in 



HYRAX. 



HYRAX. 



for UM determination of UM tru. relation* of animal*. To 

 we are indebted for the lact that the quadruped 

 i. . true Pachyderm, and, notwithstanding the 

 M, mtMtbe regarded a* intermediate between 

 - eMmblance. which th* Hyrax 

 traced, according to Cuvier, a* 



...too. of Ms proportion*. .** b. r 

 U*. Kfciooc.ro. andthe Tapir. Th. 

 Uu. to DM former of the*, may be 

 far a* UM oavou. etrootar* i* concer 

 trunk, in the Ant place. Tbo //yr 

 bar oaaaftor to that pomowd by 



IV / V9 MWBU, W ~ ' 



i* concerned, in the general form of the 



The //yrox ha* 21 nb* on each iie, a 



nporior to that pomaiH by any other quadmped, the Unau 

 _P~d, which ha. M; *nd thoee which, after J?jrr, have the 

 , .~| belong precuely to the order of Pachyderm*, in which 

 ifiar would arrange it. Thai the Elephant and the Tapir have each 

 mi ; the Rhinocero* ha* 19 ; the Solipeds have 18. The greater part 

 of the Rodent*, on the contrary, have only 12 or 18 ; and the Beaver, 

 which ha* UM at"**, ha* only IS. A* regard* the lumbar vertebne, 

 Ike ma.lil.ini begin* to b* more distant, for the Rhinocero* ha* 



O 



*> 



only t, followed by 4 aacral and 21 or 22 caudal ; while Z/yrox ha* 

 lumbar, 7 aacral, and 6 ooocygeal. The difference become* more 

 Barked in UM form of UM pelvi* ; for the oua ilii are very wide in 

 UwRhinocero*. and *umcieotly narrow in the 7/yroj-; but the analogy 

 rreppean in UM femora, which exhibit a very marked commencement 

 of a third (rochanter, and U continued in many respect* in the for- 

 mation of UM feet But it i* in the bony structure of the head that 

 UM Hynx depart* from th* conformation of the Rodents, and 

 approach** UM Pachyderm*, particularly the Rhinooero*. It U true 

 that a* UM now of the Hyr<ir ha* no horn to support, the nasal bone* 

 have not received, a* in the Rhinoceros, the thicknes* necessary for 

 carrying that defensive organ ; but the maxillary bone* differ at once 

 from UMM of th. Rodent* by the anallne** of their extent, and the 

 inferior *U* of the .uborbiul hole, which U generally very large in 

 that order. In the number of the upper incisor teeth (2) the Uyrax 

 resemblai both the Rodent* and RJkinocerot tutieormt ; but the number 

 of lower incisor* i* four. The upper incisors of 7/yrox are not formed, 

 lik. UtOM of UM Rodent*, in the shape of a quadrangular prism, or 

 in that of a cylinder curved and terminated by a truncation or a corner 

 edge. They are triangular and terminate in a point, recalling to the 

 observer the canine* of the Hippopotamus. The lower incUor* are 

 laid forward lik* thoaa of the Hog ; they are flat and dentilated in 



th, but soon become worn by attrition against the upper incisors. 



t molar. i.|iieeml thoae of the Rhinoceros, both in number and 



-n, eo that, were it not for the size, they might be mistaken for 



each other. 



although in truth transversal, enter* into a deep hollow of 

 poral bone*, and permit* of no other motion to the jaw than 



tin- 



pn iwi 



V *,1 



Theme 



Molar tooth of Uy< magntBed. Cutltr. 



The condyle of the lower jaw i* very different from anything 

 eheambl* among the Rodent*, in which it U comprearad longitu- 

 dinaJly. IB the Hgna it i* oomprewed transversely, as in the Pachy- 



Skull of Ifyrax. Curler. 



and downward*. After alluding to the form of the condyle and the 

 dentition in the Kangaroos and Phaicotomyi, Cuvier goe on to remark 

 that one of the most constant characters among the Rodent* is the 

 not having, at a certain age, more than a single parietal bone without 

 suture, with two frontal bones, directly contrary to what occurs in 

 man. In Hyrax, a* in the Pachyderms and Carnivom, there are two 

 frontal and two parietal bones. The zygomatic arch is constructed 

 differently from that of the Rodents, and more conformably with that 

 of Rhinoceros. In the molar teeth the construction and direction is 

 rather that of the Pachyderms than of the Rodents. 



In Byrax the number of toes (four before and three behind) is pre- 

 cuely the same as in the Tapir. It is true, Cuvier observes, that 

 ome Rodento, and particularly the Capybara [HYSTRICIDJS], have the 

 same number, and that the last phalanges of the latter approach the 

 flattened form of those of the Pachyderms ; but their more elongated 

 and free toes announce the family to which they belong. The Hyrax 

 has the toe* united by the skin down to the nail, as in the Elephant 

 and Rhinoceros, and even more than in the Tapir and Hippopotamus. 



Such are only a few of the leading point* of agreement and disa- 

 greement in the bony structure of Uyrax, as considered relatively to 

 the Rodent* and Pachyderms. 



In 1882 Professor Owen read to a meeting of the Zoological Society 

 of London an account of the anatomical structure of Jfyrax Capennt, 

 which, while it was confirmatory of the anatomical description of 

 Pallas generally, gave some additional fact*, which will be readily 

 appreciated by those who will compare his observations with the 

 original description of Curia Capentit, in the ' Spicilegia ' and ' Mis- 

 cellanea Zoologica ' of Pallas. 



The specimen, which was a full-grown male, had lived in the Gar- 

 dens of the Society through the greater part of the summer, and died 

 in the winter repository there. The length (skeleton) from the ante- 



Skrlrton of Ifyrai. Cuvtrr. 



and in all UM other S/erfriver* which are not Rodent*, being 

 beaide. to a plane nirtar. of the temporal bone, whereby a 

 more or le. boriaontal, from right to left, and from left to 

 njfct, t* permitted ; and H i* thl* that eminently distinguishes the 

 articulation from that of all the drmrora, where the condyle, 



rior iiirfaoe of the upper incisors to the vent was 1 foot 54 inches. 

 The duodenum wa* not so loosely connected with the back part of 

 the abdomen as in most of the Rodent* ; but it had throughout its 

 course one entire investment of peritoneum. At its commencement 

 it wa* not dilated, a* in many Rodent*. The coccum seemed at first sight 



