QUADRUPEDS. 83 
its food, like that animal, in its fore paws, sitting on its 
haunches. The temper of the Chinchilla is mild and trac- 
table. It dwells in burrows under ground, and produces 
young twice a year, bringing forth five or six at a time. 
It feeds upon the roots of bulbous plants. 
THE PORCUPINE (Hystrix cristata) 
Grows to the height of about two feet and a half, and his 
body is covered with hair and sharp quills, from ten to four- 
teen inches long, and bent backwards. When the ani- 
mal is irritated, they stand erect ; but the story that the 
Porcupine can shoot them at his enemies, is only one of 
the many fables formerly related as facts in Natural His- 
tory. The female has only one young one at a time. It 
is reported to live from twelve to fifteen years. The Porcu- 
pine is dull, fretful and inoffensive; it feeds upon fruits, 
roots, and vegetables of many sorts; and inhabits the 
south of Europe, India, Persia, and almost every part 
of Africa ; particularly Barbary. 
Mr. Bewick, in his History of Quadrupeds, asserts, 
that, upon the smallest irritation, this animal erects its 
quills, and shakes them with great violence, directing 
them to the quarter whence it is in danger of being at- 
tacked. "We have observed," says he, "on an occasion 
of this sort, when the animal was moulting or casting its 
quills, that they would fly out to the distance of a few 
