ORDER RODENTIA. 207 



It makes its retreat under the roots of trees, and is very- 

 unwilling to be wetted. It sleeps a great deal, and lives 

 principally on bark. It drinks in summer, and in winter 

 swallows the snow. It makes a slight mewing kind of 

 noise. 



Its flesh is said to taste like that of the pig, and is eafen 

 by the American Indians, who also use the fur, after having 

 plucked out the spines, which serve in the stead of pins. 



The Baron includes, among the species selected for spe- 

 cific characters in the text, the Hystrix Fasciculaius of Lin- 

 naeus ; the Brush-tailed Porcupine of Shaw, and Malacca 

 Porcupine of Buffon. A more complete description of this 

 species is a desideratum. It has been referred to the divi- 

 sion of Spiny Rats, instead of that of Porcupines, by M. 

 Desmarest after M. de Blainville ; but as Cuvier places it 

 with the Porcupine, we shall insert a short notice of it here. 



The head of this species is described by Buffon, as more 

 elongated than that of the Porcupine, consequently it is more 

 allied to the Rats in this particular : the muzzle is covered 

 with black skin ; the eyes are black and small ; the ears 

 small and round ; the moustache five or six inches long; the 

 back and ^ides covered with long strong spines of a flat 

 form, with a flute or furrow along each side. Most of these 

 spines are white at the point, and black about midway of 

 their length, others are black on the upper side, and white 

 underneath ; the lower parts of the animal are covered 

 with whitish hairs, but the legs have g£ few that are black ; 

 the tail is moderate in length, round, naked and scaly, for 

 the greater part of its length, but toward the point is a 

 bundle of long flat excrescences, similar to strips of parch- 

 merit. The head and body are about eighteen inches in 

 length. 



The specimens of this species which have been seen in 

 captivity were untameable. They erected their spines when 

 irritated, in the manner of the Common Porcupine. They 



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