The Polatouch (_fig. 121._) resembles but in a few particulars either the squirrel, loir, or rat. To the squirrel it has no affinity but in the largeness of the eyes, and form of the tail, the latter of which, however, is neither so long, nor bushy as in the former. He is more like the loir by the shape of his body, his short and naked ears, and the hairs of his tail, which are of the same form and length; but he is not like him, subject to numbness in cold weather. The polatouch is a different species from the squirrel rat, or dormouse, though he participates of the nature of all three. M. Klein gave the first exact description of this animal, in the Philosophical Transactions, 1733; he was, however, known long before that time. He is found in the northern parts both of the ancient and New Continent,[AB] but he is more common in America than in Europe, where he is seldom seen, except in Lithuania and Russia. This little animal dwells upon trees, like the squirrel; he goes from branch to branch, and when he leaps from one tree to another, his loose skin stretches forward by his fore-legs, and backward by his hind ones; his skin thus stretched and drawn outwardly more than an inch, increases the surface of his body, without adding to its weight, and consequently retards the acceleration of his fall, so that he is enabled to reach in one leap a great distance. This motion is not like the flight of a bird, nor the fluttering of a bat, both of which are made by striking the air with repeated vibrations. It is one single leap, caused by the first impulsion, the motion of which is prolonged, because the body of the animal presents to the air a larger surface, and thence finds a greater resistance, and falls more slowly. This singular extension of the skin is peculiar to the polatouch, and this characteristic is sufficient to distinguish him from all other squirrels, rats, or dormice. But the most singular things in Nature are not unparalleled; there is another animal of the same kind, with a similar skin, which is not only stretched from one leg to another, but from the head to the tail. This animal, whose figure and description has been given by Seba, under the denomination of the flying-squirrel of Virginia, seems so different from the polatouch, as to constitute another species; though probably it may be only a simple variety, or an accidental and monstrous production, for no traveller or naturalist makes mention of it. Seba is the only one who has seen it in the cabinet of Vincent; and I always distrust descriptions of animals made in cabinets of curiosities, which are often disfigured to make them appear more extraordinary. [Footnote AB: The Hurons of Canada have three different species of squirrels. The Flying-squirrels are frequent in North America, but they have been lately found in Poland.]