FAMILY 



; BABYROUSSA, HIPPOPOTAMUS. 



331 



of America by Europeans, many European species have been 

 introduced, which have become naturalised in the country, and 

 now run wild through its plains and forests ; this is the case 

 with the Boar, and with the Horse. Independently of the 

 peculiarities already mentioned, the Peccaries, of which there 

 are two species, the collared, and the white-lipped, differ from 

 the Hog in possessing only four incisors in each jaw instead of 

 six, and only six molars on each side instead of seven ; the 

 canines, too, are not nearly so long, and do not curve outwards. 

 The Babyroussa of Java and the Molucca islands is chiefly 



remarkable for the 

 extraordinary cur- 

 vature of the tusks 

 of the upper jaw, 

 which is shown in 

 the acompanying 

 figure ; the pur- 

 pose which they 

 serve is entirely 

 unknown. The in- 

 cisors are four above 

 and six below ; the molars only five on each side. 



297. With this family we may place the gigantic Hippopo- 

 tamus or River Horse; an inhabitant of the African rivers, 

 which seems to con- 

 nect the Hog with 

 the Elephant on the 

 one hand, and with 

 the aquatic tribe of 

 Pachyderms ( 304) 

 on the other. Its 

 body is scarcely in- 

 ferior to that of the 

 Elephant in bulk; 

 but its limbs are RO 

 short that its belly almost touches the ground. In its general 

 aspect it might be compared to a gigantic Pig, but for its short, 



FIG. 165. BABYROUSSA. 



FIG. 166 HIPPOPOTAMUS. 



