Xi An Account of the Jutnphg Mouj of Canada. Dipus CanadetlJiJ. By Major General Thomas Davies, F, R. S. and L. S.

Read June 6,1797.

S I conceive there are very few perions, however converfant .A with Natural Hitloty, who may have feen or known there qvas an animal exifiiiig in the coldefi parts of Canada, of the fame genus with the Jerboa, hitherto confined to the warmer climates of Europe and Africa; I take th,e d . liberty of laying before this s m i ~ ~h, klloying obfcrqtions @companied. by a drawing) on an animal of that kind, procu;ed’ by myfelf in the neighbourhod OfQuebec, during my lafi refidence in that country. As I do llot recollekt to have leeii this animal either figured or delcribed by any authm in Natural Hifiory, I flatter niyfelf, thefe ob{ervations may a fQme .fatisfa&ion to the Prefident arid Members of the .Linnzan Society. T h e ‘fpqcimens €rom which I made the draw- ing are now in my colleaion. With refpea to the food, or mode of feeding of this animal, I have it not in my power to fpeak with any degree of certainty, as I could by no mews procure any kind of fuftsnance that I could indqce it to eat ; thervfm-5, when caught, it

$nly lived a day and a half. T h e firlt I \v& Co,,fortunate to catcll was taken in a largc ficld war the Falls of Montmorenci, and by its

x -2 having

hav ing Itrayed too f x from the ikirts of the wood, allowed inylelf, with the afiiitance of three other gentlemen, to furround it, and ;:ftcr an hour's hard chafe to get i t unhurt , though not before it was t h o r o u ~ h l y fatiguctl, which might in a great meafure accele- rate its death. During the time the animal remained in its ufual vigcnir, its aqility was. incredible for fo Cniali a creature. I t always took progrefive leaps of from three to four, and fometimes of five yarcls, although fcldom above 12 or 14 inches from the furface of the gtaij ; but I h n v e flequently obferved others in ihrubby places and in the U - O O ~ S , aiiionqit plants, where they diiefly refide, leap coiiiicicrally liighcr. W h e n found in luch places, it is impolfible to tclke thcim, from their wonderful agility, and their evading all purfuit by bounding into the thickdl %over they can find.

With 'refpeh to the fi@'re given 'of it iri'its d&&& . . flat@', I have to obferve, that 'Ipedimen &as found by fotne'workmen, in digging the foundation fo'r a fummer-houfe, in a gentleman's garden about two miles from Cuebec, in the latter end of M a y 1787. I t w a s difcovered enclofed in a ball of clay, about the fize of a cricket-ball, nearly an inch in ' thicknefs, pkrfcttlp fmooth withinit and about 20 inches under gtound. The man ivho firit difcovered it, not knowing what it was, itruck the ball with his fpade, by which means it was broken to pieces, or the ball'alfo would have been prefented to me. T h e drawing will perfecCtly h e w how the animal is laid during its dormant itate. How long it had been under ground it is impofible to fay; but as I never could obferve thefe animals in any parts of the country after the beginnins of Septem- ber, I conceive they lay themfelves u p fome time in that month, or beginning of O&ober, when the frofi becomes h a r p ; nor did I ever fee them again before the l a i week in May, or beginning of June. From their being enveloped in balls of clay, without any

appear-

.IT*

the 'j%mping Moufc of Canada. I 57

appearance of food, I conceive they fleep during the winter, and remain for that term without fuitenance. As foon as I conveyed -this fpecimen to my houfe, I depotited it, as it was, in afmall chip-. box, in fome cotton, waitiug with great anxiety for its waking; but that not taking place at the i'ealon they generally appear, I kept it until I found it begin to fmell : I then fiuffed it, and pre- ferved it in its torpid pofition. I am led to believe its not recover- ing from that itate arole from the heat of my room during the time it was in the box, a fire having been confiantly burning in the itove, and which in all probability was too great for refpira- tion. I am led to this conception from my expcrience of the Snow Bird of that country, which always expires in a few days (after being caught, although it feeds perfeAly well) if expoled to the heat of a room with a fire or fiove ; but being nourilhed with inow, and kept in a cold room or paEige, will live to the middle of fummer.

The animal above defcribed belongs to Schreber's genus of Dlpus, and may be charaEterifed

Tab. viii. Fk. 5. reprelents the D$us canadetjks, of its natural Gze,

F&. 6. h e w s it in a torpid itate. in an ere& poGtion.

XI, Ob