570 



RHINOCEROS. 



only about a foot in length ; and the legs, though very 

 stout, are short, the total height, when standing, not 

 being more than four feet. The horn is situated 

 about the middle part of the line occupied by the two 

 horns in the species named with these, which is, per- 

 haps, a very little higher upon the nose than that of 

 the Indian species. The horn always appears to be 

 much used by the animal in some operation or other ; 

 for it is ground or rubbed down, and is sometimes 

 reduced to little more than an inch in length, and 

 much rounded, so that it cannot be very powerful as a 

 weapon. In the young animal, there are four incisive 

 teeth in the upper jaw, two upon each intermaxillary 

 bone, and the whole standing close to each other. 

 These appear, however, to be merely milk teeth ; for 

 they are shed early, and replaced by only two, which 

 however are of much greater size. These milk in- 

 cisors are cylindrical in their forms and blunt on the 

 crowns ; but the teeth which come after them are 

 broad and flat, but too blunt in the edges for being 

 considered as chisel-shaped, or for cutting any sub- 

 stance clean off, though they cut with considerable 

 force against the long incisors of the lower jaw, or 

 rather form a grand point of support for those to rub 

 against. Though all the teeth in this, as well as in the 

 other species of rhinoceros, are blunt, yet they must be 

 powerful gnawing teeth, as the size and weight of the 

 nasal bones and the horn afford a powerful resistance ; 

 and thus the whole force of the lower jaw can be exerted 

 on the substance which the animal breaks in pieces. 

 The skin of this species is very much plaited behind 

 the shoulders, under the neck, and on the outsides of 

 the legs. The folds on the shoulders surround the 

 whole body, those on the legs extend the whole 

 length of these members, and the folds on the neck hang 

 like collars on the under part. Besides these folds, 

 the skin is roughened by prominent tubercles,, for the 

 most part in the shape of regular pentagons, well 

 defined. These do not, however, in the least ap- 

 proach to the nature of scales ; they consist merely of 

 accumulations of the epidermis ; and the only hairs 

 that are found upon the body of the animal arise 

 from slight depressions in the centres of their pentan- 

 gular tubercles. The hairs are of a black colour, and 

 short and stiff; and they are very few in number, 

 excepting on the borders of the ears and the edges of 

 the flattened part of the tail. The accumulation of 

 tubercles on the skin of this animal, is a singular cha- 

 racter among the class to which it belongs, though 

 there are traces of marking on the skins of some of 

 the other Pachydermata even on those of the com- 

 mon hog, as may be seen in those parts of saddles 

 which are made of the prepared skin of that animal. 

 Though this species has latterly been met with only in 

 Java, it is highly probable that it may exist in the 

 other islands of the Sunda group ; but it does not 

 appear to exist in any part of the continent of Asia. 

 It must, however, be borne in mind, that the part of 

 the continent nearest to these islands, namely, the 

 Malay peninsula, has been but little explored, as the 

 treacherous character of the inhabitants renders the 

 exploring of it a matter of no small risk. 



The two species which have been noticed are the 

 only one-horned rhinoceri which are now to be found 

 in the living state ; and the greater part, if not the 

 whole, of those which are found fossil in the colder 

 latitudes, appear to have had two horns ; so that the 

 one-horned species appear to have been, in all ages of 

 the world, confined to the localities in vf hich they are 



now found. The two-horned ones, in farther proof of 

 their having been once more generally distributed, 

 and in their nature better adapted to climates of 

 different temperatures, or at all events more obedient 

 to those natural causes which adapt them to these, 

 are found both in the eastern isles and in Africa. 

 There is one difference between these animals which 

 is worthy of notice, as showing the particular quality 

 of the two-horned ones, upon which their adaptation 

 to climate seems in a great measure to depend. The 

 skin is more free from plaits and tubercles, and more 

 plentifully covered with hair, than on those which 

 inhabit the most equatorial climates. There is, there- 

 fore, in the skin of these species a much greater dis- 

 position to form hairy matter, and not mere accumu- 

 lations of cuticle, than there is in the other. The heat 

 of tropical climates, even where they are most under 

 the influence of the sun, and have less need of pro- 

 tection from cold than in higher latitudes, has a 

 tendency to form hairs on the body. We believe we 

 may also add that, although they love moist places, 

 and are fond of bathing themselves and wallowing in 

 the mud, yet the application of water to their skins is 

 not so absolutely necessary as it is to the skins of the 

 single-horned ones, which produce epidermis rather 

 than hair or any other substance of a horny consist- 

 ency. They are thus driven to the water by the 

 action of the hot sun upon their bodies ; and the 

 action of the cold also tends to champ and harden 

 their epidermis much more than it does that of the 

 others. In the two-horned ones, again, there is a 

 power in the skin, upon which the cold seems to act, 

 though to what degree, in the species now living, we 

 have no correct means of ascertaining ; we know, 

 however, that in all cases where such a power exists, it 

 is always in so far under the influence of climate, and 

 changeable with changes of that. The sheep bears 

 little or no wool in India ; and the dog is almost naked 

 in tropical climates, well clothed in the middle lati- 

 tudes, and coated with very thick fur in the polar 

 ones even if the variety is the same, for all dogs are 

 of the same species. It may be said that these are 

 animals which accompany man, or are carried by him, 

 over all the regionsof the world ;. and that they arc 

 especially fitted for this by the readiness with which 

 climate modifies them into an agreement with its lead- 

 ing characters. So far we admit this ; but the admis- 

 sion is one of degree only, and not of kind. There is no 

 general property in the skin of any animal covered 

 with hair or fur, which does not also belong to every 

 other which produces the same substance, however 

 different may be the quantity and quality ; and if the 

 property exists, it is always in so far under the con- 

 troul of climate, though of course in a less degree 

 when it is in itself weaker. We have instances of 

 this in some of the other Pachydertnata, which are 

 generally distributed over climates of different cha- 

 racters. Of these, the most familiar is the common 

 ! hog ; and any one who visits the places may see that 

 the hogs of the warm and dry parts of the south of 

 England are almost naked, while those of the north 

 of Scotland, especially in the cold and upland districts, 

 are quite shaggy. Hogs' bristles are imported in large 

 quantities from Russia, but no such article is to be 

 found among the imports from India or Central Africa. 

 These circumstances will suffice to show why the 

 remains of the two-horned rhinoceros should be found 

 in the cold latitudes, and not those of the one-horned ; 

 and also that there is no need of having recourse to 



