106 Quadrupeds. 



THE POKCUPINE. (Eystrix cristata.) 



WHEN full grown this animal measures about two feet 

 in length, and his body is covered with hair and sharp 

 quills, from ten to fourteen inches long, and bent back- 

 wards. When he is irritated, they stand erect ; but the 

 stoiy that the Porcupine can shoot them at his enemies, 

 is only one of the many fables formerly related as facts 

 in Natural History. The female has only one young one 

 at a time. It is reported to live from twelve to fifteen 

 years. The Porcupine is dull, fretful, and inoffensive ; 

 it feeds upon fruits, roots, and vegetables ; and inhabits 

 the south of Europe, and almost every part of Africa, 

 particularly Barbary. 



THE COUENDOU, (Hystrix, or Synetheres prehensilis,) 



WHICH is also called the Brazilian Porcupine, is chiefly 

 found in Guiana, and differs from the common Porcu- 

 pine, not only in the shortness of its spines, but also in 

 the great length of its tail. This organ, which is a mere 

 stump in the common species, and only of use to him by 

 producing a rattling of its spines when shaken, in which 

 he seems to take great delight, is nearly as long as the 

 body in the Couendou, and as its extremity is nearly 

 naked, and can be curled up very tightly, the animal 

 makes use of it to cling to the branches of trees, amongst 

 which he is fond of climbing. 



