XXXII 



THE HIPPUPOTAJMU.S 



At one time this unwieldy pig was distributed 

 throughout the rivers and many hil^es of Africa ; its 

 range is more restricted now. The country around the 

 Xyanza sources of the White Nile may he desoril)ed as a 

 paradise for hippopotamuses. These animals al)ound in 

 the marshes of Uganda and the Victoria Nyanza, and in 

 the papyrus swa.mps of the Bahr-el-(Tehe], Bahi'-el- 

 Ghazal, and Ijake No. 



A full-grown hippo})otainus will measure from its lip 

 to the tip of the short tail fourteen feet, stand five feet 

 high at the withers, and have a girth of fourteen feet. 

 It has an enormous mouth, which is furnished with long, 

 formidable teeth ; in spite of the size of the teeth, 

 the lips are so large as to completely conceal them A\dien 

 the mouth is closed. 



The teeth have peculiar characters. The incisors and 

 canines, like the tusks of elephants and boars, grow 

 persistently. The incisors in the upi)er jaw are curved 

 and directed downwards, but the speardike incisors 

 in the lower jaw are jDrocumbent. The canine teeth or 

 tusks are curved and grow continuously ; their increase 

 in length is kept in check by attrition of the canines in 

 the upper against those in the lower jaws. Occasionally 

 the antagonism of these teeth is so imperfect that 

 the peisistent growth is not kept in check Ijy wear. 



