ALLIES OF THE HEDGEHOG 
ORDER INSECTIVORA 
Some of the characters of this archaic group have been 
already referred to under the carnivora. Others will be 
found below. 
CENTETES. 
Madagascar is a kind of common lodging-house for 
weird and ancient beasts who have found sanctuary in 
its impenetrable forests, unfrequented by many carni- 
vorous animals, and have thus escaped the extinction 
which their relatives have suffered elsewhere. Thus it is 
in Madagascar that the vast majority of the lemurs, those 
archaic forerunners of the monkey tribe, are to be found. 
The.more modern types, such as the monkeys them- 
selves, and the bears and antelopes and feline carnivora, 
have never, as it appears, even gained access to Mada- 
gascar, which was cut off, it is believed, from the African 
continent some ages since. Among the peculiar beasts 
of that great island is the hedgehog-like Centetes, which 
belongs to the insectivora, a group which represents, as 
it would seem, an archaic state of affairs. Like the 
rodents, the insectivores have habituated themselves to 
almost every kind of life ; they burrow like the moles, 
swim like certain shrews, and the West African “‘ otter ”’ 
Potamogale, even fly, when we remember that the 
Colugo, Galeopithecus, is at leastn ot very remote from 
this group ; they especially favour a lurking existence, 
slinking in the underwood, and dwelling in holes ; in 
fact they do everything except lead an open and raven- 
ing life. It is perhaps for these reasons, coupled with 
their small size, that the insectivora, as a group, have 
persisted, and are indeed so numerous in their varied 
kinds. Centetes is not py any means unlike a hedgehog 
in general aspect. It is a small brownish creature with 
a long snout, and with hairs which are stiff and yet are 
called hairs. A different name will be given by any one 
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