MYOXUS, the in natural his tory, a genus of Mammals. of the order Glires. Generic character : two fore teeth, the upper wedge formed, the lower compressed ; four grinders in each jaw ; long whiskers ; tail cylindric, brist ly, and thicker towards the end ; legs of equal length ; fore-feet with four toes. These animals feed only on vegetables, and burrow in the ground, in which they continue during the winter in a torpid state. They are nocturnal, sleeping in their habitations the greater part of the day ; they carry food to their mouths with their fore-paws, sitting erect, and ad vance by leaps of several feet at a time, instead of walking. There are four spe cies, neither of which inhabits America : M. glis, or the fat dormouse, is found in Germany and Russia, and has much of the manners of a squirrel, haunting trees, and feeding on fruits and nuts, which it stores, like that animal, for its winter consumption. It was highly va
lued by the Romans as an article of food. It is six inches long to the tail, which is about four. It is not easily tamed.
M. muscardintis, or the common dor mouse, is nearly of the size of a mouse, and inhabits thick hedges, making its nest in the hollow of some tree. It is far from lively, and is incapable of bound ing like the squirrel. Like that animal, however, it forms its hoard for the win ter, during which it is for the greater part abstinent and torpid. It occasion ally is roused by the intervention of tem perate days, recurs to its stock, and then returns to its slumbers, till spring reco vers it to daily exertion. It is veryrarely seen in this country, but is supposed to be in fact by no means uncommon. For the garden dormouse, and the wood dormouse, see Mammalia, Plate XVV. fig. 1 and 2.