284 A. A. W. HUBRECHT. 
position that both comparative anatomy and paleontology 
point to the Insectivora as being the order which must be 
looked upon as occupying that central and primitive place 
amongst the Eutheria (Monodelphia, auct.). Huxley 
says: “No one can study the more ancient mammals with which 
we are already acquainted without being constantly struck 
with the insectivorous characters which they present. In fact 
there is nothing in the dentition of either Primates, Carnivores, 
or Ungulates, which is not foreshadowed in the Insectivora.” 
And again: “ Many years ago I particularly insisted on the 
central position of the Insectivora among the higher Mam- 
malia; and further study of this order and of the Rodentia 
has only strengthened my conviction that any one who is 
acquainted with the range of variation of structure in these 
groups possesses the key to every peculiarity which is met 
with in the Primates, the Carnivora, and the Ungulata.” 
In this central and primitive order Huxley distinctly points 
to Gymnura and Erinaceus as having departed less than 
any other genus from the primitive type. Already, in 1871, 
he had written, in his ‘Manual of Vertebrated Animals :’ 
«The Insectivora present a great diversity of organisation, the 
common hedgehog being an almost central form. The 
Shrews tend towards the Rodentia, the Tupaye towards the 
Lemurs ; while the Moles on the one hand, and the Galeo- 
pitheci on the other, are aberrant modifications. Relations of 
a more general character connect them with the Carnivora and 
the Ungulata.” 
The hedgehog thus being selected, I had only faint hopes of 
being able to procure the different stages of development in 
sufficient number, experiments for breeding them in captivity 
having entirely failed, even though they were repeated for two 
consecutive seasons. Thus the capture of specimens in the 
breeding season (June to August) was the only method for 
obtaining the material. I need not say that in this way the 
number of female hedgehogs that were killed far exceeded 
that of the really pregnant ones, and that it was a matter of 
fortunate chance in what stage of development the young 
