bs 
BLOOD-RED SECRETIONS 
be noticed about it, and which fix its place in the 
zoological system, are these. It is a great thick-skinned 
beast with but few hairs; thickness of skin and few- 
ness of hairs are characters which are often found 
among the Ungulata, witness the elephant and the 
rhinoceros. On its bulky head the eyes, ears and 
nostrils are situate rather towards the top and at the 
same level more or less; this is an advantage to the 
animal when floating in the water; for it can breathe, 
hear and smell with the least possible exposure of body. 
There are four toes on each hand and foot, a point of 
likeness to its nearest allies the pig tribe. Its teeth 
are enormous and make good ivory. It has, moreover, 
a very good set of them, front teeth as well as back. 
The more typical Artiodactyles, the Ruminantia (e.g. 
deer, oxen, antelopes), have entirely lost their upper 
incisors, and mostly their canines. To reconcile the 
dangerous-looking teeth with a vegetarian existence 
requires faith in the observing powers of those who have 
studied the hippopotamus in a wild state; but this 
faith may be safely reposed. The hippopotamus pro- 
duces at times, especially after just leaving the water, 
a remarkable secretion from the skin of a carmine 
character, which bears at least a superficial resemblance 
to the equally carmine secretion of the red kangaroo 
(Macropus rufus). This fluid contains granules of 
the carmine-coloured pigment ; and it was first studied 
upon the original specimen of hippopotamus acquired 
by the Zoological Society in 1849. Its use remains a 
mystery ; but it is believed to have suggested to the 
Egyptian priests their deception of the “‘ bloody sweat.” 
In the early natural history of the hippopotamus fact 
is mingled largely with fiction ; indeed, it might be more 
accurate to say that fiction is lightly salted with fact. 
Even Buffon allows that in what Aristotle said of 
the hippopotamus there were more errors than facts. 
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