64 MAMMALIA. 



Some have long incisors in front, followed by other incisors and 

 canini, all even shorter than the molars, a kind of dentition of 

 which tlie Tarsiers, among the Quadrumana, have already given us 

 an example, and which somewhat approximates these animals to the 

 Rodentia. Others have large separated canini, between which are 

 placed small incisors, the most usual disposition of these parts among 

 the Quadrumana and the Carnaria; and these two systems of dental 

 arrangement are found in genera, otherwise very similar in the te- 

 guments, shape of the limbs, and mode of life. 



Erinaceus, Lin. 



The body of the Hedgehog is covered with spines instead of hairs. The 

 skin of the back is furnished with such muscles, as, by inclining the head 

 and feet towards the abdomen, enable the animal to shut himself up in it, 

 as in a purse, presenting his spines on all sides to the enemy. The tail is 

 very short, and there are five toes to each foot. There ai'e six incisors in 

 each jaw, the middle ones being the longest, and on each side three false 

 molars, three bristled with points, and a small one studded with tu- 

 bercles(l). 



E. europseus, L. ; Buff. (The Common Hedgehog.) Ears short; com- 

 mon in the woods and hedges; passes the winter in its burrow. To 

 Insects, which constitute its ordinary diet, it adds fruit, by which at a cer- 

 tain age its teeth become worn. The skin was formerly used to dress 

 hemp. 



Centenes, Illig. 

 The body of the Tenrec is covered with spines like the Hedgehog. It 

 does not however possess the faculty of rolling itself so completely into a 

 ball: there is no tail; the muzzle is very pointed, and the teeth are very 

 different. There are four or six incisors, and two great canini in each 

 jaw. Behind the canini are one or two small teeth, and four triangular and 

 bristled molars. Three species are found in Madagascar, the first of which 

 has been naturalized in the Isle of France. It is a nocturnal animal, which 

 passes three months of the year in a state of lethargy, although inhabiting 

 the torrid zone. Brugiere even assures us that it is during the greatest 

 heats that they grow torpid. 



Erinaceus ecaudatus, L. (The Tenrec.) Covered with stiff spines; only 

 four notched incisors below. It is the largest of the three, and exceeds 

 the Hedgehog in size. 



(1) Pallas has noted as an interesting fact, that the Hedgehog eats hun- 

 dreds of Cantharides without inconvenience, while a single one produces 

 the most horrible agony in tlie Dog and the Cat. 



