MIINOCEEOS. 477 



4 feet to 4 feet 6 in. The largest known specimen of tlie anterior 

 horn measures 32 inches over the curve. fSkuU 20 inches in basal 

 length, 11"25 in zygomatic breadth. 



Varieties. Specimens from Chittagong and Malacca were living 

 at the same time in the Zoological Society's Gardens, London, in 

 1S72; and the former ^vas distinguished by Sclater as IL lasiotis on 

 account of its larger size, paler and browner colour, smoother sldn, 

 longer, finer, and more rufescent hair, shorter and more tufted tail, 

 by the ears having a fringe of long hair but being naked inside, and 

 above all by the much greater breadth of the head. Unquestionably 

 the diifereuces are considerable ; but by far the most renu^rkable — 

 the shape of the head — was shown by Blyth to be variable in both 

 R. unicornis and E. sondaicus, for he figured and described a broad 

 and a narrow type of each (J. A. 8. B. xxxi, p. 156, pis. i-iv) as 

 well as of li. smnatrensis. The other distinctions scarcely appear 

 to me of specific value, and I am inclined to regard the two forms 

 as varieties only. 



Distrihution. Rare in Assam, though one specimen has been re- 

 corded on the Sankosh river, in the Bhutan Duars (P. Z. 8. 1875, 

 p. 56()). Another was shot 20 miles south of Comillah in Tipperah 

 in February 1876 (P. Z. 8. 1877, p. 269). From Assam the species 

 ranges to Siara, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo. 



Hahits. Very similar to those of the other species ; this rhinoceros 

 inhabits forests and ascends hills to a considerable elevation, having 

 been observed 4000 feet above the sea in Tenasserim by Tickell. 

 This is a shy and timid animal, but easily tamed even when adult. 



Details obtained by Mr. Bartlett concerning a young animal born 

 in London, induced him to regard the period of gestation as \)yo- 

 bably a little over 7 months (P. Z. S. 1873, p. 104). This differs 

 greatly from Hodgson's account of the period in R. unicornis 

 (P. Z. S. 1834, p. 98), but no details are furnished in the case of 

 the last-named species, whilst the evidence is stated in that of 

 R. su7ncttrcnsis. Still, for so large and apparently so long-lived an 

 animal, 7 months of uterine life is short. 



Anderson, in his ' Fauna of Mergui and its Archipelago,' i, p. 333, 

 mentions his having heard of a two-horned rhinoceros seen swim- 

 ming in the sea, near High Island in the Archipelago. Probably all 

 rhinoceroses are good swinnners. The story of the Chittagong 

 rhinoceros that was unable to swim (P. Z. S. 1872, p. 494) must be, 

 I think, a mistake. The account given by Mason and repeated by 

 Blyth, of this or any rhinoceros attacking fire, should be received 

 ■with great caution. To my personal knowledge, Mr. Blj^th's 

 principal informant had a weakness for i-elating " shikar stories," 

 which were frequently good, but not always authentic. 



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