246 ON THE CAUSE OF DEATH OF A RHINOCEROS. [Apr. 21, 



Messrs. Beddard and Murie exhibited some drawings and speci- 

 mens illustrative of the cause of death of an African Rhinoceros 

 (R. bicornis), and made the following remarks :— 



"The Society purchased from Mr. Carl Hagenbeck, of Hamburg, 

 in September 1868, a young male African Rhinoceros {R. bicornis), 

 which hadbeen captured in the neighbourhood of Cassala,Upper Nubia. 

 The animal in question has been figured in the ' Proceedings,' 1868, 

 pi. 41, and again in Dr. Sclater's memoir 'On the Rhinoceroses 

 now or lately living in the Society's Menagerie ' (' Transactions,' 

 vol. ix. pi. 99). The relative differences in the size of the anterior 

 and posterior horns according to age are therein shown, and may be 

 instructively compared with their different proportions in the more 

 aged animal, as illustrated in the outline diagram taken after its 

 death, and where the posterior horn is the largest. Whether, there- 

 fore, the so-called H. keitloa may eventually turn out to be only a 

 variety due to age and other circumstances remains a doubtful and 

 open question. 



"Our young R. bicornis when received was supposed to be about 

 2 years old. As it lived in the Gardens close upon 22 years, its 

 age may be roughly reckoned at 24 or 25 years. When a denizen 

 of the Menagerie it fed well and throve amazingly, latterly reaching 

 a gigantic size. 



" For a long time this African Rhinoceros exhibited every 

 appearance of perfect health and activity. But a few years back 

 there annually appeared what may be regarded as an eruption of 

 the skin, in the form of slight roughened elevations, which became 

 abraded with an ulcerous aspect. These, however, passed away 

 without leaving any bad effects. The sores on the legs were 

 regularly washed with a syringe of tepid water containing a little 

 carbolic acid. The most noticeable sores appeared on those parts of 

 the animal which rested on the ground, and might be compared to 

 the bed-sores of bed-ridden human beings. 



"About a twelvemonth ago its Keeper began to observe that it 

 declined in flesh, though its appetite still continued fairly good. 

 Within a couple of months ago more prominent symptoms of 

 wasting appeared. But even quite towards the last, it still took its 

 food, though seemingly a trifle more dainty in its appetite. With- 

 out any other striking feature of illness, it died on Sunday, the 

 12th April. 



" On a post-mortem examination of the body the next day, the 

 flesh generally was seen to be soft, flabby, and anaemic. For such 

 a huge body it was decidedly lean and impoverished, and the fatty 

 tissue not only meagre in quantity, but everywhere reduced to a 

 watery condition. In other words, the carcass bore evidence of a 

 gradual wasting or debility having occurred. 



" In the stomach there was a considerable amount of food — viz., 

 chopped hay, straw, carrots, and other vegetable substances ; and 

 along the intestinal tract, especially the colon and caecum, much 

 pultaceous material in various stages of digestion. Altogether most 

 of the visceral organs and the brain were sound in general aspect, 



