called the coendou: and the other, first named by Buffon, the urson; the one a native of the northern parts of America, the other of the south; and both differing from the former, in having long tails, whereas that has a very short one.

The coendou, is much less than the porcupine; its quills are four times shorter, its snout more unlike that of a hare; its tail is long enough to catch by the branches of trees, and hold by them. It may be easily tamed, and is to be found chiefly in the southern parts of America; yet is not wanting also in the northern.*

*THE PREHENSILE PORCUPINE OR COENDOU.-The relations which animals were first observed to bear to one another reposed on general appearances only, on the resemblance of their outward forms, on the nature of their integuments, and, in a word, on the most superficial and obvious organs. Thus the porcupine and the hedge-hog, being both covered with a conspicuous defensive armour of spines, were classed together, as being animals whose organization was analogous. They were regarded in this

manner by the ancients; and in the posthumous volumes of Aldrovandus, published in the 17th century, we find them thus associated together. The erroneous nature of these approximations was so palpable, that it was detected the instant an attempt was made to classify animals by their natural affinities; and the porcupine was transfered to the rodentia, while the hedge-hog was left next the shrews. But the porcupine was not the only rodent which had long spines instead of hairs: other species were found in America, in the East Indies, and in Africa; and we find Ray, Linnæus, and the majority of their successors, grouping all these animals in the same genus, under the common appellation of porcupine (Hystrix). In this approximation they were doubtless influenced, though with some restrictions, by the same preconception which had guided their predecessors, by that early notion that animals covered with integuments of so remarkable a kind should form a natural group. However, as one of these porcupines had a prehensile tail, M. de Lacepède separated it from the rest, to form the type of a distinct though allied genus.

These rodentia, armed at all points by strong and acute spines, the porcupines mentioned in travels and works of natural history, are already ascertained to be tolerably numerous; but they are far from being all so well known as to enable us to determine their real nature, and mark out their affinities. Those of Italy and Spain are said to have been originally derived from Africa. Porcupines are common in Barbary, Abyssinia, Guinea, and at the Cape of Good

Hope: they are met with in Asia Minor, Palestine, and Persia: they exist in all the southern parts of Asia, and the neighbouring islands; and lastly, South and North America equally produce them.

From what we know already of the laws which regulate the geographical distribution of animals, it might be presumed that these spine-coated rodentia would include different genera, requiring only the means of instituting the necessary comparisons in order to bring their distinctive characters to light. This has been effected in a great measure by the labours of M. Fred. Cuvier, who has separated from the genus Hystrix of Linnæus, the Java porcupine, under the title of Acanthion; the Canada porcupine, or urson of Buffon, under that of Erethizon; the Brazilian porcupine, under that of Sphiggurus: and for the Mexican species, he proposes the generic name of Synetheres, as preferable to that of Coendus, originally given to it by the Count Lacepède.

The coendou is an animal altogether peculiar and distinct: no other species resembles it in its general forms. Its gait is as heavy and ungraceful as its proportions, notwithstanding it is endowed with an additional locomotive organ to those usually granted to the rodentia, viz. a prehensile tail. But it is in the shape of the head and muzzle that it is more especially remarkable. All that part which corresponds to the brain is raised and expanded so as to announce a mest highly developed cerebral organ within; but this is in reality no larger than in other rodents. The phrenological character is here produced by

The urson, which Buffon calls after our countryman Hudson, is a native of Hudson's Bay. The make of the body of this animal is not so round as that of the two former, but somewhat resembling the shape of the pig. It is covered with long bristly hair, with a shorter hair underneath; and under this the quills lie concealed very thick; they are white, with a brown point, and bearded, and the longest do not exceed four inches; they stick to the band when the animal is stroked on the back; and likewise, when the hand is taken away, they stick so fast as to follow it. They make their nest under the roots of great trees, sleep very much, and chiefly feed upon the bark of the juniper. In winter the snow serves them for drink; and in summer they lap water, like a dog. They are very common in the country lying to the east of Hudson's Bay; and several of the trading Americans depend on them for food, at some seasons of the year.* large sinuses, which extend in every direction over the frontal bones, covering the brain anteriorly, and augmenting the extent of the organ of smell; for these cavities communicate with the nostrils. The muzzle presents a thick, obtuse, fleshy projection, in front of which are the orifices of the nostrils, of a very simple form. In all these respects there is no resemblance between this animal and the porcupine; and the same characters serve even better than the prehensile tail to separate it from every other rodent, being indicative of a fundamentally different nature, peculiar habits, and consequently the type of a distinct genus. But if by its physiognomy it is found isolated from all the other known species of its class, it nevertheless appertains in its dentition, like the other spiny genera, to the omnivorous rodentia with compound

teeth.

The coendou has four molaries on either side, both in the upper and the lower jaw, which diminish in size from before hack wards: their structure is analogous to that of the urson.

The external conformation does not indicate a lively or predominant sensibility in any of the organs of sense. The eyes are small and prominent, and their pupil, which can only be distinguished by a weak light, is round: it is closed altogether in full daylight. The nostrils open by two simple circular apertures, which are situated close toge ther on a broad flattened surface, covered with a smooth but not glandular integument. It is by the sense of smell chiefly that this animal takes cognizance of external objects. The ear is of an extremely simple structure, being composed merely of a circular ridge crossed transversely by two slight elevations. The mouth is of a remarkably diminutive size, scarcely opening sufficiently to allow a passage for the incisors, or permitting any great degree of separation of the jaws. The tongue is smooth: there are no cheek pouches.

The exterior coat consists almost entirely of spines, adhering to the skin by a narrow pedicle, and consequently detaching themselves readily from it. Hairs are found only on the under parts of the body and upon a

portion of the tail. Strong whiskers project from the sides of the muzzle. The organs of motion have a special structure, from which results the natural destination of the coendou to be an animal of the woods, to live on trees, to dwell on their summits, to derive from them its nourishment, and there to propagate and rear its family. Its fore feet are strong, with four distinct and regular digits, armed with long and strong, but thin and pointed, claws. The thumb is indicated merely by a large movable tubercle, covered with a very papillose skin, and capable of being opposed to a certain degree to the other digits. The hind-feet have also four toes; the sole is similarly papillose, and the thumb seems st ll more developed in them than in the fore-feet; so that the animal can truly grasp objects between this thumb and the other digits, which gives it the faculty of perching, almost like birds, on the smallest branches.

The spines are mostly of a yellowish white colour at the root, black in the middle, and white at their extremity. The thickest are on the anterior parts of the body, and the longest on the back, where they measure about three inches in length. On the extre mities, the sides of the head, and along the first half of the tail, they are thinner and shorter; and on the remainder of the tail, and on the under parts of the body, they are gradually reduced to the dimensions of simple airs. The muzzle and soles of the feet are naked, and are of a reddish brown colour.

All the movements of the coendou are slow, and bespeak circumspection and timidity. It only takes exercise in the evening, or during the night; and although it is then tolerably active, it has never been seen to make a bound. When it would pass from one place to another, it advances by degrees, fixing each of its feet; and before raising any of them it assures itself of the stable footing of the others; and its tail, wound round the objects within its reach, is ready to grasp them if the other points of support should fail. This animal can raise itself upon its hind-feet, and in that position carries its food to its mouth with the fore-feet.

*THE PORCUPINE-We are informed by

CHAP. XVII.

QUADRUPEDS COVERED WITH SCALES OR SHELLS INSTEAD OF HAIR.(g)

WHEN we talk of a quadruped, the name seems to imply an animal covered with hair; when we mention a bird, it is natural to conceive a creature covered with leathers; when we hear of a fish, its scales are generally the first part that strikes our imagination.* Nature, however, owns none of our distinctions; various in all her operations, she mixes her plans, groups her pictures, and excites our wonder as well by her general laws as by her deviations.

Were we to judge of nature from definitions only, we should never be induced to suppose that there existed races of vivaparous quadrupeds destitute of hair, and furnished with scales and shells in their stead. However, nature, every way various, supplies us with many instances of these extraordinary creatures; the old world has its quadrupeds covered with scales, and the new with a shell. In both they resemble each other, as well in the strangeness of their appetites, as in their awkward conformation. Like animals but partially made up, and partaking of different natures, they want those instincts which animals formed but for one element alone are found to possess. They seem to be a kind of strangers in nature, creatures taken from some other element, and capriciously thrown to find a precarious subsistence upon land.

The Pangolin, which has been usually called the scaly lizard, Buffon very judiciously restores to that denomination

by which it is known in the countries where it is found. This animal, which is a native of the torrid climates of the ancient continent, is, of all other animals, the best protected from external injury by nature. It is about three or four feet long, or, taking in the tail, from six to eight. Like the lizard, it has a small head, a very long nose, a short, thick neck, a long body, legs very short, and a tail ex

(Pangolin.)

tremely long, thick at the insertion, and terminating in a point. It has no

Agricola, that the porcupine of Italy was an exotic in that country, brought either from Africa or India. It has long been naturalized in the south of Europe. The only difference observed between the porcupine of Italy and that of Africa is, that the former is rather less than the latter, and that the spines are not so strong. The European variety is found principally in the kingdom of Naples, and in the southern parts of the Roman States. It avoids populous parts, and selects stony and dry situations. Its extreme timidity seems to induce it to continue in its retreat and to seek its sustenance only in the night. GRIFFITH.

* GENUS DASYPUS.-We possessed very scanty information on these animals till

D'Azara published his Essay on the Quadru peds of Paraguay, which includes eight species. He tells us that most of them dig burrows in the earth, which they commonly direct under an angle of 45°; but that they turn so as to make it difficult to ascertain their length, which is presumed, however, to be from six to eight feet.

Some of the species have nocturnal habits, and are very timid, flying to their burrows the moment they hear a noise. These are very much quicker in their motions than might be supposed, from the hindrances incident to their heavy covering. Other species quit their retreat equally by day and night, and these are said not to be so rapid in their motions as the others.-CUVIER.

(g) This chapter is chiefly extracted from Buffon, which I mention at once, to save the trouble of repeated quotations.

teeth, but is armed with five toes on each foot, with long white claws. But what it is chiefly distinguished by is its scaly covering, which in some measure hides all the proportions of its body. These scales defend the animal on all parts, except the under part of the head and neck, under the shoulders, the breast, the belly, and the inner side of the legs; all which parts are covered with a smooth soft skin, without hair. Between the shells of this animal, at all the interstices, are seen hairs like bristles, brown at the extremity, and yellow towards the root. The scales of this extraordinary creature are of different sizes and different forms, and stuck upon the body somewhat like the leaves of an artichoke. The largest are found near the tail, which is covered with them like the rest of the body. These are above three inches broad, and about two inches long, thick in the middle, and sharp at the edges, and terminated in a roundish point. They are extremely hard, and their substance resembles that of horn. They are convex on the outside, and a little concave on the inner; one edge sticks in the skin, while the other laps over that immediately behind it. Those that cover the tail conform to the shape of that part, being of a dusky brown colour, and so hard, when the animal has acquired its full growth, as to turn a musket-ball.

Thus armed, this animal fears nothing from the efforts of all other creatures, except man. The instant it perceives the approach of an enemy, it rolls itself up like the hedge-hog, and presents no part but the cutting edges of its scales to the assailant. Its long tail, which, at first view, might be thought easily separable, serves still more to increase the animal's security. This is lapped round the rest of the body, and, being defended with shells even more cutting than any other part, the creature continues in perfect security. Its shells are so large, so thick, and so pointed, that they repel every animal of prey; they make a coat of armour that wounds while it resists, and at once protects and threatens. The most cruel, the most famished quadruped of the forest, the tiger, the panther, and the hyæna, make vain attempts to force it. They tread upon, they roll it about, but all to no purpose; the pangolin remains safe within, while its invader almost always feels the reward of its rashness. The fox often destroys the hedge-hog by pressing it with his weight, and thus obliges it to put forth its nose, which he instantly seizes, and soon after the whole body; but the scales of the pangolin effectually support it under any such weight, while nothing that the strongest animals are capable of doing can compel it to surrender. Man alone seems furnished with arms to conquer its obstinacy. The negroes of Africa, when they find it, beat it to death with clubs, and consider its flesh as a very great delicacy.

But, although this animal be so formidable in its appearance, there cannot he a more harmless, inoffensive creature when unmolested. It is even unqualified by nature to injure larger animals, if it had the disposition, for it has no teeth. It should seem that the bony matter, which goes in other animals to supply the teeth, is exhausted in this in supplying the scales that go to the covering of its body. However this be, its life seems correspondent to its peculiar conforma tion. Incapable of being carnivorous, since it has no teeth, nor of subsisting on vegetables, which require much chewing, it lives entirely upon insects, for which nature has fitted it in a very extraordinary manner. As it has a long nose, so it may naturally be supposed to have a long tongue; but, to increase its length still more, it is doubled in the mouth, so that when extended it is shot out to above a quarter of a yard beyond the tip of the nose. This tongue is round, extremely red, and covered with an unctious and slimy liquor which gives it a shining hue. When the pangolin, therefore, approaches an ant hill, for these are the insects on which it chiefly feeds, it lies down near it, concealing as much as possible the place of its retreat, and stretching out its long tongue among the ants, keeps it for some time quite immovable. These little animals, allured by its appearance, and the unctuous substance with which it is smeared, instantly gather upon it in great numbers; and when the pangolin supposes a sufficiency, it quickly withdraws the tongue, and swallows them at once. This peculiar manner of hunting for its prey is repeated either till it be satisfied, or

till the ants, grown more cautious, will be allured to their destruction no longer. It is against these noxious insects, therefore, that its only force or cunning is exerted; and were the negroes but sufficiently sensible of its utility in destroying one of the greatest pests to their country, they would not be so eager to kill it.

Of this animal, there is a variety which is called the phatagin, much less than the former, being not above a foot long from the head to the tail, with shells differently formed, with its belly, breast, and throat covered with hair, instead of a smooth skin as in the former; but that by which it is peculiarly distinguished is the extent of its tail, which is above twice the length of its body. Both are found in the warm latitudes of the east, as well as in Africa; and, as their numbers are but few, it is to be supposed their fecundity is not great.

THE ARMADILLO or TATOU.-Having mentioned quadrupeds of the ancient continent covered with scales, we

come next to quadrupeds of the new continent covered with shells. The armadillo is chiefly an inhabitant of South America; a peaceful, harmless creature, incapable of offending any other quadruped, and furnished with a peculiar covering for its own defence. The pangolin, described above, seems an inactive, helpless being, indebted for safety more to its patience than its power; but the armadillo is still more exposed and helpless. The pangolin is furnished with an armour that wounds while it resists, and that is never attacked with impunity: but the armadillo is obliged to submit to every insult, without any power of repelling its enemy; it is attacked without danger, and is consequently liable to more various persecutions.*

This animal being covered, like a tortoise, with a shell, or rather a number of shells, its other proportions are not easily discerned. It appears, at first view, a round, mishapen mass, with a long head, and a very large tail sticking out at either end, as if not of a piece with the rest of the body. It is of different sizes, from a foot to three feet long, and covered with a shell divided into several pieces, that lap over each other like the plates in a coat of armour, or in the tail

NEW SPECIES OF ARMADILLO-In the district of Cuyo, at the foot of the Andes, on the eastern side, is occasionally discovered a very curious little quadruped, which unites the habits of the mole to the appearance of the armadillo. Its upper parts and sides are defended by a coat, or rather cloak, of mail, of a coriaceous nature, but exceeding in inflexibility sole-leather of equal thickness. This cloak does not adhere, like that of the armadillo, to the whole surface, occupying the place of the skin-but is applied over the skin and fur, forming an additional covering, which is attached only along the middle of the back and on the head. The hinder parts of the animal are also protected by it, to cover which, it is suddenly bent downwards at nearly a right angle. The tail is short, and is directed forwards along the under sur. face of the body. Owing to the rigidity of the case which so nearly incloses the animal, its motions must be limited almost entirely to those of mere progression, and even for these, the structure of its fore-feet is ill suited. The anterior limbs are, indeed, scarcely fitted for any other purpose than

that of burrowing. For this operation, the long and broad claws with which they are furnished are truly admirably adapted: and their sharp points and cutting lower edges must materially assist in clearing a way through the entangled roots which it may encounter in its subterranean travels. Its teeth resemble those of the sloth more nearly than any other animals; and it seems to represent, beneath the earth, that well-known and singular inhabitant of trees-for its motions, so far as can be conjectured from its conformation, must also be executed with extreme slowness. A specimen, preserved in spirit, has recently been added to the museum of the Zoological Society, by the Hon. Captain Percy, R. N. who received it from Woodbine Parish, Esq. British consul at Buenos Ayres. This is the first instance of its being brought to Europe, to the naturalists of which it had previously been known only by the figures and description recently given by Dr. Harlan, in the Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York. - ARCANA OF SCIENCE, 1828.