SOME HOOFED ANIMALS 



101 



Fig. 83. — The Hyrax. 



in front and three behind, are encased in hoofs. The 

 hyrax is common in Africa. The Syrian hyrax is sup- 

 posed to be the 

 shaphan of the 

 Bible. They pro- 

 duce the secre- 

 tion known as 

 hyraceum, which 

 is employed in 

 the manufacture 

 of perfumery. 



The rhinoceros is one of the largest and heaviest of 

 animals. It is now confined to the tropics, but in former 

 years one species roamed over the northern countries 

 and was adapted for life on the edge of the Arctic regions. 

 The remains of several of these huge creatures have been 

 found entire, having fallen into crevasses in the ice and 

 been so frozen up in nature's cold storage as to be pre- 

 served as monuments of a lost race. In 1771 a specimen 

 was secured that was almost completely covered with hair. 

 It had been buried in the frozen tundra by the banks of 

 the river Wilui, Siberia, for possibly thousands of years. 

 Its horn was four feet in length, showing it to have been 

 a powerful and dangerous foe to any animal. It was 

 doubtless a contemporary of the mammoth. 



To-day the rhinoceros is confined to Africa, India, and 

 the adjacent islands, as Sumatra. Several species are 

 known, and all are distinguished by having growing upon 

 the muzzle one or two horns, from one to three feet in 

 length. These horns have no connection with the bone. 

 They are composed of hairlike fibers closely joined, and 



