124 THE KKASON WHY: 



" Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres ; 

 Thy knotted and combined locks to part, 

 And each particular hair to stand on end, 

 Like quills upon the fretful porcupine." SHAKSPEHE. 



381. Why are beaver hats commonly catted "castors?" 



Because they are made from the fur of the beaver, the animal, in 

 zoological nomenclature, being called the castor fiber, from the 

 Greek name castor, and the Latin fiber, because it inhabits the 

 of the water. 



382. Why has the coypou, though identical with the "beaver in 

 many of its habits, a dissimilar tail ? 



It has already been explained that the broad flat tail 



of the beaver, as well as 

 being used as a rudder, is em- 

 ployed by the animal in the 

 construction of dams and houses. 

 Now, the coypou differs from 

 the beaver in this respect, that 

 it never builds, but burrows; 

 nor does it construct dams. 

 For a burrowing animal, the 

 broad flat tail would be not only of no utility, but a positive 

 incumbrance, and hence the organ is modified to the uses of 

 the creature. 



383. Why is the porcupine covered with such formidable 

 quills ? 



As in the case of the hedge-hog, the spines of the porcupine are 

 weapons of defence, the animal having the same power of rolling 

 itself into the form of a ball. Why the spines of the hedge-hog 

 should be so short, and those of the porcupine so long, may find 

 explanation in the fact that the latter, being a native of Africa, 

 India, and the Indian Islands, is exposed to the atticks of far 

 more formidable enemies than such as the cat, the weasel, the 

 ferret, and the martin, by which the hedge-hog is attacked. The 

 porcupine is so called from porcus (a pig), and spinis (prickles 

 or thorns). 



