36 THE BRITISH MAMMALS I THEIR GENERA AND SPECIES. 



we can but pity the poor artists. Probably that mythical monster 

 was arrived at by confusing this with the fish dolphin, Coryphana 

 hippurus, and combining, from hearsay, the peculiarities of both, 

 without looking at either. 



Erinaceus. Plate iv. INSECT1VORA. 



16. europaus, HEDGEHOG. Coat spiny ; tail short 



The Hedgehog is so-called from the pig-like muzzle, which is 

 longer than the short, oval ears. The neck is short and the tail 

 short, so that the animal can tuck in its legs, head, and tail, and 

 roll itself up into a ball of spines. In the upper jaw there are 

 three incisor teeth, one canine, three premolars, and three 

 molars ; in the lower are two incisors, a canine, two premolars, 

 and three molars, making ten above and eight below, or 



HEDGEHOG. 

 (Erinaceus euro fans.} 



thirty-six in all ; the largest in the upper jaw being the 

 front incisors, which are nearly twice as long as the others, and have 

 quite a gap between them. A smaller gap separates the third 

 incisor from the canine, which it somewhat resembles in size and 

 shape. The second incisor is not so large. In the lower jaw the 

 incisors are also long and prominent. In the European hedgehog 

 the canine has but one root ; in the other hedgehogs it has two. 

 There are five toes on each foot, the first being the shortest, and on each 

 sole are five callosities, two on theheel, one underthe fifth toe. andtwo 

 extending beneath the other toes. The young are generally born in 

 July or August, and are blind and unable to roll themselves up. 

 The spines are then short and colourless, but grow to their full size 

 within a year, when they become whitish with a broad brown band 

 round the middle. They are striated lengthwise, and are attached 

 by a rounded root, which gives them great freedom of movement. 

 The body is rolled up, and the spines radiated by the panniculits 

 carnosus muscle, which starts from the sides of the head, and forms 

 a loop round the region of the tail. The spines are about an inch 

 in length, and the tail is not much longer than one of them. The 



