BLOOD-HOUHfD* 
that is not furnished with large weapons of defence. He will not 
unfold himself unless thrown into water ; the more he is frightened 
or harassed, the closer he shuts himself up, and frequently discharges 
his urine, which has a very filthy and loathsome smell. While in this 
state, most dogs, instead of biting him, stand off and bark, not daring 
to seize him ; or if they attempt it once, their mouths are so hurt 
by his bristles, that they will not attempt it a second time. Both 
the male and female are covered with bristles from the head to the 
ail. 
The females bring forth their young* in the beginning of summer. 
They commonly produce three or four, and sometimes five, at a time. 
The young ones are of a w'hitish colour, and only the points of the 
bristles appear above the skin. Some zoologists say it is impossi- 
ble to tame them, and that the mother and her young have been con- 
fined together, and furnished with plenty of provisions, but instead 
of nourishing them, she has devoured them one after another. Mr. 
Kerr, however, says, that, by the Calmucs, this animal is domes- 
ticated, and kept in their huts, instead of cats.” Hedge-hogs feed 
upon fallen fruits, some roots, and insects ; they are very fond of 
flesh, either raw or roasted. They frequent woods, and live under 
the trunks of trees, in the clefts of rocks, or under large stones. 
Some naturalists allege that they go into gardens, mount the trees, 
and come down with pears, apples, or plums, stuck upon their bris- 
tles. But this is a mistake ; although kept in a garden, they never 
attempt to climb trees, or stick even fallen fruit upon their bristles, 
but lay hold of their food with their mouth. They never come out of 
their holes in the day, but go in quest of food during the night. 
They eat little, and can live very long without nourishment. They do 
not lay in any store of provisions in harvest ; such an instinct would 
be useless, as they sleep all the winter. The lie under the unmerited 
reproach of sucking cows, and hurting their udders, but the small- 
ness of their mouth renders that impossible. 
Blood-Hound. 
This was a dog of great use, and in high esteem, with our ances- 
tors its employ was to recover any game that had escaped wounded 
from the hunter, or been killed, and stolen out of the forest. It was 
remarkable for the acuteness of its smell, tracing the lost beast by 
the blood it had spilt ; from whence the name is derived. This spe- 
cies could by the utmost certainty discover the thief, by following 
his footsteps, let the distance be ever so far, and through the most 
secret and thickest coverts ; nor would it cease its pursuit till it had 
taken the felon. They were likewise used by Wallace and Bruce 
during the civil wars. The poetical historians of the two heroes fre- 
quently relate curious passages on the subject of the service these 
dogs did to their masters, and the escape they had from those of the 
enemy. The blood-hound was in great request on the confines of 
England and Scotland, where the borderers were continually preying 
on the herds and flocks of their neighbours. The true blood-hound 
was large, muscular, broad-breasted, of a stern countenance, of a 
