June 15, iSRS.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



56: 



Natural Hijstor^* 



YOUNG TAPIR IN THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN 



AT COLOGNE. 

 On Sunday morning, August 6th, of last year, a tapir 

 was born in the Zoological Garden at Cologne, and 



different from theirs. Instead of the thin bristlerlike 

 covering of the old ones, through which the skin shows, 

 it had a thick, velvety, shining black fur, from which the 

 yellowish-white stripes and spots stood out beautifully. ■ 

 Along its spine ran a row of spots, and parallel with 

 these, on the sides of the body, were many long stripes, 

 one below the other, which terminated on the haunches 



'if 



when I had time to examine it in its stall, I found it 

 a most beautiful little animal. There was not that lack 

 of proportion between its body and legs which is always 

 so noticeable in the young of the deer and the antelope. 

 Its form resembling very closely that of the grown 

 animals, ' although the colours of its coat were very 



in short oblique lines. Between these lines were more 

 spots, which were so close together on the belly and on 

 the legs, near the pretty little hoofs, that these parts of 

 the body looked really speckled. 



His prettily coloured coat made the you ag tapir look 

 very different from his parents, with their uniform dark 



