PACHYDERMATA. 173 



North America. They are infinitely more rare in the eastern 

 continent. 



M. angustidens^ Ciiv. loc. cit., or the Narrow-toothed Mas- 

 todon, whose grinders, narrower than those of the preceding 

 species, when worn down, formed trefoil-shaped disks, and have 

 thereby been confounded by some authors with the teeth of the 

 Hippopotamus, was a third less than the great Mastodon, and 

 much lower on its legs. Its remains are found throughout the 

 greater part of Europe and of South America. In certain 

 places, the teeth, tinged with iron, become of a beautiful blue 

 when heated, forming what is called the oriental turquoise. (l) 



FAMILY II. 



PACHYDERMATA ORDINARIA, 



Or the ordinary Pachydermataj have four, three or two 

 toes. 



Those in which the toes make even numbers have feet 

 somewhat cleft, and approximate to the Ruminantia in various 

 parts of the skeleton, and even in the complication of the sto- 

 mach. They are usually divided into two genera. 



Hippopotamus, Lin. 



Four nearly equal toes, terminated by little hoofs, to each foot ; six 

 grinders throughout, of which the three anterior are conical; the 

 three posterior bristled with two pairs of points, which, when worn, 

 assume a trefoil shape ; four incisors to each jaw, the superior of 

 Avhich are conical and recurved, the inferior cylindrical, long, pointed 

 and sloping forwards ; a canine tooth on each side above and below, 

 the superior straight, and the inferior very large and curved, the 

 two rubbing against each other. 



These animals have a very massive and naked body; very short 

 legs J the belly reaching nearly to the ground ; an enormous head 

 terminated by a large inflated muzzle, which encloses the apparatus 

 of their large front teeth ; the tail short ; the ears and eyes small. 

 Their stomach is divided into several sacs. They live in rivers. 



(1) Other less widely dispersed species have been discovered; see Oss. Foss. : 

 and very lately, some remarkable ones have been brought from the Bimnese em- 

 pire, a description of which we are expecting- from M. Buckland, Mast, lalidens^ 

 M. elephantoides, &c. 



