FAMILY HYSTRICHLE. 
77 
FAMILY V. HYSTRICIDJE. 
Clavicles rudimentary or none. Body armed with rigid sharp spines, intermixed with hair. 
Molars sixteen ; their summits flat, with ridges of enamel. Tail various, sometimes armed 
with spines. Tongue with spiny scales. 
Obs. This group, which is founded on the old genus Hystrix, comprises' five genera, 
founded on the predominance of hair or spines, and the shape and armature of the tail. 
GENUS HYSTRIX. Linneus. 
Head robust, short, with an obtuse snout and cleft upper lip. Ears short and rounded. 
Eyes small. Anterior feet with four toes, posterior with five, all armed with robust curved 
claws. Spines nearly, concealed in the hair. Tail prehensile. 
THE NORTH AMERICAN PORCUPINE. 
Hystrix hddsonius. 
plate XXVI. FIG. 1. —PLATE VIII. FIG. 2, a, B, c. Teeth and Skull. 
Hystrix hudsonius. Brisson, Regnum Animale, p. 128. 
H. dorsata. Lin. 12 Ed. p. 57. 
Canada Porcupine. Penn. Arct. Zool. Vol. 1, p. 109. 
H. dorsata. Erxleben, p. 345. 
H. cristata. Loskiel, p. 84. 
Canada Porcupine. Sabine, Franklin’s Journey, p. 664. 
Erethizon dorsatum. F. Cuv. Mem. Mus. Vol. 9, p. 413. 
Canada Porcupine. Cozzens, Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. New-York, Vol. I, p. 190. Godman, Am. Nat. Hist. Vol. 2, p. 150, 
figure. 
Hystrix pilosus. Richardson, F. B. A. Vol. 1, p. 214. Doughty, Cab. Nat. Hist. Vol. 1, p. 241, pi. 21. Griffith, 
Rdgne Animal of Cuvier, Vol. 3, p. 206, figure. 
Porcupine. Emmons, Mass. Report, 1840, p. 71. 
Characteristics. Varying from dull brown to black. Tail moderate, thick, prehensile. Length 
two to three feet. 
Description. Body robust, thickset, with its dorsal outline arched. Head moderate, conic, 
with the nose truncated, broad, and flattened above. Ears short and rounded, almost entirely 
hidden in the fur. Eyes small and black. Legs very short, with oval palms on the fore feet; 
four very short toes, armed with long, curved, compressed, blackish claws, grooved beneath, 
the outer somewhat the smaller. Hind feet with five subequal claws. Fur long and coarse, 
especially on the back, sides and posterior parts. The great and striking peculiarity of this 
animal consists in the quills or spines, which arc intermixed with the hair, capable of being 
erected at the will of the animal, and are so loosely adherent as to be detached upon the 
slightest touch. These are cylindrical, tapering at both ends to an acute point. They vary 
