I
neceffary to feparate them, and to place them in the refpeaive genera to which, according to
the principles of fcientific arrangement, taken chiefly from the teeth, they moft properly belong.
The great Kangnroo, and another fmaller fpe cies, form a chilinfl genus, which may not
improperly be entided Macropus* from the uncommon length of the foot in thofe animals:
they have alfo the particularity of an abdominal pouch, in which circumftance they make Ibme
approach to the genns Opoffum. The common Jerboa, and two or three other qjecies, are
placed by Linnseus in the genus Mus : Mr. Pennant, on the contrary, inftitutes a feparate genus
for them under the title of Jerboa. The animal here reprefcnted may veiy well be ranked as
a fpccies of Jerboa alfo. Mr. Schreber, in his Hiftory of Quadrupeds, dillinguiihes this genus
by the name of Dipus, and our prefent fpecies is by him called Dipus Cafer, and is figured at
Plate 230 of the above-mentioned work. It is an African animal, and is principally found in
mountainous diftrifts near the Cape of Good Hope. The colour of this creature is tawny or
brown above; paler beneath: the upper jaw is longer than the lower: the ears are thin, and
fomewhat tranfparent: the eyes large: the vibriifc or whUkers ftrong and black: the fore-legs
are fliort, and furniflled with five toes, with long and (harp claws: the hind-legs are much
longer, and have only four toes, which are fumiflied with fliort claws: the tail is long, of a
brownifli colour, with the extremity thickly coated with long black hair: the length of the
animal, exclufive of the tail, is about a foot; and the tail itfelf is fomewhat longer. It has'a
fort of grunting voice: when feeding It fits upright: burrows in the ground; and is faid, when
purfued, to leap twenty or thirty feet at a time.
• Naturalifl's Mifccllany, pi. 33.