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THE COMMON HIPPOPOTAMUS. 
Hippopotamus amphibius. — Aucx. 
PLATE VII. 
The Hippopotamus inhabits principally the 
rivers of South Africa, but is receding fast before 
civilization, and it is not now found without a 
march of considerable distance to the interior. 
The rivers of the north of Egypt, on the Nile, 
are also inhabited by them, where they are 
gregarious in small parties. Like all the large 
animals of this family, they are herbivorous, and 
only quit the water by night, or during the 
greatest seclusion, feeding on roots and succulent 
stems of large aquatic plants. Their system of 
dentition is fitted for cutting and bruising ; the 
teeth are of large size, very heavy, and yield the 
firmest and hardest kind of ivory. The eyes, 
nostrils, and ears, are all placed nearly on the 
same plane, which allows the use of three senses, 
and of respiration, with a very small portion of 
the animal being exposed, and a shot at the 
whole great bulk of the animal can scarcely ever 
