98 THE BOOK OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 



name, which is derived from the old French pore espin, meaning 

 Spiny-Pig. The modern French is pore-epic, probably derived 

 from the Latin porcus, a pig, spina, a spine. 



Porcupines are inhabitants of both the Old and New World, 

 and whilst some are terrestrial, others are arboreal in their habits. 



The three photographs (Figs. 73, 74 and 75) represent the 

 Crested, Brush-Tailed and Canadian Porcupines respectively, and 

 whilst a few notes respecting these species will be given, attention 

 may chiefly be devoted to the Common Porcupine. This is what 

 is known as a true Porcupine, and claims kinship with a family 

 all the members of which are residents of the Old World. It differs 

 from its American cousins in being entirely nocturnal and 

 terrestrial ; the tail, as a result, is not prehensile ; the soles of the 

 feet are quite smooth ; there is a small thumb on each fore-foot, 

 and the female has six teats. The Common species is a large beast; 

 it bears upon its bulky body long quills, has a short, spiny tail, 

 upon the end of which there are a number of short quills on slender 

 stalks, and has a greatly elevated and convex skull. The short, 

 slender-stalked quills, which are found in a cluster on the tail, are 

 hollow, and it is these tail quills which are responsible for the 

 curious rattling noise which is made when the animal is moving 

 about. 



The species now under consideration measures from twenty-six 

 to twenty-eight inches in length without the tail, and, if the Beaver 

 be excepted, the Porcupines may be regarded as the largest Rodents 

 of the Old World. 



The brownish-black colour of the Common Porcupine is banded 

 with white across the front of the neck and also on part of the 

 sides. There is a crest of long bristles on the neck, which are 

 brown below and white above. 



The well-known quills on the body are of two kinds, one of these 

 being slender, flexible, and very long, whereas the second kind is 

 almost hidden by the great length of the last-named and is stouter 

 and shorter. There are prominent black and white rings on all these 

 quills, and the extremities of both kinds are tipped with white. The 

 quills situate upon the rump are, however, mostly black in colour, 

 but those at the tail end and elsewhere are white. Southern Europe 

 and both the northern and western parts of Africa are the habitats of 

 this Porcupine. 



It used to be believed that this creature had the power of 



