NATURAL HISTORY. 



161 



"On every side 



They trembling stood, and made a long broad dyke, 

 That his swift charot might havp passage wide, 

 Wkieh fourc great hippo4amt did draw in teem-wise tide." SPENSER. 



450. Why is the hippopotamus so caUed f 



From, two Greek words, meaning horse, and river,, and 

 reference to the habits of the animal 



451. Why curt the iv&ter* 

 seen to bubble when the 

 hippopote!,&iii dives beneath 

 them / 



Because tlie animal has 

 the power of expelling the 

 air contained in its lungs, 

 for the purpose of facilitating 

 its descent, and increasing 

 its specific gravity, so that 

 it may more readily walk at 

 tiie bottom, 



452. The hippopotamus steeps in 

 the small reedy islets which are 

 found in the rivers it frequents. In 

 these spots it also produces its 

 young, having only one at a birth, 

 which, it nurses with great care. 



453. WTv$ has the hippopotamus such enormously large forth t 



Because the coarse vegetable matter which it eats is enormous 

 in quantity much greater than is consumed by any other animal 

 Its mouth is adapted for tearing and dividing hard and tough 

 plants. The stomada of the hippopotamus is capable of containing 

 five or six: bushels, and the large intestine is at least eight inches 

 in diameter. 



These enonnoiis teetk are also used as weapons of defence. 

 Dampier related that he had known the hippopotamus to set one 



