May 1, 1894.] 



KNOWLEDGE 



109 



fossilized jaw in the alluvium of the Nile near Kalabshi, 

 in Nubia, showed that in former times the African hippo- 

 potamus attained dimensions as large as the European 

 form. In England the hippopotamus ranged at least as 

 far north as Leeds, and it is a remarkable circumstance 

 that in many places its remains have been found in 

 association with those of the reindeer. How animals now 

 inhabiting countries with such totally different climatic 

 conditions as tropical Africa and Lapland could have lived 

 in the same country at the same time, is very difficult to 

 understand. If the hippopotamus had been different from 

 the living African one, we might have regarded it as a 

 terrestrial species Like that of Liberia, and thus perchance 

 capable of standing a colder climate ; but being identical with 

 the former, we are perforce compelled to believe that its 

 habits were similar, and that in its habitat the rivers must 

 have been more or less free from ice throughout the year. 

 Whatever may be the true explanation of the difficulty, it 

 is pretty clear that no theory of summer and whiter 

 migrations will holdgood, as the hippopotamus is essentially 

 a resident animal. 



Eeturning once more to Africa, we may notice that in 

 Algeria, where the genus is now unrepresented, a small 

 species (H. hippo)u'7isis) flourished during the Pleistocene 

 period ; this species being distinguished by having three 

 pairs of lower incisor teeth, which differed from those of 

 other members of the genus in having their enamel 

 smooth and their extremities somewhat expanded, thus 

 approximating to the corresponding teeth of the pigs. 

 Equally noteworthy is the occurrence of another species, 



suggest that this species may have lived within the 

 historic period, and it may even be one of several 

 mysterious animals alluded to by an early European 

 voyager. 



In addition to the common species, southern Europe, 

 inclusive of Malta and some of the other Mediterranean 

 islands, was the home of one or two smaller varieties or 

 species, which seem to pass imperceptibly into one another 

 until they dwindle down to the proportions of the Liberian 

 species. Possibly these small forms may have been more 

 or less completely terrestrial in their habits. 



The three Indian species have been already sufficiently 

 discussed, while mention has been likewise made of the 

 Burmese hippopotamus. The latter species, by the way, 

 was decidedly pig-like in many parts of its structure, and 

 may well, therefore, have been a marsh-haunting animal. 

 It was at one time thought that one of the later Indian 

 hippopotami was an unknown animal referred to in 

 Sanscrit literature, but further investigation has shown 

 this view to be imtenable. Eastwards of Burma, we are 

 unaware that there is any evidence of the existence of 

 these animals, and they appear to have been always 

 unknown in the New World. 



Although it is possible that in Madagascar Lemerle's 

 hippopotamus may have been exterminated by human 

 agency, such an explanation will not hold good with regard 

 to the other fossil species. So far as we can see, India and 

 Burma are now in every way as well fitted to be the 

 dwelling-places of hippopotami, giraffes, and ostriches as 

 they were during the Pliocene period, when those animals 



Fig. 4. — Side view of " Guj Fawkes," the large female Hippopotamus, in tUe Gardens of the Zoological Society. Now twenty-one years old_ 



Lemerle's hippopotamus (H. lemeiiei) in Madagascar, 

 where its remains are common in the great marsh of 

 Ambulisatra. Somewhat intermediate between the common 

 and the Siwalik species, this rather small hippopotamus 

 had sometimes three and sometimes two pairs of lower 

 incisors. Certain traditions current among the Malagasy, 



either wallowed in their lakes and rivers, or stalked over 

 their plains ; and as the former countries have not been 

 completely swept during the interval by a glacial period, 

 it seems impossible to divine the reason why these creatures 

 should have so completely vanished from the one area 

 and have survived in full strength in the other. 



