CHAPTER XVIII
FUNNY LITTLE APPLE TOYS
Fig. [361].—Bent toothpick.
SUCH a funny little porcupine! See how his pointed spears bristle out in every direction, forming a fine coat of mail ([Fig. 362]). If he was only alive, he could coil himself up into a prickly ball—not a ball, though, that one could handle without being hurt. This little fellows differs from the Hystrix cristata, or real porcupine, in that he did not wait until his quills grew to turn into a ball, but was a ball to begin with, for he commenced life as an apple, and an apple is one of the nicest kinds of balls, as it may be tossed back and forth and then eaten later.
Fig. [362].—The apple porcupine.