PROBOSCIDEA. 569 



three little animals, which make up the single genus Hyrax. 

 These have been usually placed in the immediate neighbour- 

 hood of the Rhinoceros, to which they have some decided 

 affinities, and they are still retained by Owen in the section of 

 the Perissodactyle Ungulates. 



The order is distinguished by the following characters: — 

 There are no canine teeth, and the incisors of the upper jaw 

 are long and curved, and grow froui permanent pulps, as they 

 do in the Rodents (such as the Beaver, Rat, &c.) The molar 

 teeth are singularly like those of the Rhinoceros. According 

 to Huxley, the dental formula of the aged animal is — 



. 2 — 2 o — o , 4 — A. 3—3 



t - — - : c ; ^m — - ; m - — - = 36. 



. 2—2 0-0'-^ 4—4 • 3—3 •^ 



The • fore-feet are tetradactylous, the hind-feet tridactylous, 

 and all the toes have rounded hoof-like nails, with the ex- 

 ception of the inner toes of the hind-feet, which h?ive an 

 obliquely-curved nail. There are no clavicles. The nose and 

 ears are short, and the tail is represented by a mere tubercle. 

 The placenta is deciduate and zonary, whereas in the Ungulates 

 it is non-deciduate. 



Several Species, of Hyrax are known, but they resemble one 

 another in all essential particulars. They are all gregarious 

 little animals, living in holes of the rocks, and capable of 

 domestication. One species is said to be arboreal in its 

 habits. The " coney" of Scripture is believed to be the Hyrax 

 Syriacus, which occurs in the rocky parts of Syria and Pal- 

 estine. Another species — Xh^ Hyrax Capmsis, or "Klipdas" 

 — occurs commonly in South Africa, and is known by the col- 

 onists as the "badger." 



Order VIII. Proboscidea. — The eighth order of Mammals 

 is that of the Proboscidea, comprising no other living animals 

 except the Elephants, but including also the extinct Mastodon 

 and Deinotherium. 



The order- is characterised by the total absence of canine 

 teeth ; the molar teeth are few in number, large, and trans- 

 versely ridged or tuberculate ; incisors are always present, and 

 grow from persistent pulps^ constituting long tusks (fig. 221). 

 In living Elephants there are two of these tusk-like incisors in 

 the upper jaw, and the lower jaw is without incisor teeth. In 

 ihe Deinotherium this is reversed, there being two tusk-like lower 

 incisors and no upper incisors. In the Mastodons, the incisors 

 are usually developed in the upper jaw, and form tusks, as in 

 the Elephants, but sometimes there are both upper and lower 

 incisors, and both are tusk-like. The nose is prolonged into a 



