HYPOX1DE.E HYRIA. 



817 



HYPOXIDEA 1 . A natural order of exotic plan-is, 

 containing three genera and about twenty species. 

 Hypoxis, the genus whence the order is named, was 

 formerly associated with the Asphodeleoe, till sepa- 

 rated therefrom by Dr. Brown. It seems to be a 

 link of connexion between them and the Amaryllideee, 

 from which last it but slightly differs. The foliage 

 of these plants is plaited, harsh, and rigid, which cir- 

 cumstances seem to argue them distinct from both 

 AmaryUidecE and Asphodelea:. Hypoxis, Curculigo, 

 and their few allies at present known, are plants of 

 little beauty, H. stellata excepted. Their uses are 

 unknown. 



HYRAX (Hyrax). A genus of pachydermatous 

 mammalia, intermediate in their character between 

 (ho rhinoceros and the tapir ; but so inferior to them 

 in the size of the existing species, that it was not until 

 Cuvier had demonstrated the character of the animal 

 from its anatomical structure, that it was admitted 

 into this part of the system ; and it was previously 

 classed by naturalists with the rodentia or gnawing 

 animals. No part of the structure allows it, however, 

 to be ranked with them, while every thing justifies 

 the place assigned to it by Cuvier. The general ap- 

 pearance is that of a rhinoceros in miniature ; and 

 though it has no horny production on the nose, it has 

 the same character of the grinders, ai-d the same 

 prehensile upper lip. The incisive teeth are different, 

 for there are in the upper jaw two large incisors bent 

 backwards, with a wide space between them and the 

 cheek teeth. The foremost cheek teeth above have flat 

 triangular crowns, and the posterior ones are a little 

 hollowed : the under ones have transverse ridges on 

 their crowns. In the full grown animal, there are no 

 canines ; but in the young state, there are small 

 ones, which soon drop out, and are never replaced. 

 The incisors in the lower jaw are four in number, and 

 much smaller than those in the other ; but they are, 

 properly speaking, tearing teeth, and not cutting ones, 

 though from the character of the cheek teeth, they 

 are made for tearing vegetable matter only ; the fore 

 feet are furnished with four toes in one of the known 

 species, and only three in the other, while the hind 

 feet have four toes in both ; the claws upon these toes 

 are, properly speaking, little hoofs, which are the 

 characteristic armature of the pachydermata, but the 

 inner toe of the hind foot is furnished with a crooked 

 claw ; the nostrils are oblique ; the eyes small ; the 

 cars short, but of considerable size ; the head large 

 for the size of the body ; the upper lip divided ; six 

 mamma; in the females, two on the breast, and four on 

 the belly ; and the body covered with two descrip- 

 tions of hair, one short and woolly, and the other long 

 and silky ; internally, the stomach is divided into two 

 portions; there is a large coecum, and various enlarge- 

 ments in the colon. All these characters are strictlythose 

 of the pachydermatous animals, and leave no doubt 

 as to the correctness of the modern arrangement. 



It is not a little remarkable that we should rind the 

 remains of those smaller animals of this order in the 

 places where the largest ones are also found ; and ii 

 is especially curious that we should find both specie! 

 of this genus in Africa, on opposite sides of the equa 

 tor, and nearly under the same meridian. This woulc 

 lead us to conclude that at some early period of its 

 history, the character of a large, and probably the 

 principal part of the African mammalia, was pachy 

 dernmtous ; but that in the progress of the country 

 toward dryness, those heavv and comparatively slow 

 NAT. HIST. VOL. II. 



going animals, have given place to those ruminants, 

 which are found in such multitudes upon the African 

 plains. We have not space, however, for entering 

 upon this speculation, and all that we can do is to refer 

 it to the attention of the reader. We shall, therefore, 

 now only notice the two species. 



CAPE HYKAX (H. Capensis). This one has fout 

 toes on each of the feet ; is of a greyish brown on 

 the upper part, and whitish on the under, and also the 

 insides of the ears. It has been called a marmot by 

 naturalists ; and the colonists of Southern Africa 

 have termed it the rock-badger. It is about two feet 

 six inches in length, from the muzzle to the extremity 

 of the body ; it has no tail, except a mere tubercle ; 

 and it stands about eight inches high on the legs. It 

 lives in the clefts of the rocks, where it contrives to 

 secure itself tolerably well from beasts of prey. The 

 woolly hair upon it is fine and soft ; and the silken 

 lair is pretty long and of irregular length, so that 

 ome hairs of it project much farther than others. 

 The soles of the feet are covered only with a thick 

 loft skin. It is a docile animal ; not very difficult to 

 ame ; playful when in a domesticated state, and capa- 

 )le of a considerable degree of attachment. 



SYRIAN HYRAX (//. Syriacus). The chief diffe- 

 rence between this species and that found in Southern 

 Africa consists in its having only three toes on each 

 of the fore feet, while the other has four. It is found 

 as far to the southward as Abyssinia ; and is the ask- 

 koko of that country described in Bruce's Travels, the 

 fidelity of which in natural history, as well as in all 

 other matters, has been so fully established by the tes- 

 timony of more recent travellers. It has sometimes 

 been alleged that there are other and smaller species 

 of this genus ; but it does not appear that the allega- 

 tions are entitled to credit. The hyrax possesses 

 twenty-one pairs of ribs ; the elephant and tapir 

 twenty ; the rhinoceros nineteen ; and the solid-hoofed 

 animals eighteen. 



HYRIA (Lamarck; MYA, Gmelin). Lamarck 

 separated this genus from those of Mya, Unio, and 

 Anodon, with which they had previously been blended. 

 These molluscs differ from the Unio not only in 

 general shape, but in the form of the cardinal tooth, 

 particularly thbt of the right valve. They much re- 

 semble the Aviculae in appearance, and probably in- 

 habit lakes rather than rivers. The substance of the 

 shell is solid and beautifully pearly ; it is equivalve, 

 obliquely triangular, auriculated, and the base trun- 

 cated and straight; the hinge with two projecting 

 teeth, one of them posterior or cardinal, divided into 

 numerous divergent parts, the anterior ones smaller, 

 and the others anterior or lateral, being very long and 

 lamellar ; the ligament is linear and external. They 

 possess a strong epidermis, and the animal entirely 

 resembles the Anodon in its organisation. Strictly 

 assuming Lamarck's definition of this genus, but two 

 or three species would be known , but more recent 

 authors on malacology have determined upon making 

 the hyria no other than a sub-division of the genus 

 Unio, in which also another of Lamarck's genera, 

 Casta/ia, is now considered only a sub-division ; and 

 we feel disposed to place Dr. Leach's Dipsas in the 

 same situation. Considering, therefore, the family 

 Unio, their number is immense, and daily increas-ng 

 by the extended researches of naturalists. The genus 

 Hyria, as above defined, inhabit America, and many 

 new species may be discovered in other parts of the 

 warmer climates of the south. 

 FFF 



