44 



CLASS MAMMALIA. 



ORDER P ACHYDERMATA. 



and terminates in a bag deeply situated in the hollow of the foot. From 

 this bag another membranous canal passes to the spur, and is continued to 

 the orifice in that organ. The poison appears to be active in reference to 

 some animals, but according to M. Quoy's observations, it does not seem 

 to have any great influence on man, nor is it at Port Jackson generally 

 thought to be dangerous. In one of Mr. Darwin's excursions in Australia, 

 he fell in with some of those animals: he thus writes, "In the dusk of 

 the evening I took a stroll along a chain of ponds, and had the good 

 fortune to see several of the famous Ornithorhynchus paradoxus. They 

 were diving and playing about the surface of the water, but showed so 

 little of their bodies, that they might easily have been mistaken for 

 Water-rats. Mr. Browne shot one : certainly it is a most extraordinary 

 animal ; a stuffed specimen does not at all give a good idea of the appear- 

 ance of the head and beak when fresh; the latter becoming hard and 

 contracted," p. 442. They are very active, swim and dive well, and live 

 principally in rivers and lakes, often rising to the surface to breathe. 



Ornithorhynchus. 



Two other species are known the Rufous Omitharhinque and the 

 Dusky Ornitharhinque. 



PAMPHRACTUS. The habits of this animal are not accurately known. 



ORDER VH. PACHYDERMATA. THICK-SKINS. 



THIS order includes the Elephant, Rhinoceros, Tapir, Hippopotamus, 

 Horse, and Pig; all characterised by the thickness of their skins. (Gr. 

 ira\v(, thick, and Slppa, a skin.) 



Family TRUNKED; Proboscifera. 



The nasal organ in the members of this family is elongated, supple, and 

 muscular. With it they carefully examine all objects brought before them, 

 it being an organ both of touch and smell ; hence the title proboscis from 

 the Latin probo, " I prove, test, examine;" and /era, "bearing." 



ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES. 



PLATE 15. 

 O*"CT. Speeiw. Common Nime. 



Elephas Indicus Indian Elephant. 



Mastodon .... Giganteum .... Giant Mastodon. 



CHARACTERS OF THE GENERA. 



1. ELEPHAS. Incisive teeth in the upper jaw, projecting and forming 

 tusks; none in the lower; molar teeth consisting of three distinct sub- 

 stances, bone, enamel, and crusta petrosa, and succeeding each other, as 

 they are worn out, from behind. 



2. MASTODON (Gr. /MUTTCC, a teat, and dSovc, a tooth). Incisive teeth 

 in form of tusks, their transverse section presenting internal, curvilinear 

 lozenges; molar teeth rectangular, consisting only of bone and enamel, 

 without any cement, their crowns, when unworn by mastication, studded 

 with large points in pairs, varying from six to ten, the hindmost having a 



posterior stud, but when the points are worn down, presenting lozenges or 

 trefoils in the different species ; these teeth successive ; lower jaw of 

 greater comparative length than depth; neck short; seventeen pairs of 

 ribs ; limbs tall, five-toed. 



PROBOSCIFERA. DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIES. 



ELEPHAS. This genus includes the largest of the terrestrial animals, 

 which, although of very unwieldy proportions, is capable, when tamed, of 

 affording great services to man, and after death furnishes that important 

 and useful article in commerce called ivory. 



The head of the Elephant presents a remarkable peculiarity in the 

 greatness of its depth, compared with its horizontal length, which propor- 

 tionably exceeds even that of man, and depends ujwn the great extension 

 of the cellular structure found in the upper and lateral parts of the bones 

 of the skull, and the length of the sockets in which the tusks are inserted. 

 In consequence of this, the opening of the nostrils, around which the root 

 of the trunk is attached, is situated nearly in the middle of the face, and 

 the bones of the nose are extremely small, to allow the free motion of that 

 organ. The eyes are small, and the ears large, rounded, and pendulous. 

 The trunk is the most remarkable organ possessed by this or any other 

 animal ; it consists of very numerous small muscles, interwoven in such 

 manner as to form two parallel tubes, connected with the openings of the 

 nostrils and the gristles of the nose, and so plentifully supplied with 

 nerves, that it is endowed with an exquisite sense of feeling, and capable of 

 performing very minute actions, even to the picking up of a pin ; so that 

 it may be considered to serve the animal not only as a breathing appa- 

 ratus, but also as a hand, to which the " small moveable hook," as Pennant 

 calls it, or rather the finger-like projection at its extremity, seems nearly to 

 assimilate it. The trunk is capable of extension and retraction, indeed of 

 motion in every direction : by means of it the Elephant collects ite food, 

 and conveys it to the mouth, and, in drinking, the water is first drawn up 

 into it, and then poured into its gullet ; functions which are necessarily 

 performed by it on account of the extreme shortness of the neck. The 

 mouth of the Elephant is furnished with grinding teeth, which very much 

 resemble those of the order Rodentia; they consist of three structures 

 differing in density and hardness, and therefore constantly presenting a 

 rough surface, for the trituration of the food previous to swallowing. 



The most remarkable, however, of the Elephant's teeth are the tusks, 

 which are commonly known as ivory : these are absolutely incisive teeth, 

 being supported by those bones which in all quadrupeds form sockets for 

 the incisive teeth. The tusks specially differ from the other teeth in l'ing 

 only shed once; the milk tusks never exceed two inches in length, they 

 are cut between five and seven months, and are shed between the first and 

 second year; soon after which the permanent tusks are cut, and gradually 

 increases in size. 



The permanent tusks vary considerably in size ; in the female they are 

 small, but in the male they become very large, weighing from fifty to one 

 hundred and fifty pounds. The value of the Elephant's tusks is shown by 

 Mr. Gumming, in the account he gives of his trading engagements : 



" Although I voted the trading an intense bore, it was nevertheless well 

 worth a little time and inconvenience, on account of the enormous profit I 

 should realise. The price I had paid for the muskets was 161. for each 

 case containing twenty muskets ; and the value of the ivory I required for 

 each musket was upwards of 301, being about 3000 per cent., which 1 

 am informed is reckoned among mercantile men to be a very i'air profit." 



Again Mr. Gumming says : 



"While reviewing my extraordinary good fortune' during the last week's 

 hunting, I could not help deeply regretting that I had not earlier thought 

 of pursuing the elephants at night with dogs and horses: if I had com- 

 menced with the dogs only a week sooner, I might have bagged eight or 

 ten first-rate bulls, which I knew wen: mortally wounded, but were, 

 nevertheless, not forthcoming. The ivory of these elephants would ha\e 

 brought me in upwards of 200/. ; and it was vexing to think that many, 

 if not all of them, were lying rotting in the surrounding forest." 



