THE HIPPOPOTAMUS. 



The Hippopotamus, amidst the flood 

 Flexile and active as the smallest swimmer, 

 But on the bank ill balanced and infirm. 



Following the Elephants of such stupendous 

 animal bulk, we have placed in our systems an 

 animal nearly as large, but standing much lower 

 upon its limbs, while it is entirely aquatic in its 

 habits. Upon the land it is certainly the most 

 unwieldy and unshapely animal in existence, and 

 like all the aquatic mammalia we are acquainted 

 with, the form is round, shapeless, but smooth, 

 and possessing no sudden angles, which, while 

 they might assist the symmetry, would offer 

 resistance when swimming. The skin is hairless, 

 almost like that of the Cetaceae when newly seen 

 after immersion ; and underneath there is a thick 

 coat of fat, as under the skin of the Swine, and 

 perhaps somewhat analogous to the blubber of the 

 Whale. 



One species only of Hippopotamus is yet 

 known with any degree of authenticity ; it is 



