DORMOUSE
\dˈɔːma͡ʊs], \dˈɔːmaʊs], \d_ˈɔː_m_aʊ_s]\
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By William Dodge Lewis, Edgar Arthur Singer
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The popular name of the several species of Myoxus, a genus of mammalia or the order Rodentia. The common dormouse is the M. (Muscardinus) avellanarius, which attains the size of the common mouse; the fat dormouse is the M. glis, a native of France and the south of Europe; the garden dormouse is the M. (Ehomys) nitela, a native of the temperate parts of Europe and Asia. The dormice pass the winter in a lethargic or torpid state, only occasionally waking, and applying to their stock of provisions hoarded up for that season.
By Daniel Lyons
By William Hand Browne, Samuel Stehman Haldeman