1052 THE UNGULATES, OR HOOFED MAMMALS 



the erect, oval ears placed very far back. The eyes are very small in proportion 

 to the size of the head; and the upper lip is generally, although not invariably, 

 prehensile, and prolonged beyond the extremity of the lower one. The thick skin 

 is either nake,d or sparsely clad with hair, and may be thrown in certain parts of 

 the body into a series of deep folds. The tail is thin and of moderate length. 



The horns, which form the characteristic feature of the physiognomy 



of the living species, are composed of a closely -packed mass of horny 

 fibres, growing from the skin, and having no connection with the bones of the skull, 

 although there are prominences on the latter beneath each horn. The skull, as shown 

 in the figure of that of an extinct species given in the sequel, is characterized by its 

 elevated occipital region, long, curved profile, the absence of any bony bar at the 

 hinder part of the socket of the eye, and the large size of the nasal bones, which are 

 completely fused together. In those species with but one horn this is carried upon 

 the nasal bones, and the front horn of those with two of these appendages has a 

 similar situation, but the second horn, when present, is placed on the frontal 

 bones. 



Rhinoceroses are stupid and somewhat timorous beasts, generally 



striving to escape from man, although when brought to bay exceed- 

 ingly fierce, and consequently from their great size very dangerous. Although the 

 African species are entirely dependent on their enormous horns, as weapons of of- 

 fense and defense, the Asiatic kinds, in which the horns dre smaller, seem to rely 

 chiefly upon their sharply-pointed lower tusks which are capable of inflicting ter- 

 rific gashes. All are mainly nocturnal, and while some resemble the tapirs in fre- 

 quenting tall grass jungles and swampy districts, others seem to prefer more or less 

 open plains. Their food is entirely vegetable; but whereas some species subsist al- 

 most exclusively on grass, the food of others consists mainly of twigs and small 

 boughs of trees; this difference in diet being correlated with a difference in the struc- 

 ture of the molar teeth. At the present day these animals are restricted to South- 

 eastern Asia and Africa; and they may be divided into two main groups according 

 to their geographical distribution, the Asiatic group being again subdivided into 

 two minor groups. 



THE ASIATIC RHINOCEROSES 



The whole of the three species of Rhinoceroses inhabiting Asia are character- 

 ized by the skin being thrown in places into thick folds, and by the presence of 

 teeth in the front of the jaws; the horns being either one or two in number. 



Indian By f&1 the lar & est of these three is the reat one-horned Indian rhi- 



Rhinoceros nosceros ( R - unicornis} , which may be conveniently designated as the 



Indian rhinoceros par excellence, and is the one which has been longest 



known in Europe from living examples, a specimen having been sent to Portugal as 



long ago as the year 1513. In this species there is but a single nasal horn; and the 



skin, with the exception of that of the tail and ears, is naked, and on the sides of 



the body studded with a number of large convex tubercles, reminding one of the 



rivets in an iron boiler, which are the largest on the fore and hind-quarters, where 



