158 INSECriVdRA. 



The LoNO-EARED IlEnGEMOG, J'.n'iiiUtiis auriius, is found in Siberia 

 ;iiul tin- luist ol Asiatic l\iissia, and lias also been discovered in Ee;ypt- 

 It is smaller than the common European Hedgehog ; the limbs are longer 

 and more slender, the hair on the lower suriace ot the body is extremel)^ 

 line. The spines on the back do not extend so far as in the luiiopean 

 species, and aie of peculiar color — tlie base being white, \\\v ixiitre 

 brown, the tip yellow. The species derives its name from the large size 

 of its cars, which project in such a manner as to produce a very pig- 

 like look. 



The Hedgehog or Urchin, Erinaccus Europcus (Plate V), is found in 

 every part of Europe, where it is often kept in gardens to-kill snails and 

 insects, anil \\\ houses to kill cockroaches. 



The imder surface ol (lie bodv, together wit'a the limbs, is covered 

 with long l)ristles and imdulating soil hair, which passes rather abruptly 

 into the stiff quills that deliMul the back, and is so lorig that it almost 

 conceals the limbs when the animal is walking. The quills cover the 

 entire back and top of the head, and are of a grayish-white '_'-)lor, iliver- 

 sified w ith a blackish-brow 11 ring near tlie middle. In the j'oung animal 

 the sjiincs are few in number, soft in texture, and nearly wliite, so that 

 the little creatures look like balls of white hair or \()ung birds. Tlie 

 young are born not onl\ w ith llie i\es, but with the ears closed also — a 

 fact said to be quite unique. The nest in which they are produced and 

 nurtured is most ingenious in its structure, being so ailmirably woven 

 of moss and similar substances, and so well thatched with leaves, that it 

 will resist the elVccts ol \ iulenl showers. 



The Hedgehog is very fond of milk, and is accused by tht ignorant 

 peasantry of sucking cows. But it does not despise strong liquor. 

 There is a widespread belief that the easiest way of taming it is by 

 making it drunk ; and l>r. Ikill, w !io tried the t-xpeiiment, found it per- 

 fectly successful. He gave sc^ne sweetened whiskey to one, and writes 

 of the result: " He did not go far before his potation produced all its 

 effects; he tottered, then fell on his side — he was drunk in the full sense 

 of the word, for he could not e\en hold bv the ground. Wt- touKI then 

 j)ull him about, open his mouth, twitch his whiskers, etc. ; he was un- 

 resisting. There was a strange expression in his face, of that selt- 

 confidence which we see in cowards when inspired by drinking. 



"We put him awav, and in some twelve hours afterward found him 

 nnining about, and, as was predicted, quite tame, his spines lying so 



