166 CLASS MAMMALIA. 



being, the hurtful from the advantageous. Why the Hedge- 

 hog, therefore, should be thus peculiarly favoured by nature, 

 is a question which apparently we have no means of re- 

 solving. It is not included, most probably, in the circle of 

 proximate causes, the only ones which can fo?m the legiti- 

 mate objects of human knowledge, and which are placed 

 within the reach of human ability. 



The nature and constitution of the Hedgehog are obvious 

 to an observer at his very first glance at the animal. Its 

 heavy form, short limbs, and plantigrade motion, indicate 

 at once the small proportion of its agility, the weakness 

 of its intelligence, and the obscurity of its mode of exist- 

 ence. The animal, in fact, is almost always in a state 

 of concealment. It is usually found at the foot of trees, 

 in those hollows left between them by the roots, and for 

 which the moss forms a slight and second covering, or 

 else in the vacuums which are found in heaps of rocks 

 or stones, or in deserted rabbit-holes. In retreats like 

 these it passes its gloomy days, and never sallies from 

 its obscure abode until the congenial shades of night 

 approach. It then proceeds, with a slow and measured 

 pace, in search of its food, which principally consists of 

 snails, worms, and other animals of the same description. 

 It also feeds on sweet and succulent fruits ; but it is not 

 true, as has been most absurdly asserted, that it carries 

 them off upon its prickles. This supposition is not merely 

 devoid of truth, but even of probability ; for the animal 

 could have no means of detaching the fruits which were 

 thus fastened on its thorns. It is also during the obscurity 

 of night that the Hedgehogs seek to satisfy their sexual 

 wants. They have the faculty of lowering their prickles, 

 and of smoothing them to a level with their body, so as to 

 be able to perform many operations without the least diffi- 

 culty, which would be out of their power if the prickles 

 were always rectangular with the body. 



It is in the commencement of Spring that the want of 



