NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS 



line of the face ; pass though the cheek, and sweep 

 upwards and then backwards in a bold curve till 

 they touch the forehead. 1 The upper canines of the 

 babirusa never enter the mouth ; that they should 

 thus penetrate the muscle and skin of the face 

 without causing serious inflammatory symptoms 

 seems little short of marvellous. The lower tusks 

 spring from the jaw in the usual way, and project 

 above the lower lip as sharp backwardly-curved 

 defences. Average length of upper tusk 14^ inches ; 

 maximum recorded length 17 inches over the curve. 

 The sows have small tusks situated in the lower 

 jaw only. 



The student will find an interesting collection of 

 babirusa skulls in the museum of the Royal College 

 of Surgeons, many of them dating from the time of 

 John Hunter, the founder of the collection. No. 1 825 

 (Hunterian) is a splendid specimen ; the upper 

 canines boldly cross each other above the head ; the 

 lower ones sweep round like miniature ivory 

 scimitars. 2 A skull presented in 1818 by Daniel 

 Moore has the upper canines so curved as to touch 

 the frontal bones, which exhibit a depressed surface, 

 perhaps actually due to pressure-absorption ; another 



1. A babirusa living in the London collection many years ago (1886 ?) 

 carried such fine tusks that the late Mr. A. D. Bartlett sawed off the 

 tips and inserted cork guards between the sawn ends and the face, lest 

 the tusks should actually re-enter the skin ! The animal, however, soon 

 dislodged the corks. 



2. A specimen in the Natural History Museum has the upper tusks 

 widely divergent the opposite of No. 1825. 



