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E C H I N A C E A - E C II I N O D E R M A T A. 



softer and smoother hair. On this part of the body it is 

 very short, not exceeding one twenty-fourth part of an 

 inch in length, and the individual hairs are round in 

 their section, instead of being 1 flattened like the longer 

 hairs on the upper part. The female has eight mamma:, 

 which indicates a progeny rather numerous, though 

 comparatively nothing is known of the manners of the 

 species. It is understood, however, that they are 

 subject to considerable variety of colour, cither in dif- 

 ferent individuals or at different ages; for some have 

 been brought to Europe in which the produced and 

 flattened hairs on the upper part were brown and not 

 maroon ; but as these were smaller in size than the 

 more richly coloured ones, it is probable that they 

 were in an immature state. This species lives in 

 the woods under trees, and is supposed to subsist 

 chiefly upon fruits. 



Echimys dactylinus. This is ond of the largest 

 species of the genus, being more than ten inches 

 from the muzzle to the insertion of the tail, and the 

 tail itself is very long, not less than fourteen and a 

 half. The hair upon the body is hard and dry, but 

 not spinous ; that on the front is flattened ; but on 

 the hinder part it is longer and rougher ; and on the 

 upper part of the neck it stands up like a sort of 

 crest. The middle toes of the feet are much larger 

 than the outer ones ; the nails on the toes of the 

 fore feet are flat, something in the form of those of 

 the sapHJous ; but on the hind feet, which have five 

 toes, they are very strong and crooked ; the tail, 

 throughout the whole of its length, is naked of hair, 

 and scaly- The manners of this species are very 

 little known. 



Echimys sp'mosus. This is the spiny rat of D'Az- 

 zara. It is much stouter in the make than the 

 common rat. It stands three inches three quarters 

 high at the shoulder, and four inches at the crupper. 

 The length, from the muzzle to the tail, is ten inches, 

 but the tail is not more than three, if as much. The 

 tail is wholly covered with smooth hair, which com- 

 pletely hides the scales with which the skin among 

 the roots is covered. The eyes are larger than in 

 most of the other species, being- not less than a 

 quarter of an inch in diameter. They stand out very 

 prominently, and are about equally distant between 

 the point of the muzzle and the ears. The nose is 

 truncated vertically ; the mustachios project only 

 about a quarter of an inch, and the ears do not rise 

 more than a third of an inch from the back of the 

 head. The length of the frontal base is about three 

 quarters of an inch ; the ears are naked, and very 

 flexible ; the exterior toe on the hind feet is the 

 largest of the whole, but the claw on it is a sort of 

 nail, and does not extend to the same length as those 

 on the other toes, the claws on the intermediate ones 

 being very strong and crooked, and more than a 

 quarter of an inch in length. The body is covered 

 with two sorts of hair, one soft and fine, and of a 

 white colour, the other cornisting of two spines 

 about three quarters of an inch in length. These 

 spines are reddish or brown for about one-third from 

 the point, and whitish for the remainder to the roots. 

 They arc very much mixed and matted with the 

 softer hair, and there is a tuft or bunch of them 

 before the opening of each ear. The spines of this 

 animal come off in handfuls as easily as the hair of 

 the agoutis. It is a burrowing animal, and forms its 

 hole in a bank where it may be above the reach of 

 the inundations, which are common in the rainy 



in Upper Paraguay, and those other parts of 

 South America in which it is found. 



Echimys hispidus. This species is about four inches 

 in height and seven in length, including the tail. It 

 is of a reddish brown colour, which is deepest, in tint 

 on the back, upon which also they are largest, 

 strongest, and most abundant. Its tail is wilhont 

 hair, scaly, and annulated. This species has been 

 brought to Europe from South America, but the 

 particular locality is not' known, and consequently we 

 are wholly ignorant of its habits. 



Echbiujs dclpha'idis is- about ten inches in length 

 five in the body, and the same in the tail. The 

 tail is covered with hair to within about an inch 

 of the tip, and that portion has verticillate scales, 

 resembling those on the tail of the common rat. It 

 has spinous hair on the back, of a bright brown 

 colour, darker on the sides, and yellowish on the 

 belly. 



Echimys Cayanemis. As its name implies, this 

 species is from Cayenne. The body is six inches 

 long ; it is bright reddish brown on the back and 

 sides, and pure .white on the under part. The hairs 

 on the back are flattened ; they are grey at the roots, 

 brown for some part of their length, and reddish at 

 the points. In this species the tarsi of the hind feet 

 arc much longer than in any of the former species, 

 which indicates that it is more of a leaping animal. 



Echimys setusus resembles the former in its struc- 

 ture, and is of about the same size, but it is redder in 

 the colour, and the hair on the upper part more 

 resembles bristles. It is from South America. 



ECHINACEA (Moench). A genus separated 

 from Coreopsis and Rudbeck'ui, belonging to the na- 

 tural order Composite. This genus has large high 

 coloured flowers, and is well worth a place in flower 

 borders ; they are increased by seed or division of 

 the roots. 



ECHINOCACTUS (Link and Otto). A large 

 genus of succulent under-shrubs, chiefly South Ame- 

 rican. Linnoeau class and order fcosandria Monogynui, 

 and natural order Cactcte. This section of the cat-tea; 

 are all treated like the others ; that is, potted in coarse 

 light soil, mixed with lime rubbish, in we'll drained 

 pots ; allowing but little water, and a dry warm part 

 of the house in winter; but in the summer many of 

 them are the better for being exposed to the summer 

 sun and air. 



ECHINODERMATA. The first class into 

 which Cuvier divides his grand division of Zoophytes, 

 or radiated animals ; and a very singular and far 

 from an uninteresting division of animated nature 

 they form. They are destitute of anything which 

 can be called a regular skeleton, and they are without 

 those specific organs which characterise not only the 

 vcrtebrated animals, but most of the divisions of the 

 invertebrata ; but still not even what we are accus- 

 tomed to call the most perfect of the first of these, or 

 the most wonderful in the minuteness of their bodies. 

 and the beautiful perfection of their parts in the 

 second, are superior, in the wonderful power of 

 nature's mechanism, to the zoophytes generally, and 

 to the echinodermata in a particular manner. The 

 term echinodermata means that the skin, or investing 

 integument of the animals, is covered with processes 

 more or less elongated, and more or less ridged or 

 truly spinous, according to the different natures of 

 the animals. 



The echiiiodermata are exceedingly complicated in 



