Papular IBtcttanarg of gftumattfr $ature. 543 



Small and insignificant as their spines may 

 appear, yet they are 'capable of seriously in- 

 juring dogs and other animals that incau- 

 tiously attempt to seize the Porcupine. This 

 animal makes its retreat amongst the roots 

 of an old tree, and when not occupied in 

 search of fruit, roots, and other vegetables, 

 is said to pass most of its time in sleeping. 



The PREHENSILE PORCUPINE (Hystrix 

 prchcmilis) is found in Brazil and other parts 

 of South America ; where it inhabits woods, 

 and occasionally clings to the branches of 

 the trees by its tail, in the manner of some 

 of the Opossum and Monkey tribes. Its 

 general length is about a foot, and the tail 

 about eighteen inches. The whole animal, 

 except on the belly and insides of the lirnbs, 

 is covered with short, strong, and very sharp 

 spines, of which the longest measure three 

 inches, and are white with black tips. The 

 colour of the hair with which the under 



Earts are covered is a dusky brown. The 

 ead is small ; the nose extremely blunt ; 

 the teeth very large and strong ; and the 

 ears short and rounded : the feet have four 

 toes each, with strong claws, and a tubercle 

 in place of a fifth toe : the tail is covered 

 with spines for about a third part of its 

 length ; the remainder being naked, and 

 strongly prehensile. 



PORIFERA. The name given to the 

 lowest of the classes of organized beings in 

 the Animal Kingdom, including the marine 

 and fresh-water Sponges ; in which the 

 absence of characteristic structure does i:ot 

 extend to external form aloiie,but is equally 

 remarkable in the internal arrangement of 

 the parts of which these beings are composoiJ ; 

 They possess nothing, in fact, beyond the 

 very simplest apparatus for reproduction . 

 nothing distinctly characteristic of an animal 

 nature ; the only obvious vital action which 

 can be observed in their ordinary state being 

 a rapid movement of fluid through their 

 channels. [See SPONGE.] 



PORPOISE. (P/iociena vulgaris.) Of all 

 the Cetacea, this and the closely allied va- 

 rieties may be considered the most common, 

 being found in almost all the European seas 

 and on the American coasts. It greatly re- 

 sembles the Dolphin (1>< V/,A/,/"x </< /y/</s), and 

 is frequently confounded with it ; but may 

 be readily distinguished by its shorter snout, 

 thicker head, and smaller size. It rarely 

 exceeds the length of six feet ; is of a thick 

 form on the fore parts, and gradually 

 tapers towards the tail, which is horizontal 

 and crescent-shaped, like that of other 

 Cetacea. Its colour is a bluish black or a 

 very dark brown above, and nearly white 

 underneath. The back fin, situated rather 

 nearer the tail than the head, is somewhat of 

 a triangular shape, and placed nearly up- 

 right. The spiracle or spout-hole is upon 

 the crown of the head, of a semilunar form, 

 and divided internally by a cartilaginous 

 membrane : the mouth is of moderate width; 

 the teeth small, sharp, and numerous. The 

 whole body is covered with a coat of fat, 

 nearly an inch in thickness, beneath which 

 the flesh appears red and muscular, resem- 



bling that of the hog. The Porpoise feeds on 

 small fish, such as the Herring and Mackerel, 

 of which they destroy great numbers : they 

 root about the shores with their snout in 

 quest of food, like hogs, and are believed to 

 act in concert when in pursuit of their prey, 

 urging them from one bay or estuary to ano- 

 ther, deterring them from the shallow water, 

 and driving them towards each other's 

 ambush, with all the art of a well-trained 

 dog. Before a storm, they may be seen gam- 

 boling and tumbling about (as it is termed) 

 in the ocean, and they are occasionally ob- 

 served to congregate together in large num- 

 bers. Their flesh was formerly considered 

 a great delicacy ; but is now seldom eaten. 

 The term Porpoise, Porpesse, or Porpus, ia 

 said to be derived from the Italian Porcopcsce, 

 or hog- fish, from the supposed resemblance 

 of its projecting snout to that of the Hog. 



PORTUGUESE MAN-OF-WAR. (Phy- 

 salia atlantica.) The name given by early 

 English voyagers to a species of Ptiysalia, 

 belonging to the group of Hydrostatic Aca- 

 lepJuz. It is an inhabitant of the seas of 

 warm climates, but a shoal of them are 

 sometimes driven into our bays, particularly 

 on the south-west coast ; and it has been 

 very probably mistaken for Argonauta Argo, 

 the Paper Nautilus, by those who have de- 

 clared that they have seen fleets of the latter 

 sailing. These Acalephae are characterized 

 by the presence of one or more large air- 

 sacs, by which great buoyancy is given to 

 them ; and it would appear that they have 

 considerable power over these organs. The 

 species we are now describing possesses a 



(FHYSAI.IA ATLANTIC A.) 



single large air-sac, beneath which the di- 

 gestive apparatus is disposed ; and the sac 

 is surmounted by a sort of crest, which pos- 

 sesses considerable muscular power, and is 

 elevated entirely above the water, when the 

 animal is floating at the surface. The air- 

 sac is provided with two orifices, one at each 

 extremity, through both of which air is forced 

 out when the bag is compressed by the hand; 

 each of these orifices is provided with a little 

 circular muscle, which usually keeps them 

 closed, but which allows of their dilatation 

 during the continuance of the outward flow 



3 A 2 



