544 EUROPEAN HEI>GEll£t&. 
this state of security it is not easily forced; 
scarcely any thing but cold water obliging it to 
unfold itself. It swims perfectly well when thrown 
into water. 
The Hedgehog is one of those animals which, 
during the winter^ are supposed to continue in a 
state of torpidity. In that season it lies con- 
cealed in its hole, surrounded with a bed of moss, 
secure from the rigours of the most piercing frost, 
and at the return of spring recommences its wan- 
derings. It is commonly said that the Hedge- 
A hog^ in order to transport apples and other fruit to 
its place of retirement, rolls itself upon them, and 
thus conveys them on its spines. Whether this 
be accurately true I will not take upon myself to 
determine: the circumstance is related by Aldro- 
vandus, who tells us that it practises this method 
of transporting grapes during the vintage. 
The Hedgehog may be rendered in a consider- 
able degree domestic, and has frequently been in- 
troduced into houses for the purpose of expelling 
those troublesome insects the Blattae or Cock- 
roaches, which it pursues with avidity, and is 
fond of feeding on. It is itself an occasional ar- 
ticle of food in some places, and is said to be best 
in the month of August: they are usually roast- 
ed ; and Gesner advises that they be first steeped 
(after skinning) in warm wine and vinegar, and 
then larded with bacon, and stuck with cloves: 
but Castor Durantes seems to approve rather of 
their being made into a pye with plenty of spice 
and seasoning, in order to obviate the bad qua- 
