ER1 
EQU 
skill and fame, have become a source of 
corresponding profit to their owners. See 
Mammalia, Plate XI. fig. 3. 
E. zebra, or the zebra, is somewhat 
larger than the ass, and far more elegant in 
its form, particularly with respect to the 
head and ears. It is either of a milk white 
or cream colour, adorned on every part 
with brownish-black stripes, running trans- 
versely on the limbs and body, and longi- 
tudinally on the face, and arranged with 
exquisite order, and attended with extreme 
brilliancy and beauty. These animals inha- 
bit in Africa from Ethiopia to the Cape of 
Good Hope, between which they exist in 
vast herds, possessing much of the habits 
of the wild horse and ass, Like them they 
are extremely vigilant, and extremely fleet, 
and so fearful of the sight of man, that, on 
his first appearance, they fly off with all 
possible rapidity. They are of an untract- 
able temper, and the attempts which have 
been made to domesticate them, have in no 
instance been attended with complete suc- 
cess. Even when taken young, and brought 
up with particular assiduity, they have yet 
exhibited a disposition so wild and vicious, 
as to give little hope that this beautiful race 
of creatures will ever eventually be of great 
service to mankind. Our slight acquaint- 
ance, however, with them would render a 
positive decision to this purpose exceed- 
ingly premature. Should the zebra ever be 
made safely and easily convertible to the 
same purposes as the horse, an elegant 
variety would be added to the luxuries of 
the great and opulent. See Mammalia, 
Plate XI. fig. 4. 
E. quagga is marked with fewer stripes 
than the zebra, and those few of a browner 
colour and larger size. The hinder parts of 
this animal are not striped, but spotted. 
It is found in Africa, is gregarious, ex- 
tremely fleet, and more tractable than the 
last species, so much so indeed, that by 
the Dutch settlers at the Cape, it has been 
occasionally employed for the purposes 
both of draught and saddle. The same 
parts of Africa abound both in the quagga 
and the zebra, but the two species are ne- 
ver seen together. 
E. bisulcus, or the huemel, is a native of 
South America, particularly of the rugged 
districts of the Andes. It resembles the 
ass in general form, and the horse in voice, 
and in the smallness and neatness of its 
ears ; it is distinguished from both, and 
from every other known species of the 
equine genus, by having a divided hoof, 
and constitutes a link between the cloven- 
hoofed and whole-hoofed quadrupeds. 
ERECTOR. See Anatomy. 
ERICA, in botany, heath, a genus of the 
Octandria Monogynia class and order. Na- 
tural order of Bicornes. Ericae, Jussieu. 
Essential character : calyx four-leaved ; co- 
rolla four-cleft ; filaments inserted into the 
receptacle ; anthers cloven ; capsule four- 
celled. There are eighty-four species. These 
are small shrubs. Their leaves are linear, 
lanceolate or ovate, imbricate or remote, 
entire, ciliate or serrate, in some opposite, 
in most whorled, in others again scattered ; 
bractes Usually three ; the flowers are 
either axillary or terminating, and variously 
disposed ; corolla mostly of a purple colour ; 
anthers usually oblong, though sometimes 
linear ; germ in most species smooth. 
ERIDANUS, in astronomy, a constel- 
lation of the southern hemisphere ; contain- 
ing, according to different authors, 19, 30, 
or even 68 stars. 
ERIGERON, in botany, a genus of the 
Syngenesia Polygamia Superflua class and 
order. Natural order of Composite Dis- 
coideae. Corymbiferae, Jussieu. Essen- 
tial character : receptacle naked ; down 
hairy ; corolla of the ray linear, and very 
narrow. There are thirty species. 
ERINACEUS, the hedge-hog, in natural 
history, a genus of Mammalia, of the order 
Ferae. Generic character'; two fore teeth, 
both above and below, those of the upper 
jaw distant, those of the lower approxi- 
mated ; five tusks on each side of the upper 
jaw, three on each side of the lower ; four 
grinders on each side, both above and be- 
low ; body covered on the upper part with 
spines. There are six species. 
E europaeus, the common hedge-hog, is 
found in all the temperate climates of Eu- 
rope and Asia. Its whole length is about 
eleven inches, its colour generally a grey 
brown. It lives in hedges and thickets, 
and subsists on young toads, worms, bee- 
tles, crabs, fruits* and birds. It conceals 
itself in its hole during the day, and by night 
wanders in search of food. It builds its 
nest of moss, and produces four or five 
young ones at a birth. These animals pos- 
sess the curious, though not completely 
singular property of rolling themselves into 
a compact form, like a ball, their spines 
only appearing, and presenting to the enemy 
an armed front, which he generally trem- 
bles to assail. The greater the danger it is 
exposed to, the more closely it is com- 
pacted, and it is difficult to compel it from 
I 
