us MA?,IMALLV. 



aiinulated black and white ; there is a crest of lon,2: hristlcs on its heaa and neck. Its tail is short, and furnished 

 with hollow truncated tubes suspended by slender pedicles, which make a rattliii;^; sound when the animal shakes 

 tlieni. Its cranium and muzzle are sing-ularly convex. There are other species not very dilferent, but with the 

 head less convex, inhabiting India and Afi'ica. [Tin.-se constitute the Acantldon of M. !■'. Cuvier : the //. hirsutl- 

 rottrisy Brandt, is however intermediate.] 



^ye separate from the true Porcupines 



The Atherures {Athcrura, Cuv.),— 

 The bend and muzzle of whioli are not innatcJ, aud the tail long, Init not prehensile; their feet are 

 simiha' to those of the preceding. 



The Pencil-tailed Athcnire {Ili/st. fasdnilntn, Lin.)— The <pii!|s on the body furrnwril with a ;]:roovf in front, 

 and the tad teriLiiiiated by a banOleof IlatU'iied liorny ^liii-s, constricted at inter\als. [lidiubits India and ^Malacca.] 



The Ursons (Ercthizou., F. Cuv.), — 

 Have a flat cranium, and short muzzle which is not convex: their tail is of middle length, and the 

 spines short and half-hidden in the hair. 



One species only is known, from [the Atlantic side of] North America (ITi/st. dorsafa, Lin.). [The E. epixan- 

 thus, Brandt, from the western side of the same continent, appears to be another. These animals produce but 

 one youn;^^ at a birth.] 



The Coexdous {Si/jicfhcres, F. Cuv. [Cercolalcs-, Erandt] ). 

 ]\Inz7de short and tiiirk; the heafl cnnvcx almve ; (juills iluul ; aud the tail, in particular, long, 

 naked at the tip, aud prehensile, as in a Sa]iajuu or Opossum. Tlicy climb trees, and have only four 

 tues on each foot. 



In the warm parts of North America, there is a species with black and white spines, and brown-black fur 

 (ff}/st. prc/ieusilis, Lin.); and a smaller kind in South America (H. im-idiosa, Licht.), the prickles of which are 

 partly red or yellow, and hidden durint^ part of the year by its long greyish-brown fur. [M. d'Orbig-ny is of 

 opinion that these constitute but one species. In Brandt's memoir on the Porcupines, however, they are referred 

 to different subLrenera, after M. F. Cuvier ; the first, with the addition of another (6'. plati/ccn/rofu-i-), to iSi/nethereg 

 as restricted, the other, with two more species ('V. Jiiyricans and i'-^'- oiTini-s), to a subdivision ^phiggurns. 



The Aulacodon {Aulacodu^, Tern.) 

 Incisors very hroad, the up[)cr farrowed with two grooves, and a third at their inner margin : four 

 molars as in the preceding, those of the upper jaw ^vith a single deep fold of enamel Avithin, and two 

 without, excepting the anterior, which has three ; in the lower jaw, the outer margin has only one 

 fold, and tlie inner two. Tlicre are hvc toes hefore and four behind, ami some llattcued sinaes 

 mingled \vith t!ie i'ur. The furm is that of a Kat, with tlie molars of a Porcupine. 

 A, ■•,irin<((.rUinus, Tcm., is the nidy kiio\\n species, from the Eastern .Vrchipelago]. 



The ll.JiRES {Lfjius, Lin.) — 

 Have a vetT' distinctive character, in their superior incisors hcing double; tliat is to say, there is 

 another of small size behind cacli of lhenr'~ [m-, in oilier wiu'ds, twn genuine ijicisivc teeth are present 

 in tiiese aninials, po.Nterior to the ordinaiy representatives of the tusks or canines]. Their molars, live 

 in nuraljer above and below, are each of them formed of two vertical lamina; soldered together, and in 

 the upper jaw there is a sLxth, simple and very small. They have live Iocs before, and four behind ; 

 an enormous ccecum, live or six. times the size of the stomach, and lined internally with a spiral layer 

 liinmghout its whole length. The interior of llicir mouth and tlic under part of their feet are covered 

 wiih hair like the rest of llie body. 



The Hares, properly so called {Lejiua, Cuv.), — 

 Are distinguished by their long ears, short tad, hind-feet much longer than the fore, imperfect clavi- 

 cles, and antorbitai Sjjacc in the cranium widely pierced and reticulated. There are numerous species 

 in both hemispheres, wiiicb tVuin their resemblance are dittieult to characterize. 



[Four (iccur in the British i.slands. The Common Hare {L. limnhis, Lin.), with yellowisli-brown fur, which lias 

 a tendency to curl ; thf li-isli Hai'e [L, h'd-i-n-i'n-Ks)^ with slioi'tcr limbs and eai's, and siiHinth ri.'ddisb I'ur, of very 



- TI1..TC is evL'ii a iiLTlod wliuLi Uk'V mc,. t,lii.>.lfliii!; llirir teeth, iluriiii,' v,liii;li Uny ,ir>l"-i'r to luiVi; llirc,.' ymr uf »\^\n■T mci;;oL-s, one behind 



