254 SEXUAL SELECTION: MAMMALS. [Part II. 



upper jaw, from being ground so as to fit closely against 

 their bases. Neither the upper nor the lower tusks ap- 

 pear to have been specially modified to act as guards, 

 though, no doubt, they are thus used to a certain extent. 

 But the wart-hog is not destitute of other special means 

 of protection, for there exists, on each side of the face, be- 

 neath the eyes, a rather stiff, yet flexible, cartilaginous, 

 oblong pad (Fig, 65), which projects two or three inches 

 outward; and it appeared to Mr. Bartlett and myself, 

 when viewing the living animal, that these pads, when 

 struck from beneath by the tusks of an opponent, would 

 be turned upward, and would thus protect in an admira- 

 ble manner the somewhat prominent eyes'. These boars, 

 as I may add on the authority of Mr. Bartlett, when fight- 

 ing together, stand directly face to face. 



Lastly, the African river-hog (PotamocJioerus penicil- 

 latus) has a hard cartilaginous knob on each side of the 

 face beneath the eyes, which answers to the flexible pad 

 of the wart-hog ; it has also two bony prominences on the 

 upper jaw above the nostrils. A boar of this species in 

 the Zoological Gardens recently broke into the cage of 

 the wart-hog. They fought all night-long, and were 

 found in the morning much exhausted, but not seriously 

 wounded. It is a significant fact, as showing the purpose 

 of the above-described projections and excrescences, that 

 these were covered with blood, and were scored and 

 abraded in an extraordinary manner. 



The mane of the lion forms a good defence against the 

 one danger to which he is liable, namely, the attacks of 

 rival lions : for the males, as Sir. A. Smith informs me, 

 engage in terrible battles, and a young lion dares not ap- 

 proach an old one. In 1857 a tiger at Bromwich broke 

 mto the cage of a lion, and a fearful scene ensued; " the 

 Lion's mane saved his neck and head from being much in- 

 jured, but the tiger at last succeeded in ripping up his 



