EXTINCT RHINOCEROSES 



1071 



brings them immediately to a stop. The latter circumstance is somewhat at vari- 

 ance with Sir S. Baker's account of hunting the common rhinoceros in the Sudan, 

 referred to on p. 1065. 



Burchell's rhinoceros differed from the other African species in that during the 

 autumn and winter months, that is to say from March till August, it accumulated 

 an enormous quantity of fat; and at such times its flesh is stated to have been of 

 excellent quality, somewhat resembling beef, but with a peculiar and characteristic 

 flavor of its own. The favorite dish was the hump on the withers, which was cut 

 out and cooked with the skin on in a hole in the ground. The flesh of the calf was 

 excellent at any season, and has been compared to very tender veal. 



Certain very remarkable front horns of a rhinoceros obtained from 

 _ traders at Zanzibar, and doubtless belonging to an East- African form, 



' may possibly indicate a third species, which may be known as Holm- 

 wood's rhinoceros. These horns, one of which measures forty-two inches, are 

 characterized by their great length and slenderness, coupled with the small size of the 

 base. It has been suggested that they are abnormal horns of the female of the 

 common species, but it is quite probable that they belong to a totally different ani- 

 mal, which may be more nearly allied to Burchell's rhinoceros. 



EXTINCT RHINOCEROSES 



In the course of the preceding paragraphs, some reference has been made to 

 certain extinct species of rhinoceroses which approximate closely to some of the 

 existing members of the group. Besides these, there are, however, a multitude of 

 extinct species, 

 which ranged not 

 only over Europe 

 and Asia, but 

 likewise North 

 America. It has, 

 indeed, been sug- 

 gested that 

 America was the 

 original home of 

 these animals, 

 from whence they 

 migrated to Asia 

 and Europe; but 



it appears to us SKUI<I< O F EXTINCT RHINOCEROS FROM THE BRICK EARTH OF ESSEX. 

 that the evidence 



is equally in favor of the migration having been in the opposite direction. These 

 rhinoceroses occur throughout the Tertiary period as far down as the upper Eocene 

 division; and even at that low horizon many of the species may be referred to the 

 living genus, although in most cases they were unprovided with horns, while some 



