82 



Notes and Comments. 



selves ; nor let it be supposed, that while I thus alter this 

 arrangement and separate them from animals with which they 

 have been formerly combined, that I am destroying any secret 

 affinities that exist in Nature.' 



OF TWO KINDS. 



' The hedgehog, with an appearance the most formidable, 

 is yet one of the most harmless animals in the world : unable 

 or willing to offend, all its precautions are only directed to its 

 own security ; and it is armed with a thousand points, to 

 keep off an enemy, but not to invade him .... This animal 

 is of two kinds ; one with a nose like the snout of a hog ; 

 the other more short and blunt, like that of a dog. That with 

 the muzzle of a dog is the most common .... They sleep 



^^virhout Bristles 



away the winter, and what is said of their laying up provisions 

 for that season is consequently false. They at no time eat 

 much, and can remain very long without any food whatsoever. 

 Their blood is cold, like all other animals that sleep during the 

 winter. Their flesh is not good for food ; and their skins 

 are converted to scarce any use, except to muzzle calves, to 

 keep them from sucking.' 



ANCIENT NATURAL HISTORY. 



The above, together with much other information, some 

 quaint, some trustworthy, some neither, is the sort of natural 

 history that was published just over a century ago. The 

 description appears towards the end of Volume IL, and the 

 illustration, which we reproduce herewith, appears on a plate 

 at the front of Volume L, though a good index enables the 

 description to be traced. No reference whatever is made in 

 the text to the ' Hedge Hog ivithout Bristles.' 



Naturalist, 



