RHINOCEROS. 
37 
but in former times they were spread over all Europe, Asia, and 
America. One of them {R. tichorhmus) , a native of Europe and 
N. Asia, was invested with a coat of thick woolly hairs, just like 
its contemporary, the Mammoth. Specimens of the following 
species are exhibited on the left of the Saloon : — 
The Indian Two-horned Rhinoceros {R. niger)^ a native of the 
Malayan peninsula, one of the rarest of the genus. The Common 
African Black Rhinoceros {R. bicornis), found all over Africa. It 
is distinguished from the next species by its elongated and pre- 
hensile upper lip, smaller size, and different habits. Its two horns 
are very variable in length, the front one being generally much 
the longer of the two, but in some specimens the posterior horn is 
as long as or longer than the anterior ; these latter specimens are 
often considered to be a distinct species, to which the name of 
“ Keitloa is given. 
The White Rhinoceros [R. simus) of S. Africa, with a square 
upper lip, is a large species, of which no full-grown specimens 
have ever been sent to England. Its anterior horn is very slender, 
and has been found to attain to a length of four feet ; the animal 
being of a mild and timid disposition, and feeding chiefly on grass, 
uses its horn rarely, either for digging or for attack. This species 
is becoming very scarce and in danger of being exterminated, 
which is the more to be regretted, as from all accounts it was 
capable of being tamed. A young mounted specimen is placed 
near the R. bicornis. 
The large Indian Rhinoceros [R. unicornis), a one-horned species 
from North-eastern India, of whieh a full-grown male is exhibited. 
On the tops of Wall-cases 45, 46, 53, and 51, is a series of 
Rhinoceros horns representing variations of growth. 
The Tapirs [Tapirus) (Cases 35 and 36) are swamp-loving [Cases 
animals, exeellent swimmers and divers, of which one species occurs 35 & 36.J 
in Malaysia and the others in Central and South America — a 
distribution which shows that at some former period of the 
world^’s history they ranged all over the intervening countries, 
through China, Kamtschatka, and North-west America. In fact 
a fossil Chinese Tapir has been discovered in which the teeth 
are so perfectly preserved as to show that the species can only 
have become recently extinct. Of the five species of Tapir known 
