400 
VERTEBRATA. 
THE FASCICULATED PORCUPINE. THE CANADA POEOUPINB 
The differences between this species and the common Porcupine are obvious at the first glance. 
Its general color is nearly the same, but with less intermixture of brown. The upper parts of the 
body, the outer sides of the limbs, and the head, neck, and face, are of this dusky hue ; but the 
Tinder parts, inside 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 com- 
mence npon 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, and extend to the root of the tail, occnpying nearly 
the whole of the back and sides. They are mostly white at the base and black toward the ex- 
tremity, but many of them are black throughout, and othei-s black above and Avhite beneath. All 
of them are marked on the upper surface by a deep and broad groove running the whole of theh 
length, and terminate in very sharp points. The skin in which they are implanted appears per- 
fectly white, and where the spines are most numerous is scarcely furnished with a single hair. A 
few slenderer spines, running 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, disposed in rings, the tip alone being surmounted by a tuft, or fascicle^ or bundle of long 
flat bristles, having the form neither of hairs nor of quills, but bearing a close resemblance to par- 
row slips of parchment cut in an irregular manner. This tuft or fascicle is of a whitish color, and 
about two inches in length. The entire lengtli of the body in a specimen lately at the Zoological 
Gardens of London was little more than a foot, and that of the tail from four to five inches. The 
whiskers were very long; the eyes small and black, and the ears short, round, and naked. Like 
the rest of its tribe, this species sleeps during the day, and becomes in some degree active only 
on the approach of night. Its intelligence is equally limited, and its manners equally fretful with 
those of the common species, like which, 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 armor. It is found 
in the Celebes Islands, and the Isles of the Indian Archipelago, 
