be-

PLATE VII.
tween these two animals is not less obvious in the colour of the
fur, which in both are of a tawny reddish brown, the lower part
paler, and the throat white.
.
The dormouse is about two inches and three quarters in length,
the tail somewhat longer, and ending in a tuft of hairs, which are
rather longer than the rest. The head is more blunt than that of
the mouse, the eyes dark and prominent, the ears broad, thin,
and rather transparent: the fore feet have four toes, the posterior
ones five, but the thumbs of the latter are unarmed, or destitute
of claws.
This animal is known to pass the winter in a state of torpidity,
and hence it is instinctively less sedulous in collecting an abundant
store of food for that particular season of the year, than if its wants
,
were greater. During this state of periodical sleep and rest, it lies
coiled up in a very curious manner within its nest; and which it
leaves only when invited to wander out by the increasing warmth
of the sun, as the season of the spring advances. Awakened from
its winter sleep, it again assumes activity, and during that period
has recourse to its winter hoards, but at every relapse to weather,
cold or less inviting, it again assumes a state of torpid inactivity,
and continues to pass its life in intervals of wakefulness and
drowsiness, till the season of the spring be more fully advanced
towards the summer. From the nature of its food, its winter stores
are replenished chiefly during the autumn: nuts of the hazel and
the walnut-tree are those principally of which these stores consist.
The nest is rather capacious, being about twelve or fifteen
inches in circumference, and it is open only at the top; it is
composed of grass, moss, and dried leaves, curiously interwoven,

PLATE VII.
and usually deposited among the lower branches of the bushes or
in the holes of trees. The produce of each litter is three or four
young
Sofie


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PLATE VIIT.
MUSTELA ERMINEA.
HYBERNA B.
ERMINE.
(In the Winter Dress.)
MAMMALIA.
FERÆ.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
CS
Fore teeth above, six erect, acute and distinct: beneath, six ob-
tuse, crowded, two placed within : tongue smooth.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
Feet cleft, tail black at the tip.
ß. White: tip of the tail blackish.
p. 98. 10.
MUSTELA ERMINEA : pedibus fissis, caudæ apice atro Linn. Fr.
Suec. 17. Gmel. Linn. Syst. Nat.
B HYBERNA: candida in extrema cauda nigricans. Aldr. dig.
p. 310. Schreb. Sæugth 3. p. 496. t. 137. B.
p
Mustela candida seu animal ermineum recentiorum. Raj. quadr.
p. 198.

PLATE VIII.
Hermine Buff. Hist. Nat. VII. p. 240 to 29. f. 2.
. .
Hermelin. S. G. Gmelin it. II. p. 192. t. 23.
It is a truth sufficiently ascertained, that many animals which
inhabit northern climates, undergo a remarkable transition in the
colour of their fur during the inclement season of the winter.
The usual changes are from very dark to paler, as the winter
approaches, and progressively after to a grey, or pied, and at
length in the depth of winter to a pure white, or white faintly
tinged with yellowish or cream colour. These transitions are
more or less conspicuous in certain species, and in none are more
decidedly apparent than in the Ermine, a creature very little
known in its summer dress, but which, when it has acquired its
winter fur, has been long considered as an object of luxury, and
worthy of admiration.
The peculiar and unrivalled elegance of the fur of this little
animal appears to have been by no means overlooked in early
times; for ages it had obtained sufficient estimation to be
pre-
ferred as an article of costly clothing to that of every other animal ;
to become one among the insignia of nobility, a symbol of power:
to be combined even with the regal purple in the robes of kings,
and to form a diadem with gold and precious gems to adorn the
brow of royalty. All these are facts sufficiently established by
the chronicles of feudal times; the wearing of the skins of
ermine was then confined to the higher ranks, and its use prohi-
bited, except by those, under very severe penalties.

PLATE VIII.
The ermine is far from being so abundant in England at this
period as we may conclude it was in ancient times. It is rarely
found, except in the Scottish highlands, where it is met with
sparingly in its winter dress, and in the various changes approach-
ing to it. During the winter season it is sometimes found in that
part of Britain, as purely white as in more northern climates.
The furriers are supplied with ermine skins from the north of
Europe, and in particular from Asia, where the ermines are found
in great plenty. They abound most in the wild regions of Siberia, ,
in Chinese Tartary, and the Persian deserts. The haunts of the
species are in stony places, where it fixes its residence among a
heap of stones, beneath which it burrows a hollow or cave for its
dwelling. Erm
Ermines are caught by the natives in traps, so con-
trived as to let fall a stone upon them to crush them to death, or
they are shot with blunt arrows.
The manners of the ermine partake greatly of those of the com-
mon weesel, being, like that animal, a fierce voracious creature,
and subsisting on all the smaller tribes of quadrupeds, such as
mice of various kinds, rats, and squirrels, and the larger quadru-
peds of a timid and defenceless nature, such as the various kinds
of hares and rabbets, and especially the latter. The ermine and
the weesel are nearly allied in other respects; and the stoat, which
is the ermine in its summer dress, bears the name of Weisel
among the German writers.
Throughout all the changes of this animal, from the brown fur
of the summer, to the white of the winter dress, the extreme half
of the tail is always bushy, and retains its characteristic black-
ness.
VOL. I.
K

PLAT E VIII.
The ermine is about ten inches in length, exclusive of the
tail, which latter is of moderate length, and rather longer than
in the weesel.
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PLATE IX.
TALPA EUROPÆA.
COMMON MOLE.
MAMMALIA.
FERE.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Fore teeth unequal, upper six, lower eight: tusks solitary, up
larger : grinders above seven, beneath six.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
Tail short; feet five toed.
TALPA EUROPÆA: cauda brevi, pedibus pentadactylis Erxl,
mamm. p. 114.-Schreb. Saugth. III. P.
558.
t. 156.-Gmel. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. p. 110.
18. I.
Talpa caudata, pedibus pentadactylis Linn. Syst. Nat. XII. p.
73. Fn. Suec. 23.
Talpa caudata nigricans, pedibus anticis et posticis pentadactylis.
Briss. quadr. 204.
Talpa caudata It. Scand. 332.
K 2

PLATE IX.
Talpa Gesn. quadr. 931.
Aldr. dig. 45.
Raj. quadr. 23...
.
Taupe Buff. Hist. Nat. 8. p. 81. t. 12. Supp. III. p. 15. t. 32.
Mole Penn. quadr. p. 311. n. 241.a
Moles live beneath the surface of the earth, where they dig
cylindrical hollows or tubes, turning up the ground with the
palmated fore paws, the construction of which is admirably well
adapted to this important office of its life. The head and shoulders
for the same reason are thick, and strong, and the snout elongated,
to enable it the better to draw forth the worms and ground larvæ
upon which it feeds. Although the mole in turning up the earth
must necessarily disturb the roots of plants about which it digs,
the creature is not supposed to feed on any vegetable matter, but
on worms and insects only, so that the injury they commit arises
from their disturbance of the earth in quest of such animal food.
The mole of this country cannot be termed correctly the Euro-
pean mole, an epithet applied to it by certain writers, since it
occurs not in Europe alone, but extends to Asia and Africa.
These animals are found chiefly in moist meadows; the skin is
remarkable for its strength, and the fur for its delicate silkiness
to the touch : purses are frequently made of its skin preserved
with the fur
upon
it.

PLATE IX.
The general colour of the fur is black; it occurs however either
pied, or spotted with yellowish, and not less frequently of a
cream colour, with spots of dusky. We have possessed it en-
tirely of a yellowish white, and destitute of any spots. The fol-
lowing varieties are enumerated by Gmelin.
VARIEGATA ß pelle maculis albis varia Briss. quadr. 205.-
Talpa maculata oostfrisia Seb. Mus. I.
p.
68.
t. 41. f. 4.--Spotted mole Edw. glean. 2. p.
122. t. 268.
This variety is variegated with white spots.
ALBA y pelle alba Briss. quadr. 205.-Seb. Mus. I. p. 51, t. 32.
f. I.
A variety entirely white.
FLAVA S pelle flava Penn. quadr. p. 311. n. 241 B.
ß
A yellow variety
Cinerea e pelle cinerea Hübsch. Naturf. 3. p. 98.
Talpa cinerea palmis angustioribus Richter 46-
handl. über die phys. Beschaff von Boehmen.
1786. 4. p. 82.
Cinereous, with the fore paws narrower than in the usual kind.
The common mole is about six inches long ; the female pro-
duces from four to five young at a litter.

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PLATE X.
MUS MINUTUS.
MINUTE MOUSE, or HARVEST MOUSE.
MAMMALIA.
GLIRES.
ce-
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Upper fore teeth cuneated; grinders three, rarely two each side
each jaw: clavicles (collar-bones) perfect.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
Tail long and scaly: body above ferruginous, beneath whitish.
MUS MINUTUS: cauda longa squamosa corpore supra ferrugineo
subtus albido Pallas it. I. p. 454. n. 4. glir. p.
96. n. 45—et p. 345. t. 24. B. Schreb. Saugth.
4. p. 660. t. 183.
.
Mus minutus Gmel. I.
P.
130.8.
MUS MESSORIUS: supra ferrugineus subtus albus cauda longa
subpilosa, auriculis vellere longioribus Shaw.
Gen. Zool. T. 2. p. I. p. 62.
Badoo

PLATE X.
Harvest Mouse Penn. quadr. 2. p. 384.–Br. Zool. I. p. 121–
29. White's Selb. p. 33 and 39.
HARVEST MOUSE. Mont. in Linn. Trans. Vol. VII. p. 274.
In venturing to unite the synonyms of the harvest mouse with
those of Mus minutus of Professor Gmelin, we merely accede to
the general opinion of those who have previously written upon
the same subject, although those opinions have been somewhat
differently expressed, and under circumstances that appear to
have involved the subject in some obscurity.
The discovery of this little quadruped, the smallest that has
been yet observed in Britain, is of no very recent date. So early
as the year 1767, the species was communicated to Mr. Pennant
by Mr. Gilbert White of Selburn, and inserted both in the British
Zoology, and in the Synopsis of Quadrupeds, under the name of
the “ Less long-tailed Field Mouse.” In a subsequent edition of
the former work, which appeared in 1776, the same animal again
occurs, but under the name of the harvest mouse. That we stand
indebted to these works of Pennant for the first description we
possess of this interesting little animal, appears almost certain ; but
through the alteration of its name from the “lesser long tailed field
mouse" to that of“ harvest mouse," we readily perceive the source of
that error which Gmelin has committed in his selection of the syno-
nyms of Mus sylvaticus, and which has given rise to others in the
works of those who have relied implicitly upon that writer's accuracy.
For Gmelin observing in the first instance that Pennant considered

PLATE X.
it as a kind of field mouse, and afterwards distinguished it by
the name of harvest mouse, he places it under the name of field
rat among the synonyms of Mus sylvaticus, confounds it with Mus
domesticus medius of Ray, and to complete the confusion, adds
the same animal under the name of harvest rat, (in reference to
its new name of harvest mouse) as a distinct variety B.
Dr. Shaw has inserted the harvest mouse in his Zoology, under
another new name, that of Mus messorius. This author allows
however at the same time, from the very close analogy that exists
between the harvest mouse and the Mus minutus of Gmelin, both
in character and mode of life, that it is not impossible they may
be in reality the same animal. They are placed nevertheless
in that work as specifically distinct. In this particular, Dr.
Turton has followed the example of Dr. Shaw, in his edition of
Linnæus, in preference to that of Grelin, for he also gives them
as distinct species ; placing the harvest mouse after sylvaticus :
not as a variety, but under the new name assigned to it by Shaw,
(Mus messorius.) On the contrary, Mr. Montagu appears to have
been better satisfied that they are the same, and we must ourselves
confess that this is our opinion, from a due comparison of the
animal itself with the description given us by Professor Pallas.
Upon this point it has been remarked by Mr. Montagu in his paper
on the subject, inserted in the Linnæan Transactions, that if we
consider the superior length of the fur in Mus minutus, (a circum-
stance incidental to a Siberian climate) as the only apparent dis-
tinction between that species and the harvest mouse, there can
be no reason why the synonyms of these mice should not be
brought together. There may possibly remain some little charac-
teristic differences between our harvest mouse and that of Siberia,
which have not been noticed, but so far as we can form a judg.
L
VOL. I.

PLATE X.
ment, from comparing the description given by Pallas with the
animal now before us, there appears to be no difference between
them, the greater length of the hair, and that about the ears
perhaps, especially excepted. -
a
Dr. Pallas seems to be the first writer who has described this
Russian animal, and it is this writer who gave it from its diminu-
tive size the specific name minutus. Dr. Pallas in his travels
tells us, that in different parts of Russia, where these mice abound,
they are subject to some variation. One of its varieties appears
to correspond exactly with the kind we find in Britain ; this latter
is of a reddish colour, somewhat like the dormouse, and those of
Siberia are described nearly in the same words ; they are of a
richer and more fulvous colour than those which usually occur in
the temperate parts of Russia. Gmelin inserts this species,
.
on the authority of Pallas and Schreber, without perceiving its
analogy to the harvest mouse of Pennant, an oversight we must
allow, in candour, that any one might have committed who had
not seen the animal itself, and who might be left to form a judg-
ment only from the very indifferent description which the works
of Mr. Pennant afford us.
As a native of Britain, this little animal was long considered
peculiar to the county of Hampshire, but of late years it has been
found in various other parts of the country. Mr. Montagu affirms,
however, that it is by no means confined to Hampshire. “We
well remember," says Mr. Montagu, “it was common in the more
champaign parts of Wiltshire in our younger days, and previous
to the discovery of it by Mr. White: and we have since those
juvenile days found it in other parts of the same county, in Glou-
cestershire contiguous, and in the south of Devonshire." Linn.
Trans. 1803.

PLAT E X.
The description which Mr. White has left us of the manners of
this pretty little quadruped is much too pleasing to be overlooked ;
and should we even be inclined, upon the authority of Mr. Mon-
tagu, to dispute his claim to our consideration, as the original
discoverer of the species, we must at least believe that he is the
earliest writer by whom its history is detailed. For it certainly
does appear upon the acknowledgment of Mr. Montagu himself,
that his silence was in this respect unbroken from a period ante-
cedent to the year 1767 till that of 1803, when he announced for
the first time his own discovery of the species in Wiltshire,
previous to its discovery by Mr. White in Hampshire; and even
under these circumstances Mr. White is admitted unequivocally
to have been the original describer. It is not less remarkable
that, in the description of the harvest mouse, given in the
later edition of Pennant's Zoology, the name of Mr. Gilbert
White, to whom that author was indebted for his description, is
not mentioned.
Mr. White observes that “ these mice are much smaller and
more slender than Mus domesticus medius of Ray, and have
more of the squirrel or dormouse colour : their belly is white; a
straight line along their sides divides the shades of their back and
belly. They never enter into houses ; are carried into ricks and
barns with the sheaves ; abound in harvest; and build their nest
amidst the straws of corn above ground, and sometimes in thistles.
They breed as many as eight at a litter, in a little round nest,
composed of the blades of grass and wheat. One of these nests
I procured this autumn (1767), most artificially platted, and com-
posed of the blades of wheat, perfectly round, and about the size
of a cricket-ball, with the aperture so ingeniously closed, that
L2

PLAT TE
E X.
there was no discovering to what part it belonged. It was so
compact and well filled, that it would roll across the table without
being discomposed, though it contained eight little mice, that
were naked and blind. As this nest was perfectly full, how could
the dam come at her litter respectively, so as to administer a teat
to each? Perhaps she opens different parts for that purpose,
adjusting them again when the business is over; but she could
not possibly be contained herself in the ball with her young,
which moreover would be daily increasing in bulk. This
wonderful procreant cradle, an elegant instance of the effects
of instinct, was found in a wheat field, suspended in the head
of a thistle."
>
a
Though these animals hang their nests for breeding, up amidst
the straws of standing corn, above ground, yet in the winter they
burrow deep in the earth, and make warm beds of grass ; but
their grand rendezvous seems to be in corn-ricks, into which they
are carried in harvest.”
Mr. Montagu observes that it is perfectly true, the female closes
up the entrance of the nest every time she leaves it, but states
that this precaution is not adopted by this species only, most of
the genus taking the same care to secure the young while in the
nest from being molested ; and it is remarked yet further, that
when the nest is finally deserted, the entrance is always closed up
in the same manner. Upon the authority of this latter writer,
the harvest mouse is a tender animal, and secretes itself in bur-
rows in the earth, or in oaten hay-ricks, during winter, where it
is sometimes found in hundreds together, but not like some other
animals, during that season, in a state of torpidity; and in these

PLATE X.
secure situations it is observed to breed at all times of the
year.
They are lively playful animals, and remarkable for the elegance
of their motions.
The specimen we possess is from Devonshire, and is repre-
sented nearly in their natural size: the total length from the nose
to the extremity of the tail is about four inches.



Does who
London Pub as the Act àrrects by E.Donovan & F.CF.Rivingtans Dec.2.1818.

PLATE XI.
PHOCA BARBATA.
GRBAT SEAL.
MAMMALIA.
FERÆ.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Fore teeth acute, upper six parallel, outer ones larger; lower
six parallel, distinct, equal, somewhat obtuse, tusks twice as long,
acute, robust, solitary, the upper remote from the fore teeth, the
lower from the grinders: grinders five or six, narrow, tricus
pidate : ears none. Posterior feet usually subunited.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
Head smooth and earless : body blackish.
PHOCA BARBATA: capite lævi inauriculato, corpore nigricante.
Gmel. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 65. 9. Müll. Zool.
Dan. prodr. p. VIII.
Utselur, Wetrarselur Olaff. Isl. I. p. 260.
Utsuk. Crantz. groenl. I. p. 165. .
Lachtak. Steller nov. comm. Petrop. II. p. 290.

PLATE XI.
Grand phoque. Buff. Hist. Nat. XIII. p. 333. 343.
.
Sea calf. Parsons. Phil. Trans. n. 469. p. 383. t. I. f. I.
This is the largest species of the seal tribe, growing to the
length of twelve feet: as a native of Britain, it is confined chiefly
to the more northern of the Scottish isles : it occurs also on the
coasts of Iceland, and on the south side of Greenland : in Iceland
it is said to be very frequent.
The female produces young in the months of November and
December ; these are of a white colour, becoming darker as they
increase in age. The adults are dark or dusky brown, varying
.
in different periods of their growth : the skin thick, and sparingly
covered with short dark hair.
.


ดีเจกรรรม.
Gel
London En das the
Act direct: by EDonovan &F.C.I.Baitytonis, jure z.. "15.

PLATE XII.
MUSTELA ERMINEA.
ÆSTIVA O
ERMINE, STO AT.
(In the Summer Dress.)
MAMMALIA.
FERÆ.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Fore teeth above, six erect, acute and distinct: beneath six ob-
crowded, two placed within : tongue smooth.
tuse ;
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
Feet cleft, tail black at the tip.
4. Reddish brown above, beneath paler: tail black at the tip.
.
MUSTELA ERMINEA: pedibus fissis caudæ
pedibus fissis caudæ apice atro. Linn.
Fn. Suec. 17. Gmel. Linn. Syst. p. 98.
.
d a. ÆSTIVA: caudæ apice atro. Schreber Sæugth. III. p. 496.
t. 137. A.
Rosalet Buff. Hist. Nat. 7. p. 240. t. 31. f. I.
M
VOL. I.

PLATE XII.
STOAT. Penn. quadr. p. 212.
WIESEL. Ridinger jagdb. Th. t. 19.
In the eighth plate of the present work will be found a figure of
this elegant quadruped in its winter or ermine dress; the present
delineation is intended to pourtray it in the appearance it assumes
during the summer ; at which period it ceases to be called the
ermine, or at least is better known by that of stoat, or the greater
weesel.
There is no particular difference in its habits and manners of
life during the summer or the winter; it subsists during both sea-
sons on the smaller kinds of quadrupeds, and on rabbets. The
size is the same, excepting only that in the winter dress it
appears somewhat more robust, in consequence of the greater
length and thickness of the hair upon the fur during the winter
season.
The fur begins to change in the month of October and Novem-
ber, becoming progressively whiter towards the winter, and gra-
,
dually resuming its dusky red colour in the spring, and early
part of summer.
C


13
London Pubé
as the Au directs, by EDonovan &F. CJ. Rivingtons, Jan.1.2016.

PLATE XIII.
MUST ELA MARTES.
PINE MARTIN.
MAMMALIA.
FERÆ,
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Fore teeth, upper six, erect, acuter, distinct ; lower six obtuser,
crowded, two placed within: tongue smooth.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
Feet cleft, body blackish fulvous, throat yellow.
.
MUSTELA MARTES: pedibus fissis corpore fulvo nigricante,
gula flava. Erxleb. mamm. p. 455.-Schreb.
-
Saugth. III. p. 475. t. CXXX.
t.
MUSTELA MARTES. Gmel. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. p. 95, 6.
Mustela pilis in exortu e cinereo albidis castaneo colore termi-
natis vestita, gutture flavo. Briss, quadr.
179.
Martes sylvestris. Gesn. quadr. p. 766. .
Martes abietum. (Pine Martin.) Ray, quadr. 200.
p.
M 2

PLATE XIII.
Martes Aldr. dig. p. 331.
.
Marte Buff. Hist. Nat. VII. p. 186. t. 22, ,
Marder Ridinger. Wild. Thier. f. 30.
Pine Martin. Penn. quadr. p. 216. n. 155.
The pine martin derives its name from its usual haunts being in
pine forests, which it seems to prefer to most other situations. It
is a general inhabitant of the north of Europe, Asia, and America,
As a British animal, it is principally confined to the Scottish
highlands : it has been found in Merioneth and Carnarvonshire.
This animal has the same habits as the rest of the martin and
weesel tribe; it seldom ventures abroad in the day time, during
which it lurks in holes and hollows of decayed trees, or in its nest,
which it sometimes constructs on the top branches, and wanders out
chiefly in the night time in quest of prey. It feeds on rats, mice,
young squirrels, the smaller kinds of birds, fruits, berries, and
honey. It prefers wild and mountainous regions, but, like the
common martin, its residence in the vicinity of a pigeon-house or
poultry-yard, in such lonely places, is always marked by the dis-
asters occasioned among its feathered inmates during its nocturnal
visitations.
The form of this animal is peculiarly slender, and admirably
well adapted to facilitate its entrance through walls and fences,
that afford the smallest openings. It is an animal of pretty con-
siderable size, measuring from twenty inches to two feet; the
colour, a rich dark brown above, beneath yellow, and sometimes
bright fulvous. The skin of this kind is valuable.


ON
CH
mich
OF
14
London. Pubs as the Act directs by B.Donovan & F.C.J.Rivingtons. Dec.7.7818.

PLATE XIV.
SUS SCROFA.
THE HOG.
MAMMALIA.
BELLUÆ.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Fore teeth, the upper ones four, convergent; the lower usually
six, prominent: tusks, the upper two shorter ; lower two, ex-
serted : snout truncated, prominent, moveable: feet in general
cloven.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
Back bristly on the fore part; tail hairy.
Sus SCROFA: dorso antica setoso, cauda pilosa Fn. Suec. 21.
Amoen. Ac. V. p. 461.
.
Domesticus B. S. caudatus, auriculis oblongis acutis, cauda pilosa
Briss. quadr. p. 74.
Vulgaris de Sus, Verres, Scrofa. Plin. Hist. Nat. 8. c. 51. X.
c. 63. et 73. XI. c. 37. et 39.
Gesn. quadr. p. 982. f. p. 983.
Aldr. Hist. 937. fig. p. 1006.
Jonst. quadr. p. 99. t. 47.
TE
OOO

PLATE. XIV.
Ts. Arist. Hist. an. II. c. 5. et 7. V. c. 13. VI. c. 8. et 28. 8.
c.9. Ælian an. c. 3. X.c. 16.
Sus seu porcus domesticus. Raj. quadr. p.
93.
Cochon, Verrat et Cochon de lait. Buff. Hist. Nat. 5. P.
99.
t. 16. et 17. f. 2.
in
Our present race of hogs must be in truth regarded as the
genuine descendants of those wild hogs found in very early times
great abundance in our forest lands. In later times, these may
have been crossed perhaps, and intermingled in an inconsiderable
degree with the hogs of other parts of Europe; but this, except
in certain instances, is to be considered doubtful. The hog, we
know, is a general inhabitant of all the temperate parts of Europe
and of Asia, as well as the more northern parts of Africa, and it
is possible at least, that some of these foreign breeds might have
been introduced occasionally, and domesticated in the land ; but
the abundance in which this prolific animal appears from the
remotest ages to have existed in the country, almost forbids us
even to concede to this conjecture.
Dr. Shaw has observed, that the hog is a stranger to the Arctic
regions, and this is perfectly correct, for it inhabits only milder
climates ; but that ingenious writer is entirely mistaken when he
affirms distinctly, that the hog is not indigenous to the British isles,
an assurance most completely contradicted by the ancient history of
our own island.—Dr. Shaw may be readily excused for his very
slight acquaintance with the ancient histories of the Britons, a branch

PLATE XIV.
of enquiry more immediately within the province of the antiquary
than the naturalist; but we are surprised rather at the remark,
since a reference only to the works of Mr. Pennant would have
assured him of his error.
who per-
“ The wild boar," says Mr. Pennant, “ was formerly a native
of our country, as appears from the laws of Hoel dda*,
*
mitted his grand huntsman to chase that animal from the middle
of November to the beginning of December.” This was enacted
about the year 940, and is in substance the established jurispru-
dence of the Britons on this subject from the earliest period.
Mr. Pennant might have further added, that the division of the
spoils of the wild beasts slain in hunting was not the same with
those animals of the domesticated kinds, slaughtered in the kitchen
of the palace, where each particular officer of the royal household
laid claim, according to his respective rank, to certain parts of
every animalt.
The cultivation of swine was general in those times throughout
the Cambrian principality, and many very singular laws, which
mark the simplicity of the times, were then in being respecting
them. The rearing of swine was permitted equally to the gentle-
man and the villain ; but swine, a horse, and honey, were three
articles which the villain could not sell without the permission of
* Leges Wallicæ.
+ One among the singular provisions of these laws appears to relate to the
wild hog or boar; it is enacted, that “out of the booty of swine that shall
pass through the gate (the porter) is to have the sow which he can lift
the bristles with one hand, so that her feet shall be as high as his knees,”
up by
OCCO

PLATE XIV.
his lord : if the lord refused them, he was at liberty to dispose of
them, but not otherwise. It was provided moreover, that whoever
sold swine was to be answerable for three disorders, namely, the
swelling of the neck and weak legs, and that they should not
devour their young. By the same laws it was enacted likewise,
that a lawful herd of swine was to consist of twelve females and
one male.
After the Norman Conquest, the tyrant William the First being
passionately fond of the pursuits of hunting, forbid the killing the
wild boar, stag, and roebuck *, under the sanguinary penalty, to
which he often had recourse, that of putting out the eyes of the
offender. This proves sufficiently that the wild boar was found in
the south east part of Britain at that period, as well as more
towards the north. Fitzstephen farther tells us, that the vast
forest which grew in his time on the north side of London, was
the retreat of stags, fallow deer, wild boars, and bulls,
Should further proof be requisite to shew that the wild boar was
anciently an inhabitant of Britain, and was even found here at &
far later period than the Norman Conquest, or the time of the
historian Fitzstephen, we might refer to the Manuscript History
of Pembrokeshire, by George Owen, Esq. of Henllys, Lord of
Kemmas, which has been quoted by Gibson in his edition of
Camden, and of which one MS. is preserved in the Library of the
British Museum.- This writer, speaking “ of the pastimes and
“
recreations fitt for gentlemen which Pembrokeshire yealdeth,”
proceeds to notice generally the distinctions of hunting and its
laws, and then observés, that “ there are in this countrey (Pem-
* Leges Saxon.
ee
9

PLATE XIV.
brokeshire) some beastes of forrest; though fewe partes of Eng-
land have all the sortes, for as I remember, the beastes of the
forest are these, that are called Feræ sylvestres, and differ from
those of the chase which are called campestres. Beastes of the
forest, or beastes of venerie, called Sylvestres, are five in number.
First, the harte ; second, the hinde; third, the bore; fourth, the
wolfe ; fifth, the hare."
“ As for hartes and hindes,” continues this writer, “ although
there be a fewe (in Pembrokeshire) not worth spending any
speech upon, yet some there are, and those live without sanctuary
or privilege of forest, free for every man to chase and hunt at his
pleasure. As for the wild bore, the same is soe rare, and I heare
little or none of that kinde of venyson in England, but sure I am
that there is none in this countrey (Pembrokeshire) although I
have seen wyld swine kept, yet never preserved for the game, and
therefore as they and the wolves are banished the lande, soe I will
expell them out of this treatise, although it seemeth they were
plentie in former tymes, seeing our forest lawes and the treatises
of ancient woodmen of England, number them among Feræ Syl-
vestres."--This refers from the eleventh to the sixteenth century.
In the time of Charles the First, wild boars were found in the
new forest, Hampshire, which, however, it appears had been
turned out there by that King, and were all destroyed during the
civil wars.
It is not improbable these were imported from the
Continent, perhaps from Germany or France, for it is pretty cer-
tain the wild boar was extirpated in England before that period.
From the various statements of the most authentic records, no
country whatever could be better suited to the particular manners
N
VOL. I.

PLATE XIV.
of this animal, the hog, in a state of wildness, than this country
of the ancient Britons : its lands overran with forest wilds, marshes
almost impassable, and abounding with oaks, must have been
haunts most favourable to their security and habits. For the
wild boar invariably delights in mire, prefers the acorn to all other
food ; roots, and those abounding most in watery situations, are
next preferred ; and although, like its domesticated descendants,
it devours animal food, it is believed to possess a less carnivorous
appetite in the wild than in the domesticated state. That the
wild boar does however subsist on animal food, is sufficiently
known. Buffon says it is often observed devouring the flesh of
horses left in the woods, and the skin of the roebuck, and that
the claws of birds have been also found in their stomachs.
The hunting the wild boar was anciently a favourite diversion
in Britain, but this sport has ceased for some ages, all the wild
boars having been long since extirpated, or reduced to a state of do-
mestication. *
Wild boar hunting is a favourite diversion in
*
* The hunting of the wild boar continued to be a favourite pastime among
the English gentry, till a later period than is generally imagined, even to the
fifteenth century, as we may be assured from the celebrated Treatise on Hunt-
ing of JULIANA Barnes ; or, as usually denominated, the Book of St. AL-
BANS; printed by WYNKYN De Worde, in the year of the incarnation of our
Lord, 1496. From this ancient volume we may collect the laws of hunting
the wild boar, as existing in her time: and the time of the year or season in
which it was lawful to hunt this animal, the division of the spoil when the
beast was killed, and various other particulars :-of the “ aege & undoynge of
the boore” it is said, -
“Now speke of the boore, the fyrst yere he is:
A pygge of the sounder callyd as haue I blys
The seconde yere an hogge and so shall he be :
And an hogge stere when he is of yeres thre
And whan he is of foure yere a boore shall he be:”
It is further added that when they have “slayne the boore” the hounds are
to have the entrails boiled with their bread, and cast on the ground where
the “boore” was killed, as the customary reward allotted by the hunters for
their share in the toils, &c.

PLATE XIV.
Germany at this day, and so likewise in certain parts of Poland.
These animals are hunted on the Continent, for the sake of their
flesh: and we are credibly assured, that the meat markets of
Vienna are occasionally supplied with carcases of the wild boars
for sale, which they shoot or snare in the woods. A boar's head
cured with salt, is reputed a standing dish in Germany on the
tables of the great.
Wild hogs are rather smaller than those which are domesticated,
and the colours less variable. When quite young, they are marked
with alternate pale and dusky bands, disposed longitudinally
upon the body; when they have attained to about the end of the
first or their second year, they are pale yellowish, varying to
brown or rufous, and as they increase in age they become darker,
inclining to grey and blackish. The varieties of the domesticated
hogs are too well known to require description.
The hog, in its tame state, is remarkable for its filthy habits ;
it is infested with lice, scab, and scrophula, and it is supposed
that its disposition to wallow in mire, arises from its desire of
relieving itself from the troublesome irritation these vermin and
maladies occasion. It is known to be a long lived animal, from
certain instances, in which the curiosity of their possessors have
overcome the immediate propensity to benefit by its slaughter, and
under these circumstances it has been known to live from twenty
to even thirty years. It goes with young four months, and
,
pro-
duces from six to twenty young at a litter. The teats are very
numerous, but the offspring are not unfrequently still more so.
N 2

c


15
London Pub? as the Act directs, by EDonovan £F. C. J. Riving tous, Jan.1.1815.
NIK
OF
Mic

PLATE XV.
MUS RATTUS.
BLACK RAT.
MAMMALIA.
GLIRES.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Upper fore teeth cuneated ; grinders three, rarely two each side
each jaw: clavicles or collar-bones perfect.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
DES
AND
SYNONYMS.
Tail very long and scaly: body black, beneath hoary.
Mus RATTUS: cauda longissima squamosa, corpore atro subtus
canescente. Pallas glir. p. 93. n. 41.
93. n. 41.
und Schreber. Sæugth. IV.
p.
467. t. CLXXIX.
dopose Gmel. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 127. 12.
Mus. RATTUS: cauda elongata subnuda, palmis tetradactylis
cum unguiculo pollicari, plantis pentadactylis.
Linn. Syst. Nat. XII. p. 83.–Fn. Suec. 2.
p. 12. n. 33.
ca

PLATE XV.
Mus (Rattus) cauda longissima, obscure cinereus. Briss. quadr.
p. 168. n. 1.
n. 1. Gronov. Zooph. p. 4. n. 18.
Mus domesticus major, quem vulgo rattum vocant Gesn. quadr.
p.731.
Mus domesticus major sive rattus. Raj. quadr. p. 217.
Rattus Aldrov. dig. p. 415.
Glis. Jonst. quadr. t. 66.--Sorex Hufnagel archetyp. p. 3.
3
t. 111.
Rat Buffon Hist. Nat. 7. p. 278. t. 36.
.
COMMON RAT Penn. Br. Zool. I. 113.
BLACK RAT Penn. quadr. p. 299. n. 226.
The black rat, which is sometimes termed the old English rat,
is readily distinguished from the brown kind by the inferiority of
its size, and also by the more marked dissimilarity of its colour.
The length of the black rat is about eight inches, that of the
brown rat nine or ten inches : the tail in both is long, but that of
the black English rat exceeds the other in proportion, and consists
of about two hundred and fifty annulations, which is fifty more in
number than is usually found in the tail of the brown rat. The
colour of this last mentioned kind is brown, inclining to hoary ;
that of the black rat, on the contrary, is of an iron grey, approach-
ing to black on the upper part, and cinereous beneath; and it has
also in certain directions of the light a blueish tinge, whence it
has, occasionally obtained the name of the blue rat, or large blue
mouse.

PLATE XV.
This species, though now so common in most parts of Europe,
is supposed to have been originally introduced from India and
Persia. That it is abundant in those parts of the world is well
known, but at what period, or by what means it was in the first
instance brought to Europe, does not appear; nor indeed are we
among the number of those who are inclined to believe in its extra
European origin. We are rather induced to think from its abun-
ance at this time, and from its very general diffusion over every
part of Britain in particular, that it is an animal indigenous to this
country and other temperate climates of the globe. An error
similar to this prevailed respecting the origin of the brown rat,
which English writers call the Norway rat, although it is uni-
formly believed by the best informed, that its race was originally
imported from the East Indies. The species is at all events
apparently unknown in Norway, the country affirmed to have pro-
duced the parent stock of these destructive creatures.
Our black rat is supposed to extend at this time over all the
milder parts of Europe, part of Asia, Africa, and North America.
They occur also in South America, where, however, it is asserted,
that they were first imported in ships sailing from Europe in the
.
year 1554
This animal is not less fierce in its dispositions than the brown
rat, but as there is a constant war maintained between these per-
nicious animals, in which the weaker become the prey of the
more powerful; the black rat, unequal to the combat, generally
falls in the contest, and is devoured. This may easily account for the
decreasing numbers of this very prolific and formerly abundant ani-
mal, which in many situations is now become scarce.--The black
rat is confined chiefly at this period to old houses, barns, out-houses,

PLATE XV.
granaries, and other buildings to which the brown rat has not
extended, for wherever the brown rat appears the former retire,
or become extinct*. We have observed the brown rat abundant
* In a very spacious old house in the city of London, which had escaped
the “great fire of 1666,” we observed some years ago, that the black rat
was uncommonly numerous, notwithstanding the vigilance of several excel-
lent cats. The black rats at length very rapidly disappeared, but rats were
nevertheless not less numerous, their place being supplied by those of the
brown kind. These also, after some time had elapsed, became more unusual;
they were fewer in number, but larger, and the marks of their depredations
were obviously the effect of very powerful animals. A year or two after, one
was killed in a trap; it was a male animal of the brown kind, and one the
most considerable in point of size we have ever seen: the length of the body
about fourteen inches, the form robust, and the mouth furnished with teeth
of an appearance truly formidable.
This terrific creature had been, no doubt, the master rat; the brood of
brown rats had destroyed the race of black ones, and these turning upon
each other, few, perhaps, except this powerful creature was remaining.
After the destruction of this creature, and three rather smaller, the black
rats re-appeared, collecting no doubt, from the adjoining buildings, but they
never returned to remain long in the house ; their visits were in companies,
and what is not less singular, they had to ascend a wall of eight or nine feet
above the roofs of the adjoining house, pass over the roof of the house they
had deserted, and descend into it from the extremity of the roof, through
avenues which they had formed between the tiling.
In these visits, which were repeated every night for months together, their
approach was known, besides the squeaking of the young ones, by a peculiar
chirping noise which preceded it, and might be easily mistaken for that of
sparrows. This was immediately followed by a rustling noise, occasioned
by their scrambling down the walls behind the wainscotting, floors, and
rafters, for they immediately dispersed in all directions into different parts of
the building. The chirping seemed to be the sound of invitation from the
elder rats, who were taking the lead, to encourage the younger ones to ascend
without fear, the squeaking probably the reply, from its being immediately
succeeded by the rushing forward of the whole troop.
It is truly astonishing with what regularity these creatures renewed their
visits at the same time every evening, constantly about half an hour after sun
set.
In these nightly migrations, no cats would venture to attack them ; nor
remain upon the roof which the rats would pass over, although at any other

PLATE XV.
in fields, about ditches, streams, and the banks of rivers, but not
in company with the black rat; and the latter we have observed
likewise in amazing numbers in different inland parts of the
country, far distant from the metropolis, where the brown rat is
unknown. Towards evening, after sun-set, the rats appear among
the
grass in meadows, where we suspect they feed on worms that
come at that time out of the ground; we have particularly ob-
served them near the banks of narrow streams or rivulets, and
ditches, into which they plunge the moment they are disturbed,
and as they swim well, they can by this means very easily escape
their pursuers.
times these cats were delighted in being allowed to ramble about the roof.
The cats wonld afterwards, however, watch most assiduously at the openings
or holes in the walls, and often seize the stragglers.
Notwithstanding the punctuality with which their nightly visits were
repeated, and that so boldly, as to leave no doubt whatever of the circum-
stance, we never could discover by what means these animals returned ; their
visits were regularly from a large building on the west side of the house; they
ascended, crossed the roof eastward, descended into the house, dispersed in
their descent, and were afterwards seldom heard or seen.
We are assured from our repeated observations, that they never could
return the same way till long after midnight; they might possibly return that
way shortly before the break of day, but that we think doubtful, and con-
ceive rather, after all enquiry and research, that they disappeared through
some unknown avenues in the lower part of the building, perhaps the cellars,
returned to their daily haunts in the house adjoining, where they were less
likely to be molested, ascended again towards evening, and as the night came
on gained the roof on the west side as before. This appears the more pro-
bable, since their first appearance on the roof was invariably on that side,
and their dispersion, after crossing the roof, on the other.
We have to entreat pardon for this minute digression, into which
we have been led insensibly: it does really appear to contain some few lead-
ing traits in the history of these animals, which we do not recollect to have
seen recorded elsewhere, and which we must be permitted to hope will be
considered as a suitable apology for its introduction.
co
VOL. I.
o

PLATE XV.
a
Both these kinds of rats are armed by nature with teeth so
large and powerful, that no building whatever can be secure
against their innovations: they labour in parties, notwithstanding
their unsocial propensity to devour each other, and in a short time
gnaw holes through the stoutest timbers to effect a passage : the
firmest mortar, or even brick, is scarcely hard enough to resist
the effects of their gnawing teeth ; and they turn up the earth
beneath the foundations of the walls of buildings with a facility
not easily conceived by those who have never witnessed the
effects of their destructive industry. All these labours are accom-
plished by means of their front or cutting teeth in the under jaw,
aided by the action of their feet. In this manner they penetrate
and form burrows and lodgments in buildings, from which they
cannot possibly be afterwards entirely removed. The rat is a
most sagacious animal, as we have observed too often to our own
disappointment; their cunning almost precludes the possibility
of destroying them, or checking their devastation. Cats dare not
attack them when in numbers, for they unite their forces to sus-
tain the battle; the cat must allow the troop to pass on, and
only seize upon a straggler in the rear, or upon the younger
ones, when the more powerful rats are gone. They elude the
snares of traps, and none except the young ones will eat of any
poisoned meats ; though placed repeatedly in their burrows, it
will remain untouched, and not unfrequently be turned aside.
Were it not for its destructive powers, the rat appears to possess
properties that might render it even a very social animal; but its
manners ex.cite terrors, which cannot easily be overcome. When
attacked singly by a cat or dog, in the presence of a human being,
it seems instinctively to make a choice between two evils, and fly to
man for his protection, a fact that can admit of no dispute. Rats
defend themselves most vigorously, and always direct their aim
ܪ

PLATE XV.
at the throat or eyes of the aggressor; but when opposed by an
animal far stronger than itself, it seems, especially the younger
ones, paralysed with fear, and lifts its back up into an arched form,
in the same manner as we observe a cat when she is attacked by a
powerful dog, from whose worrying gripes it is impossible to
escape; the mouth of the rat is at the same time opened, with a
convulsed aspect, accompanied by a tremulous shriek, and thus
unable to escape the danger, it waits the attack of its destroyer *
The rats in habitable buildings form their nest beneath the
flooring, or under the hearth or fire places, for the sake of
warmth. This nest is lined with cloth, wool, feathers, paper,
hay, or any other substance of a warm and soft nature. It is a
most fertile animal, producing a brood of five or six young, or
even more, several times in the year. When pressed by hunger,
it however never scruples to devour its young, nor the strongest to
destroy the weakest even of its own species, and thus its numbers
are considerably lessened, which would be otherwise very great.
Rats are amazingly destructive to all the minor tribes of animals,
* A friend in London was so much struck with the imploring expression he
observed in the countenance of a rat, which he had captured in a wire cage,
as he was consigning it to a watery death, that his resolution faltered, and
he at length decided that the destined victim “should have one more chance
for its life.” But feeling no disposition to be again annoyed by this trouble-
some inmate in his own house, the cage was conveyed in the evening into
one of the public squares, and being left open for its egress, the animal of
course was liberated. While we sincerely commend the motives under which
this act was done, we cannot avoid believing, from the little distance to which
it was conveyed, added to its known prolific nature, that the animal or his
progeny might probably survive to make an ill return for this important
favour; and at all events it was removing the evil from his own house into
those of his neighbours.
02

PLAT E XV.
as birds, mice, and shrews, and the young of the larger animals,
,
even kittens and weesels: to meat, grain, provisions of all kinds,
and sometimes furniture; and in their turn, the rats become the
prey of owls, when they venture into the fields, and are devoured
by cats while they remain in buildings; but its most formidable
enemy is the weesel, an animal that, from its size, can penetrate
through all its haunts and hiding places, and whose ferocity,
joined to its superior strength, affords it power sufficient to over-
come the strongest rat,
DOG
06
GO


A
ICH
30
.
16.
London.Pabras the Ad directs hy E.Donovan F.C.J.Rivingtons. Dec:"2.2828.

PLATE XVI.
MUSTELA LUTRA.
OTTER.
MAMMALIA,
FERÆ.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Fore teeth, upper, six, erect, acuter, distinct: lower six, obtuse,
crowded, two placed within : tongue smooth.
S
* Hind feet palmate.
.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
Gees Hind feet naked : tail half the length of the body.
abe
MUSTELA LUTRA: plantis palmatis nudis, cauda corpore dimidio
breviore. Linn. Faun. Suec.-S. G. Gmelin
it. III. p. 285. 373.
Gmel. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 93. 2.
Lutra plantis nudis, cauda corpore dimidio breviore. Erxleb.
mamm. p. 448. n. 2. Schreber Sæugth. III.
P.
457. t. 126. A. B.

PLATE XVI.
Lutra digitis æqualibus. Faun. Suec. I. n. 10.
Lutra, Gesner quadr. p. 775. fig. p. 776.-Gesn. Aquat,
p. 608.
Aldr, digit. p. 292. f. 295.
Jonst. quadr. p. 150. t. 68.
Raj. quadr. p. 187. .
Loutre Buff. Hist. Nat. 7. p. 134. t. II. XIII. p. 323. t. 45.
,
Fischotter Riginger Wilde Thier, t. 28.
OTTER Penn. quadr. p. 238. n. 173,
The otter is an inhabitant of Europe, North America, and Asia
as far as Persia. Those of Europe are somewhat smaller than
the others. Its length is usually about three feet four or six
inches, including the tail, which is in general estimated at half
the length of the body, or somewhat more.
a
This animal is rather of a slender form, the fur long, of a deep
brown, and of a peculiar softness; on each side of the nose are
two small white spots, and beneath the chin one : the throat and
breast is paler; the whiskers large and long, the ears short and
small, neck short and thick, and all the feet furnished with five
toes, connected by means of webs.
During the summer season, the fur is shorter than in the winter,
and those of the more remote northern regions are preferred to
those of milder climates ; the best furs are from the north part of

PLATE XVI.
America, the higher parts of Russia in Europe, and the north of
Asia.
The otter inhabits rivers, lakes, and other waters, where it
forms burrows beneath the surface of the water in the banks, and
thence labours upwards, forming in its progress a winding
cavern, with several resting places at different intervals; and
having reached by this means nearly to the surface of the earth, it
perforates a small hole for the admission of the air into its
secluded dwelling ; this opening is very artfully contrived among
a heap of stones, or more frequently close to the roots of some
bush or tree upon the bank of the water: and so small as scarcely
to be perceived. By this means its hiding place appears secure,
for it can be assailed only through the opening under the water,
which no animal of that element would venture to enter, and
if the attack be made upon the upper aperture from the land,
it has sufficient time to dive downwards, and seek its safety
in the water.
The manners of this animal in its favourite element resemble
those of the weesel upon land, for, like that animal, its ravages are
infinitely more extensive than its necessities require; it delights
in attacking and destroying, and kills a number far greater than
it can possibly devour: it swims and dives so well, that the fishes
which it pursues in their native haunts, have no chance of escap-
ing ; they are captured in any plenty its sport or inclination may
direct. These the otter commonly conveys, as he seizes on them,
in his mouth, one by one to the shore, where after having devoured
the head and entrails, he again dives into the water, and takes
another ; thus repeating his visits of destruction till satiated with
the feast, or perhaps weary of the toil, he plunges once more
.

PLATE XVI.
into the water, enters his cavern, and falls asleep, leaving the
wreck of his devastation strewed along the shore. It is this pro-
pensity for destroying rather than devouring the fish, that renders
the otter so injurious to the fish-pond, the stock of which, how-
ever great, a family of otters would very shortly destroy.
Otter hunting was once a favourite diversion in this island, and
is still in practice, though from the paucity of their numbers at
this time, to no very considerable extent; they are usually hunted
in the water with the assistance of dogs.
ܪ .
It is a generally received opinion, founded upon an observation
of early writers, and repeated by Linnæus, that the otter never
leaves the fresh water and enters the sea ; but this is proved to be
erroneous, for the otter is oftentimes observed at the mouths of
rivers opening into the sea, and is observed to go into that element
to catch fish : the otter will frequently pursue the salmon des-
cending rivers out to a distance into the sea, and in the event of
failing in that pursuit, return with a conger eel or other littoral
fish in its mouth. It has been observed also, that two or more of
these animals will join in the chase, and like dog's in the pursuit
of straggling sheep, will mutually endeavour to turn the salmon
back into the rivers, that they may with more facility effect their
capture.
Otters feed on crabs and other marine animals when in the
vicinity of the sea; and in particular, haunt the pools and shallows
along the shore, in which the waters lie embayed among the
rocks, and if our information be correct, they live constantly in
cavities along the craggy shores on the coast of Pembrokeshire,
where they can subsist only on sprats, herrings, and other salt

PLATE XVI.
water fishes, or crabs, and other marine creatures, that they may
find
upon
the shore *
The relations of various authors tend to prove beyond a doubt,
that the otter taken young is susceptible of being rendered as
domestic and social in its manners as the dog, and when thus
reclaimed, has been often trained
up
for the
purpose of catching
fish: an office it has executed with great fidelity, and advantage to
his owner. Various instances of this kind of useful domestication
are related as well by early as modern writers.
There are
instances on record of otters who would follow their masters to
the water side, and, on a signal, plunge in, and taking fish, return
ashore, and deposit them at his master's feet; and this repeatedly
till his owner was satisfied; the otter depending upon his bounty
for such portion of the spoils he had captured, as he might be
pleased to bestow, in recompence for his labour.
From the nature of its food, the flesh of the otter is rank and
fishy, and it is for that reason allowed to be eaten as fish in
catholic countries, upon those particular days of abstinence when
the flesh of animals is expressly forbidden. .
During the winter season, when the fishes retire into the holes
aud mud of the waters, where the otter cannot pursue them, he
* We once met with a very young otter alive, upon a sandy shore of the
Bristol channel, but by what means the animal had been conveyed to that
desert spot, was beyond conjecture; for it did not appear that the haunts of
the dam could be contiguous, and we were rather induced to think it might
have been dropped there by some kite or osprey in its flight over that spot.
The circumstance is worthy of observation, because it may tend to prove at
least, that the habitation of the otter could not be very far from the
the animal was perfectly alive, and had not sustained any apparent injury.
VOL. I.
P
sea, for

PLATE XVI.
rambles in quest of food upon the shore, and will at that time
attack the animals of the land, even it is said young lambs and
swine ; poultry of every kind, and all the minor tribes of qua-
drupeds.
The female otter goes with young three months, and produces
at each litter from three to four young.


London.Pub'as the Act directs by E. DonovanXECJ.Rivingtons Dec 2.2878.
27

PLATE XVII.
CASTOR FIBER.
BEAVER
MAMMALIA.
GLIRES.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Fore teeth upper truncated and excavated with a transverse
angle ; lower fore teeth transverse at their summits: grinders four
in each jaw: tail long, depressed, scaly: clavicles (collar bones
in the skeleton) perfect.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
Tail ovate, flat, naked.
CASTOR FIBER : canda ovata plana calva. Linn. Fn. Suec.
n. 27.--Mus. Ad. Fr. I. p.9.-Schreb. Sæugth.
IV. p. 623. t. 175.-Gmel. Linn. Syst. Nat.
124.
Castor Castanei coloris, cauda horizontaliter plana. Briss. quadr.
P.
CASTOR Gesn, quadr. p. 309. Aquat. p. 185.
p. 133.
P2

PLATE XVII.
Rondel. Aquat. p. 236.
Raj. quadr. p. 209. .
Buff. Hist. Nat. 8. p. 282. t. 36.
p
Fiber Bellon
αα:
30.
Biber Ridinger kl. Th. t. 84.
Beaver Catesby Carol. app. p. 29.
BEAVER Penn. Brit. Zool. I.
p.
96.
If
any doubts have arisen with authors respecting the exist.
ence of the beaver in ancient times among the native animals
of Britain, we are inclined to think their scepticism can be attri-
butable only to the want of due enquiry among those early British
writers who are most likely to afford us information on this inte-
resting point. We believe the fact has been disputed ; and if so,
undoubtedly without reason, for the existence of the beaver in this
country in ancient days is as well established by history, and the
concurrence of various local circumstances, as any other fact on
record: the beaver was not only an inhabitant of the country, but
the race itself, from every attendant circumstance, seems unques-
tionably to have originated from the stock indigenous to the coun-
try, and cannot under this consideration be regarded, although
extinct, in
any other view than as a genuine British animal.
In the supplementary matter annexed to the description of the
otter in the British Zoology, Mr. Pennant has spoken generally of
the beaver as a quadruped formerly found in Britain, and in proof
of this, he quotes the ancient Welsh laws of Howel Dda (Leges
Wallicæ), together with the observations of the learned Ray.
7

PLATE XVII.
These authorities do not however appear to have been sufficiently
regarded, and it is truly worthy of remark, that Mr. Pennant is
not followed in this respect by any English writer, except Mr.
Bingley ; who, in his tour, observes in general terms that beavers
were formerly very common in Wales, and alludes to the same
circumstances in testimony of his remark, which Mr. Pennant had
previously advanced *. We however conceive the matter emi-
nently deserving of more strict research ; and, as the circumstance
is not even remotely intimated, either by Dr. Shaw, in bis descrip-
tion of the beaver, by Mr. Bewick, or Dr. Turton, we shall deem
ourselves the more excusable for entering at some length into the
local history of this animal as it appertains to the ancient fauna of
the British isles.
Among the writers of an early age, who describe this quadruped
as an inhabitant of Britain, is GIRALDUS CAMBRENSIS, a native
of Tenby, in Pembrokeshire, who travelled with Archbishop
Baldwin, of Canterbury, through the Welsh territories, in the year
1188. That writer gives an accurate history of this animal, and its
modes of life, which has been repeated by several other writers of
* Mr. Bingley speaks of the llyn yr avange, or beavers pool, about four
miles from Llanydloes ; observing further, that “ in different parts of Wales
there are several pools called Beavers Pools ;” and adds,“ we are assured by
Giraldus Cambrensis, and other writers, that formerly the beaver was an animal
found in many different places. Giraldus, after giving a short account of them,
,
says, that in his time (about the year 1188) they were found, and not uncom-
monly, about the river Teivi, in Cardiganshire.” “ Itin. Camb. Gir. Camb.-
Wynne's History of Wales, &c.” Bingley Tour, vol. I. p. 482.
This remote place we also visited some years since, in one of our excursions
through North Wales, and understood upon the spot that it is traditionally
believed to have been infested in former times by certain“ strange animals,”
but of which the only account we could obtain was from one of the natives,
who whimsically defined them as a kind of “ water eats.”
66

PLATE XVII.
the middle and latter ages; among whom, we have to notice in par-
ticular the Welsh historians, Sir Jolin Price, Knt. and Humphrey
Lloyd ; and since their time, the English poet Drayton:
j
The first of these above-mentioned authorities, Sir John Price,
is the author of a description of Cambria, that is usually found an-
nexed to the history of Wales, continued from Caradoc of Llan-
carvon, the contemporary of Geoffrey, of Monmouth. This descrip-
tion of the Cambrian principality by Sir John Price was written at
an early period, the time of Henry the Eighth, King of England ;
aad was afterwards augmented by Humphrey Lloyd, Gent. of
Denbigh, who died in 1568. The work in consequence did not ap-
pear till the time of Queen Elizabeth, when an English translation
of it was inserted by Dr. Powel, in his history of Wales, published
in 1588. We are thus minute in describing the circumstance, be-
cause the passage we are proceeding to notice has been attributed
to Dr. Powel, while from the preceding observations it will appear
to be really the writing of a much earlier author. The
passage
is
as follows:--
66
Keswp Greek, Fiber Latin, Beaver English, Afanc British,
Giraldus in Itinerarium.
a
“ In Teivi, above all the rivers in Wales were in Giraldus's
time a great number of castors, which may be englished beavers,
and are called in Welsh avanc, which name onelie remaineth in
Wales at this daie, but what it is very few can tell. It is a beast
not much unlike an otter, but that it is bigger, all hearie saving the
taile which is like a fishe taile, as broad as a man's hand. This
beaste useth as well the water as the land, and hath very sharp
teeth, and biteth cruellie till he perceive the bones cracke.” And

PLATE XVII.
after mentioning the efficacy of the secretions of this animal in
physic, the description proceeds. “ He that will learn what
strong nests they make, which Giraldus calleth castells, which they
build
upon
the face of the water with great bows (boughs,) which
they cut with their teeth, and how some lie upon their backs,
holding the wood with their fore feet, which the other draweth
with a crosse stick, the which he holdeth in his mouth, to the water-
side; and the other particularities of their natures, let him read
Giraldus, in his Topographie of Wales,"
Michael Drayton enters upor his subject with the licence of the
poet; his description is nevertheless correct, and, with the former,
evidently evince a degree of knowledge in natural science in those
early times far greater than many might be disposed to conceive.
But Drayton has fallen into the most material error of the itinerary,
in concluding that the beaver was confined entirely to the waters
of the Teivi, a point in which Sir John Price has corrected Giral-
dus, by observing that the beaver in his time was abundant in the
Teivi above all other rivers in Wales; and this assurance, at once,
implies that the beaver was found though in less considerable
numbers at that period in other rivers of the principality. With
this exception, the poetical effusion of this early poet deserves
to be recorded : his lines on the beaver of the Teivi are these:
6 More famous long agone then for the salmon's leape
For beuers Tivy was, in her strong banks that bred,
Which else no other brooke of Brittane nourished:
Where nature, in the shape of this now-perisht beast-
His propertie did seeme t'have wondrouslie expresst;
Beeing bodied like a boat with such a mightie taile
As serv'd him for a bridge, a helme, or for a sail.

PLATE XVII.
When kind did him command the architect to play;
That his strong castle built of branched twigs and clay :
Which set upon the deep, but yet not fixed there,
He easelie could remove as he pleased to stere
To this side or to that; the workmanship so rare,
His stuffe wherewith to build, first beeing to prepare
A forraging he goes to groves or bushes nie,
And with his teeth cuts downe his timbers; which laid-by,
He turns him on his back, his belly laid abroad,
When with what he hath got, the other doe him load,
Till lastlie by the weight, his burthen hee have found,
Then, with his mightie tail his carriage having bound
As carters do with rope, in his sharp teeth hee grip't
Some stronger stick: from which the lesser branches stript,
He takes it in the midst; at both ends the rest
Hard holding with their fangs, unto the labour prest,
Going backward, tow'rds their home their loaded carriage led,
From whom, those first heere borne, were taught the usefull sled,
Then builded he his fort with strong and several fights ;
His passages contrived with such unusuall sleights,
That from the hunter oft he issu'd undiscern'd,
As if men from this beast to fortifie had learn'd;
Whose kind in her decay'd, is to this Ile unknowne.
Thus Tivy boasts this beast peculiarly her owne."
The Sixth Song,
From these relations it has been concluded, that the beaver is
described with too much accuracy to be confounded with the otter,
or to be mistaken for any other quadruped; but it remains in ques-
tion whether this animal was peculiar to the Teivi, or an inhabitant
of other parts of the Cambrian principality. Of this latter we con-
.
ceive there can be no doubt: we have only to admit that the

PLAT E XVII.
animal described was really the beaver, and there will be no dif-
ficulty, from the local evidences which the wilds of Cambria afford,
together with its ancient laws and history, to prove, independently
of the authority of Sir John Price, and Humphrey Lloyd, that the
beaver was not confined to the waters of the Teivi only.
In this opinion we are not without the concurrence of Mr.
Pennant, who has digressed however very slightly upon the sub-
ject. That author intimates, in general terms, that Giraldus must
have been mistaken in supposing the beaver to be found only in the
river before mentioned, and refers to Ray to confirm his evidence,
that two or three waters in that principality still bear the name of
Llyn yr Afange, or Beavers' Lake *. "I have seen (says Mr.
Pennant,) two of their supposed haunts; one in the stream that
runs through Nant Frankon ; the other in the river Conway, a
few miles above Llanrwst; and both places, in all probability
had formerly been crossed by beaver dams. But we imagine (con-
tinues this writer) that they must have been very scarce even in
earlier times, the price of the beaver's skin ( Croen Llostlydan t)
being fixed at one hundred and twenty pence : a great sum in those
days, when, as the same writer observes in the second volume of
his Tour through Wales, those of an ermine, otter, wolf, or fox,
was only twelve pence, and that of the martin twenty-four pence.
Mr. Pennant might have added, that at the same period a full-
grown bull, fit for the yoke, was worth only sixty pence, the cat
four pence, and a nest of hawks, an article very highly valued, was
rated no more than the same price as a beaver's skin.
* Raii Syn. quadr. 213.
† Llostlydan, the broad-tailed animal. Leges Wallicæ.
VOL. I.

PLATE XVII.
The superior warmth and comfort which the beaver's skin af
forded, added to the reputation of the medicinal properties of the
castor must have operated as a very powerful incitement to
hunt the beaver in those early times. We must therefore refer
the period of their abundance in this country to an age much earlier
than that of Howel Dha, the period, perhaps, before the Britons
were driven from the more southern parts of Britain into the wilds
of Cambria by the Romans, Danes, and Saxons, and when the
mountainous wilds of Wales were almost unreclaimed from a
state of nature by the hand of cultivation. At such a time, it is very
likely, the beavers were numerous in many of the mountain streams
and pools, but after the defeat of Vortigern, who settled with a
remnant of his scattered Britons among these mountains, it is easy
to conceive the beavers would be sought for by the hunters, per-
haps for the sake of food, and certainly for their fur ; so that after
the lapse of some centuries which passed between the time of
Howel Dha, their numbers would be progressively diminished,
and that very considerably. There still remained, however, ex-
tensive wastes in Howel's time, for it was among the laws of that
prince that every man was entitled to so much land of that kind, as
he should bring into cultivation; we cannot imagine therefore that
the beavers were unable to find secure retreats among the vallies of
these barren mountains, the hills of Snowdon. Howel lived in
the year 940. The travels of Giraldus did not take place till
about two hundred and fifty years after the time of Howel ; it
cannot, therefore, excite surprise that the beaver had then become
scarce and local, since we have seen the value attached to its skin,
and established by law between two and three centuries before
that time.
That the beaver was found in the Teivi when Giraldus travelled
through Wales, is generally believed ; yet, upon the authority of

PLATE PLATE
XVII.
Camden, that river had ceased to produce beavers when Camden
wrote, as he himself states. Their haunts in the river were identified
only upon the credit given to Giraldus, and upon this it was ad-
mitted that they formerly had existed there. If we may be permitted
to extend the same reasoning to other situations in the Cambrian
regions, which have the same reputation in the traditions of the
country, we shall easily perceive that though the Teivi was most
celebrated for the number of these animals, they had existed also in
early times in other parts of the principality. There were no
beavers remaining in Wales in the time of Sir John Price, who
lived in the reign of Henry the Eighth, for he expressly tells us
the animal was unknown, and the name only remaining in
his day. Yet this remain he considered as a proof that the
animal had existed there formerly, and it must be admitted pro-
bable, that wherever the local name of Llyn Avanc was anciently
applied, whether to places in the branches of the Teivi, or any
other river, that it indicates the ancient haunts of this particular
animal.
Mr. Pennant observes, as before intimated, that he had seen
two of these supposed haunts of the beaver, one in the river Con-
way, a few miles above Llanrwst, the other in a stream that runs
through Nant-Francon, both which we have seen, and likewise some
few others, among the mountains, which we understood to bear
the same name. Admitting these to be correctly designated, we find
the beaver was once a native of the waters of the Conway and the
Ogwen in the north, as well as of the Teivi in the south of Wales.
But in the secluded passes of the valley of Nant-Francon,
situated in the bosom of the Caernarvon hills, the beaver was
probably more secure from the pursuits of the hunter, and here
Q2

PLATE XVII.
the race appears to have remained some ages longer than in the
Teivi, the Conway, or any other part of the principality. This we
conceive probable, notwithstanding the testimony of some preceding
writers to the contrary. The very name Nant-Francon, or as the
Welsh express it, Nant yr Afanc, the Dale of Beavers, which
it retains to this day, seems to warrant the conclusion, and no
situation whatever could be better calculated for their secluded
habits of life. This is the valley in which the slate quarries of
the late Lord Penrhyn are situated, the mountains are contiguous,
and towards the upper part approach so near each other, that
they attract the clouds into the hollows, which in wet weather
melt and discharge their moisture in torrents down their sides
and into the vale below, swelling the streams to rivers in the
bottom, and abundantly replenishing the pools, which are never
unsupplied with their liquid tribute. In short, this mountain
valley is so certain of betraying the first indication of approaching
wet weather by such phenomena, that the natives of Anglesea
call it the Devil's Kitchen ; and to this a modern poet of the
country has alluded in the following stanza.
“ When autumn fills with waving gold the field,
And Mona's busy sons the sickle wield,
They fix the pensive look, and cautious pry
Where Francon's varying aspect leads the eye,
And, from the boding frown or feature gay,
The valued hours employ--direct the day.”
BEAUMARIS BAY.
The same spot is however described more clearly to our pur-
pose by Mr. William Williams of Llandegai in Caernarvonshire,
in his Observations on these Mountains. “ It is supposed, (says
Mr. Williams) that the river was formerly much frequented,

PLATE XVII.
especially that part of it which runs through Nantffrancon, by
that amphibious animal, called by the ancient Britons, and by
the present Welsh Afanc, in English the Beaver ; and that Nant-
ffrancon, or perhaps more properly, Nant Afangcwn, i. e. the
Vale of Beaver Dogs, took its name from that circumstance*.”.
And again, in speaking more explicitly of Nantffrancon, the
same author observes, that “it is supposed (as mentioned before)
to mean Nant Afangcwn, because the river is said to have been
formerly frequented by beavers : and below the farm-house, called
Blaen y Nant, there are ancient stone steps placed to cross the
river, which are called Sarn yr Afange, that is, the Beaver's Steps,
or Causeway." We can scarcely hesitate to believe that this
name must indicate one of the local haunts of this remarkable
animal, although it may be now impossible to determine to what
period the allusion may apply.
Mr. Owen, in his Dictionary, informs us the name of this valley
should be properly Nant yr Afangcwn, and that beavers have
been seen here within the memory of man. This is the last autho-
rity to which we can refer with any confidence, in proof of the
beaver having been once an inhabitant of the British isles.
During one of our excursions among the Snowdon mountains,
we traversed part of this valley of Nant-ffrancon, accompanied by
Certain English authors have conjectured that the name of Francon was
given to this valley by Adam Francon, the soldier that killed Llewellyn ap
Griffith, the last of the Welsh Princes, and who they say was rewarded by
King Edward for this service rendered to him, with the lands which this vale
contained. To shew the error of this opinion, as Mr. Williams observes, it
need be only mentioned, that Llewellyn ap Griffith was killed by Adam Fran-
con in 1281, and this spot was distinguished by the name of Nant-Ffrancon,
(a corruption of Afangewn) by Taliesin, in the 6th centnry.

PLATE XVII.
the well known guide of Beddkelert, the intelligent David Lloyd.
He pointed out to us pools and hollows in certain parts of the
valley, which are supposed to have been the haunts of the beavers,
and one in particular, in which it was traditionally believed these
animals had been found, not within his time, but, as he had
understood, within a century, perhaps, or somewhat more. He
readily acknowledged, however, that he knew not what credit to
repose on the report, at the same time that he seemed satisfied
the distinction between the beaver and the otter was too great
for his countrymen to have mistaken the one animal for the other.
We can scarce imagine, that if the race of beavers in this valley
had not now become extinct, they must have been seen in latter
years. Our own opinion is, that they exist no longer ; but were
the matter worthy of investigation further, we know no spot more
favourable for the enquiry than the secluded waters amid the wilds
of the Snowdonian hills, or the north-west peak of Caernarvonshire.
a
a
The heaver is an animal of about two or three feet in length,
with a tail of such a peculiar character, as to immediately distin-
guish it from all other quadrupeds ; the body is covered with hair,
which is very fine and smooth, the colour a deep chesnut, more
or less variable to black or tawny; the tail about one third the
length of the body, broad and flat: towards the base hairy, the
remainder bare, and covered with scales like a fish. The feet are
five toed, the posterior ones palmated. The medical drug, known
by the name of Castor, for the sake of which this animal was
hunted by the Ancients, is a sebaceous matter, contained in two
large glands, with cellular follicles, in the lower part of the abdo-
men, of which useful article each animal produces about two
These glands are usually cut off, and the castor they
contain dried, in which state it is preserved till required for use.
ounces.

PLATE XVII.
These animals inhabit the north of Europe, and Asia, and are
found in vast abundance in the higher latitudes of North America.
Their favourite places of resort are pools and lakes secluded
among woods, and communicating with rivers or mountain streams,
or secured around by mountains and extensive wastes. In such
situations they are found associated in vast numbers into families,
and evince in their manners and economy a picture of social
life, that implies rather the influence of reasoning powers, than
the guidance merely of that instinct which is itself governed and
directed by unerring laws. These particulars have been detailed
by various writers, and among others by Buffon, whose general
descriptions may admit of being reduced to the following most
essential particulars.
;
The beavers in North America begin to assemble in the month
of June and July, for the purpose of uniting into societies. They
arrive in numbers from all parts, and soon form a troop of two or
three hundred. The place of rendezvous is generally the situation
fixed for their establishment, and this is always on the bank of
some water. If the waters be flat, and never rise above their ordi-
nary level, as in lakes, the beavers make no bank or dam ; but in
rivers or brooks, where the waters are subject to risings and fall-
ings, they construct a bank, and by this artifice form a pond or
piece of water, which remains always at the same height. The
bank traverses the river from one side to the other, like a sluice,
and is often from eighty to a hundred feet long, by ten or twelve
broad at the base. This pile for animals of so small a size appears
a
to be enormous, and supposes an incredible labour ; but the
solidity with which the work is constructed, is still more astonish-
ing than its magnitude. The part of the river where they erect
this bank is generally shallow. If they find a large tree, which
a

PLATE XVII.
a
can be made to fall into the water, they begin by cutting it down,
to form the principal part of the work. This tree is often thicker
than the body of a man. By gnawing the foot of the tree with
their cutting teeth, they accomplish their purpose in a very short
time, and always make the tree fall across the river. They next
cut the branches from the trunk, to make it lie level. These
operations are performed by the whole community. Several
beavers are employed in gnawing the foot of the tree, and others
in lopping off the branches after it has fallen. Others at the same
time traverse the banks of the river, and cut down sınaller trees,
from the size of a man's leg to that of his thigh. These they dress
to a certain length to make stakes of them, and first drag them by
land to the margin of the river, and then by water to the place
where the building is carrying on. These piles they sink down,
and interweave the branches with larger stakes. This operation
implies the vanquishing of many difficulties ; for to dress these
stakes and to put them in a situation nearly perpendicular, some
of the beavers must elevate with their teeth the thick ends against
the margin of the river, or against the cross-tree, while others
plunge to the bottom, and dig holes with their fore feet to receive
the points, that they may stand on end. While some are labour-
ing in this manner, others bring earth, which they plash with
their fore feet, and transport in such quantities, that they fill with
it all the intervals between the piles. These piles consist of
several rows of sticks of equal height, all placed opposite to each
other, and extend from one bank of the river to the other. The
stakes facing the under part of the river are placed perpendicu-
larly, but the rest of the work slopes upwards, to sustain the
pressure of the fluid, so that the bank, which is ten or twelve
feet wide at the base, is reduced to two or three at the top. Near
the top of the bank, they make two or three sloping holes, to

PLATE XVII.
allow the surface water to escape, and these they enlarge or con-
tract according as the river rises or falls, and when any breaches
are made in the bank by sudden or violent inundations, they know
how to repair them as soon as the water subsides. This first great
structure is made to render their cabins or smaller habitations
commodious.
The cabins or habitations are built upon piles, near the margin
of the pond, and have two openings, the one for going to the
land and the other for throwing themselves into the water. The
form of these edifices is oval or round, some larger and some less,
varying from four or five to eight or ten feet diameter; some of
them consist of three or four stories, and their walls are two feet
thick, raised perpendicularly upon planks or plain stakes, which
serye both for foundations and floors to their houses ; in those of
one story, the walls first rise perpendicularly, afterwards assuming
a curved form, and terminating in a dome or vault, which serves
them for a roof: they are built with amazing solidity, and are
neatly plastered both without and within : they are impe-
netrable to rain, and resist the most impetuous winds, and the
partitions are as neatly stuccoed as if executed by the hand of
In this application of the mortar their tails serve for
trowels and their feet for plastering. They employ different ma-
terials, as wood, stone, and sandy earth, which is not subject to disa
solution in water. The wood they use is of the light and tender
kind, as alder, poplar, and the willow, and they always begin the
operation of cutting at about a foot or a foot and a half above the
ground. They labour in a sitting posture, and besides the con-
venience of this situation, they enjoy the pleasure of gnawing
perpetually the bark and wood which are most agreeable to their
VOL. I.
R
man.
.

PLATE XVII.
tastes, for they prefer fresh bark and tender wood to most other
aliment, and lay up of these provision abundant stores to support
them during winter.
Each cabin has its own magazine of winter provision propor-
tioned to the number of its inhabitants, who have all a common
right to the store, and never pillage their neighbours. Some
villages are composed of twenty or twenty-five cabins ; but such
establishments are rare, seldom exceeding ten or twelve; and
they never allow strangers to settle in their neighbourhood. The
smallest cabins contain two, four, or six, and the largest eighteen,
twenty, or sometimes thirty beavers, which are almost always
equally paired, there being the same number of males as females,
and the whole society often composed of 150 or 200.
“ In this society, however numerous,” says Buffon, "an uni-
versal peace is maintained. Their union is cemented by common
labours ; and it is rendered perpetual by mutual convenience, and
the abundance of provisions which they amass and consume toge-
ther. Moderate appetites, a simple taste, an aversion against
blood and carnage, deprive them of the idea of rapine and war.
They enjoy every possible good, while man only knows how to
pant after it. Friends to each other, if they bave some foreign
enemies, they know how to avoid them.
When danger ap-
proaches, they advertise one another by striking their tail on the
surface of the water, the noise of which is heard at a great dis-
tance, and resounds through all the vaults of their habitations.
Each takes his part; some plunge into the lake ; others conceal
themselves within their walls, which can only be penetrated by
the fire of heaven, or the steel of man, and which no animal will
attempt either to open or overturn."
>

PLATE XVII.
These retreats are not only very safe, but neat and commodious.
The floors are spread over with verdure: the branches of the box
and fir serve them for carpets, upon which they permit not the
least dirtiness. The window that faces the water answers for a
balcony, to receive the fresh air, and to bathe. During the greatest
part of the day they sit on end, with their head and anterior parts
of the body elevated, and their posterior parts immersed in the
water. This window is made with caution, the aperture being
sufficiently raised to prevent its being stopped up with the ice,
which in climates inhabited by the beaver is often two or three
feet thick. When this happens, they slope the window, cut ob-
liquely the stakes which support it, and thus open a communication
with the unfrozen water. They often swim a great way under the
ice, and then it is that they are most easily taken, by attacking
their habitations on one side, and at the same time watching a hole
at some distance, where they are obliged to repair for the purpose
of respiration. The continual habit of keeping their tail and pos-
.
terior part in the water, appears to have changed the nature of
their flesh; the anterior part having the consistence of the flesh of
land or air animals, but that of the tail and hinder parts the odour
and all the other qualities of fish. They are mutually paired, and
the pairs never separate. The females are said to go pregnant
for four months; and at the end of the winter generally produce
two or three young. Besides these associated beavers, there are
others that are solitary, and live in holes, which they form in the
banks of rivers; these are usually called terrier beavers, and their
skins are in less esteem than the other kind. The associated
beavers are said to expel those of their society which are guilty of
offence, and that these driven to seek shelter for theinselves be-
come terrier beavers, or hermits.
R 2

PLATE XVII.
We are in possession of both the social and hermit beavers, be-
tween which we cannot perceive any distinction sufficient to con-
stitute a specifical distinction; the social kind is larger, the fur
darker and soft, with an intermixture of long hairs; the other
sort is smaller, inclining to testaceous, or tawny, and the hair
short and rather shaggy. Whether these distinctions prevail uni-
formly we cannot determine.
The gait of the animal in running, as we have observed in
the living beaver, which we have seen, suggests an idea that it
proceeds with difficulty, owing to the weight of the posterior part
and tail, or to its disposition to trail the tail along the ground.
Dr. Shaw concludes that the architecture of the beaver is no
where so conspicuous as in the northern parts of America, and
that those of Europe do not in general exhibit equal talents in pre-
paring their mansions. This is probably in some degree correct,
and
may
arise from local causes, for various circumstances may
be
adduced to shew that in Europe, or the north of Asia, the beaver is
less at liberty to pursue these operations in security than in the
wilds of North America. Mr. Pennant states that they abound
in the Asiatic part of the Russian empire, and are found in com-
panies, or associated, above the Konda, and other rivers which
flow into the Oby, and that they occur in a dispersed or terrier
state in the wooded parts of independent Tartary, and in the
chains of mountains which border on Siberia. But these particu-
lars are more accurately described by Strahlemberg, who, in his
history of Russia has entered pretty fully into the history of these
two varieties of the beaver, and with whose account we shall con-
clude our present enquiries into the history of this sagacious
animal.

PLATE XVII.
a
The beaver, says Strahlenberg, is called in the Russian
language bobri, and in the Tartarian condus. In the province of
Kamtschatki, in Siberia, says this writer, there are very large
beavers, the skins of which are about four feet long, and two feet
and a half broad ; the hair black, short, and soft. These skins in
his time, which is now above a century ago, were sold in China for
about sixty rix dollars each, and in Russia, not for more than
twenty rubles, for which reason few are brought from that province
into Russia; but whether these are the right sort of beaver,
says this author, is yet uncertain. However they have a tail
like a Beaver, and live in the water; the true and common sort of
them are in several parts of Siberia, on the river Oby, Irtisch,
Czulim, Kia, and several other rivers, in great abundance, and are
very cheap there; but they sell them, with good profit, to the
Mungals, and other Tartars, who border and trim their clothes
with them.
The manners of this animal, as described by Strahlenberg, de-
serve notice : “ the Russians and Tartars (says he,) tell strange
things of this animal: as 1. They distinguish them into two dif-
ferent species, one of which they call Gulaschoriki, i.e. those that
are idle, and the other Robotniki, i.e. those that work ; the latter
have the worst skins, because they do much labour in gathering
their provisions for the winter. These two species have often war
together; for those who are idle often fall upon the other, and rob
them of their provisions. On the other hand, those who are idle
are more liable to be hunted, because of their fine skins, and the
others, because they feed these are the more spared : from which
a very apt application might be made to human life. 2. They say
that the beavers build dams at the mouths of little rivers, in which
they keep their fish, when in summer the water decreases in the

PLA TE XVII:
rivulets; which dams are built of trees set in those rivers, upright
in the ground, close to each other, and so strong that neither
wind nor water can throw them down. 3. That they set great trees
with their branches in the like manner in the water, in which they
live like so many families, viz. the old ones in the undermost
branches, or first story; the next gnaw those trees off with
their teeth; they work 40, 50, or more together, and commonly
choose such trees as stand by the water-side, and will naturally
fall into it of themselves." “ These things have been told me
not only by Russians, but by Kalmucks; whether true or no, I
cannot of my own knowledge affirm; but those people being at
certain times night and day in the woods, and these animals having
more room and liberty in these great wildernesses than in places
more frequented, make them more probable.” The animal secre-
tion of the beaver, so highly valued in ancient pharmacy, he de-
scribes as a substance contained in certain bladders, and resem-
bling wax, being soft and yellow, with a strong smell. Each
beaver has two of these bladders which are cut off, and then well
washed, cleansed, and dried in a shady place. In Siberia, on the
river Jeneisei, this commodity, in a pretty dry state, is sold for a
ruble, or a ruble and a half a pound, but it may be purchased from
the Tartars at the first hand, often cheaper, while at Moscow it will
produce three or four rubles a pound.
a


78
con
UNIV
Wed
an
London Pub as the Act directs, by E. Donovan&F.CJ Rivingtons Dec 1.1818.

PLATE XVIII.
LEPUS CANICULUS.
RABBET
MAMMALIA.
GLIRES.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Fore teeth two, upper double, the interior ones less.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
Tail short, somewhat the same colour as the body: ears black at
the tip ; hind legs shorter than the body.
LEPUS CANICULUS: cauda abbreviata, subconcolore, auriculis
apice atris, cruribus posticis trunco brevioribus
Pallas glir. p. 30.--Eräleh, mainm. p. 331.
n. 3.
Schreber Sæug. thiere 4. t. 236. A.
Gmel. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 163. 2.
Lepus cauda abbreviata, auriculis nudatis Linn. Syst. Nat. XII.
1. p. 77.-Faun, Suec. 2. p. 10. n. 26.

PLATE XVIII.
p.
Lepus cauda abrupta, pupillis rubris. Linn. Syst. Nat. 11. p. 46.
p
6. p. 9. n. 3.-Mus. Ad. Fr. I. p.9.--Lepus
(Cuniculus nostras) caudatus obscure cinereus.
Briss. regn. anim.
140. n. 4.
Caniculus. Plin. Hist. Nat. 8. c. 29. 55. 58.
Agric. anim. subt. p. 16.
Gesn. quadr. p. 394.
Aldr. dig. p. 382. fig. p. 385.
Jonst. quadr. p. 161. t. 65.
.
Raj. quadr. p. 205.
Lapin, Lapin sauvage Buff. Hist. Nat. 6. p. 303. 7.50.
RABBET Penn. quadr. p. 251. n. 186.
Excepting the disparity in point of size, the rabbet and the
hare bear such a close resemblance to each other, that the best
informed naturalists have scarcely yet agreed upon the definite
characters by which the two species may be distinguished. The
difference, as Dr. Shaw observes, between these animals, though
known from daily habit and inspection, is yet by no means easily
described in words; and it is a curious fact, says he, that the
attempts at a specific character by Linnæus in the earlier editions
of the Systema Naturæ, are remarkable for their want of pre-
cision. In the twelfth edition of that work, the latest edited by
Linnæus, the rabbet is thus distinguished: Lepus, cauda abbre-
viata, auriculis denudatis, the hare with abbreviated tail and
naked ears.
But this, as Mr. Barrington observes, is insufficient,
and will be found to fail equally with the others,

PLAT E XVIII.
This last mentioned writer, whose paper on the subject has
appeared in the Philosophical Transactions, proposes to distin-
guish the rabbet from the hare by the comparative length of the
legs, both the fore and the posterior pair being shorter than in
the common hare. “ If the hind legs of the European hare (ob-
serves Mr. Barrington) are measured from the uppermost joint
to the toe, the number of inches will turn out to be just half the
length of the back from the rump to the mouth, the tail not being
included. The hind legs of the rabbet being measured in the
same manner, and compared with the back, are not much more than
one third;”—“ the fore legs of the rabbet are also shorter than
those of the hare.” Adverting to the specific characters assigned
to these two animals in the works of Erxleben, Pallas, Schreber,
and Gmelin, we readily perceive that they have availed themselves
of those remarks recorded in the Transactions of the Royal Society,
and that it is principally by those characters that the two species
are now distinguished among naturalists. . The comparative
shortness of the legs is not however the only criterion of the rab-
bet, the tail is also somewhat shorter, and the same may be
observed of the ears and face, both which are a trifle longer in
the hare.
a
This well known animal is a general inhabitant of the temperate
climates of Europe, Asia, and Africa, preferring light sandy
soils, and forming burrows of a long and winding form within the
banks and beneath the surface of the ground, as may be observed
in almost all the soils of that kind upon the borders of our own
coasts, and the adjacent islands. These excavations are so con-
siderable where these animals abound, that we have often seen
the surface vibrate and yield to the pressure of the footstep in
walking over them. Their manners of life are the same in all
S
VOL. I.

PLATE XVIII.
countries, and in some parts they are so abundant, that it is found
necessary to reduce their numbers, or entirely extirpate them, in
order to preserve the lands from the prodigious injury they
occasion.
During the day time, the rabbet is said to remain in its bur-
rows, venturing out only in the night time to feed; but this can
only be admitted generally, for in wild and desert lands, in the
high sandy banks upon the sea coasts, and in the islands, where
they are less liable to being molested, rabbets are seen running
about and feeding in the open day; and it is at that time prin-
cipally that the peasantry pursue them, following them with dogs,
or knocking them down with sticks and stones, in situations
where they could not venture to pursue them, excepting while
the day light continues.
That rabbets wander from their holes upon the surface of the
land in the day time, may be frequently observed ; and it is at that
time, no doubt, that they fall the prey of those predacious birds.
which hunt by the eye. The indication is pretty certain, when
we perceive the buzzards, kite, and other hawks, hovering over
their burrows, then dropping suddenly, and remain a while unseen,
that they are banqueting upon the carcase of the victim rabbet
they have captured.
The rabbets assemble in numbers towards evening, and during
the night time, when they ramble about in quest of food, and it is
at that time, that they are most pursued by the beasts of prey, who
do not themselves venture but under the cover of the evening dark-
ness, from their daily lurking places. These are the badgers,

PLATE XVIII.
martins, foxes, pole cats, stoats, and weesels; and the owl,
which at that period is on the wing in quest of prey.--The
poacher also, with his dog and ferret, may be numbered among its
nightly foes in the rabbet warren.
grow natu-
The food of the rabbet is of the vegetable kind only; in the do-
mesticated state it evinces a partiality for the cabbage, lettuce,
and other productions of the kitchen garden. In a state of nature,
it must be content with the dry grass and rushes that
rally in the soils it inhabits ; on lichens, mosses, &c.; the wild
thyme is a favourite food, and it is the cating of this aromatic plant
that communicates a peculiar, and not unpleasant flavour to the
flesh of the wild rabbets, which is otherwise in much less request
for the table than that of the domestic kind; the latter being
always milder, and of a better taste.
.
a
It would be difficult to reconcile the various opinions of writers
respecting the origin of our common rabbet. The species, it ap-
pears, was known among the ancients, because it is mentioned by
Pliny, Strabo, and others. Mr. Pennant informs us, that their
native country is Spain, where they are taken by means of ferrets,
as we do at present, and that these animals, on the authority of
Strabo, are supposed to have been first introduced there from
Africa. Dr. Shaw expresses himself with equal certainty, when he
states that the rabbet “is not originally a native of Britain, but
was introduced from other countries." From these, and other obe
servations, it seems therefore to be concluded, that the continent
of Europe was in the first instance supplied with rabbets from
Africa, and that Britain is indebted to one or more of those coun-
tries for the breed of rabbets, which we find every where abundant
s 2

PLATE XVIII.
in the British isles at the present day. Our opinion is altogether
different: we believe the rabbet to have been an indigenous inha-
bitant of all the milder parts of Europe, and of the British isles
among the number.
With respect to the migration of birds from one country to ano-
ther, we have to consider only their prodigious power of wing,
and a rational cause can be assigned for their known progress
over the whole surface of the globe. But the migration of
qua-
drupeds is impeded by causes which cannot affect the flight of
birds. When we discover the rabbet, for example, in countries
separated from each other by extensive and unbroken chains of
mountains, the possibility of their passage over them, though per-
haps improbable, cannot be denied. When rivers intervene, these
doubts increase in proportion to the magnitude of such obstacles ;
but we can still less easily reconcile our ideas of migration with
the existence of those animals in islands separated from all other
lands by vast surrounding seas; and yet in all such situations
around our own coast the rabbet is abundant. Hence we can con-
clude only that these creatures must be indigenous, or have resided
there before those islands were divided from the land. Distrusting
this, we cannot otherwise account for the general diffusion of the
species throughout so many distant parts, and above all in those
numerous and remote islands that rise in the midst of seas, which
such creatures never could have crossed.
The wild rabbet has the tail black above, and white beneath.
The varieties in the tame state are numerous, as white, black,
white and black variegated, and brown. Those entirely white,
have usually the eyes red. There are varieties likewise in the

PLATE
XVIII.
wild state, one of which has the fur of a silvery grey. Skins of
this last kind were once an article of considerable traffic: the Eng-
lish are said to have formerly supplied the Chinese markets with
them.
It breeds seven times in a year, going with young thirty days,
and producing from four to eight young each time.



w
Hal
UNID
London. Pub.
as the Act directs, by E Donovan &ECT. Rivingtons. Dec 1,1818.

PLATE XIX.
CANIS LUPUS.
WOLF.
MAMMALIA.
FERÆ.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Fore teeth above six : lateral ones longer, distant, interme-
diate ones lobate : tusks solitary, incurvate : grinders six, seven
or more (than in other genera of the Feræ.)
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
Tail incurvated.
CANIS LUPUS: cauda incurvata Linn. Faun. Suec. 1. 70. 2.
Schreber Saugth. 111. p. 346. t. 88.
Gmel. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 70. 2.
Canis ex griseo flavescens Briss. quadr. p. 170.
Lupus Gesn. quadr. 634.
Aldr. dig. 144.
Jonst. quadr. 89.
30 ਸਲ
Raj. quadr. 173.

PLATE XIX.
Loup Buff. Hist. Nat. 7. p. 39. t. I.
.
Wolf Ridinger Wilde Thiere, t. 21.
Wolf Penn. Brit. Zool. 1. p. 75.
Of all the beasts of chase which in ancient times infested Bri-
tain, and are now become extinct, there is none which more im-
mediately lays claim to memory, than that ferocious animal the
wolf. Whatever doubts may have remained as to the existence
of some few of those extinct species, such as the beaver and the
bear in our lakes and forests, or the wild boar in our woody
coverts, there can be none respecting the actual being of these
terrific creatures, and that in numbers to an alarming extent in
every part of England. The Saxon histories afford abundant
proof of this ; nor is there any considerable portion of the British
isles that seems to have been wholly free in early days from these
beasts of prey.
It would be rather difficult at this period to determine with any
great precision, which part of the land of Britain was most in-
fested in the days alluded to by these pernicious creatures ; they
were every where very numerous.
. From the Saxon authors we
collect, that in the reign of Athelstane, who was preferred to the
Anglo-saxon crown in 924, “ wolves so abounded in Yorkshire,
that a retreat was built at Flixton, in that county, to defend
passengers from the wolves, that they should not be devoured by
them. Athelstane lived in the time of Howel Dha, the Prince of
Wales, in whose code of laws are certain regulations respecting
&6

PLATE XIX.
the hunting of this ferocious beast in that part of Britain. Mr.
Pennant concludes, upon the authority of Verstegan, " that such
ravages did those animals make (in England) during winter,
when the cold was severest, that our Saxon ancestors distin-
guished that month by the title of Wolf-Moneth*;" and adds,
they also called an outlaw Wolfshed, as being out of the pro-
tection of the law, proscribed, and as liable to be killed as that
destructive beast." “ Et tunc gerunt caput lupinum ita quod
sine judiciali inquisitione rite pereantt."
us.
* The Anglo-saxon name of January was Wolf-Monath, which some rė-
jecting the interpretation given by Verstegan, believe to have borne no
allusion to the ravages of wolves in that particular month, but suppose it
referred to the month of January, being less dark and gloomy than December
which preceded it; and because at that time the sun approaches nearest to
These are the ideas of astronomers; of Hyckes, Bailey and Gebelin, &c.
Tresor des langues du nord, &c. The wolf we are to recollect was the symbol
of the sun among the northern nations, which they seem to have derived from
the ancient Mythology of Egypt. The wolf Fennec, in the Icelandic Edda, is
the same symbol as the wolf of Tentyris, both mean the sun. But however this
may accord with the opinions of the learned, there appears to be no just
reason for refusing to accept the explanation of Verstegan. Bede has cer-
tainly recorded the Anglo-saxon calendar in a different manner. That of
Verstegan refers to the appearances of nature and its produce in the different
months, as hay month, grain month, wine month, &c.: those recorded by Bede
are, on the contrary, a singular compound of Greek and Northern Mythology,
combined with astronomical observations. In the first of these, therefore, it
seems perfectly natural to believe that their Wolf-Monath had literally the
meaning which Verstegan has left us, of the wolf month.
† Bracton lib. 111. Tr. 11. c. 11.-Also Knighton 2356.—Penn. Br. Zool. V.
1. p. 77.
It is certain that in the time adverted to by this author, an outlaw and a
wolf were placed by the statutes on the same level, and either might be de-
stroyed with impunity. If however we examine further, we shall find that
this sanguinary law existed only for a short time, and while it did remain in
force, it provided also ihat no one could be outlawed, unless for felony, the
punishment of which was death.
VOL. I.
T
a

PLATE XIX.
It is an opinion very generally received, and repeated by au-
thors, that Britain was delivered in these early times from these
destructive creatures by the care of Edgar, who succeeded to the
throne in 957. In England, it is said, he attempted this by com-
muting the punishment for certain crimes into an acceptance of a
number of wolves tongues from each criminal ; and in Wales, by
converting the tax of gold and silver into an annual tribute of
three hundred wolves heads. This latter mentioned circumstance
is alluded to with much lofty praise and triumph, in the strains of
an ancient poet, who commemorates the happy issue of the Saxon
king's endeavours to relieve his people from the pest of wolves,
in simple flowing numbers, not unworthy of recital even at the
present day.
Thrice famous Saxon King, on whom time here shall pray,
O Edgar! who compeldst our Ludwall hence to pay
Three hundred wolves a yeere for tribute unto thee:
And for that tribute payd, as famous may'st thou bee,
O conquered British King, by whom was first destroy'd
The multitude of wolves, that long this land annoy'd,
Regardlesse of their rape, that now our harmlesse flocks,
Securely heere may sit
upon
the aged rocks,
Or wandering from their walks, and straggling here and there
Amongst the scattred clexues, the lambe needs never feare ;
In those Anglo-saxon laws, it is said, that “an outlawed man was called a
Wolfesheade, because he might be put to death by any man, as a wolfe, that
hateful beaste might.” But this law, which had continued under the Saxon
and Norman line, was abolished, shortly after Edward the Third ascended
the throne ; and it was then decreed that no one should destroy an outlaw or
wolfsheade, except the sheriff, having a lawful warrant for its execution,
under pain of death, as if he had killed any other man, and so the law has
continued to this day. Vide 1 Inst, 28.

PLATE XIX,
But from the threatening storme to saue itself may creepe
Into some darksome caue, where once this foe did keepe:
That now the clambring goat all day which having fed,
And clyming up to see the sunne go down to bed,
Is not at all in doubt her little kid to lose
Which grazing in the vale, secure and safe she knowes.
Drayton, Song Ninth, p. 135.
“ Our excellent Edgar,” proceeds the commentary of the poet,
having first enlarged his name with diligent and religious per-
formance of charitable magnificence among his English, and con-
firmed the farre-spred opinion of his greatnes by receipt of homage
at Chester from VIII Kings *, for the increase of his benefits
towards the isle, joined with preservation of his crown-dueties,
conuerted the tribute of the Welsh into CCC. wolves a yeare ;
the King that paid it
2
“ There yer he huld is terme rent ac, the verthe was behinde,
,
Wor he sende the King word that he ne mighte ne mo binde."
97
“ As according to the story my old rimer delivers it. Whom
you are to account for this Ludyall K. of Wales in the Welsh
* This inference is not apparently correct, or at least authorities disagree.
The tribute of wolves was ordained in 965; the tax had ceased two years
after, and this meeting did not take place till a little before 976. According
to the Welsh historians, the eight kings referred to were Kenneth, king of the
Scots ; Malcolm, king of Cumberland ; Macon, king of Man; and Dyfndval,
Sefrethus, and Ithel, three British kings; with Howel and Jago, who had just
then, under the sanction of Edgar, divided the government of North Wales
between them. Edgar had been invited by Jago to bring an arnıy to assist
him against Howel, but matters being adjusted amicably, the two latter ac-
companied Edgar to Chester; where, meeting by appointment with the other
six kings, they all did homage to Edgar, and entering his barge, rowed him
from his palace to the monastery of St. John the Baptist. These two circum-
stances should not, therefore, be confounded,
T 2

PLATE XIX.
historye, except Howel ap Jeuaf, that made war against his uncle
Jago, delivered his father, and took on himselfe the whole prin-
cipality towards the later yeares of Edgar, I know not."
This event is related somewhat differently by the Welsh histo-
rians. In the year 965, says Powel, “ The country of North
Wales was cruelly wasted by the army of Edgar, king of England;
the occasion of which was, the non-payment of the tribute that
the king of Aberffraw, (North Wales) by the laws of Howel Dha,
was obliged to pay to the king of London (England). But at
length a peace was concluded upon these conditions, that the king
of North Wales, instead of money, should pay to the king of Eng-
land the tribute of 300 wolves yearly ; which creature was then
very pernicious and destructive to England and Wales. This
tribute being duly performed for two years, the third year there
were none to be found in any part of the island, so that afterwards
the prince of North Wales became exempt from paying any ac-
knowledgment to the king of England.”
The amount of the original tribute commuted for this tax of
wolves, the time when that tribute was appointed, and the cause
for which it was imposed, are altogether circumstances not very
generally understood. It is vaguely imagined to have been a
degrading tax paid by the people of Wales to the English mo-
narch, in token of their subjection to his sovereignty as their
conqueror. This is not the fact; it arose from a local cause: from
one of those cruel dissensions among the native princes which too
often disgrace the Welsh annals, and to settle which the weakest
never failed to invite the aid of foreign force. About the year
953, Owen, the son of Griffith, was slain by the men of Cardigan;
and Athelstane, upon this pretext, entering with an army into
Wales, imposed an annual tribute upon certain princes to the
.

PLATE XIX.
.
amount of 201. in gold, 3001. in silver, and 200 head of cattle.
But which was not observed by these Welsh princes, as appears
by the laws of Howel Dha, wherein the levy is appointed. It is
there decreed that the prince of Aberffraw should pay no more to
the English king than 661. tribute, and even this sum was to be
contributed to the prince of Aberffraw by the princes of Dinefawr
and Powis, upon whom this tax was virtually imposed. The princi-
pality of Dinefawr, it may be observed, included Cardigan, by the
,
men of which district the alleged crime had been committed; and
Powis, which was close to the English borders, was apparently
implicated in the same offence,
It hence appears, the tax was a local fine imposed upon these
two princes, only that the prince of North Wales was made
answerable for its due performance. The tax existed therefore,
though but nominally, for the space of two and thirty years, namely,
from the time of Athelstane to Edgar, when the above recorded
commutation of the tribute took place, and for the fulfilment of
which condition it is apparent the prince of North Wales was
again made answerable,
That the principality of Wales was, by this salutary means, de-
livered in a great measure from the pest of wolves may be con-
ceived. In this the histories of the Welsh agree; but there is
some shade of difference in their conclusions as to the utter ex-
termination of the race; and it is now believed that they were not
entirely destroyed in Wales till years after. Mr. Owen says it
was not till forty-five years after *. (Time of Edelred.)
* Jago ab Idwal Voel, king of Gwynedd, from A.D. 948 to 979. From
948 to 966, he reigned jointly with his brother Jeuav. In 962, Edgar made
him pay tribute of wolves' heads; and in forty-five years after, all these ani-
mals were destroyed. Owen, Camb. Biog.

PLATE XIX.
It would be indeed difficult to conceive that the wolves could
have been so entirely extirpated in the fastnesses of Wales,
while the whole of the counties upon the English borders from
Gloucestershire to Cheshire, including Herefordshire, Worcester-
shire, Salop, and Stafford, with other neighbouring parts, were
infested for centuries after the time of Edgar. Wolves in those
counties were so numerous in the time of Edward the First, that
it was deemed expedient by that monarch to issue his royal man-
date for their destruction. Indisputably it was the policy of the
Welsh,
during these latter times, to affirm that they were free
from wolves ; but this is scarcely to be credited while these animals
were in such numbers in all the counties on the Welsh borders.
With respect to England, these animals must have existed to an
alarming extent in those times. By certain grants of liberties
from John to the inhabitants of Devonshire, it appears, that wolves
were not extirpated in the most southern parts of Britain in that
king's reign. The commentary of Drayton acknowledges that
« there was not an utter destruction of them; for since that time
(Edgar's) the mannor of Piddlesley, in Leicestershire, was held by
one Henry Angage ‘per serieantiam capiendi lupos *.?” The
mandate of Edward the First was to command Peter Corbet to
superintend and assist in the destruction of them in the several
counties before mentioned, namely, Gloucester, Worcester, Here-
ford, Salop, and Stafford. And Camden informs us, certain
persons at Wormhill held their lands by the duty of hunting and
taking wolves that infested the country, whence they were styled
wolve hunt.
In North Britain, wolves remained in sufficient numbers to be
* Itin, Leicest, 27. Henry 3, in Archiv. Turr. Londin,

PLATE XIX.
noxious to the flocks so late as the year 1577. This we learn
from the records of Hollingshed: it is believed that the last wolf
in Scotland fell in 1680, by the hand of Sir Edward Cameron.
But they infested Ireland some years after their extermination in
Scotland, for it appears that several were killed there in the be-
ginning of the last century; the latest, as related by Smith in his
history of Cork, was destroyed in that county in 1710.
not appear.
At what period the wolf was finally destroyed in England does
The chase of this ferocious beast, and also of the
wild boar, was allowed by law in very late times, as we learn from
an ancient metre of the book of St. Albans, in which both those
animals are distinctly recognized, as two of the four
BESTYS OF VENERY.
** Wheresoeuere ye fare by fryth or by fell,
56
My dere chylde take hede how Tristram dooth you tell,
How many maner beestys of Venery ther were,
Lystyn to yowre dame, and she shall you lere
Fowre maner beestys of venery there are,
The first of theym is the : hert: the secunde is the hare,
The boore is oon of tho, the wolff and not oon moo.”
D
This book, which was composed about the year 1460, informs
us clearly that the hunting of the wild boar was then a pastime
for lords and princes. But although the wolf is distinctly men-
tioned, the laws of hunting that animal are noticed only in a man-
ner so general, as inclines us to suspect it had then become rare,
or that perhaps only the recollection of it remained in the “ lawes
of the auncient woodmen.” We cannot, however, presume to say
”
,
that it was then exterminated, since it was so numerous in Scot-

PLATE XIX.
land nearly two centuries after, as to attract the notice of
historians.
The wolf of Britain, and the period, as well as circumstances, of
its extermination, has engaged the remark of various continental
writers, among whom are two of acknowledged reputation, Lin-
næus and Buffon. But the positive inaccuracy with which those
authors speak on this subject is to be lamented, not only as en-
grafting error into the history of the animal, but because it tends
to
prove that the information upon which the continental writers
depend when they advert to facts relating to this country, is not
always the best that could have been obtained ; or to say the least,
has been repeated with an inattention that weakens our reliance
upon their fidelity.- These general observations will not be deemed
too harsh when the reader is informed, that in the valuable
the Linnæan Systema, even to the present day, it stands recorded
that the wolf was exterminated in Britain from the year 800*. -
Buffon, disinclined to agree in this opinion of the Swedish Natu-
ralist, maintains that Britain was not wholly free from wolves at
the time he wrote, which was in the year 1749, observing, with as
little truth as liberality, that he was assured of this, " whatever the
English may pretend to the contrary." It may be added, with
regret, that we could readily produce conclusions, not less correct,
among the French writers of the present day, upon various sub-
jects relative to the natural history of this country, and upon its
authors.
pages of
The wolves of the warmer and more temperate parts of Europe
are of a yellowish colour ; those found more northerly, as in
* Ex Magna Britannia inde ab anno 800 exterminatus, Linn. Faun, Suec.
A.D. 1746.-Syst, Nat.-et Gmel. Syst. Nat, I. p.71,

PLATE XIX.
.
a
;
Russia, are white. There is an African kind, described as being
of a grey colour, striped with black; and in Canada a fourth sort,
which is entirely black, and smaller that the European wolf.
Whether these are all precisely of the same species, may yet de-
serve inquiry.
These animals bear a near analogy with the dog tribe, inso-
much indeed, as to induce a belief that our various tribes of dogs
may be the descendants of the wolf, reduced progressively through
a length of ages to a state of domestication.
a
It is not to be disputed that the origin of the dog, in a state of
nature, is not very accurately determined ; and it is at least cer-
tain, from the experiments of curious individuals, that the wolf,
taken young, is susceptible of being tamed. Dr. Shaw mentions
a remarkable instance of this kind, which is said to have been ex-
hibited in a wolf belonging to the late Sir Ashton Lever, which
by proper education, was entirely divested of the ferocious charac-
ter of the species. Nor is it less certain that dogs, when from
necessity reduced to lead a solitary life, or run wild without the
controul and fear of man, assume much of the manners of the wolf,
some remarkable instances of which are to be found in the rela-
tions of authors, who have expressly devoted their attention to the
manners of the canine race.
The chief distinction between the wolf and dog consists, ac-
cording to the generally received opinions of naturalists, in the
wolf being larger, more muscular, and having the limbs stronger,
and the whole animal rather longer. The face is broader, the eyes
placed more obliquely, the teeth stronger, and the tail incurvated,
or bending inwards, and directly downwards, while in the dog the
U
VOL. I.

PLATE XIX.
tail is known to incline a little to one side, and, as characterized
by Linnæus, towards the left.
But these distinctions are less determinate than the remarkable
difference between the period of gestation in these two animals ;
that of the wolf being, according to Buffon, a hundred days, while
the dog goes only sixty days with young. The union of these two
animals is, indeed, regarded by many as a fable; while others, who
admit the circumstance as true, affirm with probability that the
hybrid creature, like the mule, is incapable of producing offspring.
The possibility of the latter is, however, not denied. We are not
among the number of those who can refuse to believe it; but if
nature, in her exuberance, should rarely offer some exceptions to
her general laws, they are to be considered only as casual oc-
currences.
Though happily eradicated from the land of Britain, wolves are
yet dispersed, and in no inconsiderable numbers, over various
parts of the ancient continent of Europe. Buffon, whose oppor-
tunities of life afforded him very ample means of enquiring
into the manners of this animal, has thus described them. The
wolf, says Buffon, is one of those animals whose carnivorous ap-
petite is the strongest. Though he has received from nature the
means of gratifying his taste, though she has bestowed
arms, craftiness, strength, agility, and every thing necessary for
discovering, seizing, conquering, and devouring his prey, yet he
often dies of hunger ; because men have declared war against
him, put a price upon his head, and forced him to fly to the
forests, where he finds only a few wild animals, who escape from
him by the swiftness of their course, and whom he cannot surprise
but by chance, or by a patient and often fruitless attendance at
upon him
а.

PLATE XIX.
those places to which they generally resort. He is naturally
clownish and dastardly ; but want makes him ingenious, and
necessity gives him courage. When pressed with famine, he
braves danger; he attacks those animals which are under the
protection of man, especially such as he can transport with ease,
as lambs, small dogs, and kids; and when successful in his
bloody expeditions, he returns often to the charge, till being
wounded, chased, and persecuted by men and dogs, he retires,
during the day, to his den ; but issues forth at night, traverses
the country, roams about the cottages, kills all the animals which
have been left without, digs the earth under the doors, enters
with a dreadful ferocity, and puts every living creature to death
before he chooses to depart and carry off his prey. When these
inroads happen to be fruitless, he returns to the woods, searches
about with avidity, follows the track of wild beasts, and
them in the hope that they may be stopped and pursued by some
other wolf, and that he may be made a partaker of the spoil. In
fine, when his hunger is extreme, he loses the idea of fear; he
attacks women and children, and even sometimes darts upon men,
till becoming perfectly furious by excessive exertions, he generally
falls a sacrifice to pure rage and distraction,
a
pursues
a
Wolves almost invariably hunt in packs, like hounds in chase,
and thus no single animal can be secure against the power of their
attacks. In this manner the wolves of America will seize and
overthrow the buffalo. Those of Europe, when impelled by hun-
ger, descend in droves from among the mountains in the winter,
and maddening with despair, commit the most dreadful ravages ;
they beset cattle in the herd, single out their victim, and divide
the spoil, by devouring it upon the spot. Travellers at such times.
U 2

PLAT E XIX.
are never safe: they go in parties, and are well armed to repel
their attacks, for there are many instances on record, of single
travellers on horseback being seized by these howling inmates of
the desert, and both man and horse falling victims to their hunger.
Oftentimes these animals separate from the pack, and lead a soli-
tary life, residing among forests, in rocky places, and hunting
unaccompanied by other wolves. These are generally the most
powerful beasts, who, confiding in their own strength, inhabit
near cultivated places, and frequently commit prodigious ravages
before their destruction can be effected. One of these terrific
creatures, which infested Languedoc in 1764, is known to have
destroyed at least twenty people, chiefly women and children :
and so great was the terror his alarming depredations had
excited, that public prayers were offered up in the churches for
the destruction of this hideous beast. Calamities of this nature
do still occur at times in France, Germany, and adjacent
countries.
The usual mode of capture is to take these animals in snares,
for which purpose a deep pit is dug, into which a lofty pole is
placed upright; upon the summit of this pole is placed a wheel or
cross in a horizontal position ; the opening of the pit around the
pole is carefully concealed with brambles, brush-wood, and other
light substances, and upon the pinnacle of the pole, above the
wheel or cross, is placed the carcase of a sheep that has died of
some distemper. The wolf, invited by the scent, draws near the
spot, and having found his object, springs forward to seize it,
which the wheel or cross prevents, and falling down, he sinks
into the covered pit. The capture of the wolf is announced
by his howlings, when he perceives himself ensnared ; his cries

PLATE XIX.
a
attract the peasantry, who repairing to the spot, shoot him in the
pit, or destroy him while ensnared in the toils, by means of poles
and bludgeons.-In some countries, they stuff the skin of a lamb
or sheep with moss, which they consider as a certain poison.
This is the lichen vulpinum, which they scrape off the bark of
trees, and sometimes form into balls with a mixture of pounded
glass,

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14243
ARSE
London Pubd as the Act directs by E.Donovan & F.C.J. Rivingtons, Jan.1.1016.
20

PLATE XX.
VESPERTILIO NOCTUL A.
GREAT, or NOCTULE BAT.
1920
MAMMALIA.
PRIMATES.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Teeth all erect, acuminate, approximate: fore feet palmate, formed
for flying: a membrane surrounding the body.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
Tailed: nose and mouth simple : ears oval and valved: the valves
very small.
VESPERTILIO NOCTULA: caudatus, naso oreque simplici, au-
riculis ovalibus operculatis : operculo exili.
Schreb. Saugth. I. p. 166. t. 52.--Gmel. Linn.
Syst. Nat. I.
p.
48. 10.
Noctule Buff. Hist. Nat. 8. p. 128. 6. 18. f. I.
GREAT BAT Penn. Br. Zool. I. 146. 38.
con
o

PLATE XX.
A
This is the largest of the bat tribe found in England : the ex-
tent with the wings expanded being fourteen or fifteen inches
from tip to tip, the length from the nose to the end of the tail
between four and five inches.
The dusky hues that prevail among the bat tribe, contribute
greatly to their concealment while on the wing in quest of prey,
for as these animals generally fly low, they would be otherwise
more exposed to observation. This may be remarked of the com-
mon bat, which seldom rises to any considerable height above the
lower trees and bushes, after they quit their hiding places in
church-steeples, and other buildings, that afford them daily shelter ;
they descend, skim the surface of the land, and only ascend again
when they retire to rest. The greater bat, on the contrary, being
furnished with wings of superior power, ascends much higher into
the air in quest of food, and is of a colour far less dismal than
that of the common bat, or of bats in general; the fur on the body
is a bright ferruginous, more or less inclining to yellowish, or to
chesnut, rather thick or well clothed, soft and glossy, and the
wings darker, with a general tint of the same testaceous hue.
The nose dark and somewhat bilobate : and a small wart
upon
the
chin.
This species is believed by Gmelin to be the Vespertilio of
Gesner (p. 694) and Vespertiliones alii of the ornithology of Al-
drovandus. Dr. Shaw conceives, on the contrary, that it was
not particularized as a species till described by M. Daubenton in
Buffon's Natural History. The figure of the animal in the work
of Buffon appears under the name of La Noctule, and it is there
described as a native of France. After that period, it occurs in
the British Zoology of Pennant, under the name of the Great Bat.

PLATE XX.
It has been since observed in Germany and in Russia, and re-
ceived from Schreber the specific character which Gmelin has
adopted. In some parts of Russia it is reported to be common,
sheltering in caves, and it is added, that the species has been
found in great numbers under the eaves of old buildings ; it breeds
in the summer, and emits a strong or rather fetid smell.
3
We are not without our suspicions that the young of this bat
has been sometimes considered as a distinct species. Some little
confusion may have arisen also from the adoption of the trivial
appellation of major, which has been of late applied to the adult
animal. The epithet major, however applicable as it regards the
species in the series of British bats, is certainly objectionable
upon a more extended view of nature. For although it is the
largest of the British bats, it cannot deservedly be placed in point
of magnitude. in competition with several of the greater species
found in foreign climes. The Ternate bat, or vampyre, for ex-
ample, is a foot in length, the body powerful, and wings extending
three or four feet, or, as it is said, sometimes to even six feet in
width. The spectre bat is about half that size; and the still
more analogous kind, the great serotine of Guiana, nothing in-
ferior in this respect to the latter,
a
VOL. I.
Х.



e
21
MICH
OF
Freden. Bild as the Act directs by E.Donovan&F.CT.Rivingions Dec.7.7828

PLATE XXI.
MUS A MPHIBIUS.
WATER RAT.
MAMMALIA.
GLIRES.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Upper fore teeth cuneated ; grinders three, rarely two each side,
each jaw; clavicles (collar bones) perfect.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
Tail half the length of the body: ears scarcely prominent above
the fur: fore feet subtetractyle, (or having three toes and the
appearance of a fourth.)
MUS AMPHIBIUS: cauda longitudine dimidia corporis, auribus
vix vellere prominulis, pedibus subtetradactylis
Pallas glires p. 80. n. 20.
Schreber Sæugth. IV. p. 668. t. 186.
Gmel. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 132. 11.
Mus cauda elongata pilosa, plantis palmatis Linn. Syst. Nat. 12.
p. 82.-_Fn. Suec. 2. p. 12. n. 32.
X2

PLATE XXI.
Mus cauda mediocri, palmis tetradactylis cum unguiculo pollicari
corpore nigricante. Erxleb. mamm. p. 386.
n. 3.
Mus agrestis major Gesn. quadr. p. 733.
Mus major aquaticus sive rattus aquaticus, et Mus agrestis major
macrourus Gesneri. Raj. quadr.. 217. et 219.
Rat d'eau Buff. Hist. Nat.7. p. 368. t. 43.
Eine Maeuseart S. G. Gmel. it. I. p. 151. t. 29. f. I.
WATER RAT Penn. quadr. p. 301. n. 228.
The water rat is a species widely diffused throughout Europe
and the north of Asia and America. In Britain we regard it
among the number of the rarer quadrupeds.
This animal frequents fields or meadows near the sides of
rivers, ponds, and ditches, and is never found in houses*; its usual
food are vegetables of the various kinds peculiar to aquatic situa-
tions, the bark of trees, and it is supposed frogs, worms, and insects
also. Buffon
Buffon says that it feeds on fish, a circumstance that Dr.
Pallas entirely denies ; the flesh however, which is sometimes
eaten, has a fishy taste, arising either, it is supposed, from the
a
* We are iu possession of one of these animals, that was knocked down
and killed in a paved yard belonging to a house in St. Martin's-lane, London,
being mistaken for a common rat. There was a pump at the time in the yard,
and its appearance in such a situation can be explained only by conceiving it
possible the animal had lost its way, perhaps in the mazy windings of the
stream of water by which the well was supplied, and that the bewildered
animal had just emerged above ground in that spot for the sake of air; for it
made no resistance, nor any attempt to fly from danger,

PLATE XXI.
nature of its aquatic prey, or from its general habits as an amphi-
bious animal. Should the observation of Dr. Pallas prove correct,
,
it would be a singular corroboration of the opinion of Linnæus,
when he placed the rat in the same genus with the beaver; the flesh
of the latter animal having also a fishy flavour, resulting only as it
is now believed from its almost continual residence in the watery
element.
:
Ray describes this animal as a kind of rat, but on the contrary,
Linnæus placed it in his early works among the beavers : there is
certainly a general resemblance between these two animals, except
in the form of the tail, and the difference in the structure of the
feet, which are essentially distinct. Linnæus, in the latter point,
was himself misled by Ray; for that writer, upon the authority of
Willoughby, had described this animal as having webs between the
toes of the anterior feet, which it certainly has not. Linnæus, who
had described the species without having himself examined it, was
however afterwards apprised of the error, and removing the animal
from the castor genus, restored it to the situation it before held
among the rat tribe, in the works of Ray: it is so placed in all
the subsequent editions of the Linnæan writings, and also in the
latest of these works, the edition of Professor Gmelin.
This animal bears a remote similitude to the common rat, ap-
proaching nearest in this respect to the black, or old English kind.
But it is far more harmless than that creature, evincing, on the
contrary, a lively disposition, more resembling that of the squirrel.
At the early hour of sun-rise, this little animal may be seen seated
erect, and playing its antics upon the sedgy margin of rivers, and
among the stones that lie scattered about their banks. Like the
rat, or the beaver, the cutting teeth of the water rat are powerfully
Strong; but, happily, it is not an inmate of our dwellings, or it

PLAT E XXI.
would occasion equal mischief with that of the common rats. The
latter swim, and dive well, and hence are considered often, though
improperly, as a kind of water rat when observed about the banks
of ditches. The very epithet of " water-rats," seems to inspire
more terror in the minds of many, than the mention even of
the land or common kind, but on an accurate comparison, it will
be now perceived, without any foundation in reality. In the
ge-
neral aspect of the water rat, the head will be found broader, the
body more bulky, and the tail shorter, the colour is nearer that of
the beaver, inclining to a reddish brown, or dusky ; but in this
particular, the variations in different animals appear to be conside-
rable. Writers admit several distinct varieties of this animal,
some of which may possibly yet require more accurate investi-
gation.
The length of this animal is about seven inches, and the tail
three inches. Some, however, appear to exceed the average of
these dimensions. The male is larger than the female : the latter
has four pectoral, and four abdominal teats, and produces about
eight young ones at each litter.


22
Zonăon Pub as the Act directs by E. Donovan & F.C.J. Rivingtons Dec.2.7828,

PLATE XXII.
CANIS FAMILIARIS.
HIBERNICUS.
COMMON DOG.
Var.
IRISH GREYHOUND,
MAMMALIA.
FERÆ.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Fore teeth, upper six, lateral ones longer, distant, intermediate
ones lobate: lower sjx, lateral ones lobate: tusks solitary, incur-
vate: grinders six, seven, or more than in other genera of this
order.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
Tail recurvate, leaning to the left.
Var. Body curved, snout tapering:
CANIS FAMILIARIS: cauda (sinistrorsum) recurvata. Linn
Faun. Suec. 5. Amoen, Acad. 4. p. 43. t. I.
.
f. I. Gmel. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. p. 65. 12. I.
p.

PLATE XXII.
HIBERNICUS \. magnitudine o, trunco curvato, rostro attenuato
Schreb. Sæugth. 111. p. 327. t. 87.
Canis grajus hibernicus. Raj. quadr. p. 176. n. 3.
IRISH GREYHOUND. Penn. quadr. p. 146. n. 4. d.
Size of the common mastiff: this dog is now become very
rare.


23
London. Pub'as the directs by E. Donovan &ECJ. Rivingtons Dec 27878.

PLATE XXIII.
SCIURUS VULGARIS.
COMMON SQUIRREL.
MAMMALIA.
GLIRES.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Fore teeth two, upper wedged, lower acute: grinders, upper
each side five : lower, four : clavicles perfect: tail spread to-
wards each side : whiskers, long.
* No flying membrane: feet formed for climbing.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
Ears bearded at the tip: tail colour of the back.
SCIURUS VULGARIS : auriculis apice barbatis, cauda dorso con-
colore Erxleb, mamm. p. 411.
Schreber Sæugth. 4. p. 757. t. 212.
Gmel. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 145. 25. I.
Sciurus auriculis apice barbatis, palmis tetradactylis, plantis pen-
,
tadactylis. Linn. Syst. 12. I. p. 86. I.-Fn.
Suec. 37.
Y
VOL. I.

PLATE XXIII.
Sciurus palmis solis saliens. Syst. Nat. 6. p. 9.--Mus. Ad. Fr. I.
p. 8.
Sciurus (vulgaris) rufus quandoque griseo admixto. Briss. Quadr.
p. 150. n. I.
Sciurus vulgaris rubicundus Klein. quadr. p. 53.
Sciurus vulgaris Raj. quadr. p. 214.
Sciurus Gesn. quadrup. p.
845.
Aldr. dig. p. 396. fig. p. 398.
Jonst. quadr. p. 163. t. 66.
Eichhoernlein Ridinger. jagdb. Th. t. 20.
Eichhoernlein S. G. Gmelin, it. I. p. 35. 6. 7.
Ecureil Buff. Hist. Nat. 7. p. 253. t. 32.
COMMON SQUIRREL Penn. Quadr. p. 279. n. 206.
The lively disposition of the common squirrel, its harmless mode
of life in a state of nature, and playful manners when in captivity,
have insured to this pretty animal the protection and regard of
every observer. It is common in this country, and throughout
all the milder parts of Europe; and the species, subject to some
variation in the colour of the fur, arising from the influence of
different climates, is found throughout the North, the Russian do-
miņions, and in the temperate parts of Siberia, and other parts of
Asia.
Our English variety of the squirrel is of a red, or reddish brown
colour, and is the same as the kind found in France and Germany.
There is an ash coloured variety, and one of a silvery grey; ano-

PLATE XXIII.
.
ther entirely white, with red eyes; and on the contrary, a fourth,
entirely black. These are not, however, to be considered as per-
manent distinctions. The common red squirrel, of this country,
is known to occur sometimes of a pure white, or red, with only
the tail white. Aldrovandus, Brisson, Erxleben, and others, de
scribe the blueish ash coloured variety with a white belly, which
is the winter dress of the red kind. Those entirely black, or black
.
with the belly white, as well as the kind which is pure white,
occur principally in Siberia. From the experiments of Dr.
Pallas it is to be observed, that the changes which take place in
the colour of the fur of this animal, is not so much owing to the
severity of climates, as to a natural periodical transition from the
summer to the winter dress at the respective seasons *. During
the summer the fur of the squirrel in our own climate is of a
brighter hue than in the winter, when they assume somewhat of a
grey, or darker tinge; and the same circumstance is observ-
able in the varieties found in other parts of the globe. As an
article of commerce, the winter skins are esteemed preferable,
the hair at that season being longer, and of a finer texture.
The squirrel resides in woods, where it builds its nest in the
upper branches of trees, a habitation composed of moss, dried
grass, and leaves, and usually placed between two or three furcated
branches, with a single aperture near the summit, to afford it
* In Russia, Dr. Pallas had one of the squirrels of that country brought to
him, which he kept in a warm room till it died : he received it on the 12th of
September, at which time it was of the usual bright red colour of the summer
dress. On the 4th of October, many parts of the body began to grow hoary ;
and at the time of its death, which happened on the 4th of October, the whole
body had attained a grey colour, the legs, with a small part of the face, only
retaining a tinge of the red fur of summer.
Y 2

PLATE XXIII.
access. During the heat of the day, the squirrel lies concealed in
the nest with the young. Morning and evening it is seen climbing,
running and leaping among the branches with great agility, and
amusing itself with many playful antics when perched among the
boughs. While it remains in the apparent safety which its ærial
residence might be supposed to afford, it often becomes the
prey
of birds which can attack it on the wing: when rambling about
the branches it is not less exposed to them. And if it descends,
it is to become the victim of snakes and vipers, or to fall into the
power of the fox and the polecat; the weesel also can ascend among
the branches, and seize both the parent squirrels and the young in
their lofty habitations. Thus the squirrel, unable to defend itself,
and surrounded by a host of foes, becomes oftentimes the victim of
his predacious persecutors: his only safety is in flight. No animal,
in proportion to its size, can be however more likely to succeed
in this: none can leap so far as the squirrel, and few can climb
more swiftly; we have often seen this little animal running up
the branches closely pressed by his pursuers, and when he has
reached the summit, by a sudden spring leap into the branches of
another tree, leaving the disappointed hunters to retrace their
steps, because unable to follow their expected victim any further.
a
The ordinary provision of the squirrel consists of berries, mosses
of various kinds, and other vegetables : acorns, and also nuts,
especially the latter, are to all appearance its favourite food when
in confinement: it collects also vast quantities of beech mast fir
and pine heads, &c. which it stores up in the hollows of trees, as
a stock of provision for the winter. The squirrel eats its food
with the assistance of its fore paws, seated upon its haunches :
,
:
drinks little, and in the winter season is said to quench its thirst
with the snow
3

PLAT E XXIII.
.
One among the number of amusing tales related of this animal,
rests upon the authority of Olaus Magnus and some other early
writers, who inform us, that squirrels, though naturally much in-
timidated at the sight of water, often cross the Lapland lakes, and
other pieces of water, in companies ; each squirrel seated upon
his piece of wood or bark, with the tail erect, and allowing itself
to float along the water : or directing its course by means of its
expanded tail, with which it fans the air, to facilitate its progress
to the wished-for shore. These circumstances are repeated gene-
rally in the Linnæan Systema, or we should have been disinclined
to mention them, and even notwithstanding this, we shall observe
with a late ingenious writer, they appear so very improbable,
that the truth must rest upon the fidelity of their historian,
In England the squirrel is about eight inches in length, and the
tail somewhat less ; in some other countries they are rather larger.
The legs are short and muscular, the toes divided to their origin,
and armed with sharp and strong claws, on the fore feet are four
toes and a thumb, on the hind feet five toes, so disposed as to
facilitate the progress of the squirrel in climbing the smoothest
tree. The female breeds twice in a year, goes with young a
month, and produces from three to seven young at each litter.

මුතු කලයුරින් කටම
a
කමක්
cos
| . බමරය ය යයයි.
මාල කුමක් විය ම ම් ම් සමෙම මසුන්
කට ගිය මම ම යෙදුම නුරම ය යි යනු අප මේ
මුන් යට ලි තම ඉමු මට නිකන් අය කිය කිය
2 mg _ බන් පටය මහතා 2 ම ය මලය රක
or
පියා ව
සලසාට මල් | මෙය අමුවන ගමු කියල
අත ල


W
a
UNIL
24
London Pub? as the Act directis, by E.Donovan&E.CT.Rivingtons Nov?2.1815 .

PLATE XXIV.
BALÆNA ROSTRATA.
BEAKED WHALE.
MAMMALIA.
CETE.
GENERIC CHARACTER,
Teeth none, instead of which are horny laminæ in the
upper jaw :
spiracle with a double opening on the top of the head.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
Muzzle rostrated : dorsal fin fat.
BALÆNA ROSTRATA: ore rostrato, dorso pinna adiposa. Gmel.
Linn. Syst. I. 226. 6.
Balæna rostrata Chemniz Besch, der berl. Naturf 4. 183. ?
Smaller than Balæna boops, which it resembles. This is the
least of the whale tribe, its usual length from seventeen to
twenty-five feet. Has been found on the Dogger Bank, the seas
of Norway and Greenland. Rare in those of Britain.

ਕ

LINNÆAN INDEX
TO
VOL. I.
BRITISH QUADRUPEDS.
MAMMALIA.
ORDER I. PRIMATES.
PLATE
20
VESPERTILIO NOCTULA .....
GREAT BAT.....
VESPERTILIO FERRUM-EQUINUM......
GREAT HORSE-SHOE BAT
VESPERTILIO HIPPOSIDEROS...
LESSER HORSE-SHOE BAT.
3
od
3
2
ORDER III. FERÆ.
PHOCA BARBATA ..
GREAT SEAL
..:)
11
©
VOL. I.
Z

LINNÆAN INDEX.
PLATE
2
19
22
16
13
2
5
.
CANIS LUPUS..
WOLF
CANIS VULGARIS var....
Dog. IRISH GREYHOUND
MUSTELA LUTRA..
OTTER....
MUSTELA MARTES
PINE MARTIN....
MUSTELA PUTORIUS..
POLECAT
MUSTELA ERMINEA......
STOAT (Summer dress )....
MUSTELA ERMINEA....
ERMINE (Winter dress).
TALPA EUROPÆA ....
MOLE....
SOREX BICOLOR
WATER SHREW
SOREX ARANEUS
SAND SHREW
...:}
12
8
9
6
4
Cup
ORDER IV. GLIRES.
17
...
.
....:)
15
•
@
CASTOR FIBER
BEAVER
Mus RATTUS
BLACK RAT
Mus AMPHIBIUS ..
WATER RAT
Mus MINUTUS....
MINUTE MOUSE, OR HARVEST MOUSE .
SCIURUS VULGARIS .
COMMON SQUIRREL
21
10
..
23

LINNAAN INDEX.
PLATE
MYOXUS MUSCARDINUS..
DORMOUSE.
LEPUS CUNICULUS
COMMON RABBET
:)
:}
.
18
ORDER V. PECORA.
Ovis ARIES
.:}
1
SHEEP ......
ORDER VI. BELLULÆ.
Sus SCROFA
Hog..
::
} 14
ORDER VII. CETE.
PHYSETER ROSTRATA ...
ROSTRATED WHALE
.:)
24
..
z 2


ALPHABETICAL INDEX
TO
VOL. I.
BRITISH QUADRUPEDS.
PLATE
20
Bat, Great
Bat, Greater Horse-shoe
Bat, Lesser Horse-shoe
Beaver, Common
ges
17
Dormouse, Common ..
7
•
Ermine, Winter Dress
Ermine, or Stoat, Summer Dress
8
12
Greyhound, Irish ....
22
.
Hog, Common
Martin, Pine..........
Mole, Common
Mouse, Minute or Harvest
14
13
9
10
Otter
.... 16
Polecat.
5
.
.
Rabbet, Common
Rat, Black
Rat, Water
18
15
21
6
.

ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
PLATE
$
Seal, Great
Sheep, Common......
Shrew, Fetid or Sand..
Shrew, Water
Squirrel, Common.
11
1
4
6
23
8n
Whale, Rostrated
Wolf, Common ..
24
19
.
Printed by R. Gilbert, St. John's Square, London.

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