190 WILD NEIGHBORS CHAP. 



World species. All the quills, which are in reality 

 only modified hairs, and are hollow and rigid like 

 the stems of feathers, point backwards and ordina- 

 rily lie close to the body, but may be erected by 

 the voluntary action of muscles underlying the 

 skin. This done, their points stand out on every 

 side, presenting a chevaux-de-frise within which 

 the animal squats as secure as one of the High- 

 land squares at Waterloo. 



The self-inflating spiny globe-fishes and the 

 hedgehog (not to speak of thorny invertebrates, 

 such as the sea-urchins, murices, etc.) enjoy a simi- 

 lar defence ; but the porcupine's armament is supe- 

 rior to any of these, for it is offensive as well as 

 defensive. 



It is a long-discredited fable, of course, that the 

 porcupine shoots his spines at a tormentor, just as 

 we no longer believe that it lays eggs or brings 

 water in its quills to its young ; but the seed of 

 truth in the matter is the fact that the quills are so 

 loosely attached to the flesh as to be readily de- 

 tached, and in fact some may be flirted out when 

 the animal shakes himself vigorously something 

 he never does if he can avoid it. Moreover, each 

 spine is needle-pointed, and minutely but strongly 

 barbed, so that it sticks in whatever touches it, and 

 is immediately withdrawn from the skin. Thus 

 any animal that leaps upon or bites a porcupine 

 finds its paws, shoulders, and mouth full of de- 

 tached quills, which so divert its attention for some 



