relative to the Habits of Animals, 19 



But it is not so well known that, like the Peccaries (Sus 

 Tajacu. Lin. Dicoti/les. Cuv.) these " hedge-pigs" will devour 

 serpents. That they will do so appears from the following inter- 

 esting communication, for which I am obliged to ray friend the 

 Rev. William Buckland, Professor of Geology in the University 

 of Oxford, and President of the Geological Society. 



Having occasion to suspect that Hedge-hogs, occasionally at 

 least, preyed on Snakes, the Professor procured a common snake 

 (coluber nutrix) and also a hedge-hog which had lived in an un- 

 domesticated state some time in the Botanic garden at Oxford, 

 where it was not likely to have seen snakes, and put the animals 

 into a box together. The hedge-hog was rolled up at their first 

 meeting : but the snake was in continual motion, creeping round the 

 box as if in order to make its escape. Whether or not it recognized 

 its enemy was not apparent ; it did not dart from the hedge-hog, 

 but kept creeping gently round the box; the hedge-hog remained 

 rolled up and did not appear to see the snake. The Professor then 

 laid the hedge-hog on the body of the snake, with that part of the 

 ball where the head and tail meet downwards, and touching it. 

 The snake proceeded to crawl, — the hedge-hog started, opened 

 slightly — and, seeing what was under it, gave the snake a hard 

 bite, and instantly rolled itself up again. It soon opened a se- 

 cond time, repeated the bite, then closed as if for defence ; 

 opened carefully a third time, and then inflicted a third bite, by 

 which the back of the snake was broken. This done, the hedge- 

 hog stood by the snake's side, and passed the whole body of the 

 snake successively through its jaws, cracking it, and breaking the 

 bones at intervals of half an inch or more ; by which operation 

 the snake was rendered entirely motionless. The hedge-hog 

 then placed itself at the tip of the snake's tail, and began to eat 

 upwards, as one would eat a radish, without intermission, but 

 slowly, till half of the snake was devoured, when the hedge-hog 

 ceased from mere repletion. During the following night the an- 

 terior half of the snake was also completely eaten up. 



Here we have evidence that the hedge-hog feeds on roots, fruits, 

 insects, and snakes : in fact, that it is an omnivorous animal. 



The next memoir which I shall notice, is contained in a letter 



B 2 



