SuiD^ — ^ — MAMMALIA Hyracid^. 191 
tubercle. Some other minor peculiarities exist ; and 
Cuvier mentions that the aorta, or principal arterial 
trunk of the body, is very commonly enlarged or aneu- 
rismal at different parts of its course. This, however, 
is clearly an abnormal state, for which it is not easy 
to account, unless, as in the similar case of the ass, it 
be owing to the presence of parasites in the blood of the 
kind, belonging to the genus of Entozoa Stroiigylus. 
The habits of the Collared Peccary are similar to those 
of smne in general ; its food consisting of roots, bulbs, 
acorns, and other fruits, earthworms, grubs, and insect 
larvae of all kinds, found in or upon the damp marshy 
soils, where this animal delights to wallow. Although 
the Tajazou has been domesticated, its flesh is not 
sufficiently soft and palatable to be employed as a 
substitute for common pork ; and were it more plea- 
sant it could scarcely supplant the ordinary hog, as the 
female only produces two young at a birth, and a 
full-grown individual seldom exceeds fifty lbs. in weight. 
THE WHITE LIPPED PECCARY {Dicotyles labiatus), 
or Tagnicate, is a larger species, weighing almost 
double that of the Tajazou, avith which, however, it was 
formerly confounded. It is readily distinguished hy 
the pale colour of the lips, the rest of the hide being 
brown as usual ; it is also of a stouter build, the snout 
being likewise more prolonged and expanded at the 
tip. For an interesting account of the habits of this 
animal we are indebted to Mr. Bennett, who observes 
that the White-lipped Peccaries, unlike the former, 
“ congregate in numerous bands, sometimes amount- 
ing, it is said, to more than a thousand individuals of 
all ages. Thus united, they frequently traverse exten- 
sive districts ; the whole troop occupying an extent of 
a league in length, and directed in their march, if the 
accounts of the natives are to be credited, by a leader 
who takes his station at the head . of the foremost rank. 
Should they be impeded in their progress by a river, 
the chief stops for a moment, then plunges boldly into 
the stream, and is followed hy all the rest of tlie troop. 
The breadth of the river and the rapidity of the current 
appear to be but trifling obstacles in their way, and to 
be overcome with the greatest facility. On reaching 
the opposite banlc, they proceed dii-ectly on their course, 
and continue their march even through the plantations 
which, unfortunately for the o-wners, may happen to lie 
in their way, and which they sometimes completely 
devastate by rooting in the ground for their favourite 
food, or devouring such fruit as they find there. If 
they meet anything unusual in their way, they make a 
terrific clattering with their teeth, and stop and examine 
the object of their alarm. When they have ascer- 
tained that there is no danger, they continue their route 
without further delay ; but if a huntsman should ven- 
ture to attack them, when they are thus assembled in 
large numbers, he is sure to he surrounded by multi- 
tudes, and torn to pieces by their tusks, if he is so 
unwise as to neglect his only chance of escape, which 
consists in climbing a tree, and thus getting fairly out 
of their reachi The smaller bands are by no means 
equally courageous, and always take to flight at the 
first attack.” The White-lipped Peccary appears to 
belong exclusively to South America, being very abund- 
ant in the provinces of Guiana and Paraguay. 
Family VI.— HYRACID^. 
The group of small quadrupeds associated under the 
above title, constitute a distinct family, the members 
of which, though insignificant in respect of bulk and 
numbers, nevertheless possess a special claim upon the 
attention of the scientific naturalist. By those who 
have not studied the subject, it will hardly be credited 
that these little animals, formerly classed with the 
Rodents on account of their marked resemblance to 
that familj’’, present a close approximation to the pachy- 
derms, and more particularly to the rhinoceroses. 
This alliance, however, is very obvious, when we 
examine the condition and characters of the feet and 
teeth— as was, in the first instance, pointed out by 
Baron Cuvier, and subsequently insisted on by Wiede- 
mann, Swainson, Lesson, Gray, and others. Regarding 
only the anatomical peculiarities, it would be more 
correct to place this family between the Tapiridse and 
Rhinoceridse ; but as its external features present so 
marked a deviation from those of the two families just 
mentioned, we prefer to consider this aberrant group 
in the present position — as furthest removed from the 
ordinary pachydermal type. The Hyracidaj are fur- 
nished with thirty-eight or forty teeth, namely, six 
incisors, two above and four below, and twenty-four or 
twenty-eight molars. In the latter case, there are no 
less than sixteen premolars or spurious grinders — the 
canines being always absent. The incisors do not 
exhibit a true rodent structure, but are conical and 
similar to those of the hippopotamus, flflie molars, on 
the other hand, are very like those of the rhinoceros ; 
the crowns of the upper set being distinguished by two 
enamelled eminences, and connected by a ridge to the 
outer margin, whilst those below display two semi- 
circular ridges, whose convexity is directed outwards. 
The anterior limbs are furnished with four toes, but 
the hind feet are tridactylous. The digits are provided 
with small flat hoofs ; a remarkable exception obtain- 
ing to the inner toes of the hind feet, which terminate 
in curved and sharply-pointed claws. Both as regards 
the skeleton and viscera, we find many other modifi- 
cations of structure more or less conformable with the 
true pachydermal type, amongst which may be specially 
mentioned the existence of no less than twenty-one 
pairs of ribs— a number far exceeding that of any 
rodent, and giving a pair more than is found either 
in tlie proboscidean tapirs or elephants. In the skull 
the malar bone forms a complete orbital ring. The 
Hyracidae are also provided with a double coecum ; 
and this, strangely enough, according to Professor Owen, 
indicates an aflmity to the sloths : which edentate 
group, we may mention, contains an animal — the Unau 
■ — possessing a still larger number of ribs, namely, 
twenty-three pairs. On this subject Professor Owen, 
without referring to the ribs, and merely reflecting on 
the fact which an examination of the coecum had 
suggested to his mind, very pithily remarks : — “ It is 
interesting to find, that while the facies of Ilyrax so 
far simulates that of a rodent as to have deceived the 
older naturalists, and to have concealed from them 
those unerring indications of its alliance with the 
Pachydermata which the osseous system exhibits ; yet 
