THE HIPPOPOTAMUS 291 



above level of crown of skull; rostral constriction 

 greater, five and one-half times or more in skull length; 

 body size greater amphibius 



Nasal bones wide, their least width greater than i^ inches; upper 

 rim of orbit elevated i^ inches or more above level 

 of crown of skull; rostral constriction less, averaging 

 five times in skull length; body size less kihoko 



Hippopotamus 



Hippopotamus 



Hippopotamus Linnaeus, 1758, Systema Naturae, I, p. 74; type H. amphibius. 



The hippopotamus is one of the very oldest known mam- 

 mals in literature, and is found referred to in some of the 

 most ancient Egyptian writings. It was well known to the 

 ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean basin, and several 

 myths regarding its peculiar habit of sweating blood are 

 found in Greek literature. Notwithstanding the ancient 

 and well-known character of the hippopotamus, it remains 

 without an English name and is everywhere known in our 

 literature by the scientific generic term proposed by Lin- 

 naeus in 1758. To the Dutch colonists of South Africa it 

 was known as the zee koe or lake cow, a term later corrupted 

 to sea cow by the English colonists. The Germans have 

 bestowed upon it the name of river horse, owing to the 

 fancied resemblance of the crown of the head, as seen in a 

 floating animal, to that of a horse. A far more appropriate 

 term, considering its zoological affinities, is that of river 

 pig, applied to it by the ancient Egyptians. 



The aquatic habits of the hippopotamus have favored its 

 development to an enormous bulk, just as in the case of 

 some of the seals. An adult bull attains a weight of ap- 

 proximately four tons and is quite equal to a cow elephant 

 in bulk. Record bulls no doubt reach a weight of five tons 

 and are only exceeded in bulk among land mammals by the 

 bull elephant. From the pygmy hippopotamus the true 

 hippopotamus difi^ers by its great superiority in size, the 

 shorter legs, shorter tail, which is a mere rudiment and is 

 much compressed laterally, the prominent dorsally situ- 



