Mr. A. Adams on the Animal and Float of Ianthina. 417 



Las cloven hoofs, others said the hoof was entire.. It inhabits, 

 according to report, the desert lying south of Kordofan, and is 

 remarkably swift." 



From this it is quite clear that this supposed animal is some- 

 thing very different from any species of Rhinoceros. I ought, 

 therefore, perhaps to modify my assertion when I boldly denied 

 the existence of any such animal, seeing that so distinguished a 

 naturalist as Edward Ruppell was inclined to believe in it. But 

 even if future investigations should result in the discovery of 

 such an animal as that described above (which, to say the least, 

 is in the highest degree improbable), it is certain that it can 

 have nothing to do with the two-horned R'em of the Bible, nor, 

 as it seems to me, with any of the one-horned animals mentioned 

 in the writings of the ancient Greeks and Romans. The au- 

 thority for the existence of the animal rests entirely upon the 

 assertions of natives, whose veracity is not often to be depended 

 upon. I remember being told by a traveller in Palestine that it 

 is perfectly useless to attempt to obtain reliable information from 

 the Arabs of that country. They will tell a traveller almost 

 anything that comes into their heads, no matter how improbable 

 it may be, — though in the question at issue it is but fair to state 

 that Mr. Ruppell was perfectly satisfied with the accuracy of the 

 information he had received from his native servant on questions 

 relating to animals, 



With regard to the zoological objection to the possibility of 

 the existence of an animal with a single horn on the middle 

 of the forehead (viz. that no horn can grow upon a suture), 

 Mr. Ruppell replies by instancing the case of the Giraffe, the 

 male of which, he states, is possessed of a third horn, placed on 

 the very centre of the frontal suture. This fact, though denied 

 by Prof. Owen, was maintained by Cuvier, and has lately been 

 insisted upon by Dr. Cobbold. 



I remain, Gentlemen, 



Very truly yours, 



Preston Rectorv, Nov. 3, 1862. W. Houghton. 



XLV. — On the Animal and Float of Ianthina. 

 By Arthur Adams, P.L.S. &c. 



In the North Atlantic Ocean, about four hundred miles from the 

 Azores, I obtained a considerable number of lively Ianthinas ; 

 and I believe there are one or two points of interest in the his- 

 tory of this beautiful Mollusk which deserve mention, as they 

 seem to have escaped the notice of previous observers. I will 

 first of all consider the animal, and then the float by means of 

 which it is supported at the surface of the water. 

 Ann. $ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol x. 28 



