Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
By 1806
Primary Source Reference:
"Walk through the Phil[adelphi]a Museum" (1805-1806), pp. 28-29
Additional Source Text:
"Of which here are a variety of Old and young, are called so from their grunting and coming originally from Africa. They are very prolific, a thousand may be raised from a p[ai]r in one year. Buffon concludes their character and history, thus: 'by nature they are gentle and tame; they do no mischief, but they are equally incapable of good, for they never form attachments; mild by constitution, docile through weakness, almost insencible to every object; they have the appearance of living machines constructed for the purpous of propagation and of representing a species.'"
Notes:
The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (Cavia porcellus), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy. Despite their common name (and Peale's assumption), guinea pigs are not native to Guinea; they originated in the Andes of South America.
Peale was given a guinea pig by Miss Betsy Gant on 15 Sep 1789. Selected Papers, 1: 571
Specimen Type:
Dead/preserved
Peale's Common Name:
Guiney-pig
Peale's Scientific Name:
Cobaya
Current Common Name:
Guinea pig
Current Scientific Name
Cavia porcellus
