HYSTRIX, in zoology, a genus of quadrupeds belonging to the order of glires, the characters of which are these: They have two fore teeth, obliquely divided both in the upper and under jaw, besides eight grinders; and the body is covered with quills or prickles. There are four species, viz.
1. The crissata, or crested porcupine, has four toes on the fore feet, five toes on the hind feet, a crested head, a short tail, and the upper lip is divided like that of a hare. The length of the body is about two feet, and the height about two feet and an half. The porcupine is covered with prickles, some of them nine or ten inches long, and about th of an inch thick. Like the hedge-hog, he rolls himself up in a globular form, in which position he is proof against the attacks of the most rapacious animals. The prickles are exceedingly sharp, and each of them has five large black and as many white rings, which succeed one another alternately from the root to the point. These quills the animal can erect or let down at pleasure; when irritated, he beats the ground with his hind feet, erects his quills, shakes his tail, and makes a considerable rattling noise with his quills.—Most authors have asserted that the porcupine, when irritated, darts his quills to a considerable distance against the enemy, and that he will kill very large animals by this means. But
Hystrix. America as high as Hudson's Bay; and makes its nest under the roots of great trees. It will also climb among the boughs, which the Indians cut down when one is in them, and kill the animal by striking it over the nose. They are very plentiful near Hudson's Bay; and many of the trading Indians depend on them for food, esteeming them both wholesome and pleasant. These animals feed on wild fruits and bark of trees, especially juniper: eat snow in winter, and drink water in summer; but avoid going into it. When they cannot avoid their pursuer, they will sidle towards him, in order to touch him with the quills, which seem but
weak weapons of offence; for on stroaking the hair, they will come out of the skin, sticking to the hand. The Indians stick them in their noses and ears, to make holes for the placing their ear-rings and other finery; they also trim the edges of their deer-skin habits with fringes made of the quills, or cover with them their bark-boxes.
4. The macrouza, has five toes both on the hind and fore-feet; his tail is very long, and the prickles are elevated. He inhabits the isles of the Indian Archipelago, and lives in the forests.
I, or i, the ninth letter and third vowel of the alphabet, is pronounced by throwing the breath suddenly against the palate, as it comes out of the larynx, with a small hollowing of the tongue, and nearly the same opening of the lips and talk as in pronouncing a or e. Its sound varies: in some words it is long as high, mind, &c.; in others short, as bid, hid, fin, &c.; in others, again, it is pronounced like y, as in collier, union, &c.; and in a few, it sounds like ee, as in machine, magazine, &c. No English word ends in i, e being either added to it, or else the i turned into y.
But besides the vowel, there is the jod consonant; which, because of its different pronunciation, has likewise a different form, thus J, j. In English, it has the soft sound of g; nor is used, but when g soft is required before vowels, where g is usually hard: thus we say, jack, jet, join, &c. instead of zack, get, goin, &c. which would be contrary to the genius of the English language.
I, used as a numeral, signifies one, and stands for so many unites as it is repeated times: thus I, one; II, two; III, three, &c.; and when put before a higher numeral, it subtracts itself, as IV, four; IX, nine, &c. But when set after it, so many are added to the higher numeral as there are I's added: thus VI is 5+1, or six; VII, 5+2, or seven; VIII, 5+3, or eight. The ancient Romans likewise used IC for 500, CIO for 1000, ICC for 5000, CCIC for 10,000, ICCC for 50,000, and CCCCIC for 100,000. Farther than this, as Pliny observes, they did not go in their notation; but, when necessary, repeated the last number, as CCCCICCC, CCCCICCC, for 200,000; CCCCICCC, CCCCICCC, CCCCICCC, for 300,000; and so on.
The ancients sometimes changed i into u; as decimus for decimus; maximus for maximus, &c.
According to Plato, the vowel i is proper to express delicate, but humble things, as in this verse in Virgil which abounds in i's, and is generally admired:
Accipiunt inimicum imbrem, rimisque fatiscunt.
I, used as an abbreviation, is often substituted for the whole word Jesus, of which it is the first letter.