Conies. 75 



anatomy of the Hyracidge ; but one or two notice- 

 able features common to the family may be 

 mentioned for example, the number of ribs is 

 extraordinarily large, twenty-one or twenty-two on 

 each side as against the twelve or thirteen usual 

 among the rodents. The feet, again, are peculiar, 

 as the front ones have four and the hind ones 

 which are very much like those of the rhinoceros 

 three toes, or rather rounded hoofs, respectively, 

 which are absolutely unlike the claws of rodents ; 

 or, as Bruce put it in his description of the 

 Abyssinian Hyrax, which he called the Ashkoko, 

 "the nails are rather broad than sharp, much 

 similar to a man's nails ill grown/' to which 

 description he added the remark that " these 

 appear to be given him rather for the defence of 

 his soft toes than for any active use in digging, to 

 which they are by no means adapted." The soles 

 of the feet are covered with fleshy pads which 

 enable the animals to cling to, and thus climb 

 safely up, vertical and smooth surfaces, such as 

 rocks and trees. The dentition, which consists of 

 incisors and molars alone, is remarkable. The 

 upper incisors are two in number and rootless, as 

 in the rodents ; but, unlike the chisel-shaped teeth 

 of that family, are triangular, and terminate in a 

 sharp point, and are not unlike the canines of the 

 hippopotamus, while the lower incisors, four in 

 number, are short, flattened, and rooted; the 

 molars are much like those of the rhinoceros seen 

 through a diminishing glass. And, lastly, the 



