The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1896-06-27
PORCUPINE QUILLs.
They Work Their Way Into the
Flesh in a Distressing Way.

tney WORK Ine1r way INTO the
Flesh in q Distressing Way.
The quill Of a porcupine is like a bad
habit; if it once gets hold it constantly
works deeper and deeper, though the
quill has no power Of motion in itself;
1t is the live, active flesh that draws it
in by means of the barbed point. One
day my boy and encountered a por-
cupine on the top of one of the Cat
skills, and we had little circus with
him; we wanted to wake him up and
make him show a little excitement if
possible. Without violence or injury
to him we succeeded to the extent of
making his eyes fairly stand out from
his head, but quicken his motion he
would not-probably could not .~'
What astonished and alarmed him
seemed to be that his quills had no
effect upon his enemies; they laughed
at his weapons. He stuck his head
under a rock and left his back and
tail exposed. This is the porcupines
favorite position of defense. Now
come if you dare" he seems to say.
Touch his tail, and like a trap it
springs up and strikes your hand full
of little quills. The tail is the active
weapon of defense; with this the ami
NAL strikes. 1t is the outpost that de-
livers it's fire before the citadel is
reached. It is doubtless this fact that
has given rise to the popular notion
that the porcupine can shoot it's quills,
which Of course it cannot do
With a rotten stick we sprang at
the animals tail again and again, till
it's supply of quills began to run low,
and the creature grew uneasy. "What
does this mean?" he seemed to say,
his excitement rising. His shield upon
his back, too, We, trifed with, and
when we finally drew him forth with
a forked stick, his eyes were ready to
burst from his head. Then we laughed
in his face and went our way. Before
we had reached our camp I was sud-
denly seized with strange, acute pain
in one of my feet. 1t seemed as if
a large nerve was being roughly saw
ed in two. could not take another
step: Sitting down and removing my
shoe and stocking, searched for. the
cause of the paralyzing pain. The foot
was free from mark or injury, but
@lvha ss4this-s title thorn orssf fang of
thistle doing on the ankle I pulled
it out and found it to be one Of the
lesser quills of the porcupine.- BY
some means, during our "circus, the
quill mad dropped inside my stocking,
the thing had ''took," and the *porcu-
pine had it's revenge for all the in
dignities we had put upon him. 1 was
well punished. The nerve which the
quill struck had unpleasant memories
of it for many months afterward. 80
When you come suddenly upon the
porcupine in his native haunts he
draws his head back and down, puts
up his shield, trails his broad tail. and
Waddles slowly away. His shield is
the sheaf of larger quilts upon his
pack, Which he opens and spreads out
IN a circular form so that the whole
body is quite hidden beneath it-''The
Porcupine,'' by John Burroughs, in St..
| Nicholas.
Homage Paid to "Sl<y Stones"
Because they come from meteors,
bodies that fall in this way are called
meteorites; and for very many years
past all the meteorites which have
| been seen to fall, or could be. found,
| have been carefully kept, so that they
may be studied. w know, too. that
| they have fallen in earlier times as
| we'll, because the histories of nearly
all ancinet peoples contain accounts
| OF such occurrences, and OF the homage
paid TO the sky stones by those who
thought them gifts from the gods, or
miraculous objects. It is probable
that the so-called goddess Diana who
was worshiped by the people of Eph-
esus was meteoric stone.
"A mass of iron which proved to be a
meteorlte was found in Texas few
| years ago, at the crossing of a num-
ber of trails leading in different di-
| rections. 1t was learned that it had
been set up by the Indians as fetish,
or object OF worship; and whoever
passed by was expected to leave upon
1t beads, arrowheads. tobacco, or other
articles as offerings, since it was re-
garded as having come from the Great
Spirit Another, which fell in India
some years ago, was kept decked with
flowers, was daily annointed, and fre-
quently worshiped with great cere-
mony. There IS preserved to this day
in the parish church of Ensisheim.
Alsace, Germany, a stone weighing
over two hundred pounds, which fell
In the town Nov. 16, 1892. The king,
being near at the time, had the stone
carried to the castle, and after break
ing off two pieces, one for himself and
the other for the Duke Sigismund, or:
uSiCO GilC lC4C111tLiuucIGSl I 10 .Ue kept Ill l1l0
church as a miraculous object; and
it still hangs there, suspended by a
chain from the vault of the choir
''Sho cting Stars that Reach the Earth
by Oliver 6. harrington, in st. Nichols.
Tomb of Poca hont..s s.
BEYOND these Woods and shores
we come to a grand park "A thousand;
acres or more in extent, full of old
oaks under which are browsing herds
Of deer, and through the park a long
avenue Of stately elms stretches IN a
straight vista to an ancient hill This
is Gotham Hall and Park, belonging to
Lord Darnley. We may remember that
1t is described in .sPickWick Papers,
whore Mr.. PickWick, Mr.. Wrinkle and
Nj. Snodgrass pass it going to me
Leather Bottle Tavern.