a Grecian poet of antiquity, usually coupled with Bion; and they were both of them contemporaries with Theocritus. In the time of the latter Grecians, all the ancient Idylls were collected and attributed to Theocritus; but the claims of Moschus and Bion have been admitted to some few little pieces; and this is sufficient to make us inquisitive about their characters and story; yet all that can be known about them must be collected from their own remains. Moschus, by composing his delicate elegy on Bion, has given the best memorials of Bion's life. See Bion. Moschus and Theocritus have by some critics been supposed the same person; but there are irrefragable evidences against it: others will have him as

as well as Bion to have lived later than Theocritus, upon the authority of Suidas; while others again suppose him to have been the scholar of Bion, and probably his successor in governing the poetic school; which, from the elegy of Moschus, does not seem unlikely. Their remains are to be found in all the editions of the Poetæ minores.

zoology, a genus of quadrupeds of the order of pecora, having no horns; the canine teeth of the upper jaw are solitary and exerted. There are three species.

1. The moschiferus, or musk animal, hath been considered by some authors as a stag, a roebuck, a goat; and by others as a large cherratin, a species of antelope; but M. Buffon hath determined it to be an ambiguous animal, participating of the nature of all these, but differing effectually from every one of them, and from all other animals. It is of the size of a small roebuck, but has no horns; it has long coarse hair, a sharp muzzle, and tusks like those of the hog. From the nose to the tail, the animal is about a yard and half a foot long; the head above half a foot; the neck is a quarter of a yard, the fore-head three inches broad; the nose end scarce three-fourths of an inch, being very sharp, like that of a greyhound. The ears are like those of a rabbit, about three inches long, and erect; as is also the tail, which exceeds not two inches; the fore-legs are a foot and two inches long, taking in the foot and thigh. The foot is deeply cloven; with two fore-hoofs, an inch and a quarter long, each a quarter of an inch over; and two heels almost as big, and therefore conspicuous. The hair on the head and legs is about half an inch long, and rather small; on the belly it is an inch and an half in length, and somewhat thicker; on the back and buttocks it is three inches long, thicker in proportion than in any other animal, excepting perhaps some of the deer-kind, viz. three or four times as thick as hog's brittles; consisting of brown and white portions alternately from the root to the top. On the head and legs it is brown; on the belly, and under the tail, whitish, and as it were frizzled, especially on the back and belly, by a kind of undulation. The hair of the musk is softer than in most animals, and exceeding light and rare; for, being split, they appear to be made up of little bladders, like those in the plume or stalk of a quill; so that it is something betwixt a common hair and a quill. On each side of his lower chop, almost under the corner of his mouth, there is a peculiar tuft, (about three-fourths of an inch long), of short, thick, and hard hairs, or rather bristles, of equal length, as in a scrubbing-brush. The musk-bladder or bag which holds the perfume, is on the belly near the navel. It is about three inches long, and two over; standing out from the belly one and a half, and before the groin as much. The creature hath 26 teeth, 16 in the lower chop; of which there are eight little cutters before; behind four grinders on each side, rugged and continuous, with as many grinders in the upper jaw. About an inch and an half from the nose end in the same jaw, is on each side a tusk two inches and an half long, hooked downward and backward, and ending in a point. This tusk is not round, but flat; the breadth of half an inch; thin, and having a sharp edge behind; so that it hath a considerable resemblance of a scythe.—From the testimony of a number of travellers it appears that the perfume is produced only in the body of the male. The female hath indeed a pouch of the same kind near the navel, but the humour secreted in it has not the same odour; and this tumour of the male is not filled with musk except in the rutting season; at other times the quantity of this humour is smaller, and its odour weaker. See Musk.

2. The grimmia, grimm, or Guinea antelope, is a most beautiful animal, with short black horns, slender and sharp-pointed, not three inches long, and slightly annulated at the base. Its height is about 18 inches; the ears are large, and the eyes dusky; below the eyes is a large cavity, into which exudes a strong-scented oily liquid; between the horns is a tuft of black hairs. The colour of the neck and body is brown, mixed with an ash-colour, and a tinge of yellow; the belly is white; the tail short, white beneath, and black above. M. Vofmaer tells us, that these animals are extremely timid, and easily frightened with any noise, particularly thunder; when surprised, they express their fear by blowing suddenly and with great force through their noses. He describes one which was kept in the menagerie of the prince of Orange. "This one (says he) was at first wild, but afterwards became pretty tame. It listens when called by its name Tetje; and when gently approached with a piece of bread in the hand, it allows its head and neck to be stroked. It is so cleanly, that it suffers not the smallest particle of dirt to remain on any part of its body; and for this purpose it often scratches itself with one of its hind-feet. This is the reason why it has received the appellation of tetje, from tetig, which signifies neat or clean. However, if a person continues for some time to rub its body, a white powder adheres to his fingers like that which proceeds from horses when they are curried. This animal is extremely agile; and, when reposing, it frequently keeps one of its fore-feet in an elevated and beaded position, which gives it a very agreeable appearance. It is fed with bread, rye, and carrots; it likewise spontaneously eats potatoes: it is a ruminating animal, and discharges its excrements in small balls, the size of which is considerable in proportion to the magnitude of the creature."—Dr Herman Grimm tells us, that the fat, viscid, yellow humour, which is secreted in the cavities above the eyes of this animal, has an odour that participates of musk and causticum; but M. Vofmaer remarks, that in his live subject this viscid matter has no odour of any kind.

3. The pygmaeus has feet narrower than a man's finger, and is found in Africa and Asia.