THE CRESTED PORCUPINE. 
173 
hinder feet their number is five, and they are all of 
nearly equal size. The claws are short, thick, and 
formed for digging, a structure intimately connected 
with the habits of the animals, which live under ground 
in burrows of their own formation. The tail is ex- 
tremely short, and the whiskers numerous and of great 
length. 
The common species is almost indiscriminately spoken 
of as the Italian or African Porcupine, the former name 
indicating the country in which it is most commonly 
found at the present day, and the latter that from which 
it is recorded by the subterranean naturalist Agricola 
to have been originally imported into Europe. When 
full grown it measures nearly two feet in length, and 
some of its longest spines exceed a foot. Its general 
colour is a grizzled dusky black, resulting from an 
intermixture of various shades of white, brown, and 
black. The upper part of its head and neck is fur- 
nished with a crest of long lighter coloured hairs capable 
of being raised or depressed at pleasure. The hair on 
the muzzle and limbs is very short ; on the latter it 
becomes almost black. On the neck, shoulders, and 
under parts, it has a brownish hue, and is of consider- 
able length : a whitish band traverses the fore part and 
sides of the neck. All the remaining parts of the back 
and sides, including the rump and upper parts of the 
hinder legs, are armed with spines, which are longest 
on the centre of the back. These spines are in the 
middle almost of the thickness of a goose-quill, sup- 
ported at the base by a slender pedicel, and terminating 
in very sharp points. They are striated longitudinally 
and marked by alternate rings of black and white of an 
inch or more in breadth. Their usual position is lying 
nearly flat upon the body with their points directed 
backwards ; but when the animal is excited they are 
