132 



MAMMALIA. 



They are naturally stupid and ferocious ; frequent marshy places ; subsist on herbage and the branches 

 of trees ; have a simple stomach, very long intestines, and great ccecum. 



The Indian Rhinoceros (Rh. indicus, Cuv.).— In addition to its twenty-eight grinders, this species has two stout 

 incisive teeth in each jaw, together with two other intermediate smaller ones below, and two still more diminutive 

 outside of its upper incisors. It has only one horn, and its skin is remarkable for the deep folds into which it is 

 thrown behind and across the shoulders, and before and across the thighs. It inhabits the East Indies, and 

 chiefly beyond the Ganges. 



The Javanese Rhinoceros (Rh.javanus, Cuv.), — with the great incisors and single horn of the preceding, has 

 fewer folds in the skin, though one of them on the neck is larger ; and, what is remarkable, the entire skin is 

 covered with square angular tubercles, [as is also the case, to a partial extent, in the preceding ; from which it 

 further differs in having a comparatively slender head]. 



The Sumatran Rhinoceros (Rh. sumatrensis, Cuv.),— with the same four great incisors as the foregoing, has no 

 folds to the skin, which is besides hairy, and there is a second horn behind the first. 



The African Rhinoceros (Rh. africanus, Cuv.) [or rather Rhinoceroses, three species of them being now ascer- 

 tained]. — Two horns as in the preceding ; and no folds of the skin, nor any incisor teeth, the molars occupying 

 nearly the whole length of the jaw. This deficiency of incisors might warrant a separation from the others. [The 

 Great Rhinoceros (Rh. simus, Hurchell), which considerably exceeds in size any of the others, is further distin- 

 guished by its pale colour, its very long and straight anterior horn, and remarkably short hind one, and particu- 

 larly by the form of its upper lip, which is not capable of elongation, and a certain degree of prehension, as in all 

 the others : it is the most gregarious of any, and also the most inoffensive, frequenting the open karoos. The 

 common Cape Rhinoceros (Rh. africanus or capensis) is darker, with also unequal horns, the posterior being 

 shorter ; and the Ketloa Rhinoceros (Rh. hetloa), recently discovered by Dr. Smith, is an animal of solitary habits, 

 with horns of equal length, reputed to exceed the rest in ferocity.*] 



There have been found, under ground, in Siberia and different parts of Germany, the bones of a double-horned 

 Rhinoceros, the skull of which, besides being much more elongated than in any known existing species, is further 

 distinguished by a bony vertical partition that supported the bones of the nose. It is an extinct animal; but of 

 which a carcase, almost entire, exposed by the thawing of the ice on the banks of the Vilhoui in Siberia, showed 

 to have been covered with tolerably thick hair. It is possible, therefore, that it inhabited northern climates, like 

 the fossil Elephant. 



More recently there have been disinterred, in Tuscany and Lombardy, other Rhinoceros bones, which appear 

 to have belonged to a species allied to the African. Some have been found, in Germany, with incisors like the 

 Asiatic species ; and lastly, there have been discovered, in France, the bones of one which announce a size scarcely 

 larger than a Pig. [It appears that several of the fossil species were destitute of the nasal horn.] 



The Damans {Hyrax, Hermann) — 

 Were long placed among the Rodentia, on account of their very small size; but, on examining 

 them carefully, it will be found that, excepting the horn, they are little else than Rhinoceroses in 

 miniature ; at least they have quite similar molars ; but the upper jaw has two stout incisors curved 

 downwards, and, during youth, two very small canines ; the inferior four incisors, without any 

 canines. They have four toes to each of their fore-feet, and three to the hind-feet, all, excepting the 

 innermost posterior, which is armed with a crooked and oblique nail, terminated by a kind of very small, 

 thin, and rounded hoof. The muzzle and ears are short : they are covered with hair, and have only 

 a tubercle in place of a tail. The stomach is divided into two sacs ; their ccecum is very large, and the 

 colon has several dilatations, and is also furnished with two appendages about the middle, analogous to 

 the two cceca of birds. 



Only one species is known, the size of a Rabbit, and greyish : it is not uncommon in rocky places throughout 

 Africa, where it is much preyed on by rapacious birds, and it also appears to inhabit some parts of Asia; at 

 least we cannot perceive any certain difference between the Hi/rax capensis and H. syriacus. [Five, if not six, are 

 now conclusively established ; one of which, indigenous to South Africa, even ascends trees.] 



The Pal^eotherium, Cuv. — 

 Is another lost genus : with the same grinders as the two preceding, six incisors and two canines to 

 each jaw as in the Tapirs, and three visible toes to each foot, it combined a short fleshy trunk, for the 

 muscles of which the bones of the nose were shortened, leaving a deep notch underneath. We have 

 discovered the bones of this genus, mingled with those of the Anoplotherium, in the gypsum quarries 

 in the environs of Paris, and they occur in several other parts of France ; [also, with those of the 

 Chceropotamus, Dichobune, &c, other lost genera of Pachydermata, in the Binstead quarries of the 

 Isle of Wight, England]. 



* Previous to discovering this species, a fine specimen of which is Africa, which are distinguished there bv separate names • one of Ihem 

 deposited in the British Museum, Dr.Sniith received information, from is stated to have only a single horn. — Ed. 

 the natives, of the existence of five sorts of these animals in South 



