MAMMIFEROUS ANIMALS. 395 



In the sixth order of Linnaeus, and the last of 

 the Mammiferous Quadrupeds, the animals are 

 distinguished by obtuse front teeth, and by hoofed 

 feet, and as they are bulky and heavy, this order 

 has been denominated Belluce. 



It consists only of four genera, the Hippopota- 

 mus, the Tapirdhe flog, and the Horse; animals as 

 opposed to each other in their formation arid cha- 

 racter, as could well have been brought together. 



Thus the Hog, inferior both in form and inteli- 

 gence, has been placed upon a footing with the 

 Horse, one of the noblest of the Quadruped 

 race; while both those animals, so useful in their 

 respective ways for domestic purposes, have been 

 ranked with the Hippopotamus and the Tapir, 

 which are altogether remote from observation, 

 and in their habits and propensities, the most 

 destructiveto human property. As the latter animals 

 however are singular in their form and haunts, a 

 brief account of each, may not prove uninteresting. 



If the Jilephant and the Camel, present to the 

 eye an un pleasing exterior, the Hippopotamus, or 

 River Horse, with none of the good qualities by 

 which the two former animals are to be distin- 

 guished, is a far more disgusting object. 



Its head ; s of an enormous size, which is ren- 

 dered the more striking, from the diminutive pro- 

 portion of its eyes, ears, and nostrils, from the 

 great magnitude of its mouth, which, when wide 

 open, has measured two feet in circumference, 



