This little animal (_fig. 79._) though a native of Brasil and Guinea,
lives and breeds in temperate, and even in cold countries, provided
it is properly taken care of and sheltered from the inclemency of the
weather. The Guinea-pig is frequently reared in France, and though very
prolific, they are far from being numerous, for the attention they
require is poorly rewarded by the profits derived from them. Their
skin is of little or no value, and their flesh, though people do eat
it, is very indifferent; a circumstance which might in some measure be
removed, by rearing them in warrens, where they might have air, space
to range in, and an agreeable choice of herbs. Those kept in houses
have the same kind of bad taste with the house rabbit, and those kept
in gardens during summer their flesh is less disagreeable, but still
insipid.
These animals are of so hot a nature that they begin to copulate so
early as at five or six weeks old; their growth, however, is not
completed before the end of eight or nine months, though their increase
is in bulk and fat only after the sixth, by which time all their solid
parts are completely developed. The females go with young three weeks,
and they have been known to bring forth at the age of two months. The
first litters do not consist of more than four or five, the second
five or six, and afterwards they will sometimes have eleven or twelve.
She does not suckle her young more than twelve or fifteen days, and
when the male returns to her, which he never fails to do three weeks
after she has littered, she drives them from her, and if they persist
in following he often kills them. Thus these animals bring forth at
least every two months; and as their young produce in the same period
their multiplication is astonishing. In one year 1000 might be obtained
from a single couple; but their consequent increase is checked by the
various means of their destruction; they perish from cold and wet;
without resistance they suffer themselves to be devoured by the cats;
the females, not having had time to form an attachment to their young,
see them destroyed without attempting to protect them. They seem to
have no distinct sentiment but that of love, and when disputing for a
particular female they will shew themselves susceptible of anger, fight
bitterly, and are sometimes killed in the conflict before they will
yield. They pass their lives in eating, sleeping and love: their sleep
is short, but frequent; they eat every hour, night and day, and indulge
in their amours as often as they eat; they emit urine every minute,
although they scarcely ever drink. They feed on all sorts of herbs,
especially parsley, which they prefer to grain or bread; of apples,
and other fruits, they are also very fond. Like the rabbit they eat
little at a time, but precipitately, and very often. They grunt like
a young pig; make a chirping noise when pleased with their females,
and have a sharp loud cry when hurt or irritated. They are very
delicate, and so chilly that it is difficult to preserve them through
the winter, therefore they must be kept in a place which is thoroughly
warm, dry, and healthy. When they feel cold they assemble and press
close together, and in this situation the frost often surprises them,
and they are sometimes found dead. They are naturally mild and tame,
seem equally incapable of doing harm or good, and never form any
attachments. Mild by temperament, docile by weakness, almost insensible
to every thing round them, they have the appearance of being so many
living machines, merely possessed of abilities to propagate a species.