THE AFRICAN PORCUPINE. 
HysTRIX CRISTATA. Linn. 
AtTHOUGH the Rodent order, next to the Carnivorous, is 
the most numerous in species, the Porcupine is the only 
animal belonging to it which is at present contained in 
the Menagerie. The animals of this division, consisting 
chiefly of “rats and mice and such small deer,” have 
indeed, with some few exceptions, so little of interest for 
the mere casual visiter of an exhibition, that it is rarely 
that they are sought after unless by the scientific col- 
lector. ‘They are at once distinguished from the Carni- 
vora by the total absence of canine teeth; and have 
uniformly two incisors in each jaw, projecting forwards 
and generally of considerable size, separated from a 
variable number of grinders by a vacant space. 
From the other animals of the order the Porcupines 
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