128 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 



animal. Rabbits taken there have multiplied to an 

 alarming extent, there being few carnivorous creatures 

 to hold them in check. The only carnivorous animal, 

 native to the island, is an arboreal bear not larger 

 than a common cat. 



In tracing the lineage of a class of animals, say 

 that of pachyderms, a certain peculiarity is to be ob- 

 served in the muzzle and in the digits. The ele- 

 phant presents a wonderfully developed proboscis, or 

 prolongation of the upper lip and nose ; and the huge 

 creature possesses an odd number of toes. The rhi- 

 noceros is a perissodactyl (odd toed), and presents a 

 long snout. The tapir, odd-toed, has almost a pro- 

 boscis. The peccary is a rooter, and so is the pig, 

 though they are generally artiodactyl (even-toed). 

 However, a "mule-footed" swine in Florida and 

 Texas has three toes incased in a single hoof. The 

 variety is not much cultivated. Possibly through a 

 superstition that the animal is unclean because it does 

 not divide the hoof. To an Israelite the pig is un- 

 clean, because it is not a ruminant, and would be more 

 repulsive if odd-toed. 



The horse has a palseoutological lineage Avhich is 

 quite remarkable. The Eocene animal was not more 

 than three feet high, and possessed five toes. Its 

 equine character is determined by its teeth and ver- 

 tebrae. The Miocene orohtppus had three toes to each 

 foot, and was as large as a Shetland pony ; and the 

 Pliocene hippus had one toe, and was the ances- 

 tor of the modern horse. It will be seen that the 

 perissodactyl type clung to the beast through all its 

 transformations. No other animal presents such a 

 wonderful record. Whether the progression was 

 steadily upward from the primitive horse to the pres- 



