492 HfSTORi- OF 



mixture between the grunting of a hog and the bellowing of a 

 calf.* 



The age of these animals is not well known ; it is said by 

 some, that they bring forth at three years old ; and if we may 

 reason from analogy, it is probable they seldom live till above 

 twenty. That which was shown in London was said by its 

 keeper to be eighteen years old, and even at that age he pretend- 



* The natural liistory of the rhinoceros has been rendered more complete 

 by Mr Thomas's anatomical description of a male animal of this singiilar 

 epecies, whicii had been broug'ht to this country alive from the East Indies. 

 This creature appeared to enjoy g^ood health until a few days before his 

 death, when lie «'as attacked «ith difficulty of breathing-. He had not pro- 

 bably arrived at full growth, for he was scarcely so high as a heifer of two 

 years old, and the horn, which is affixed to the upper lip of the adult rhi. 

 noceros, was lu^rc just beginning to sprout. The disease had carried liim off 

 before he had attained his tliiid year. In the course of this time he had be- 

 come perfectly tame and docile ; but did not manifest the smallest attach- 

 ment to his keeper. His food was chieHy hay, oats, and potatoes, and also 

 fresh vegetables; his consumption of wliich was greater than that of two 

 or three working horses. Mr T. found that the general structure of this 

 animal corresponded with what is observed in the horse, but that there 

 were the following peculiarities : — The skin, it is well knoAvn, is extremely 

 hard and tuberculated, though smoother, and easily cut through with a 

 common knife on the under part of the body ; a considerable deal of sliding 

 motion was observable between it and the surface underneath. With re- 

 spect to the teeth, the incisors Avere only four in nimibcr, two situated in 

 each jaw, and these were placed at a great distance from each other. In the 

 head of another rliinoceros (five yeivrs old) seen by Mr T. and where tl'e 

 soft parts had been removed, there were two smaller teeth placed, one on 

 ♦•ach side of those in the lower jaw. The molaren were only eight in num- 

 ber. Their form luid been noticed by Mr Home in the Philosophical Trans, 

 actions for 1799. But the most remarkable peculiarity in the anatomy of the 

 nnima! is the connexion of four processes, arising by distinct tendons fr.ira 

 the internal and posterior portion of the sclerotic coat, with the choroid coat 

 of the one at its broadest diameter. These processes have a muscular ap- 

 pearance, and AAOuld seem to have the effect, when acting conjointly, of 

 ndapting the organ to the cogniiance of more distinct objects; for at tlielr 

 terminations they completely encircle the eye, and may therefore, by con 

 ti'acting, shorten the axis of vLsion, and bring the retina nearer to the crys. 

 taUiue lens. 



The lens itself is of a singular form, being nearly spherical, with the an. 

 terior surface a little flattened. 



The piginentum nigrum was found to be confined to the inside of the 

 choroid coat, without any structure similar to the lapidum lundum. Not- 

 withstanding tlie opinion generally entertained, of the rhinoceros having 

 bad sight, Mr T. is led to conclude from his examination of the several ap- 

 pendages of that organ, that the animal is not only not deficient in quickness 

 of vision, but that he may perliaps be superior to other animals in that pai< 

 ticular. 



