CLASS MAMMALS: OEDBE PROBOSCIDEA. 



79 



only to the skin, is movable ; when, however, the animal is 

 enraged, it becomes fixed as though a part of the bone itself. 

 Individuals attain the weight of 6000 pounds. 



Fig. m. 



Mg. 124. 



TaplmsUcSlor, Indian Archipelago. ^, 



» 



Tapiridae. — The Tapir links the artiodactyls and perisso- 

 dactyls, its fore feet having four toes and its hind feet 

 three. Flight being its 

 only means of defence, 

 the head, covered with 

 hard skin and shaped like 

 a conical wedge, is adapt- 

 ed for boring through 

 tangled brushwood. The 

 uniform black color ol 

 the South American Ta- 

 pir is in striking contrast ^. , 

 to the white back of the ^'^^^^^r^^^yrvAff'''^^^^^, 



Indian. Taplrm americanus. ^. 



ORDER PROBOSCIDEA. 



Elephantidae.— The Elephant is the largest of living 

 quadrupeds, attaining eight to ten feet in height and 10,000 

 pounds in weight. It roams the forest in herds of twenty or 

 more, and is supposed to live over one hundred years. Un- 



