. The animal creation: a popular introduction to zoology. Zoology. IXSECTIYOEA. 551 general resemblance to mice, but the snout is greatly lengthened. They are fond of the vicinity of water; and one pretty little species, figured above, is eminently aquatic. It swims and dives with great rapidity and elegance. The Shrews live in holes that they excavate in the earth. They rarely come out, except in the evening, and live entirely upon worms and insects. Like many other harmless and inoffensive creatures, they have been falsely accused of all sorts of iniquities, more especially of causing a dise
. The animal creation: a popular introduction to zoology. Zoology. IXSECTIYOEA. 551 general resemblance to mice, but the snout is greatly lengthened. They are fond of the vicinity of water; and one pretty little species, figured above, is eminently aquatic. It swims and dives with great rapidity and elegance. The Shrews live in holes that they excavate in the earth. They rarely come out, except in the evening, and live entirely upon worms and insects. Like many other harmless and inoffensive creatures, they have been falsely accused of all sorts of iniquities, more especially of causing a disease in horses by their bite, and there are few parishes that have not, in former times, had their " Shrew ash" as a charm against witchcraft. Perhaps they owe their bad character to the circumstance that, although Cats will readily kill a Shrew, they refuse to eat it, on account of its disagree- able odour. The Hedgehogs (Ermaceus) are distinguished by having theii- bodies covered more or less exclussively with spines instead of hairs. They have the faculty of rolling themselves up into a ball, and thus pre- senting only an array of prickles pointing in every direction. The Common Hedgehcg ' Erinaceus Europceim, is well known in the rural districts of this couutrv. Slow of foot, it cannot flee from. Fig. 476.—hedgehog. danger ; but in the sharp, hard, and tough prickles of its coat it is endowed with a safeguard more secure and efficient than the teeth and claws of the wild cat, or the fieetness of tlie hare. The Hedge- hog is provided with powerful muscles, beneath the skin of the back, whereby on the slightest alarm, it is able to roll itself up, so as to enclose the head and limbs in the centre. The more forcibly these muscles contract, the more rigidly do the spines project from every. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may n
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Keywords: ., bookauthorjo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectzoology
