NATURALISTS CABINET. 



Casting their quills Bezoar stones. 



it for above four months, during one of 

 which he was confined to his bed. 



When moulting, or casting their quills, these 

 animals sometimes shake them off with such 

 force, that they will fly to the distance of several 

 yards, and even bend their points against any 

 hard substance they happen to strike. This cir- 

 cumstance may probably have given rise to the 

 report of its darting its quills against an enemy. 

 Professor Thunberg, in his Second Voyage to 

 the Island Matura, in the Indian ocean, informs 

 us, that the porcupine has a very curious method 

 of fetching water for its young. The quills in 

 the tail are said to be hollow, and to have a hole 

 at the extremity. These the animal can bend in 

 such a manner, that they can be filled with wa- 

 ter, which is afterwards discharged in the nest 

 among the young. 



Their stomachs are frequently found to con- 

 tain bezoar stones. These are composed of a 

 very fine hair, which has concreted with the 

 juices of the stomach : they have one layer over 

 another, so that they consist of several rings of 

 different colours. Professor Thunberg describes 

 them as of the size of a hen's egg, and generally 

 blunt at one end ; but one that he saw was as 

 large as a goose's egg, perfectly globular, and of 

 a brown colour. 



The female produces one or two at a birth, 

 which she suckles about a month. These she 

 defends with the utmost resolution against all 



