RHINOCEROS. 159 



to me to be an anomaly very deserving examina- 

 tion. Dispersed over the skin of all animals are 

 pores, which I have supposed secrete a peculiar 

 fluid, which may be designated by the name of 

 corneous matter. This secretion or fluid is 

 designed by nature for the forming of various 

 most useful and important additamentae, all of 

 which continue growing during the whole life, 

 have an insertion not deeper than the skin, and 

 are farther distinguished by the absence of all 

 sensibility and vascular organization, being purely 

 exuvial parts, like the perfected feathers of birds. 

 In all these parts, the growth takes place by the 

 addition of more matter at their base. When 

 these pores are separate, they produce hairs ; 

 when they are confluent, and in a line, they pro- 

 duce the nails, the claws, and the hoofs, the fibrous 

 appearance of which naturally leads to the suppo- 

 sition of their being confluent hairs ; and the same 

 may be said of the scales of the Manis, the quills 

 of the Porcupine, Hedge-hog, and other animals, 

 which may be regarded as hairs of extraordinary 

 size. When the pores are confluent, and in a 

 ring, they furnish the corneous core of the horns 

 of the animals of the ruminating class ; and when 

 confluent on a circular order, they supply matter 

 for the formation of a solid horn, such as we see 

 in the Rhinoceros. At its base, it is, in most 

 ^stances, evidently rough and fibrous, like 



