The idle story that the persecuted Hedgehog sucks cows has been thus quaintly refuted:--"In the case of an animal giving suck, the teat is embraced round by the mouth of the young one, so that no air can pass between; a vacuum is made, or the air is exhausted from its throat, by a power in the lungs; nevertheless the pressure of the air remains still upon the outside of the dug of the mother, and by these two causes together the milk is forced in the mouth of the young one. But a Hedgehog has no such mouth as to be able to contain the teat of a cow; therefore any vacuum which is caused in its own throat cannot be communicated to the milk in the dug. And if he is able to procure no other food but what he can get by sucking cows in the night, there is likely to be a vacuum in his stomach too." (_New Catalogue of Vulgar Errors._ By Stephen Fovargue, A.M., 1786.) Yet, according to Sir William Jardine, the Hedgehog is very fond of eggs; and is consequently very mischievous in the game-preserve and hen-house. One of the most interesting facts in the natural history of the Hedgehog is that announced in 1831 by M. Lenz, and subsequently confirmed by Professor Buckland: this is, that the most violent poisons have no effect upon it; a fact which renders it of peculiar value in forests, where it appears to destroy a great number of noxious reptiles. M. Lenz says that he had in his house a female Hedgehog, which he kept in a large box, and which soon became very mild and familiar. He often put into the box some adders, which it attacked with avidity, seizing them indifferently by the head, the body, and the tail, and not appearing alarmed or embarrassed when they coiled themselves around its body. On one occasion M. Lenz witnessed a fight between a Hedgehog and a viper. When the Hedgehog came near and smelled the snake, for with these animals the sense of sight is very obtuse, she seized it by the head, and held it fast between her teeth, but without appearing to do it much harm; for having disengaged its head, it assumed a furious and menacing attitude, and, hissing vehemently, inflicted severe bites on the Hedgehog. The animal did not, however, recoil from the bites of the viper, or indeed seem to care much about them. At last, when the reptile was fatigued by its efforts, she again seized it by the head, which she ground beneath her teeth, compressing the fangs and glands of poison, and then devouring every part of the body. M. Lenz says that battles of this sort often occurred in the presence of many persons, and sometimes the Hedgehog received eight or ten wounds on the ears, the snout, and even on the tongue, without seeming to experience any of the ordinary symptoms produced by the venom of the viper. Neither herself nor the young which she was then suckling seemed to suffer from it. This observation agrees with that of Pallas, who assures us that the Hedgehog can eat about a hundred Cantharides (Spanish Flies) without experiencing