ALLIES OF THE HEDGEHOG 



ORDER INSECTIVORA 



Some of the characters of this archaic group have been 

 already referred to under the carnivora. Others will be 

 found below. 



CENTETES. 



Madagascar is a kind of common lodging-house for 

 weird and ancient beasts who have found sanctuary in 

 its impenetrable forests, unfrequented by many carni- 

 vorous animals, and have thus escaped the extinction 

 which their relatives have suffered elsewhere. Thus it is 

 in Madagascar that the vast majority of the lemurs, those 

 archaic forerunners of the monkey tribe, are to be found. 

 The more modern types, such as the monkeys them- 

 selves, and the bears and antelopes and feline carnivora, 

 have never, as it appears, even gained access to Mada- 

 gascar, which was cut off, it is believed, from the African 

 continent some ages since. Among the peculiar beasts 

 of that great island is the hedgehog-like Centetes, which 

 belongs to the insectivora, a group which represents, as 

 it would seem, an archaic state of affairs. Like the 

 rodents, the insectivores have habituated themselves to 

 almost every kind of life ; they burrow like the moles, 

 swim like certain shrews, and the West African " otter " 

 Potamogale, even fly, when we remember that the 

 Colugo, Galeopithecus, is at leastn ot very remote from 

 this group ; they especially favour a lurking existence, 

 slinking in the underwood, and dwelling in holes ; in 

 fact they do everything except lead an open and raven- 

 ing life. It is perhaps for these reasons, coupled with 

 their small size, that the insectivora, as a group, have 

 persisted, and are indeed so numerous in their varied 

 kinds. Centetes is not oy any means unlike a hedgehog 

 in general aspect. It is a small brownish creature with 

 a long snout, and with hairs which are stiff and yet are 

 called hairs. A different name will be given by any one 



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