200 FAMILY ERINACEAD^E ; HEDGEHOGS. 



astonishing firmness in the tough, leathery skin, forms not only 

 a solid shield to protect it from the effect of blows or falls, but 

 a shirt of prickly mail sufficiently sharp and annoying to deter 

 all but a few thorough-bred Dogs, or a half-starved Fox, from 

 venturing to attack it. Immediately that it is touched, or that 

 it sees any danger approaching, it rolls itself up into a compact 

 round ball, and presents this impenetrable panoply, beset by 

 innumerable spines standing out in every direction ; and the 

 more it is irritated or alarmed, the more firmly it contracts, and 

 the more strongly and stiffly the spines are set. The strength 

 and elasticity of this covering is such, that I have repeatedly 

 seen a domesticated Hedgehog in my own possession run towards 

 the precipitous walls of an area, and, without hesitation, without 

 a moment's pause of preparation, throw itself off, contracting 

 at the same time into a ball, in which condition it reached the 

 ground from a height of 12 or 14 feet ; after a few moments it 

 would unfold itself and run off unhurt." The food of the Hedge- 

 hog in its natural state consists of insects, slugs, frogs, toads, 

 mice, and even snakes, which last it destroys with great 

 dexterity; it also devours eggs, young nestlings, and various 

 kinds of vegetable matter, for some of which it will bore with 

 its long snout. Its fondness for insects occasions it to be kept in 

 many houses in London, for the purpose of ridding the kitchens 

 of the innumerable hosts of cockroaches, by which they are 

 infested. It is easily rendered familiar, but does not manifest 

 any peculiar degree of intelligence. The hybernation of the 

 Hedgehog is very complete ; the whole winter being passed by 

 it in a state of complete torpidity. It makes its retreat in banks, 

 under the hollow roots of trees, in holes, or other sheltered and 

 convenient places, constructing a sort of nest or bed of grasses, 

 dried leaves, and moss, with which it covers itself very closely. 

 The Tenrecs of Madagascar and the Mauritius closely resemble 

 the Hedgehog in their general characters; but differ in their 

 dentition, as also in the feebleness of their spines, and in the less 

 complete power of rolling themselves into a ball. Their habits 

 seem to resemble those of the common Hedgehog ; but they are 

 active only when the temperature is extremely high. They 



