THE HESOHHOn. 



the same tntli hydrocyanic acid and cantharides. More sin- 

 gular still, it can bear the bites of the most venomous snakes with- 

 out experiencing any ill effect. Dr. BucHand tested this property 

 of the hedgehog. In the same box he placed one of the animals 

 in question ■with a common snaJre. For a time the snake crept 

 about as though unaware of the hedgehog's presence, while the 

 latter experienced, or effected, the same ignorance of the close 

 proximity of its fanged enemy, and remained coiled np like a 

 ball. The hedgehog was then laid on the snake ; but still it 

 maintained its apathy till the snake moved slightly, when the 

 hedgehog untucked its head, and seeing — seemingly for the 

 first time — ^the snake, gave it a severe nip with its teeth, and 

 at once resumed its coiled-up attitude. Three times the snake 

 wriggled, and three times the hedgehog put out its head and 

 bit it — the third time so hard that the poor reptile's back was 

 broken. Its immediate behaviour, on finding that its enemy 

 was powerless, certainly went to contradict its previous assumed 

 indifference. It no longer remained coiled up, but waking to 

 sudden activity, it took the tail of the nnlucky snake in its 

 mouth and deliberately bit it from one end to the other, just 

 as Dr. Jenyns saw the worm served, only in this case the body 

 of the snake was too large to be contained iu the hedgehog's 

 mouth. Having mumbled the snake thoroughly, it began to 

 eat it, and by the next morning it was totally consumed. 



Another naturalist relates the case of a viper and a hedge- 

 hog being boxed up together. The hedgehog was the first to 

 commence hostilities, and the snake being irritated, rose up 

 and bit its assailant smartly on the under Up. The hedgehog 

 took little notice of the incident, but, after licking the wounded 

 spot once or twice, returned to the charge. At last it succeeded 

 in killing the viper; and, after having done so, ate its van- 

 quished enemy, beginning at the taU, and so working upwards. 



That the hedgehog is an hybemating animal is beyond dis- 

 pute, and may be said to be more completely so than even 

 the dormouse, for the latter will rouse a few times fi:om its 

 long sleep and partake of the store of food it has laid up ; but 

 in the case of the hedgehog, such hoarding is impracticable, on 

 account of its flesh-eating habit. It is a burrowing animal, 

 preferring crevices in rocky ground, or among the stones of some 

 mined building. Sometimes it bores itself a snug nest beneath 

 the roots of a tree, or, should the tree be hollow, it will have 

 no objection to take its abode within. Some hedgehogs are too 

 lazy to provide a house of their own building, and will take 



