184 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS 



(blue), and Sumbu itam (black). These animals 

 defend themselves not with their horns, but with 

 their enormous razor -edged teeth ; an elephant's 

 foot bitten by one of these furies has been cut to 

 the bone before now. 



The hairy-eared variety of the Sumatran rhino- 

 ceros was first described on August 16, 1872, 

 at the Brighton meeting of the British Association, 

 from an individual then living in London. 1 It 

 differed from the typical race in the drooping plume 

 of hair ornamenting the ear conch, in the greater 

 development of the hairy covering, and in its larger 

 size and shorter tail. Moreover, the texture of 

 the hair was finer than the bristly coat of the typical 

 Sumatran race ; the hide was smoother and also paler. 

 The anterior surface of the fore and hind feet, and 

 also the outer aspect of the limbs, were clothed with 

 a considerable quantity of black hair. 



This individual was secured in the following 

 circumstances : 



In December, 1867, some natives found a female 

 rhinoceros embedded in a quicksand at Chittagong, 

 in Eastern Bengal ; quite exhausted with struggling, 

 she fell an easy prey. Two stout ropes having 

 been attached to her neck, the unfortunate 

 beast was hauled out by the combined efforts of 

 about two hundred men ; kept taut between the 



1. Dr. Anderson had, however, described the specimen supposing it to 

 be a typical sumatrensis early in 1872. 



