in zoology, a genus of quadrupeds belonging to the order of glires, the characters of which are these: They have two fangs 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 cristata, 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 ¼th 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 M. Buffon and some other late naturalists assure us, that the animal possesses no such power. M. Buffon frequently irritated the porcupine, but never saw anything like this darting of his quills. He says indeed, that when the creature was much agitated with passion, some of the quills which adhered but slightly to the skin would fall off, particularly from the tail; and this circumstance, he imagines, has given rise to the mistake. The porcupine, though originally a native of Africa and the Indies, can live and multiply in the more temperate climates of Spain and Italy. Pliny, and every other natural historian since the days of Aristotle, tells us that the porcupine, like the bear, conceals itself during the winter, and that it brings forth its young in 80 days. But these circumstances remain to this day uncertain. It is remarkable, that although this animal be very common in Italy, no person has ever given us a tolerable history of it. We only know in general, that the porcupine, in a domestic state, is not a fierce or ill-natured animal; that with his foreteeth, which are strong and sharp, he can cut through a strong board; that he eats bread, fruits, roots, &c.; that he does considerable damage when he gets into a garden; that he grows fat, like most animals, about the end of summer; and that his flesh is not bad food.

2. The prebenilis, or Brazilian porcupine, has four toes on the fore feet, five on the hind-feet, and a long tail. It is considerably less than the former species; being only 17 inches long from the point of the muzzle to the origin of the tail, which is nine inches long; the legs and feet are covered with long brownish hair; the rest of the body is covered with quills interspersed with long hairs; the quills are about five inches long, and about ¼th of an inch in diameter. He feeds upon birds and small animals. He sleeps in the daytime like the hedge-hog, and searches for his food in the night. He climbs trees, and supports himself by twisting his tail round the branches. He is generally found in the high grounds of America from Brazil to Louisiana, and the southern parts of Canada. His flesh is esteemed very good eating.

A variety of this species is the Hoitzlacuatan, or Mexican porcupine, (le Coendou de Buffon). It is of a dusky colour, with very long bristles intermixed with the down: the spines three inches long, slender, and varied with white and yellow; scarcely apparent except on the tail, which is, according to Hernandez, thicker and shorter than that of the preceding species. He adds, that the tail from the middle to the end is free from spines; and that it grows to the bulk of a middle-sized dog. M. de Buffon says, its length is 16 or 17 inches from the nose to the tail; the tail 9 French measure, but taken from a mutilated skin. It inhabits the mountains of Mexico, where it lives on the summer fruits, and may be easily made tame. The Indians pulverise the quills, and say they are very efficacious in gravelly cases; and applied whole to the forehead, will relieve the most violent headache. They adhere till filled with blood, and then drop off.

3. The dorfaia, or Canada porcupine (l'Ursin de Buffon), has four toes on the fore-feet, five on the hind-feet; and has quills only on the back, which are short, and almost hid among the long hair. He is about two feet long. This species inhabits North America. 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 macoura, 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.

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 collars, onion, &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 gack, get, gain, &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 IO for 500, CIO for 1000, DIO for 5000, CCIDO for 10,000, IODO for 50,000, and CCCIDO for 100,000. Farther than this, as Pliny observes, they did not go in their notation; but, when necessary, repeated the last number, as CCCCIDO, CCCCIDO, for 200,000; CCCCIDO, CCCCIDO, CCCCIDO, 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 imbre, rimisque satiant.