CAitlSAKJA. 77 



been remarked on cutting: down the tree to which one was clinging, and seizing it before it could extricate itself 

 {'om the branches!. They produce generally two young at a birth ; and their cry resembles the low cackle of a 

 Goose.] 



All the other Carnaria have the mamma: situated on the belly. 



THE SECOND FAMILY OF CARNARIA,— 



1NSECTIVORA — 



Possess, like the Cheiroptera, grinders beset with conical points, and generally lead a nocturnal 

 or subterraneous life : they subsist principally on insects, and in cold countries most of them 

 pass the winter in a torpid state. They have no lateral membranes, as in the Cheiroptera ; 

 but the clavicles are never absent: their feet are short, and their movements feeble*; the 

 mammae are placed under the abdomen, and the penis in a sheath. None of them have a 

 caecum, and in running they all place the entire sole of the foot upon the ground. 



They differ in the relative proportions and position of their incisors and canines. 



Some have long incisors in front, followed by other incisors [along the sides of their narrow 

 jaws], and canines, all shorter even than the molars; a kind of dentition, of which the Mal- 

 mags, among the Quadrumana, have already afforded an example, and which somewhat 

 approximates these animals to the Rodents : others have large separated canines, between 

 which are placed small incisors, being the ordinary disposition of these teeth both in the Quad- 

 rumana and Carnaria ; and these two systems of dental arrangement occur in genera other- 

 wise very similar in the character of their teguments, in the form of their limbs, and mode 

 of life. 



[It is in this group that we arc led to identify the canine tooth as simply the first of the 

 false molars, which in some has two fangs; and, as in the Lemurs, to perceive that the second 

 in the lower jaw is in some more analogous in size and character to an ordinary canine, than 

 that which follows the incisors. The incisor teeth are never more than six in number, which 

 is the maximum throughout placental Mammalia (as opposed to marsupial); and, in several 

 instances, one or two pairs are deficientf: the canines, with the succeeding false molars, are 

 extremely variable + ; but there are ordinarily three tuberculatcd molars posterior to the repre- 

 sentative of the carnivorous or cutting grinder of the true Carnicora. The snout in the 

 Insectivora is generally elongated.] 



The Urchins, or Hedgehogs (Erinaceus, Lin.) — 

 Have the body covered with prickles instead of hairs. The skin of the back is furnished with such 

 muscles that the animal, by inclining its head and feet towards the belly, is enabled to inclose itself as 

 in a purse, presenting only its spines towards an enemy. Their tail is very short, and their feet have 

 each five toes. They possess on each jaw six incisors, of which the middle are the longest; and on 

 either side three false molars, three bristled true molars, and a small tuberculous tooth. 



The European Urchin (/i. EuropatU, Lin). — A will known species, common in the woods and hedgi !S. It sub- 

 sists chiefly on insects, but also feeds partly upon fruit, by which at a certain age it-, teeth become worn : passes 

 the winter in its burrow, whence it issues in the spring with an amplitude and complication of it> vuiaddt ■•■ 

 note* that is almost incredible. [It produces a variable number of young, Bometimea six or seven, which are 

 born with their eyes closed, and, what is remarkable, their ears also: their prickles are then thin, and (few in 

 number, white, and at first flexile and disposed backward ; but they soon harden on exposure. The a< luit > remain 

 concealed tin the evening 1 , when they run about in search of prey, with an omnivorous appetite; the] devour 

 Toads, and have been known to destroy leverets.] Pallas has noticed as an interesting fact, that the Urchii 

 hundreds of C'antharides without experiencing any ill etlect, w hereas a single one produces horrible agon] ma 

 Dog or Cat. 



[Ten other species are now known, distributed over Asia and Africa, but not Madagascar. Some are of small 

 size, ami others have the ears considerablj enlarged. 



• In Muentcki ltdtt, the hind feel are lengthened, and announce i Ihla genua, appear. In SoffHoeeM nod Vtn^i'ti, of null »iie, between 



agility '■ while lha Banxringa ara aald to ba aa Uvelj aa a 8qulrral.- K». tha rep i of tha long d ■». 



t The ("i 1 ol tin- Shrewi appeal each to represent two t (t ahoulil ba remarked that a alngle tooth with two Un^i u oi*tm 



teeth] niui the analoguei of the Inferior central Indaonj wanting In ' repreaented by twu separate teeth, each with one tang. 



