94 MamMALIA oF INDIA. 
small. In the lower jaw the lowermost incisor is very large, and pro- 
jects almost horizontally forwards, and it is followed by three small teeth 
now acknowledged to be premolars, 
with another large premolar, which 
is of the nature of a carnassial or 
cutting tooth acting on the one in 
the upper jaw. Then three molars as 
above, two large and one small, but 
with sharp tubercles. The skull has 
a more carnivorous form; it has “a 
complete zygomatic arch, and the 
tympanic bone forms a _bundle-like 
swelling on each side of the back of 
the skull.” Feet pentadactylous or 
Dentition of Hedgehog. five-toed ; legs very short. The tibia 
and fibula (two bones of the shank) 
are joined together. The back is clothed with hair intermixed with 
sharp spines or bristles. Tail short or wanting entirely. 
GENUS ERINACEUS. 
The European hedgehog is well known to most of us. Few boys 
who have lived a country life have been without one at some time or 
other as a pet. I used to keep mine in a hole at the root of an old 
apple-tree, which was my special property, and they were occasionally 
brought into the house at the cook’s request to demolish the black- 
beetles in the kitchen. These they devour with avidity and pursue 
them with the greatest ardour. They also eat slugs, worms, and snails ; 
worms they seize and eat from end to end, like a Neapolitan boy with 
a string of maccaroni, slowly masticating, the unconsumed portion 
being constantly transferred from one side of the mouth to the other, so 
that both sides of the jaws may come into play. Dr. Dallas quaintly 
remarks on the process: “This must be an unpleasant operation for 
the worm, much as its captor may enjoy it.” Toads, frogs, mice, and 
even snakes are eaten by the European hedgehog. It would be. 
interesting to find out whether the Indian hedgehog also attacks’ 
snakes ; even the viper in Europe is devoured by this animal, who 
apparently takes little heed of its bite. The European species also eats 
eges when it can get them, and I have no doubt does much damage to 
those birds who make their nests on the ground. 
Few dogs will tackle a hedgehog, for the little creature at once rolls’ 
itself into a spiny ball, all sharp prickles, by means of the contraction of 
ie at ta 
