178 
ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. 
dusky hue; but the under parts, mside of the limbs, 
fore part of the neck, and throat, are of a grayish white, 
^ with the exception of a darker band which crosses the 
breast in front of the fore legs. The spines commence 
upon the back of the head, where they are little more 
than an inch in length, and extend to the root of the 
tail, occupying nearly the whole of the back and sides. 
The longest are scarcely more than from four to five 
inches in length. They are mostly white at the base, 
and black towards the extremity, but many of them 
are black throughout, and others black above and white 
beneath. All of them are marked on the upper surface 
by a deep and broad groove running the whole of their 
length, and terminate in very sharp points. The skin 
in which they are implanted appears perfectly white, 
and where the spines are most numerous, is scarcely 
furnished with a single hair. A few slenderer spines 
running out into long black bristles are occasionally 
intermixed with the others. The greater part of the 
tail is bare both of hairs and spines, and covered only 
by flat blackish scales ; but its extremity is occupied 
by the tuft before mentioned, which is of a whitish 
colour, and about two inches in length. The entire 
length of the body in our specimen is little more than 
a foot, and that of the tail from four to five inches. 
The whiskers are very long ; the eyes small and black ; 
and the ears short, round, and naked. 
In common with the rest of its tribe the Fasciculated 
Porcupine sleeps during the day, and becomes in some 
degree active only on the approach of night. Its intel- 
ligence is equally limited, and its manners equally fret- 
ful, with those of the common species. Like it, it raises 
its spines when irritated or disturbed, stamps with its 
feet upon the floor of its cage, and swells and looks big 
in its defensive armour. 
