Sir Thomas Browne, in his "Vulgar Errors," has this odd conceit:--"Few have belief to swallow, or hope enough to experience, the collyrium of Albertus; that is, to make one see in the dark: yet thus much, according to his receipts, will the right eye of an Hedgehog, boiled in oil, and preserved in a brazen vessel, effect." Hedgehog was an old term of reproach; but we have heard a well-set argument compared to a hedgehog--all points. The food of the Hedgehog, which is a nocturnal animal, consists principally of insects, worms, slugs, and snails. That it will eat vegetables is shown by White of Selborne, who relates how it eats the root of the plantain by boring beneath it, leaving the tuft of leaves untouched. The Hedgehog is reputed to supply itself with a winter covering of leaves. So far as we are aware, it has not been observed in the act of forming the covering of leaves, though it is supposed to roll itself about till its spines take up a sufficient number, in the same way as it is popularly believed (without proof) to do with apples. Blumenbach states that he was assured, "by three credible witnesses," that Hedgehogs so gather fruit; but Buffon, who kept several Hedgehogs for observation, declares they never practise any such habit. The voracity of the Hedgehog is very great. A female, with a young one, was placed in a kitchen, having the run of the beetles at night, besides having always bread and milk within their reach. One day, however, the servants heard a mysterious crunching sound in the kitchen, and found, on examination, that nothing was left of the young Hedgehog but the skin and prickles--the mother had devoured her little pig! A Hedgehog has also been known to eat a couple of rabbits which had been confined with it, and killing others; it has likewise been known to kill hares. A Hedgehog was placed in one hamper, a wood-pigeon in another, and two starlings in a third; the lid of each hamper was tied down with string, and the hampers were placed in a garden-house, which was fastened in the evening. Next morning the strings to the hampers were found severed, the starlings and wood-pigeon dead and eaten, feathers alone remaining in their hampers, and the Hedgehog alive in the wood-pigeon's hamper. As no other animal could have got into the garden-house it was concluded that the Hedgehog had killed and eaten the birds. In the "Zoological Journal," vol. ii., is an account by Mr. Broderip of an experiment made by Professor Buckland proving that in captivity at least the Hedgehog will devour snakes; but there is no good reason for supposing that it will not do the same in a state of nature, for frogs, toads, and other reptiles, and mice, have been recorded as its prey. From its fondness for insects it is often placed in the London kitchens to keep down the swarm of cockroaches with which they are infested; and there are generally Hedgehogs on sale at Covent Garden Market for this purpose.