Note 84 — ZOOLOGY. No. XXI.

Perhaps M. Cuvier was led into this mistake by an error of the pen or press, in M. Desmarest’s translation of Bruce’s description of the animal. Bruce says, “from the snout to the anus, he was about ten inches long;” the translation, “Ce Fennec avoit six pouces de longueur, depuis le bout du nez jusqu’ à l’origine de la queue.” The same mistake occurs in M. Geoffroy Saint Hilaire’s quotation of Bruce; but this cannot be a misprint, for the length is not expressed by the word six, but by the Arabic cypher 6.