PACHYDERM ATA. 159 



The cavity of the brain in this animal holds but one quart, while 

 that of the human skull will contain nearly three pints. How. 

 ever severely wounded, the Rhinoceros seldom bleeds externally ; 

 the hide being so thick and elastic and not firmly attached to the 

 body, but constantly moving, the hole made by a bullet almost 

 immediately closes up. Very many of these animals are an- 

 nually destroyed in South Africa. Anderson, from whom we 

 gathered many of the particulars here given, states, in bis "Lake 

 Ngami," that Messrs. Oswell and Vardon killed^ in one year, 

 eighty-nine of these animals, and that he himself, " single handed, 

 killed in the same time nearly two-thirds of that number. Gum- 

 ming, in his " Adventures," states that these animals are attended 

 by what are called " Rhinoceros-birds," which stick their bills in 

 the ear of the Rhinoceros, and uttering a harsh, grating cry, 

 warn him of impending danger. These birds feed upon the 

 ticks and other parasitic insects which swarm upon these animals. 



Hippopotamus, (Gr. tunas, hippos, a horse ; noiafuos, polamos, 

 a river.) The RIVER HORSE. (Four- hoofed.) 



This gigantic inhabitant of the African rivers is formidable in 

 his strength, and in bulk inferior only to the Elephant. The 

 ancients named him River- Horse, on account of the similarity 

 of his voice to that of a horse. The form of this animal is in 

 the highest degree uncouth ; the body being extremely large, fat 

 and round ; the legs very short and clumsy. So low, indeed, at 

 times is the animal in the body, that the belly almost brushes the 

 ground. The head is exceedingly large, the mouth of enormous 

 width, and the teeth of vast size and strength. (Plate IV. fig. 6.) 

 The canines or tusks of these animals, of which there are two in 

 each jaw, sometimes measure more than two feet in length, and 

 weigh upwards of six pounds each ; so hard and strong are they 

 that they strike fire with steel, which gave rise to the fable of the 

 ancients that the River-Horse vomits fire from his mouth. The 

 tusks of the lower jaw are always the hardest. The hoofs aredi- 

 vided into four parts, unconnected by membranes. The skin, nearly 

 an inch thick, is destitute of covering, except a few scattered 

 hairs on the muzzle, edges of the ears and tail. The color, 

 when on land, is of a purple brown ; but when seen at the bottom 

 of a pool, it appears to be of a dark blue, or as described by Dr. 

 Burchell, " of a light hue of Indian ink." As in the Croco- 

 dile, the upper mandible is said to be movable. The inside of 

 the nxouth has been described bv a recent writer, as resembling 

 " a mass of butcher's meat." l s he eyes, (which have been com- 

 pared to the gar ret- windows of a Dutch Cottage,) the nostrils, and 

 the ears are all on nearly the same plane. This gives the use of 



