164 PACHYDERM ATA. 



that of a hare. It skips about with great agility, and its actions 

 evince a sportive and playful disposition ; in captivity it becomes 

 docile and affectionate. The Conies make their houses among 

 the rocks. Proverbs xxx; 26. "The nature of their retreats 

 renders the capture of these animals very difficult. To behold 

 this creature among the craggy and broken mountain scenery of 

 the land of the Psalmist, where he noticed it himself, and recorded 

 the goodness of God in providing a refuge for a defenceless ani- 

 mal, surrounded with numerous enemies, the jackall, the hyaena, 

 and the eagle, cannot but raise in the mind that train of reflections 

 which led David to exclaim, "O Lord, how manifold are thy 

 works! in wisdom hast thou made them all !" 



The Conies or Damans, associate in considerable numbers, 

 coming forth from their retreats during the day, but flee on 

 any alarm, to their holes in the rocks, or in the steep declivities 

 of mountains, there resting themselves in their nests prepared of 

 leaves and grasses. Their food consists of the roots and vegeta- 

 bles of mountain districts. In walking they steal along as if 

 frightened, with the belly almost on the ground, advancing a few 

 steps at a time, and then pausing. Their whole manner is mild, 

 feeble and timid ; they are easily tamed, though if roughly hand- 

 led at first* they will bite. It was classed among the unclean an- 

 imals of the Jews. Lev. xi : 5. In Abyssinia, its flesh is con- 

 sidered unclean, both by Christians and Mohammedans. The 

 Arabs, it is said, eat it and call it, perhaps in jest, "the sheep of 

 the children of Israel." 



H. Capensis. The KLIPDAS, closely resembles the Syrian ani- 

 mal. In winter, it is fond of coming out of its hole and " sunning 

 itself on the lee-side of a rock," and in summer, of enjoying a 

 breeze on the top ; but in both instances, as well as when it feeds, 

 a sentinel, which is generally an old male, is on the look out, and 

 usually gives notice by a prolonged, shrill cry, of the approach 

 of danger. * 



Palaeotherium, (Gr. Ttalaiog, palaios^ ancient, and Oyglov, the- 

 rion, a wild beast.) 



This is the name given by Cuvier to an extinct genus of Pachy- 

 dermatous animals, discovered in the gypsum beds of Paris, in 

 company with Anoploiherium. Of this fossil genus, nearly fifty 

 species have been discovered. Remains of Pala&otheria have 

 been found in the tertiary formation near Rome, the department 

 of the Gironde, Provence, etc., and in the lower and marly beds 

 of Binstead, in the Isle of Wight. The zoological position of the 

 genus appears to be intermediate between the Rhinoceros, Horse 

 and Tapir. The habits of the animals which it included were 



