HEDGEHOG KIND. 217 



the back ; and likewise when the hand is taken 

 away, they stick so fast as to follow it. They 

 make their nest under the roots of great trees, 

 sleep very much, and chiefly feed upon the bark 

 of the juniper. In winter the snow serves them 

 for drink, and in summer they lap water like a 

 dog. They are very common in the country 

 lying to the east of Hudson's Bay ; and several 

 of the trading Americans depend on them for 

 food at some seasons of the year. 



CHAPTER VI. 



OF QUADRUPEDS COVERED WITH SCALES OR SHELLS 

 INSTEAD OF HAIR.* 



WHEN we talk of a quadruped, the name seems 

 to imply an animal covered with hair ; when we 

 mention a bird, it is natural to conceive a crea- 

 ture covered with feathers ; when we hear of a 

 fish, its scales are generally the first part that 

 strikes our imagination. Nature, however, owns 

 none of our distinctions ; various in all her opera- 

 tions, she mixes her plans, groups her pictures, 

 and excites our wonder as well by her general 

 laws as by her deviations. Quadrupeds, which 

 we have considered as making the first general 

 class in animated nature, and, next to man, the 



* This chapter is chiefly extracted from M. Buffon, which I mention at 

 once, to save the trouble of repeated quotation. 



