446 THE HEDGEHOG. 



Hedgehog's skin upon the calf's muzzle, so that when it goes to suckle its mother it 

 causes such irritation that she will not permit her offspring to approach, and drives it 

 away as often as it attempts to effect its purpose. It is also used in order to cure car- 

 riage-horses of the troublesome habit of " boring " to one side while being driven, for 

 when fixed on the pole or the traces it gives the animal such effectual reminders when- 

 ever it begins to " bore," that it soon learns to pull straight, and thus to avoid the un- 

 pleasant aids to memory that bristle at its side. Even to scientific pursuits the Hedge- 

 hog's quills are made to render its services, being used as pins whereby certain anatom- 

 ical preparations displayed in spirits of wine, and which are not liable to that provok- 

 ing rust which is so apt to attack metallic pins when immersed in spirits, and which 

 often render the most elaborate dissections perfectly useless. 



Another purpose to which the Hedgehog's skin was formerly applied was the hack- 

 ling of hemp before it was made up into coarse cloth. This custom was followed by the 

 ancient Romans, but is now obsolete, being superseded by artificial instead of natural 

 combs. 



The under surface of the body, together with the limbs, is covered with long bristles 

 and undulating soft hair, which passes rather abruptly into the stiff quills that 

 defend the back, and is so long that it almost conceals the limbs when the animal is 

 walking on level ground. In the adult animal the quills are hard and shining, they 

 thickly cover the entire back and top of the head, and are of grayish-white color, diver- 

 sified with a blackish-brown ring near the middle. In the young animal, however, the 

 spines are comparatively few in number, very soft in texture, and nearly white in color, 

 so that for the first few days of their life the little creatures look like balls of white hair. 



The tail of the adult Hedgehog is scarcely visible, being hidden by the bristling quills 

 which exceed its length by nearly one-fourth. In the young animal, however, the tail is 

 apparent enough, as there are, yet, no quills to conceal it, and it is carried nearly in a 

 line with the length of the body. The total length of a full-grown Hedgebog is rather 

 more than ten inches, the length of the tail being only three quarters of an inch, and 

 that of the head three inches. The ears are moderately long in their dimensions, being 

 about an inch in length. 



The young of the Hedgehog are born about May, and are so unlike the parents that 

 they have been mistaken for young birds by inexperienced observers. It is a very 

 singular fact, and one which is almost if not entirely, unique, that not only are they 

 born with their eyes closed, as is the case with kittens, puppies, and many other animals 

 but with their ears closed also. The soft white quills which present so curious an 

 appearance as they lie upon the transparent pink skin, very soon begin to deepen in 

 their color, and to increase in number, so that about the end of August the little animals 

 resemble their parents in everything but size. The number of young which are pro- 

 duced at a birth is from three to four. 



The nest in which the little Hedgehogs are produced and nurtured is most ingenious 

 in its structure, being so admirably woven of moss and similar substances, and so 

 well thatched with leaves that it will resist the effects of the violent showers that 

 generally fall during the spring, remaining perfectly dry in the midst of the sharpest 

 rain. 



Marching securely under the guardianship of its thorn-spiked armor, the Hedgehog 

 recks little of any foe save man. For, with this single exception, there are, in our land at 

 least, no enemies that need be dreaded by so well-protected an animal. Dogs, foxes, 

 and cats are the only creatures which possess the capability of killing and eating the 

 Hedgehog, and of these foes it is very little afraid. For dogs are but seldom abroad 

 at night while the Hedgehog is engaged in its nocturnal quest after food ; and the fox 

 would not be foolish enough to waste its time and prick its nose in weary endeavors to 

 force its intended prey out of its defences. Cats, too, are even less adapted to such a 

 proceeding than dogs and foxes. 



It is indeed said that the native cunning of the fox enables it to overreach the 

 Hedgehog, and to induce it to unroll itself by an ingenious, but I fear apocryphal process. 

 Reynard is said, whenever he finds a coiled-up Hedgehog, to roll it over and over with 

 his paw towards some runnel, pond, or puddle, and then to souse it unexpectedly into the 



