20 SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF MAMMALIA. 



Antoninus, Heliogabalus, and Gordian III. Martial lived 

 in the time of Domitian, and the rhinoceros " gemino 

 cornu " was doubtless seen by him. 



The animals of the present genus are all remarkable 

 for the massiveness of their form and the clumsiness of 

 their proportions ; they are, however, more prompt and 

 rapid than might be at first supposed, and when attacked 

 they rush on their foes with headlong impetuosity. The 

 body is of great bulk, and ])rotuberant at the sides ; the 

 neck is short and deep ; the shoulders are heavy, the 

 limbs thick ; the feet are divided into three toes encased 

 in hoofs. The skin is thick and coarse, with a knotty 

 or tuberculous surface, and destitute, or nearly so, of 

 hairs. In the common Indian species it is disposed in 

 large folds, especially on the neck, shoulders, haunches, 

 and thighs. The eyes are small, placed nearer the nose 

 than in other quadrupeds, and high towards the upper 

 surface of the skull ; the ears are moderate and erect. 

 The head is large and ponderous : it is elevated between 

 the ears, whence it sweeps with a concave line to the 

 nasal bones, which rise in the form of an arch to support 

 the horn (see skeleton. Fig. 6). The upper lip is soft, 

 flexible, sensitive, capable of being protruded, and used 

 to a certain degree as an organ of prehension. 



But that which gives most character to the head of 

 the rhinoceros is its horn, single in some species, double 

 in others. This organ is of an elongated, recurvent, 

 conical figure, arising from a broad, limpet-shaped base, 

 seated on the nasal bones, which are of a thickness and 

 solidity not to be found in other races of quadrupeds. 

 They form a vaulted roof, elevated in a remarkable de- 

 gree above the intermaxillary bones, containing the in- 

 cisor teeth, and their upper arched surface is rough with 

 numerous irregularities and depressions ; and here we 

 may pause, to reflect on the advantages gained by their 

 form and structure. They have not merely to sustain 

 the weight of the horn, no trifle in itself, but to resist 

 the shock occasioned by the violent blows which the 

 animal gives with the wea])on upon various occasions. 

 Hence, conjoined with their solidity, that form is given 



