54 CLASS-BOOK OF ZOOLOGY. 



He is a native of the warmer countries of North and South 

 America. 



§195. The Tapir (Tapirus americanus) is of the size 

 of an ass ; of a brown color ; is covered with but little hair ; 

 has a prolonged snout ; four hoofs on the fore and three on 

 the hind feet. He inhabits the woods and rivers of the 

 eastern shores of South America. 



§ 196. He is a timid and harmless animal ; sleeps during 

 the day, and seeks his food in the night. He eats grass, 

 sugar-cane, and fruit. His flesh is eaten. 



§197. The River-horse (Hippopotamus amphibius) has 

 four hoofs, and four tusks in a vastly wide mouth ; a body 

 of a whitish color, with very thin hair ; a bare, compressed, 

 tapering tail, about one foot long, and is found in the 

 rivers of Africa, from Senegal to Ethiopia, and at the Cape 

 of Good Hope. 



§ 198. The River-horse is about seven feet high, and 

 seventeen long ; his head is of an enormous size, being 

 three feet and a half long ; his mouth wide ; and his canine 

 teeth are so hard and strong that they strike fire with steel ; 

 which gave rise to the fable of the ancients, that the 

 River-horse vomited fire from his mouth. When full 

 grown he weighs 3,500 lbs. The ancients gave him the 

 name of River-horse, on account of the similarity of his 

 voice to that of a horse. 



§ 199. The River-horse is naturally mild; besides, he 

 is so heavy and slow in his movements that he cannot 

 overtake an animal. He feeds on rice, grass, sugar-cane, 

 and other vegetables, as well as on fish. 



§ 200. The flesh of the River-horse is very good, and 

 his fat, of which 2,000 pounds were found in a single one, 

 is considered excellent ; it is salted and sent to the Cape, 

 where it sells very dear ; in Africa it is recommended as 

 a sovereign remedy for diseases of the breast. 



§201. The Asiatic Elephant (Elephas asiaticus) is, 

 when full grown, fifteen feet high ; weighs 7,000 pounds ; 

 has five hoofs on each foot; two tusks eight feet long on 

 the upper jaw, each weighing two hundred pounds ; a 

 long prehensile snout ; a body of a gray color thinly 



