tnSTGULATA : RHINOCEROSES. 



109 



been found fossil in various parts of our country, and 

 they show that North America had its own species of wild 

 horses, and those of various sizes. 



Comparing merely the external forms of the Horse and 

 the Rhinoceros Math each other, we would naturally regard 

 them as very widely separated ; but in reality no living 

 form is regarded as nearer the horse than the Rhinoceroses, 

 or Rhinocerotidae, bulky animals which have stout legs, 

 three-toed feet with hoofs of unequal size, and a very large 

 muzzle, and whose body is covered with an exceedingly 

 thick, tough, and naked skin, which lies in folds. They 



FIG. 118. 



Indian Rhinoceros, Rhinoceros indicus, Cuvier. 



have also incisors in both jaws, and from the top of the 

 muzzle, where the bones are very thick and strong, there 

 arises a solid horn, sometimes two or three feet long, com- 

 posed of agglutinated fibers essentially the same as hair. 

 In some species there are two horns, the hinder one being 

 situated on the frontal bone. The members of this family 

 are the largest of all the land animals except the elephant, 

 attaining a weight in some cases of 6,000 pounds. They 



