516 Miscellan eons . 



The young animal, which we may reckon to be ten months old, is 

 now 7 feet long and G| feet in girth at the middle of the barrel-shaped 

 trunk, which is supported, clear of the ground, on very short and 

 thick legs, each terminated by four spreading hoofs : the innermost is 

 the smallest on the fore-foot ; the two middle ones, answering to those 

 which are principally developed in the hog, are the largest in both 

 feet. The hind-limb is buried in the skin of the flank nearly to the pro- 

 minence of the heel. Thick flakes of cuticle are in process of detach- 

 ment from the sole. There is a well-defined white patch behind 

 each foot, but I looked in vain for any indications of the glandular 

 orifice which exists in the same part of the rhinoceros. The naked 

 hide covering the broad back and sides is of a dark india-rubber 

 colour, impressed by numerous fine wrinkles crossing each other, but 

 disposed almost transversely. When I first saw the beast it had just 

 left its bath, and a minute drop of a glistening secretion was exuding 

 from each of the conspicuous muco-sebaceous pores which are di- 

 spersed over the whole integument, at intervals of from eight lines to 

 an inch. This gave the hide, as it glistened in the sunshine, a very 

 peculiar aspect. When the animal was younger the secretion had a 

 reddish colour, and, being poured out more abundantly, the whole 

 surface became painted over with it every time he quitted his bath. 

 The integument is impressed by a groove which passes transversely 

 from shoulder to shoulder ; and there are two transverse nuchal 

 folds, crossed by a median longitudinal furrow, the lateral moieties of 

 the strong ' ligamentum nucha? ' forming a pair of well-marked pro- 

 minences behind the occiput. The ears are very short, conical, fringed 

 with short scattered hairs along the lower half of their thick borders, 

 and beset with a few r clumps of short hairs upon the middle of their 

 inner surface. It moves them about with much vivacity. The dark 

 colour of the body extends forwards along the middle of the upper 

 part of the head and more faintly along the cheeks : the skin around 

 the ears is of a light reddish-brown colour and almost flesh-coloured 

 round the eyelids, which defend the peculiarly situated and prominent 

 eyes : there is a single groove or fold above the upper eyelid, and two 

 curved grooves below the lower one. At first sight they seem to be 

 devoid of eyelashes, but on a close inspection a few very short hairs 

 may be seen on the thick rounded margin of the upper lid. There 

 is a caruncle or protuberance on the middle of the outer surface of the 

 nictitating lid. The colour of the iris is a dark brown : the pupil is 

 a small transversely oblong aperture. The eyeball is relatively small, 

 and is remarkable for the extent of the movements of protraction and 

 retraction. The nostrils, situated on prominences, which the animal 

 has the power of raising, on the upper part of the broad and massive 

 muzzle, are short oblique slits, guarded by two valves, which can be 

 opened and closed spontaneously, like the eyelids. The movements 

 of these apertures are most conspicuous when the beast is in his 

 favourite element. The wide mouth is chiefly remarkable for the 

 upward curve of its angles towards the eyes, which gives a quaintly 

 comic expression to the massive countenance. The short and small 

 milk-tusks project a little, and the minute deciduous incisors appear 



