THE HEDGEHOG. 133 



mercy ;" and He, who has left us so many examples 

 in a life of compassion and pity, hath.most strongly 

 enforced this virtue, by assuring us, that the u mer- 

 ciful are blessed, for they will obtain mercy." 



Hedgehogs were formerly an article of food ; but 

 this diet was pronounced to be dry, and not nutri- 

 tive, " because he putteth forth so many prickles."" 

 All plants producing thorns, or tending to any 

 roughness, were considered to be of a drying na- 

 ture ; and, upon this foundation, the ashes of the 

 hedgehog were administered as a ' great desicca- 

 tive of fistulas:' 



The spines of the hedgehog are moveable, not 

 fixed and resisting, but loose in the skin, and when 

 dry, fall backward and forward upon being moved ; 

 yet, from the peculiar manner in which they are 

 inserted, it requires more force to draw them out 

 than may be at first sight expected. The hair of 

 most creatures seems to arise from a bulbous root 

 fixed in the skin ; but the spines of the hedgehog 

 have their lower ends fined down to a thin neck or 

 thread, which, passing through a small orifice in 

 the skin, is secured on the under side by a round 

 head like that of a pin, or are riveted, as it were, 

 by the termination being enlarged and rounded ; 

 and these heads are all visible when the skin be- 

 comes dry, as if studded by small pins thrust 

 through. Hence they are moveable in all direc- 

 tions, and, resting upon the muscle of the creature, 

 must be the medium of a very sensible perception 

 to the animal^ and more so than hair could be, 



