INSEOT-EATEES. 97 



dent, that wHoh corresponds to it in the opposite jaw, being no 

 longer worn away by use, increases to a great length. Their feet 

 are furnished with toes and nails, and their hind legs are stronger 

 and longer than their fore legs j so that frequently they leap better 

 than they run. Of this order, among others, are the beaver, the 

 squirrel, the dormouse, the marmot, the hamster, the mouse and 

 rat, the jerboa, the various species of hare and rabbit, and the 

 porcupine. 



The Edentata, or toothless animals, so called from the ab- 

 sence of the incisive, and sometimes also of the canine and grind- 

 ing teeth. Their toes are terminated by very large, thick, and 

 strong claws, which approach in some degree to the nature of hoofs. 

 The animals of this order are likewise remarkable for a great 

 degree of torpor, listlessness, and indisposition to motion ; but some 

 more than others. The sloth, the ant-eater, and armadillo, are 

 among them ; and of each of these there are several species. 



The Marsupiala, or pouched animals, have usually been 

 distributed among those orders of the class Mammalia, to which 

 they bear, in some particulars, the closest resemblance. Thus the 

 Kangaroo has been enumerated among the Eodentia, because it 

 resembles them in its teeth, and the length and strength of its hind 

 legs. The Opossum has been ranked among the Carnivora, and 

 the Ornithorhynchus among the Edentata for a similar reason. 

 But so peculiar and remarkable is the structure of these animals, 

 apd so singular their mode of nourishing their young, that it will 

 be far more intelligible and interesting to the student of natural 

 history, to have them placed together, and described as belonging 

 to a single order. 



insect-eaters. 



The Hedgehog, the size of which varies from six to ten 

 inches, has the power of defending itself from an enemy with- 

 out combating him, and of annoying without attacking him. Pos- 

 sessed of little strength, and of no agility by which it might escape 

 its foes, it has received from Nature a prickly armor, with a facility 

 of rolling itself up in a ball, and of presenting from every part 

 9 o 



