THE COATI MONDI

Is a native of Brazil, not unlike the Racoon in the general form of the body. His eyes are small, but full of life, and when domesticated, this creature is very playful and amusing. A great peculiarity belonging to this animal is the length of his snout, which resembles in some particulars the trunk of the elephant, as it is moveable in every direction. The ears are round, and like those of a rat; the fore-feet have five toes each. The hair is short and rough on the back, and of a blackish colour; the rest is a mixture of black and red.

NATURE scems to have been singularly careful in the preservation of this animal, for she has surrounded him with a coat of armour, to defend him from

his enemies.

When closely pursued, he turns himself, withdraws his head under the shell, and assumes the shape of a ball; if he be near a precipice, he rolls from one rock to another, and escapes without receiving any injury. The shell, which covers the whole of the body, is composed of several scales, very hard, and of a square shape, united by a kind of cartilaginous substance, which gives flexibility to the whole. The Manis and Pangolin seem to approach the character of this genus, and all of them to be a link between the quadrupeds and the lizards. They live chiefly on ants and other small insects.

ELEGANCE of shape, spiritedness, and agility to leap from bough to bough in the forest, are the principal features of this pretty animal, whose spreading tail helps the creature as the wings support a bird in the air, and seems to unite the quadrupeds to the feathered tribe. The Squirrel is of a deep reddish brown colour; his breast and belly white. He is lively, sagacious, docile, and nimble:

he lives upon nuts, and has been seen so tame as to dive into the pocket of his mistress, and search after an almond or a lump of sugar. His tail is to him as a parasol to defend him from the rays of the sun, as a parachute to secure him from dangerous falls when leaping from tree to tree, and as a sail in crossing the water, a voyage he sometimes performs in Lapland on a bit of ice or a piece of bark inverted in the manner of a boat.

The Palatouche, or Flying Squirrel, is a species of the same genus; his tail is much smaller, but in compensation he has a large membrane proceeding from the fore-feet to the hind legs, which answers the same purpose as the squirrel's tail.

HAS a long and thin body. There are some of this species of different colours, as red, brown, black, and some all white. There are two sorts, the domestic Weazel, living in houses, barns, &c.; the other wild, living in the woods and mountains. In the northern parts of Europe they are very numerous. This little creature will destroy rats, mice, and moles, but they do not spare hens, chickens, eggs, &c. They exhale a very strong smell, like the rest of the genus.

Is a small, yet bold animal, and an enemy to all others but those of his own kind. He is made somewhat like a weasel, and breeds in all countries of Europe, where he is tamed and used to hunt rabbits out of their holes. His eyes are remarkably fiery. The tame ones live on milk, bread, barley, &c.; the wild ones on the blood of rabbits, hares, &c.

The Marten boasts of the honour of adorning with his fur the rich and the beautiful; as princes, ladies, and opulent people of all nations pride themselves in wearing his spoils. He is about as big as a cat, but the body is much longer proportionally, and the legs shorter. His skin is of a light brown, with white under the throat, and yellow on the back. The fur of the Marten fetches a high price, and is much used in European countries; the best is imported from Sweden, Russia, and Muscovy.

The Sable is of the same family; the best colour among the different shades of the fur, which covers this small animal, is the dark brown, inclining to black.

Is the most elegant quadruped in nature. He is striped all over with the most pleasing regularity; in form he resembles the mule, being smaller than the horse and bigger than the ass. The hair of his skin is uncommonly smooth, and he looks at a distance as an animal, that some fanciful hand has surrounded with ribbons of pure white and jet black. He is, however, very ferocious and untractable, and is a native of Africa. Were the Zebra accustomed to our climate, there is little doubt but he might be soon domesticated. The black cross,

which the ass bears on his back and shoulders, seems to prove an ancient affinity between these two animals, yet they refuse to produce together, and nature seems to have drawn between them an impassable line of demarcation. The Zebra feeds in the same manner as the horse, ass, and mule; and seems to delight in having clean straw and dried leaves to sleep upon.