ike swelling on each side of the back
of the skull." Feet pentadactylous or five-toed; legs very short.
The tibia and fibula (two bones of the shank) are joined together.
The back is clothed with hair intermixed with sharp spines or
bristles. Tail short or wanting entirely.

[Figure: Dentition of Hedgehog.]

_GENUS ERINACEUS_.

The European hedgehog is well known to most of us. Few boys who have
lived a country life have been without one at some time or other as
a pet. I used to keep mine in a hole at the root of an old apple-tree,
which was my special property, and they were occasionally brought
into the house at the cook's request to demolish the black-beetles
in the kitchen. These they devour with avidity and pursue them with
the greatest ardour. They also eat slugs, worms, and snails; worms
they seize and eat from end to end, like a Neapolitan boy with a string
of maccaroni, slowly masticating, the unconsumed portion being
constantly transferred from one side of the mouth to the other, so
that both sides of the jaws may come into play. Dr. Dallas quaintly
remarks on the process: "This must be an unpleasant operation for
the worm, much as its captor may enjoy it." Toads, frogs, mice, and
even snakes are eaten by the European hedgehog. It would be
interesting to find out whether the Indian hedgehog also attacks
snakes; even the viper in Europe is devoured by this animal, who
apparently takes little heed of its bite. The European species also
eats eggs when it can get them, and I have no doubt does much damage
to those birds who make their nests on the ground.

Few dogs will tackle a hedgehog, for the little creature at once rolls
itself into a spiny ball, all sharp prickles, by means of the
contraction of a set of cutaneous muscles, the most important of
which, the _orbicularis panniculi_, form a broad band encircling the
body which draws together the edges of the spiny part of the skin.
There is a most interesting account of the mechanism of the spines
in Mr. F. Buckland's notes to White's 'Natural History of Selborne,'
vol. ii., page 76. A jet of water poured on to the part within which
the head is concealed will make the creature unroll, and it is said
that foxes and some dogs have discovered a way of applying this plan,
and also that foxes will roll a hedgehog into a ditch or pond, and
thus make him either expose himself to attack or drown. Gipsies eat
hedgehogs, and consider them a delicacy--the meat being