254 The Irish Naturalist. December, 



Freshwater Shells ; Dr. G. H. Pethybridge, B.Sc.— Photos of Botanical 

 subjects; Greenwood Pirn, m.a., President — Some lantern slides; R. L. 

 Praeger, B.A. — Rare plants recently found in Ireland ; Dr. R. F. Scharff 

 — Collection of the remains of the Irish Bear ; F. U. Sellens — Micro 

 examples of pond life; H. J. Seymour, B.A., Hon Sec. — Specimens of 

 Mineral Ores from University College Museum ; R. Welch (B.N.F.C )— 

 Collection of Land and Freshwater Mollusca, and Floating Bricks made 

 from the Bann diatom earth ; E. Williams —American Pectoral Sandpiper, 

 Tringa metadata ; the Sooty Shearwater, Puffinus griseus ; the Great 

 Shearwater, Puffinus gravis; Mealy Redpolls, Linota linaria; and Wood 

 Sandpiper, Tetanus glareola, all recently obtained in Ireland ; W. B. 

 Wright, B.A., and H. J. Seymour, B.A., Hon. Sees. — Album of photo- 

 graphs taken on the Sligo excursion. 

 Four nominations for membership were announced at the meeting. 



NOTES. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Notes on the Hedgehog. 



On September 23rd a female Hedgehog in my possession gave birth 

 to four young ones. They all died in an hour or two ; whereupon the 

 mother proceeded to devour one, biting it in two and sucking the blood. 

 I then took them away for examination. They were born blind, and the 

 teeth did not protrude above the gums. Their ears hung down slightly, 

 and their snouts were short and round— very unlike the adult form. 

 The}- weighed f of an ounce each, and were 2h inches long. The spines 

 were soft, white, very small, and lay close down on the back. There was 

 no trace of hair on any part of the body, but the claws on both hind and 

 fore-feet were sharp and well-developed. There was a deep and narrow 

 groove down the centre of the back from head to tail. The upper surface 

 was grey-blue coloured, under surface flesh-coloured, head flesh-colour 

 tip of nose grey. The general shape was remarkably like a pig. The end 

 of September seems to me to be very late for such small and helpless 

 young to be born ; and it is difficult to see how they could have lived 

 through the winter. I always understood the female produced her 

 young quite early in summer, and would be glad if this note elicits in- 

 formation en this point from readers of the Irish Naturalist. On September 

 15 I skinned a male Hedgehog, and I was struck by the thick la)'er of 

 fat I found underneath the skin. The fat was fully a quarter of an inch 

 thick over the entire upper surface, and reminded me of the " blubber" 

 on a Dolphin I skinned earlier in the year. Does the Hedgehog draw 

 on this store of fat during its winter sleep ? Perhaps, someone who has 

 skinned a Hedgehog in early spring will tell us if this layer of fat was 



noticed then. 



Robert Patterson. 

 Belfast. 



