ANIMALS OF THE 



porcupine with the hare, as some have done, it is 

 much more natural and obvious to place them, 

 and others approaching them in this strange pe- 

 culiarity, in a class by themselves : nor let it be 

 supposed, that while I thus alter their arrange- 

 ment, and separate them from animals with which 

 they have been formerly combined, that I am de- 

 stroying any secret affinities that exist in nature. 

 It is 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 connexion, 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 nature, in habitudes, or disposi- 

 tion ; 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 ani- 

 mals in the world : unable or unwilling to offend, 

 all its precautions are only directed to its own se- 

 curity j 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 animal, destitute 

 of all, has but one expedient for safety j and from 

 this alone it often finds protection. As soon as. 



