NATURAL HISTORY. 



161 



&quot; On every side 



They trembling stood, and made a long broad dyke, 

 That his swift cJiavct might have pat-sage wide, 

 Wkieh foure great hippcdaiiies did draw in teem-wise tide.&quot; SFEXSER. 



450. Why is the hippopotamus so colled f 



From two Greek words, meaning horse, and river, and having 

 reference to the habits of the animaL 



451. Why &re the water* 

 seen to bubble wh-en the 

 kippopo&tmMt -dives beneatk 

 them ? 



Because the animal has 

 the power of expelling the 

 air contained in its lungs, 

 for the purpose of facilitating 

 its descent, and increasing 

 its specific gravity, so that 

 it may more readily walk at 

 die bottom, 



452. The hippopotamus sbeps ia 

 the small ree-dy islets which are 

 found in the rivers it frequents. In 

 these spots it also produces its 

 young, having only one at a birth, 

 which, it nurses with great care. 



453. 



JKHS the hippopotamus such enormously large teeth? 



Because the coarse vegetable matter which it eats is enormous 

 in quantity much greater than is consumed by any other animal 

 Its mouth is adapted for tearing and dividing hard and tough 

 plants. The stomach of the hippopotamus is capable of containing 

 five or six bushels, and the large intestine is at least eight inches 

 in diameter. 



These enormous teeth are also used as weapons of defence. 

 Dampier related that he had known the hippopotamus to set one 



