OEDEE or PACHYDEEMATA. 137 



animal. In the palace of the Vatican, at Rome, on the bas- 

 relief which forms the plinth of the ancient colossal statue of the 

 Nile, is given pretty correctly the outline of the Hippo2:)otamus. 

 One sees other very exact representations in certain mosaics at 

 Pompeii, and again on the medals of Adrian, which represent 

 so frequently the banks of the Nile. 



The Hippopotamus has been seen only on very rare occasions 

 at Rome. Scaurus, when edile, exhibited one. Augustus showed 

 another during the fetes which were instituted in honour of his 

 triumph over Cleopatra. The emperors, Commodus and Ilelio- 

 gabalus also caused a few of these animals to be brought there. 

 But none appeared in Europe in the middle ages, and it is only 

 within the last few years that the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris, 

 and the Regent's Park Gardens, at London, has been able to pro- 

 cure living specimens of this Pachyderm. 



Rhinocerotidce, Rhinoceroses. — Remarkable for their great size 

 and for their strength, the Rhinoceroses ought, for this double 

 reason, to rank immediately after the Elephant. Their most 

 protninent feature — we do not mean a joke — which is unique in 

 the Mammalia, is that that they have on their nose one or two 

 horns, filled up and solid. Hence the name, which is derived 

 from two Greek words {piv, nose, and /cEpac, horn). 



Rhinoceroses were much more numerous in remote eras than 

 they are at present. There have existed numerous different 

 species, several of them living in temperate and even in cold 

 climates — as France, Germany, and Russia. These animals are 

 no longer found, except in the hottest portions of the Old 

 World. 



Aristotle says nothing of the Rhinoceros ; but Athensous, Pliny, 

 and Strabo mention it in their works. The first Rhinoceros men- 

 tioned in history figured in a fete given in Egypt by the King 

 Ptolemy Philadelphus. Later, Pompey, Augustus, the emperors 

 Antoninus and Heliogabalus, brought some into Europe, and made 

 them fight in the Coliseum,at Rome, sometimes with the Hippo- 

 potamus, sometimes with the Elephant. We must then pass on to 

 the sixteenth century to find in European history any new men- 

 tion of these animals. In 1513, Emmanuel, the King of Portugal, 

 received from India a one-horned Rhinoceros. Albert Dm-er made 

 an engraving of it on wood, which was for a long time copied and 



