4j2 BURMA, ITS PEOPLE AXD PRODUCTIOXS. 



a similar rendering has boen adopted in several Indian versions, tlioufih unsuppnrted 

 l)y any philological considerations. The Hehrew name ' recm ' bears no rcseniblanco 

 to the name of the rhinoceros in any of the countries adjacent to Judaja. In Persian 

 it is called ' harg.' The Southern Karens say there is a third species of rhinoceros 

 in the jungles, which is distinguished from both the others by its skin being covered 

 with small tubercles, and above all by its eating fire. Wherever it sees fire it runs 

 up and devours it immediately. I once lost my way among the hills and valleys of 

 Palaw and Katay, and on obtaining a Karen, who lived in that region, for a guide, he 

 laid special charge on every member of the party to follow him in silence, for a fire- 

 eating rhinoceros had been recently seen, and it always came to noises, instead of 

 fleeing from them as most animals do." Dr. Mason goes on to state that a similar 

 dislike for fire is well known in the black African rhinoceros, and has been recorded 

 by Blyth of R. Sumatrensis, and it may not improbably exist in other species of the 

 genus. The habit of attacking a fire and trampling it out (the eating part of the 

 performance being probably an embellishment) may have originated in the sagacity of 

 the animal or to the mixed operation of fear and rage combined, as a savage dog will 

 pursue and bite the stone thrown at it ; and in time an act wholly unconnected with 

 the natural economy of the animal, and developed by an accidental circumstance, may, 

 by the operation of the laws of heredity, have become converted into an instinct. 

 This idea receives some support by the behaviour of bees. When preparing to smoke 

 off a swarm of bees from their comb in the jungle, especial care is taken by the 

 Burmans not to allow the flame to rise, or to ' crackle,' as the bees are said to be at 

 once roused to fury by the sound of flames, and to attack every one within reach. 

 Doubtless experience has taught them the danger to their home which attends a 

 crackling fire in the wood, and they at once resort to the weapon of olfence with 

 which they are provided. A rhinoceros is actuated by precisely the same sentiment, 

 and he rushes to the detested fire and tramples it beneath his feet as he would a 

 living enemy. 



E. LASTOTis, Sclater. 

 R. C'rossii, Gray. 



Ear-fringed two-homed Rhinoceros. 



Blyth inclines to unite this species and R. Crossei, Gray, which has an anterior 

 horn sometimes 32 inches long. Blyth remarks : " In the Rhinoceroses of this type 

 the hide is comparatively thin, and is not tesselated or tuberculated, nor does it form 

 ' a coat of mail,' as in the preceding, but tliere is one great groove (rather than fold 

 or plait) behind the shoulder-blades, and a less conspicuous crease on the flank, which 

 does not extend upwards to cross the loins, as represented in F. Cuvier's figure ; and 

 there are also slight folds on the neck and at base of the limbs ; the skin being more- 

 over hairy throughout. There is also a second horn placed at some distance behind 

 the nasal one. Until recently the existence of more than one species was un- 

 suspected. In 18G8 a young female was captured in the province of Chittagong, 

 and on its arrival in the London Zoological Gardens, early in 1872, was believed to 

 represent the Rhinoceros surnalrensis of Bell and llafiles ; but soon afterwards another 

 two-horned Rhinoceros was received at the same establishment from Malacca, obviously 

 of a difl^erent species, which proved to be the veritable R. sumatretisis. Since its 

 arrival, it has now (1873) considerably increased in size, and it probably is not yet 

 finite full-grown. As compared with C. smnatrensis, it is a considerably larger 

 animal, with much smoother skin, of a pale clay colour, covered with longer and 

 less bristly hair, the latter of a light brown colour, as seen in the mass. The ears 

 are placed much further apart at tlie base, and are not lined with hair as in the other, 

 but are conspicuously fringed with long hair; and the tail is much shorter and largely 

 tufted at the end. The horns are worn away, but if the species be truly assigned to 

 C. crossii, the anterior would grow very long and curve to a remarkable extent back- 

 wards, while the posterior horn would probably be short. A second specimen of an 

 anterior horn, almost as fine as the one first described, has recently turned up among 

 the stores of the British Museum ; and I found a smaller anterior horn of R. crossii 

 in the Museum of the London Royal College of Surgeons, confirmatory of its peculiar 



