THE CANADIAN PORCUPINE, OR URSON. 



575 



animal not more formidable than a cat, sprang upon it with open mouth. The Porcupine 

 seemed to swell up in an instant to nearly double its size, and as the dog pounced upon 

 it, it dealt him such a sidewise blow with its tail, as to cause the mastiff to relinquish 

 his hold instantly, and set up a loud howl in an agony of pain. His mouth, tongue, and 

 nose were full of Porcupine quills. He could not close his jaws, but hurried, open- 

 mouthed, off the premises. It proved to him a lesson for life, as nothing could ever 

 afterwards induce him to revisit a place where he had met with such an unneighborly 

 reception. Although the servants immediately extracted the spines from the mouth of 



COENDOO, OR BRAZILIAN PORCUPINE. Cferco/A&es prehensllis. 



the dog, we observed that his head was terribly swelled for several weeks afterwards, 

 and it was months before he finally recovered." 



The victorious Urson did not long survive the affray, for as the summer weather ap- 

 proached, it betrayed unmistakable signs of distress, and finally died of heat. A 

 similar anecdote is recorded of an Urson, which took a sudden umbrage at the atten- 

 tions of a person who was attempting to caress it, and unexpectedly dealt him such a 

 blow with its tail that his offending right hand was instantly covered with wounds. 



The Urson is not so fully defended with spines as the two preceding animals, but is 



