NOTE-BOOK OF A NATUEALIST. 377 



to Sparrman, who, after relating his anecdote, observes, 

 that this may appear very extraordinary in an animal 

 with four stomachs ; but that there have been instances of 

 this kind known in common cattle, which in Herjedal, are 

 partly fed with horse-dung. He states that he has been 

 assured that this method of feeding cattle has been prac- 

 tised with great advantage in Upland when there has 

 been a scarcity of fodder ; and that afterwards these same 

 cattle, even when they have not been in want of proper 

 fodder, have taken to this food of their own accord, and 

 have eaten it without anything else being mixed with it. 



The regimen has agreed with our Hippo wonderfully. 

 No animal could be in better health. He was thoroughly 

 enjoying existence in his bath, wherein he spends more 

 time as he grows older. The teeth are just come through, 

 and he seemed to take pleasure in champing Professor 

 Owen's stick when held near its mouth, as a child would 

 use a coral. When he rises after his submersion, he 

 shakes the water from his ears with a brisk motion : this 

 he invariably does when he emerges. The overlapping 

 of the huge upper lip stands him in good stead when he 

 wishes to expel the water from his mouth. He drives 

 it backwards with considerable force, and the water rushes 

 from under the overlap, as if from a gigantic pair of gills. 

 When, in its natural state, the animal feeds upon water- 

 plants, scooped up by its enormous teeth, these sluices 

 must be very convenient for getting rid of the mud and 

 water. 



The ffreat tortoise had buried its head in the sand in 

 the ostrich-house up to the shoulders; but the greater 

 portion of the shell and the lower extremities were ex- 

 posed. I hope it may be alive, but I have my misgiv- 

 ings. Not one of the large tortoises that I recollect have 

 survived. Yet White's old tortoise retired annually 

 under his bunch of hepaticas, and lay snug in the ground 

 open to every skiey influence, till rejoicing nature bade 



