CHAPTER VIII. 



Water 



THE HIPPOPOTAMUS. 



WE now come to a group of animals which contains 

 the largest terrestrial mammalia that the world pro- 

 duces. Sometimes they are called Pachydermata, or 

 thick-skinned animals, in consequence of the very 

 great thickness of the hide in many species. That the 

 term is well deserved is evident from the fact that 

 there is now before me a piece of hide which I myself 

 cut, with a saw, from the shoulders of a wild boar. 

 Even in its dry state it is almost two inches in thick- 

 ness, and it is very much harder than a piece of oak of 

 the same dimensions. 



Some systematic naturalists gather them into one 

 large family, called Elephantidse, in which they included 

 elephants, tapir, hyrax, hippopotamus, and swine 

 each of these smaller groups forming a separate sub- 

 family. 



Most of them are extremely fond of the water, and 

 some may claim to be ranked among the water tres- 

 passers. Among these the elephant cannot be named, 



