262 THE HEDGEHOG. 



them, in this strange peculiarity, in a class by themselves ; 

 nor let it be supposed, that while we thus alter their arrange- 

 ment, and separate them from animals with which they have 

 been formerly combined, that we are destroying any secret 

 affinities that exist in nature. Itas natural, indeed, for readers 

 to suppose, when they see two such opposite animals as the 

 hare and the porcupine assembled together in the same group, 

 that there must be some material reason, some secret con- 

 nexion, for thus joining animals so little resembling each other 

 in appearance. But the reasons for this union were very 

 slight, and merely arose from a similitude in the fore teeth ; 

 no likeness in the internal conformation, no similitude in' na- 

 ture, in habitudes, or disposition ; in short, nothing to fasten 

 the link that combines them, but the similitude in the teeth : 

 this, therefore, may be easily dispensed with ; and, as was 

 said, it will be most proper to class them according to their 

 most striking similitudes. 



The Hedgehog, with an appearance the most formidable, 

 is yet one of the most harmless animals in the world : unable 

 or unwilling to offend, all its precautions are only directed to 

 its own security ; and it is armed with a thousand points, to 

 keep off the enemy, but not to invade him. While other 

 creatures trust to their force, their cunning, or their swiftness, 

 this anknal, destitute of all, has but one expedient for safety ; 

 and from this alone it often finds protection. As soon as it 

 perceives itself attacked, it withdraws all its vulnerable parts, 

 rolls itself into a ball, and presents nothing but its defensive 

 thorns to the enemy ; thus, while it attempts to injure no 

 other quadruped, they are equally incapable of injuring it : 

 like those knights, we have somewhere read of, who were 

 armed in such a manner, that they could neither conquer 

 others, nor be themselves overcome. 



This animal is of two kinds : one with a nose like the snout 

 of a hog ; the other more short and blunt, like that of a dog. 

 That with the muzzle of a dog is the most commoiij being 

 about six inches in length, from the tip of the nose to the in- 

 sertion of the tail. The tail is little more than an inch long ; 



