50 ON THE REVOLUTIONS OF 



They knew the double-horned rhinoceros, now no longer living in 

 modern Europe. Domitian exhibited one at Rome, and had it en- 

 graved on medals. Pausanias describes it with much exactness. 



As the Rhinoceros Indicus is the only species of one-horned animals which has 

 in modern times been brought alive to Europe, it has been most commonly figured. 

 A sketch was taken from the animal sent to Portugal in 1513, -which was engraved 

 by Albert Durer. This sketch was afterwards embellished by the celebrated painter 

 of Nuremberg, and at a still later period was put into the possession of Sir Hans 

 Sloane with an inscription attached to it, of which the following appears in the Phi- 

 losopbical Transactions for 1744, a literal translation: "In 1513, May 1, there 

 was brought to our king at Lisbon such a living beast from the East Indies that is 

 called Rhinocerate ; therefore, on account of its wonderfulness, I thought myself ob- 

 liged to send you a representation of it. It hath the colour of a toad, and is close 

 covered over with thick scales. It is in size like an elephant, but lower, and is 

 the elephant's deadly enemy ; it hath on the fort-part of its nose a strong sharp 

 horn ; and when this beast comes near the elephant to fight with him, he always 

 first whets his horn upon the stones, and runs at the elephant with his head between 

 his fore-legs ; then rips up the elephant where he hath the thinnest skin, and so 

 gores him. The elephant is terribly afraid of the Rhinocerate, for he gores al- 

 ways wherever he meets an elephant, for he is well armed, and is very alert and nim- 

 ble. This beast is called Rhinocero in Greek and Latin, but in India Gomba." 



The animal sent to England in 1739 is described by Dr. Parsons as very broad 

 and thick. His head is very large, and the hinder parts next his ears considerably 

 too high for the rest of his face, which is flat, and sinks down suddenly forward to- 

 wards the middle, rising again to the horn, but in a less degree. The horn stands 

 on the nose of the animal as on a hill. In Sir Hans Sloane's museum, the bones 

 of the head of one of these animals clearly show that the part on which the horn is 

 fixed rises to a blunt cone, to answer to the cavity in the basis of the horn, which is 

 hard and solid, having no marrow or core like other quadrupeds. From the fore- 

 part of the horn to the upper lip is the nose ; on this part there are a number of 

 wrinkles running across the front of it, and advancing towards the eyes. The nos- 

 trils are in the same direction as the mouth, and not above an inch from it. The 

 under lip resembles that of an ox, and the upper that of a horse, with this difference, 

 the rhinoceros can stretch it cut about six inches to a point, and double it round a 

 stick ; so that in its action it is more like the proboscis of the elephant. 



According to some naturalists, the tongue is said to be rough enough to rub a man's 

 flesh from his bones ; but that of our present animal is soft, whether it may grow 

 rough as the beast grows older must yet remain undetermined. 



His eyes are dull and half closed, like those of a hog, and situated near the nose. 

 His ears broad and thin, with a round root, w T ith wriukles about it. His neck is 

 short, and has two folds round it, the fore one being broken underneath, whence is 

 suspended a hollow flap deep enough to contain a man's fist. His shoulders are 

 thick and heavy, and each has a fold downward that crosses the fore-leg, and doubles 

 under the belly behind the fore-leg. 



His body is very thick, and juts out at the sides like that of a cow with calf. 

 His belly sinks almost to the ground. From the highest point in his back, the 

 fold of the loins runs down on each side between the last ribs and the hips, and is 

 lost before it comes to the belly ; but above the place of its being lost another rises 

 and runs backward round the hind legs, a little above the joint. This is called the 

 crural fold. 



The legs of the rhinoceros are thick and strong ; they bend back at the knee. 

 Round the joint of each leg there is a fold, which is only perceptible when the ani- 

 mal lies down. 



The tail is not more than seventeen or eighteen inches long, and not very thick. It 

 has a great roughness round it, and a twist or stricture towards the extremity, which is 

 flat. On the sides of this flat extremity of the tail are a few long black hairs. On the left 

 side of the tail ; the hairs grow almost up to its root, whereas on the right side they 

 grow no higher than the flat part. There is no other hair on this animal than a very 



