HEDGEHOG, Erinaceus, a genus of insectivorous quadrupeds, the type of the family erinaceida. The muzzle is rather elongated, the neck short, the limbs short., the feet five-toed, the claws strong, the tail short, the body covered on the upper parts with sharp spines and with hair below, and capable of being rolled up into a ball by means of a powerful muscle extended under the skin. The teeth are 36 in number, 20 in the upper jaw and 16 in the lower, but considerable difference of opinion has existed among naturalists as to the character of some of them. The middle incisors are very long, and stand forward; those of the' upper jaw are widely separated; the lateral ones small. Like many other imeetivora, hedgehogs are by no means limited to insect food, but prey on larger animals, as reptiles, small quadrupeds, and birds; they are fond of eggs and of milk, and in confinement will readily eat soaked bread, cooked vegetables, or por ridge. Their power of rolling themselves into a ball, from which the spines project on every side, is their means of protection from enemies. The spines are curiously bent near the root, and so set, that on the contraction of the muscle by which the animal rolls itself up, they are held firmly in their position, their points towards time adversary. They are very strong and sharp; their elasticity is also so very great, that the animal can sustain falls from great heights without apparent injury.
The COMMON HEDGEHOG (E. Europaus) is a native of Britain and of most parts of Europe. A particular description is unnecessary. Its short ears are one of its distinc
tive specific characters. It is seldom above 9+ in. in length. Its spines are about an inch long. It readily kills snakes, and even vipers, which it eats, beginning always at the tail. It is said to be capable of resisting in an extraordinary degree not only the venom of serpents, but other kinds of poison, however administered. A hedgehog has been known to eat great numbers of cantharides (Spanish flies) without injury, although one would have caused great agony to a dog. It brings forth from two to four young at a birth, and provides for the occasion a curiously constructed nest, of which the root' is capable of throwing off the rain, so as to keep them dry. The young are blind at first; their ears are also closed—a thing as unusual as the former is common among ani mals—their bodies are covered with soft incipient spines. In winter the hedgehog becomes torpid, retiring to some hole at the base of a tree, beneath roots, or in some such situation. It provides no winter store, and no other British animal hibernates so completely.—The hedgehog is easily tamed, becomes very familiar, and is very useful in houses where blank beetles are troublesome. Night is, its period of activity.—The flesh of the hedgehog is eaten:•n some parts' Of Europe, but in Britain! only by gypsies, who roll it up in a ball of clay, and so roast it.—Other species of hedgehogs are found in different parts of Asia and Africa.