38 MAMMALIAN GALLERY. 



the Malayan has a white back, while the rest are nearly uniformly 

 black when adult, although all when young are marked with lon- 

 gitudinal stripes of yellow or white. They are thick-set animals, 

 with short ears, and with their nose elongated into a short pre- 

 hensile proboscis ; they have four toes on their fore, and three on 

 their hind feet. 



In the Horses, Asses, and Zebras (Equidce) the toes are reduced 

 in number to an extent entirely unique among the Mammalia, 

 there being only a single digit on each of the four feet, enormously 

 strengthened to bear the weight of the body, but yet retaining the 

 same composition as our own middle finger. The wild species of 

 this family are indigenous in the open plains of Asia and Africa. 

 The herds of Wild Horses now found in America are the de- 

 scendants of domesticated and introduced animals. Curiously 

 enough, however, that continent was in former ages the head- 

 quarters of the family, many different forms having been there 

 developed, and become again entirely extinct. 



The two Cases in the centre of the Gallery show several members 

 of the family, as, for instance, the nearly extinct true Zebra (Equus 

 zebra) ; the comparatively common BurchelPs Zebra (Equus bur- 

 chelli) of Central South Africa, distinguished by the different 

 arrangement of the stripes on the body ; the Wild Ass of Central 

 Asia; and several interesting cross-breeds between different members 

 of the Horse family. 



Suborder ARTIODACTYLA. 



The Artiodactyla, or Even-toed Ungulates, are distinguished by 

 having the two central hoofs of each foot equal in size. They 

 consist of two very distinct groups. The members of the first are 

 the Hippopotami and Pigs, which are non-ruminant, the second 

 comprising all the Ruminants, or Mammals that chew the cud. 



Of the Hippopotamidce, which were once extremely numerous in 

 this country, in Southern Europe, and India, only two species 

 have survived, viz. the Common Hippopotamus (H. amphibius), 

 too well known to require further notice, and of which several 

 stuffed specimens are exhibited in the Saloon ; and the much 

 smaller Liberian Hippopotamus (Case 37), which does not exceed a 

 Wild Boar in size, and occurs only in a few localities in West Africa. 



