CANADA PORCUPINE 11 



save for this one fact. In general, it is held that the chattering 

 of the teeth is an expression of mild fear, general disappoint- 

 ment and sensory displeasure, and a very general signal of 

 imcertain danger. The above general conclusions must not 

 be interpreted too broadly. The writer, really, is in accord 

 with Davis (14) in assuming that "interpretation of vocaliza- 

 tions * * * is possible only in terms of accompanying cir- 

 cumstances." 



Quilling. — Contrary to a very wide spread opinion, the porcu- 

 pine cannot "shoot" its quills any more than a bird can throw 

 its feathers or a human being eject the hairs from his head. If 

 the belief were less widely spread, even among educated people, 

 it would be superfluous to speak of it here. The only thing the 

 porcupine can do with its quills is to erect them over its entire 

 body to some extent but chiefly on the rump and hips. To 

 express this reaction it has been found necessary to ascribe an 

 intransitive meaning to the verb "to quill." The Century 

 Dictionary uses the verb "to porcupine" in this sense on the 

 authority of Wolcot (Peter Pender), but it does not appear to 

 be a happy selection. When in this discussion it is said that 

 the porcupine "quills" the reference is to the same type of 

 reaction as the "bristling" of the boar, the "fuzzing" of the 

 cat, the "fluffing" of the cock, and possibly also to the indescrib- 

 able tremor which passes through the human skin in case of 

 shock or fright, a reflex, thought to be vestigial of what was 

 very prominent in some less human forbears. A porcupine can 

 strike a powerful blow with its tail, can hurl its whole body at 

 an enemy by turning ver\" quickly and can lurch heavily up- 

 ward when attacked. All these movements are very quick and 

 may bring the quills on the porcupine in contact with the flesh 

 of the enemy. Owing to the fact that the outer points of the 

 quills are barbed, all such quills cling to the victim more firmly 

 than they normally do to the porcupine's body and are thus 

 given off from the porcupine by contact. This leads to the belief 

 that the quills are hurled at the enemy from a distance — an 

 illusion somewhat pardonable when one appreciates the quick- 

 ness of the porcupine's movements when warding off an attack. 



Special Characters of the Hand and Foot. — The forefoot of the 

 porcupine is freely used as a hand and is well formed for that 



