THE

NATURAL HISTORY OF ANIMALS

[CLASS MAMMALIA].

BRITISH WILD CATTLE. > Boa

i . ING HAM PARK.

'

THE

NATURAL HISTORY

OF

ANIMALS

(CLASS MAMMALIA— ANIMALS WHICH SUCKLE THEIR YOUNG),

IN WORD AND PICTURE.

BY CARL VOGT, AND FRIEDRICH SPECHT,

PROFESSOR OF NATURAL HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GENEVA,

OF STUTTGART, THE DISTINGUISHED DELINEATOR OF ANIMAL LIFE.

TRANSLATED AND EDITED WITH ADDITIONS

BY

GEORGE G. CHISHOLM, M.A., B.SC., F.R.G.S.

AUTHOR OF "THE WORLD AS IT is;"

TRANSLATOR OF "SWITZERLAND: ITS SCENERY AND ITS PEOPLE," ETC.

VOL. II.

LONDON:
BLACKIE & SON, 49 & 50 OLD BAILEY, E.G.

GLASGOW AND EDINBURGH.

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B10LOCY

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GLASGOW :

W. G. I'.I.ACKIK 4ND CO.. PlilNTERS
VILLAFIELI).

THE CONTENTS.

WHALES AND DOLPHINS (CETACEA).

PAGE

Introduction, 1

THE TOOTHED WHALES (Denticete), ... 4

The Dolphins (Dclphinida} 4

Fresh-water Dolphin (Platanista gangetica), . 4

Inia or Amazon Dolphin (Inia amazonica), . 4

Common Dolphin (Delphinus dclphis), . . 5

Bottle-nosed Dolphin (Delphinus tursio), . . 6

Porpoise (Phocsena communis), .... 7

Killer-whale (Orca gladiator), .... 8

Pilot or Caaing Whale (Globicephalus melas), . 8

Beluga or White Whale (Beluga leucas), . . 10

Narwhal (Monodon monoceros), . . . 10

The Sperm-whale Family (Physeterida), . , 12

Bottlehead or Common Beaked whale (Hyper-

oodon rostratus), 12

Sperm-whale or Cachalot (Physeter macrocephalus), 13

THE WHALEBONE WHALES (Mysticete), ... 14

Fin-backed Whales (Balcrnopterida), . . .16

Rorqual (Batenoptera boops), . . . .16

The Right Whales (Balccnidd) 16

Greenland or Right Whale (Balasna mysticetus), 16
Cape Whale (Balasna australis), . . . .16

Geographical Distribution and Descent of the Whales

and Dolphins, 17

THE SEA-COWS (SIRENIA).

Introduction, 20

Rhytina of the Behring Sea, . . . . 21
Dugong (Halicore Dugong), . . . .21

Manatee of West Africa (Manatus senegalensis), 22

Manatee of the Amazon (Manatus australis), . 22

Geographical Distribution and Descent of the Sea-cows, 24

THE ELEPHANTS (PROBOSCIDEA).

Introduction, 26

African Elephant (Elephas africanus), . . 30

Indian Elephant (Elephas indicus), ... 31

Mammoth (Elephas primigenius), ... 31

Geographical Distribution and Descent of the Probos-
cideans, 35

VOL. II.

ODD-TOED UNGULATES (PERISSODACTYLA).

PAGE

Introduction, 38

THE ROCK-BADGER OR CONY FAMILY (Hyracida), 39

Cape Daman (Hyrax capensis), .... 41

Syrian Hyrax (Hyrax syriacus), .... 41
Abyssinian Hyrax or Ashkok (Hyrax habessinicus),4i

THE TAPIR FAMILY (Tapirida), .... 41

Brazilian Tapir or Anta (Tapirus americanus), . 43

Malayan or Shabrack Tapir (Tapirus indicus), . 44
Andes or Hairy Tapir (Tapirus Roulinii or villosus), 44

Baird's Tapir (Elasmognathus Bairdii), . . 44

THE RHINOCEROS FAMILY (Nasicornia), . . 44

Quaternary Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros tichorhinus), 45

Indian Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros indicus), . . 47

Javan Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros javanicus), . . 47

Sumatran Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sumatrensis), 47

Malaccan Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros lasiotis), . 47

Two-horned Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros bicornis), . 47

Rhinoceros simus, 49

THE HORSE FAMILY (Equida), .... 49

African or Tiger Horses (Hippotigres~), . . 52

Zebra (Hippotigris Zebra), 53

Dauw (Hippotigris Burchellii), .... 53

Quagga (Hippotigris quagga), .... 53

Asiatic Horses, 54

African Wild Ass (Equus ta^niopus), ... 54

Onager or Gurkur (Equus onager), ... 54

Tibetan Wild Ass (Equus hemionus), . . 54

Domesticated Horse (Equus caballus), . . 55

The Ass (Equus asinus), 55

Horse of (Quaternary Period (Equus curvidens), 56

Tarpan (Equus Tarpan), 57

Kertag or Statur (Equus Przevalskii),. . . 57

Geographical Distribution and Descent of the Odd-toed

Ungulates, 5^

EVEN-TOED UNGULATES (ARTIODACTYLA).

Introduction, 61

Group of the Non-ruminant or Many-toed Artiodac-

tyla (Polydactyla), 64

THE HIPPOPOTAMUS OR RIVER-HORSE FAMILY

(Obesa), 64

River-horse of Liberia (Hippopotamus liberiensis), 64

b

164773

VI

THE CONTENTS.

Common Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphi-
bius),

64
66

THE PIG FAMILY (Suida), . .' .

Wild-boar (Sus scrofa), 67

Red River-hog (Potamochcerus porcus), . . 69
Emgalo or Ethiopfan Wart-hog (Phacochcerus

aethiopicus), . 69

Emgalo of Inner Africa (Phacochoerus africanus), 69
Babirussa (Porcus babirussa), . . . -7'

Pigmy Hogs (Porcula), 72

Collared Peccary (Dicotyles torquatus), . . 72

White-lipped Peccary (Dicotyles labiatus), . 72

Group of the Two-toed Artiodactyla or Ruminants

(Didactyla or Ruminantia), ..... 73

THE CHEVROTAIN FAMILY (Tragulida), ... 76

Kanchil (Tragulus pygmaeus), .... 76

Water Chevrotain (Hyasmoschus aquations), . 76

Musk-deer (Moschus moschifcrus), ... 76

THE DEER FAMILY (Cervida), .... 77

Muntjac or Kidang (Cervtilus muntjac), . . 78

Red Brocket (Subulo rufus), .... 79

Common Roe (Capreolus vulgaris), ... 79

Pampas Deer or Guazui (Blastoccros campestris), 79

Axis or Spotted Deer (Axis maculata), . . 80

Sambtir Deer (Cervus Aristotelis), ... 80

Common Stag or Red-deer (Cervus elaphus), . 82

Wapiti or Canadian Stag (Cervus canadcnsis), . 82

Cariacou (Cervus virginianus), .... 83

Fallow-deer (Dama vulgaris), .... 84

Reindeer (Tarandus rangifer), .... 84

Elk (Alecs palmatus), 86

Canadian Elk, Moose-deer, or Orignal, . . 86

THE HOLLOW-HORNED RUMINANTS (Cavicornia), . 87

The Antelopes (Antilopiita), 88

Pronghorn Antelope (Antilocapra americana), . 88

Chamois (Capella rupicapra), .... 89

Gazelle (Gazella dorcas), ..... 93

Sassa Antelope (Oreotragus saltator), . . 93

Bleekbok or Urebi (Calotragus scoparius), . 93
Duyker-bok or Madocqua (Cephalophus mergens), 94
Chikara or Four-horned Antelope (Tetraceros

quadricornis), 94

Rietbok or Umseke (Reduncus eleotragus), . 94
Harnessed Antelope or Guib (Tragelaphus scriptus), 95

Saiga (Colus tartaricus), 96

Nylgau (Portax pictus), 97

Sing-Sing or Waterbok (Kobus ellipsiprymnus), 98
Sable Antelope or Swarte-bok (Hippotragus niger), 98

Blauw-bok (Hippotragus leucophasa), ... 99

Leucoryx or Sabre Antelope (Oryx leucoryx), . 99

Canna, Elen, or Etatra (Buselaphus oreas), . 100

Mendes Antelope (Addax nasoniaculatus), . . 100

Koodoo (Strepsiceros kudu), . . , . 101

Caama or Hartebeest (Bubalis Caama). . . 101

Indian Antelope or Sassi (Antilope cervicapra), 102

Wildebeest or White-tailed Gnu (Catoblepas gnu), 103

The Goats (Caprida), 103

Rocky Mountain Goat (Haploceros americanus), 104

Markhor (Capra falconeri), 106

PAGE

Grecian Ibex or Bezoar Goat (Capra aegagrus), . 106
Domestic Goat (Capra hircus), .... 107
Angora Goat (Capra hircus, var. angorensis), . 108

The Ibex- (Ibex), Bouquet ins, Steinbocks, . .108
Alpine Ibex (Ibex alpinus), .... 109

Tlu- Sheep (Ovis), 109

Barbary Wild Sheep (Ovis tragelaphus), . .no
Rocky Mountain Sheep or Big-horn (Ovis mon-

tana), . .in

Mouflon of Kamchatka (Ovis nivalis), . . in
Kashkar of the Kirghiz (Ovis Polii), . . . ill

Argali (Ovis Argali), 112

Musimon or European Mouflon (Ovis nuisimon), 112
Domesticated Sheep (Ovis aries), . . .114

The Ox Croup (Bovida), 115

Anoa of the Malays (Probubalus depressicornis), 115
Musk-ox (Ovibos moschatus), . . . .116

The Buffaloes (Bubalus), . . . . .116

Cape Buffalo (Bubalus caffer), . . . .116

Common Buffalo (Bubalus vulgaris), . . .119

Kerabau Buffalo (Bubalus Kerabau), . . .117

The Bisons (Bison), 119

European Bison (Bison europacus), . . .119

American Bison (Bison americanus), . . .120

The True Oxen (Bos), 123

Yak (Bos grunniens), . . . • . . 123

Gaur (Bos gaurus), 124

Gayal (Bos frontalis), 124

Burmese Wild Ox (Bos sondaicus), . . .125
Zebu or Humped Ox (Bos indicus), . . .126
Tame Breeds of Ox (Bos taurus), . . .126

THE GIRAFFE FAMILY (Devexa), . . . 128

Giraffe (Camelopardalis giraffa), . . . .128

THE CAMEL FAMILY (Camelida), . . . .129

The Camels (Camelus), 130

Bactrian Camel (Camelus bactrianus), . .131
Dromedary (Camelus dromedarius), . . . 131

The Llamas (Auchenia), 134

Guanaco (Auchenia huanaco), . . . ' . 135

Llama (Auchenia Lama), 135

Alpaco (Auchenia Paco), 135

Vicuna (Auchenia vicuna), 136

Geographical Distribution and Descent of the Even-
toed Ungulates, 136

GNAWERS OR RODENTS (RODENTIA).

Introduction, 141

THE SQUIRREL FAMILY (Sciurida), . . .144
The Squirrels, 145

Brown Flying-Squirrel (Pteromys petaurista), . 145
Assapan (Pteromys volucella), .... 145
Common Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), . . .146
Chipping Squirrel or Chipmunk (Tamias striatus), 146
Souslik (Spermophilua citillus), . . . .147

The Marmots (Arctomys), 147

Alpine Marmot (Arctomys marmota), . . 147
Prairie-dog (Cynomys ludovicianus), . . . 148

THE CONTENTS.

VII

I'AGE

THE DORMOUSE FAMILY (Myoxida), . . .148

Loir (Myoxus glis), 149

Common Dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius), 149

THE BEAVER FAMILY (Castorida), . . . .149
Beaver (Castor fiber), 149

THE MOUSE FAMILY (Murida), . . . -153

The Mole-rats, 153

Common European Mole-rat (Spalax typhlus), . 153

The Hamsters (Cricctns), 154

Hamster Proper (Cricetus frumentarius), . . 154

Ra ts and Mice (Mitriiia), 155

Black Rat (Mus rattus), 155

Brown Rat (Mus dccumanus), . . . .156
Common Domestic Mouse (Mus musculus), . 156
Field-mouse (Mus agrarius), . . . .156
Long-tailed Field-mouse (Mus sylvaticus), . . 156
Harvest-mouse (Mus minutus), . . . .156
Striped or Barbary Mouse (Mus striatus), . .156

The Voles (Arvicolina), 157

Common Field-vole (Arvicola arvalis), . .158
Water-rat or Water-vole (Arvicola .amphibius), . 158
Lemming (Myodes lemmus), . . . .158
Musk-rat or Musquash (Fiber zibethicus), . . 159
The genera Hydromys, Meriones, Gerbillus, 159-160

THE JERBOA FAMILY (Dipodida), . . . . 160

Egyptian Jerboa (Dipus mauritanicus), . . 161
Jumping-rabbit of Siberia (Alactaga jaculus), . 162
Cape Jumping-hare (Pedetes caffer), . . . 162
Phillips's Pocket-mouse (Dipodomys Phillipsii), 162
Gopher (Geomys bursaria), . . . .162

THE PORCUPINE FAMILY (Hystricida), . . .163

Common European Porcupine (Hystrix cristata), 163
African Brush-tailed Porcupine (Atherura africana), 164
Tri-coloured Tree-porcupine (Cercolabes villosus), 164

THE SPINY RAT FAMILY (Echimyida), . . .165
Coypu (Myopotamus coypu), .... 165

THE DEGU FAMILY (Octodontida), . . . .166
Degu of the Chileans (Octodon Cummingii), . 166

THE CHINCHILLA FAMILY (Chinchillida), . . 166

Larger Chinchilla (Eriomys chinchilla),
Smaller Chinchilla (Eriomys laniger),
Cuvier's Lagidium (Lagidium Cuvieri),
Vizcacha (Lagostomus trichodactylus),

THE AGOUTI FAMILY (Subungulata),

Agouti Proper or Golden Agouti (Dasyprocta

Aguti),

Paca (Coslogenys paca),

Patagonian Cavy or Mara (Dolichotis patagonica), 171
Restless Cavy or Aperea (Cavia aperea), . . 171
Capybara (Hydrochcerus capybara), . . .172

THE RABBIT FAMILY (Leporida), . . . . 173

Alpine Pika (Lagomys alpinus), . . . • '73
Common Hare (Lepus timidus), . . . . 174

Alpine, Mountain, or Northern Hare (Lepus

alpinus), 174

Rabbit (Lepus cuniculus), ..... 175

Geographical Distribution and Descent of the Rodents, 17;

THE EDENTATES (EDENTATA).

Introduction, 180

THE SLOTHS (Bradypoda), 181

A'i or Three-toed Sloth (Bradypus tridactylus), . 182

Unau or Two-toed Sloth (Cholcepus didactylus), 183

THE ARMADILLOS (Dasypoda) 183

Giant Armadillo (Prionodon gigas), . . .185

Six-banded Armadillo (Dasypus sexcinctus), . 185
Pichiciago (Chlamydophorus truncatus), . .185

THE WORM-TONGUED EDENTATES (Vermilinguia), 186
Aard-vark or Cape Ant-bear (Orycteropus capen-

167
167
1 68
1 68

169

169

170

sis),

The True Ant-eaters (Myrmecophagida],
Great Ant-eater or Ant-bear (Myrmecophaga

jubata),

Tamandua (Tamandua tetradactyla), .
Little Ant-eater (Myrmidon didactylus),

The Pangolins or Scaly Ant-eaters (Manis), .
Long-tailed Pangolin (Manis longicaudata),
Short-tailed Pangolin (Manis pentadactyla),

1 86

187

187
1 88
188

188
189
189

Geographical Distribution and Descent of the Edentates, 189

THE MARSUPIALS OR POUCH-BEARING
MAMMALS (MARSUPIAL1A).

Introduction, 192

THE OPOSSUMS (Didelphyida), . . . .195
Yapock (Cheironectes variegatus), . . .196

Common Opposum (Didelphys virginiana),
The Predaceous Marsupials (Rapaces),

THE POUCHED BADGERS (Peramelida), .

Long-nosed Bandicoot (Perameles nasuta),
Pig-footed Perameles (Choeropus castanotus),
Banded Ant-eater (Myrmecobius fasciatus),

196
197

197
198
199
'99

200

THE DASYURE FAMILY (Dasyurida),

Brush-tailed Phascogale or Tafa (Phascogale

penicillata), 200

Viverrine Dasyure (Dasyurus viverrinus), . . 201

Tasmanian DC*;J O)asyurus ursinus), . . 201

Tasmanian Vfblf£- -^'jv&fls cynocephalus), . 202

The Fruit-eating Marsupials (Carpophaga), . . . 203

THE PHALANGER FAMILY (Phalangistida), . . 203
Squirrel Flying-phalanger (Belideus or Petaurus

sciureus), 203

Vulpine Phalanger (Phalangista vulpina), . . 204
Koala or Native (Australian) Bear (Phascolarctos

cinereus), 204

Vlll

THE CONTENTS.

PAGE

The Herbivorous Marsupials (Poephaga), . . . 206

The Kangaroos, 206

Ursine Tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus ursinus), . 207
Tufted-tailed Rat-kangaroo (Hypsiprymnus peni-

cillatus), 207

Yellow-footed Rock-kangaroo (Petrogale xantho-

pus) 208

Great Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus), . . 208

The Root-eating Marsupials (Rhizophaga), . . . 210

Broad-fronted Wombat (Phascolomys latifrons), 210
Geographical Distribution and Descent of the Marsu-
pials, 211

THE MONOTREMES (MONOTREMATA).

Introduction,

The Water-mole, Duck-mole, or Duck-billed Platy-

P»s,

Water-mole or Duck-mole (Ornithorhynchus
paradoxus),

The Echidnas, .......

Long-spined Echidna or Porcupine Ant-eater

PAGE

216

217

217
219

(Echidna hystrix), 219

Short-spined Echidna (Echidna setosa), . .219
Echidna of New Guinea (Acanthoglossus Bruynii),22o

Geographical Distribution and Origin of the Monotremes, 220

GLOSSARY, explaining the Principal Scientific Terms employed in this Work,

223

GENERAL INDEX, giving References to the Animals both by their Scientific and

their Popular Names, 235

THE PICTURES.

FULL-PAGE PICTURES.

PLATE

XVI. THE GREENLAND OR RIGHT WHALE (Bala-na mysticetus), .
XVII. THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT (Elcphas africanus),
XVIII. THE INDIAN ELEPHANT (Eiephas indicus), ....
XIX. THE INDIAN RHINOCEROS (Rhinoceros indicus),
XX. THE TWO-HORNED RHINOCEROS (Rhinoceros bicornis),
XXI. THE DAUW OR BURCHELL'S ZEBRA (Hippotigris Burchellii), .
XXII. THE HIPPOPOTAMUS (Hippopotamus amphibius), .

Tofacepagi

. 16

• 30

• 32
. 46
. 48

• 5°
. 64

XXIII. THE WILD BOAR (Sus scrofa) 66

XXIV. THE ROE-DEER (Capreolus vulgaris), 78

XXV. THE RED-DEER OR STAG (Cervus elaphus), 82

XXVI. THE FALLOW-DEER (Dama vulgaris), 84

XXVII. THE ELK (Alces palmatus) 86

XXVIII. THE CHAMOIS (Capella rupicapra), 88

XXIX. THE CANNA OR ELAND (Buselaphus canna), 98

XXX. THE KOODOO (Strepsiceros kudu) -102

XXXI. THE EUROPEAN BISON (Bison europams), "8

XXXII. THE AMERICAN BISON OR BUFFALO (Bison americanus), 120

XXXIII. THE GIRAFFE (Camelopardalisgiraffa), 128

XXXIV. THE DROMEDARY OR COMMON CAMEL (Camclus dromedarius), 130

XXXV. THE ALPINE MARMOT (Arctomys marmota), 148

XXXVI. THE BEAVER (Castor fiber), - 152

XXXVII. THE PORCUPINE (Hystrix cristata), 164

XXXVIII. THE A'f OR THREE-TOED SLOTH (Bradypus tridactylus), 182

XXXIX. THE ANT-BEAR OR GREAT ANT-EATER (Myrmecophaga jubata) 188

XL. THE GREAT KANGAROO (Macropus giganteus), 208

PICTURES IN THE TEXT.

131. The Fresh-water Dolphin (Platanista gangetica), . 5

132. The Inia or Amazon Dolphin (Inia amazonica), . 5

133. The Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis), . . 6

134. The Bottle-nosed Dolphin (Delphinus tursio), . 7

135. The Porpoise (Phoc;ena communis), ... 7

136. The Killer-whale (Orca gladiator), ... 8

137. The Pilot-whale or Grind (Globicephalus melas), . 9

138. The Beluga or White Whale (Beluga leucas), . 10

139. The Narwhal (Monodon monoceros), . . .11

140. The Bottlehead or Common Beaked Whale (Hyper-

oodon rostratus), 12

141. The Sperm-whale (Physeter macrocephalus), . 13

142. The Rorqual (Balasnoptera boops), . . • ' 5

'AG«

21

143. The Dugong (Halicore Dugong), ...

144. Manatee of the Amazon (Manatus australis), . 23

145. The Abyssinian Hyrax (Hyrax habessinicus), . 41

146. The Brazilian Tapir or Anta (Tapirus americanus), 42

147. The Malayan Tapir (Tapirus indicus), ... 44

148. The Zebra (Hippotigris Zebra), .... 52

149. The African Wild Ass (Equus taeniopus), . . 53

150. The Onager (Equus onager), ..... 54

151. The Tibetan Wild Ass (Equus hemionus), . . 55

152. The Tarpan (Equus Tarpan), . . . • 5^
1 53. The Red River-hog (Potamochcerus porcus), . 69
1 54. The Emgalo or Ethiopian Wart-hog (Phacochcerus

sethiopicus), ....... 7°

THE PICTURES.

155. The Babirussa (Porcus babirussa), ... 71

156. The Collared Peccary (Uicotyles torquatus), . 72

157. The Kanchil (Tragulus pygmasus), ... 75

158. The Musk-deer (Moschus moschiferus), . . 77

159. The Muntjac (Cervulus muntjac), . ... 78

1 60. The Red Brocket (Subulo rufus), .... 79

1 6 1 . The Pampas Deer or Guazui ( Blastoceros campestris), 80

162. The Axis or Spotted Deer (Axis maculata), . . 81

163. The Reindeer (Tarandus rangifer), ... 85

164. The Pronghorn Antelope (Antilocapra americana), 87

165. Gazelles (Gazella dorcas), ..... 90

166. The Sassa Antelope (Oreotragus saltator), . . 91

167. The Bleekbok or Urebi (Calotragus scoparius), . 91

1 68. The Duyker-bok or Madocqua (Cephalophus mergens), 92

169. The Four-horned Antelope (Tetraceros quadricornis), 93

170. The Rietbok (Reduncus eleotragus), ... 94

171. The Harnessed Antelope or Guib (Tragelaphus

scriptus), 95

172. The Saiga Antelope (Colus tartaricus), . . . 95

173. The Nylgau (Portax pictus), 96

174. The Sing-Sing or Waterbok (Kobus ellipsiprymnus), 97

175. The Sable Antelope or Swarte-bok (Hippotragus

niger) 98

176. The Leucoryx or Sabre Antelope (Oryx leucoryx), 99

177. The Mendes Antelope (Addax nasomaculatus), . 100

178. The Caama or Hartebeest (Bubalis Caama), . 101

179. The Indian Antelope (Antilope cervicapra), . 102

1 80. The Wildebeest or White-tailed Gnu (Catoblepas

gnu), 103

181. The Rocky Mountain Goat (Haploccros americanus), 104

182. The Markhor (Capra falconeri), . . . .105

183. The Grecian Ibex (Capra Kgagrus), . . . 106

184. The Angora Goat (Capra hircus), . . . .107

185. The Alpine Ibex (Ibex alpinus), . '. . .108

186. The Barbary Wild Sheep or Ami (Ovis tragelaphus), 1 10

187. The Rocky Mountain Sheep or Big-horn (Ovis

montana), 1 1 1

1 88. The Kashkar (Ovis Polii), 112

189. The Musimon or European Mouflon (Ovis musimon), 113

190. The Anoa (Probubalus depressicornis), . .114

191. The Musk-ox (Ovibos moschatus), . . -115

192. The Cape Buffalo (Bubalus caffer), . . .117

193. The Kerabau Buffalo (Bubalus Kerabau), . .119

194. The Yak (Bos grunniens), 123

195. The Gaur (Bos gaurus), 124

196. The Gayal (Bos frontalis), 125

197. The Burmese Wild Ox (Bos sondaicus), . .126

198. The Zebu (Bos indicus), ,27

199. The Bactrian Camel (Camclus bactrianus), . . 131

200. The Llama (Auchcnia Lama), . . . . 1 34

201. The Alpaca (Auchenia Paco), . . . .135

202. The Taguan or Brown Flying-Squirrel (Pteromys

• petaurista) I44

203. The Common Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), . .145

204. The Chipping Squirrel (Tamias striatus), . .146

Kit;. PAGE

205. The Souslik (Spermophilus citillus), . . . 147

206. Prairie-dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus), . . .148

207. The Loir (Myoxus glis), 149

208. The Common Dormouse (Muscardinus avellan-

arius), 150

209. The Common European Mole-rat (Spalax typhlus), 153

210. The Hamster (Cricetus frumentarius), . . .154

21 1. A Brown Rat (Mus decumanus) attacking a Black

Rat (Mus rattus), 155

212. The Common Domestic Mouse (Mus musculus), . 156

213. The Striped or Barbary Mouse (Mus striatus), . 157

214. The Common Field-vole (Arvicola arvalis), . 157

215. The Water-rat or Water-vole (Arvicola amphibius), 158

216. The Lemming (Myodes lemmus), . . . .158

217. The Musk-rat or Musquash (Fiber zibethicus), . 159

2 1 8. The Egyptian Jerboa (Dipus mauritanicus), . . 160

219. The Jumping-rabbit Of Siberia (Alactaga jaculus), 160

220. The Cape Jumping-hare (Pedetes caffer), . . 161

221. Phillips's Pocket-mouse (Dipodomys Phillipsii), . 162

222. The Gopher (Geomys bursaria), . . . .162

223. The African Brush-tailed Porcupine (Atherura

africana), 163

224. The Tri-coloured Tree-porcupine or Cuy (Cerco-

labes villosus), 164

225. The Coypu (Myopotamus coypu), . . . .165

226. The Degu (Octodon Cummingii) 166

227. The Larger Chinchilla (Eriomys chinchilla), . 166

228. The Smaller Chinchilla (Eriomys laniger), . . 167

229. Cuvier"s Lagidium (Lagidium Cuvieri), . . .167

230. The Vizcacha (Lagostomus trichodacty :us), . . 168

231. The Golden Agouti (Dasyprocta Aguti), . . 169

232. The Paca (Caslogenys paca), . . ... .170

233. The Patagonian Cavy (Dolichotis patagonica), . 171

234. The Restless Cavy or Aperea (Cavia aperea), . 172

235. The Capybara (Hydrochosrus capybara), . . 173

236. The Alpine Pika (Lagomys alpinus), . . -174

237. The Common Hare (Lepus timidus), . . . 175

238. The Alpine or Mountain Hare (Lepus alpinus), . 176

239. The Rabbit (Lepus cuniculus), . . . .177

240. The Unau or Two-toed Sloth (Choloepus didac-

tyius), 183

241. The Giant Armadillo (Prionodon gigas), . . 184

242. The Six-banded Armadillo or Poyou (Dasypus

sexcinctus), 185

243. The Pichiciago (Chlainydophorus truncatus), . 186

244. The Aard-vark or Cape Ant-bear (Orycteropus

capensis), 187

245. The Little Ant-eater (Myrmidon, didactylus), . 188

246. The Long-tailed Pangolin (Manis longicaudata), . 189

247. The Short-tailed Pangolin (Manis pentadactyla), . 189

248. The Yapock (Cheironectes variegatus), . . 196

249. The Common Opossum (Didelphys virginiana), . 197

250. The Long-nosed Bandicoot (Perameles nasuta), . 198

251. The Pig-footed Perameles (Chasropus castanotus), 198

252. The Banded Ant-eater (Myrmecobius fasciatus), . 199

THE 1'ICTURKS.

XI

253. The Brush-tailed Phaacogale or Tafa (Phascogak

pcnicillata), 200

254. The Viverrine Dasyurc (I)asyurus vivcrrinus), . 201

255. The Tasmanian Devil (Uasyurus ursinus), . . 201

256. The Tasmanian Wolf (Thylacinus cynocephalus), 202

257. The Squirrel Flying-phalanger (Belideus sciureosX -°4

258. The Vulpini' Phalanger (Phalangista vulpina), . 205

259. The Koala or Native (Australian) Hear (I'hasco-

larctos cinereus), 205

260. The Ursine Tree-kangaroo (DemlrohiL'.us ursinus), 207

261. The Tufted-tailed Rat-kangaroo (Hypsiprymnus

penicillatus), 208

262. The Yellow -footed Rock -kangaroo (Pctrogale

xanthopus), 209

263. The Broad-fronted Wombat (Phascofemyt lati-

frons), 210

264. The Water-mole or Duck-mole (Ornithorhynchus

paradoxus) 217

265. The Long-spined Echidna or Porcupine Ant-eater

(Echidna hystrix), 219

WHALES AND DOLPHINS

(CETACEA).

Fish-like carnivores without hind-limbs, and having the fore-limbs converted into flippers, the tail in the form
of a horizontal fin. The nostrils (blow-holes) are situated on the summit of the forehead, the ill-developed
lips are without moustache hairs, the skin is naked, the placenta diffuse, and the teats situated far back in the
abdominal region.

Sailors and the common people call these
giants of our present fauna simply "fishes,"
and the form of the body is, in fact, exactly
that of a spindle-shaped fish, with a head,
often of enormous size, joined directly on to
the body without any apparent neck. Behind,
the body ends in a horizontal tail, which is
composed of a felt- work of horny fibres ; while
that of the true fishes stands vertically, and
is supported by bony or cartilaginous rays.
Even the first superficial examination of a
living whale enables us to discover im-
mediately that the gills are altogether want-
ing; that these animals, although living in the
water, yet breathe atmospheric air; that they
have warm blood, and teats by means of
which they suckle their young.

The skin, which is very thick, but composed
of a very loose or open tissue, has its meshes
filled with large quantities of fat, which also
collects between the skin and the muscles.
This skin is quite naked, the epidermis or
scarf-skin mostly thick and often like a rind.
Hair there is none. Only in the embryos
do we sometimes see traces of tactile hairs
on the upper lip, but these never develop.
The head may attain a third of the entire
length of the body; the brain-case is round,
but the jaws are drawn out in front into a

VOL. II.

sometimes broad, sometimes beak-like muzzle.
In the skeleton the prolongation of the jaws
forms a flat section, above which the back
part of the skull often rises in the form of a
crest, but in the living animal the space
between the brain-case and the snout is often
filled with large accumulations of fat or oil,
which gives the head a form quite different
from that of the skull.

The structure of the respiratory passages,
the complete absence of external ears, and
the position of the very small eyes, so far
back and so low down, strike us immediately
on making a sufficiently close examination of
the form of the head. The nose is no longer
a smelling organ; the whales are entirely
destitute of this sense. The olfactory nerve
is reduced to a thin thread. The nose is
now nothing more than a respiratory canal.
The nostrils open at the top of the skull,
sometimes through a single blow-hole in the
form of a half-moon, sometimes through two
contiguous slits. The cavity of the nose goes
vertically downwards, and its communication
with the windpipe is effected in a manner
quite peculiar. The larynx or anterior portion
of the windpipe, with the glottis or slit open-
ing into it, crosses the back part of the mouth,
and fits into the lower end of the nasal passage

33

WHALES AND DOLPHINS.

so accurately as to close it completely. The
animal can thus breathe merely by raising
the top of its head to the surface of the water,
and can swallow its food in the water without
a drop of liquid penetrating into the wind-
pipe and lungs, since the fragments in their
way down the gullet pass round the larynx
where it is inserted into the posterior part of
the nasal passage. The external passage of
the ear (external auditory meatus) opens on
the surface of the skin by a very narrow
aperture; even in a large whale it is scarcely
possible to introduce a goose-quill into the
opening. The eyes are often placed so far
behind and at the side that they lie im-
mediately behind the corners of the mouth.
They are not inclosed in a bony orbit, but
only by a very thick white skin. The pupil
itself is not larger than in an ox.

The lower jaw forms a more or less ex-
panded pointed arch, or even a longish beak.
There is scarcely any joint behind, and the
coronoid process, or ascending part of the
lower jaw to which the muscles of mastication
are attached in other mammals, is almost
entirely wanting. We will afterwards return
to the dentition.

All these modifications lead to very peculiar
arrangements in the structure of the skull,
but these we will not enter upon in detail at
present. Let it suffice to say that the petrous
bone, or bone containing the inner ear, is
separate from the other bones of the skull,
and the skull itself is not symmetrical, one of
the halves, usually the right, being always
larger. This want of symmetry is often
more marked in one individual than in another
of the same species, but always exists.

The neck is indistinguishable in the living
animal, the head, which is very broad behind,
being attached to the trunk without the
slightest appearance of constriction. In the
skeleton the usual number of neck-vertebra?,
seven, are indeed present, but they soon be-
come fused with one another, wholly or par-
tially. The vertebrae of the trunk have the

processes but slightly developed, and very
liable to become detached; those of the tail
have no processes. There is never any
sacrum, since the pelvis is wanting.

The fore-limb forms a fin, connected with
the trunk by a triangular shoulder-blade.
The short and usually flattened upper-arm or
humerus is entirely buried in the flesh of the
body. The bones of the fore-arm, wrist, and
hand are firmly connected together by strong
sinewy tissues or ligaments without any joints,
and are enveloped by a tough firm skin.
The whole limb accordingly is movable only
at the shoulder- and elbow-joints. The digits
are indicated by rows of small rounded bones,
often very numerous, and the terminal bones
or phalanges are without nails. The hind-
limbs are altogether wanting. But in some
whales there are found some bones buried in
the flesh which are rudiments of a pelvis repre-
senting the thigh- and shin-bones, but which
never become developed, being found only
in the embryo. In most whales there are
also to be seen vertical dorsal fins, formed,
like the tail-fin, of a skin supported by a fibrous
and horny tissue.

The brain is relatively small, but covered
with numerous convolutions. In a whale 20
feet in length and weighing 12,000 Ibs. the
brain did not weigh as much as 4^ Ibs. In
the small species, like the dolphins, however,
it is relatively much larger and in particular
much broader.

Salivary glands are absent. Numerous
enlargements of the arteries and veins allow
of the animal remaining a considerable time
under water without the necessity for purify-
ing the blood by breathing. The teats lie in
deep folds of the skin on both sides of the
anus. The placenta is diffuse, composed,
as in the pachyderms, of lobes or cotyledons
distributed over the whole surface of the
ovum.

The dentition presents very remarkable
differences. The teeth are never specialized,
always simple, and have only a single root.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.

In the embryonic condition all the whales
have very numerous rudiments of teeth, simi-
lar in form and structure to those of reptiles,
inclosed in a groove extending along the
whole length of the margin of the jaw, but
completely covered by the gum. But the
further development of these teeth is very
different in different cases. In some forms,
the true dolphins, they all cut the gum and
persist throughout life in very considerable
number. There are dolphins with more than
a hundred teeth in all. Others, such as the
killer-whales (Orca gladiator), have a com-
paratively small number, 44 in all, and in the
beluga or white whale the teeth in the upper
jaw disappear with age. In others, as in the
sperm-whales, the teeth cut the gum only in
the lower jaw, while the upper jaw remains
without teeth. In the bottle-nosed whales
(Hyperoodon) only one tooth is developed in
each half of the lower jaw. In the narwhal
a single straight spirally-twisted canine attains
an extraordinary length, especially in males,
usually on the left side of the upper jaw.
Lastly, in the true or whalebone whales the
embryonic rudiments of teeth persist only for
a short time, but soon afterwards disappear
in order to permit of the development in the
palate of peculiar horny plates, known as
whalebone, of which we shall speak when
treating of that family.

We thus find among the whales both a re-
duction in the number of the originally very
numerous but uniform teeth, and a disappear-
ance of the hind-limbs in consequence of
special adaptations. Manifestly all whales
had originally a considerable number of teeth;
manifestly they had all originally four limbs,
the hinder pair of which, however, has got
reduced to insignificant traces.

The whales are not exclusively marine
forms. Some genera and species inhabit the
large rivers of South America and India.
But they are all so dependent on an aquatic
life that they pretty soon die if cast on the
shore. They are remarkably social, always

found in numerous shoals or "schools," and
if several of the larger species are nowadays
to be met with only singly or in pairs, this
fact is traceable to the persecutions to which
these animals have been exposed. Except
in those cases the whales swim behind one
another in long rows, and since they always
come to the surface to breathe, and make a
great noise in doing so, these shoals can be
perceived both by the eye and ear at great
distances. Ungraceful and clumsy as these
animals appear when withdrawn from the
water, they are yet remarkably entertaining
by the agility and flexibility of their move-
ments in their, own element. Incomparable
is the swiftness with which they dart like
arrows through the water without any great
exertion. No fish can be compared with them
in respect of the ease with which they assume
all possible positions, turn head over tail, and
scorn all obstacles to their progress. One
must have seen a shoal of large dolphins with
black backs and white bellies, as they are
often seen in the northern seas, playing round
the ship in heavy storms, diving under the
keel, showing sometimes the upper, sometimes
the under side, to form any idea of the enor-
mous muscular strength which these animals
have at their command.

They migrate through wide expanses of the
ocean, and during these rapid journeys the
movements of the animals as they follow one
another are quite rhythmical. The top of the
head emerges for an instant above the water,
and at that moment the animal exhales and
inhales with a great noise. In the large
species the act of expiration produces a column
of vapour visible at a great distance, which
thus betrays to the fishers the presence of the
whales. I have seen large rorquals swimming
round our ship at the distance of a rifle-shot,
and have been able to satisfy myself that the
blow-holes rise entirely out of the water in
breathing, and that the appearance of a jet
shot up by a fountain begins only at some
little distance above the head. This appear-

WHALES AND DOLPHINS.

ance is accordingly produced only by the con-
densation in the colder air of the vapour ex-
pelled from the lungs through the blow-holes.
A large whale, which I saw pass my window
at Nice daily for three weeks, only shot up
an insignificant jet, which often was not visible
at all. The air was warmer. Only when
the animals are pursued, and begin to breathe
while the blow-hole is still beneath the surface,
is there any water carried up into the air
along with the vapour.

This process of breathing lasts only a few
seconds. The head is then again submerged,
the back and dorsal fin appear for an instant
describing a curve above the surface, and at
last the tail fin momentarily appears, but is
again immediately submerged while the head
is raised anew. A shoal of dolphins swim-
ming close behind one another in a row pro-
duces, in a wonderfully deceptive manner, the
appearance of a large serpent swimming on
the surface of the water by means of vertical
undulations.

All whales are exclusively carnivorous and
very voracious. Some feed on fish, others
on calamaries and cuttle-fishes, others again
on crustaceans and molluscs. The kind of
food is not always in proportion to the size
of the ravager; numbers must make up for
deficiency in size. The Greenland or right
whale swallows pteropods, a small kind of
naked mollusc, in tons, and the rorqual pur-
sues shoals of herrings into bays or the shores,
and commits frightful ravages amongst them.
The small species are much dreaded by fisher-
men on account of the injury they do to their
nets, the large ones are energetically pursued
for the oil which they yield.

It appears that the whales propagate their
kind at all seasons, for embryos have been
found in the mothers at different seasons in
the same stage of development. But nothing
is known either about the congress of the
sexes or the birth of the young. After birth
the young follow the mother about for a little,
and on the appearance of danger are taken

by the latter, who is ready to sacrifice her life
for her offspring, under her fin, as shown in
Plate XVI.

We divide the order of the Cetacea into
two groups, the Toothed Whales (Denticete),
which have teeth in the adult forms, and
Whale-bone Whales (Mysticete), in which
the teeth are replaced by whalebone.

THE TOOTHED WHALES

(DENTICETE).

The Dolphins (Ddphinida).

>
The toothed whales comprise first of all the

True Dolphins (Delphinida), which have a
larger or smaller number of uniform teeth in
both jaws and feed exclusively on fishes.

The Fresh-water Dolphin, the Susuk of
the Hindus (Platanista gangctica], fig. 131,
belongs to this stock. It is found in the
Ganges and its tributaries, and also in the
Indus, ascends pretty far up into the land,
although it is always most abundant near
the mouth. It is distinguished from other
dolphins by its long thin beak slightly curved
upwards, which has along the middle line a
longitudinal ridge separating the narrow slits
which form the blow-holes. It has about 32
slightly recurved conical teeth, which become
longer near the point of the beak. The
dorsal fin is in the form of a low triangular
lobe. The tail fin is deeply two-lobed. The
animal attains a length of only 6^ feet.
The back is almost black. It is said to make
use of its beak to dig among the cane-thickets
on the river-banks. Its fat is used as a
salve.

The large rivers of South America,
especially the Amazon and the Orinoco,
appear to be inhabited by several species
of long-beaked dolphins, among which the
species called by the natives the Inia, Bonto,
or Amazon Dolphin (Ima amazonica (geof-
frensis)}, fig. 132, is the best known. The
beak is straight and narrow, and, unlike what
we find in other whales, is set with short stiff

THE DOLPHINS.

hairs. The body is thick, the dorsal fin
scarcely indicated, the tail fin large, but only
slightly hollowed out behind, the fore-limbs

5

very long, and very narrow at the end. The
blow-hole is simple, and has the form of a
horse -shoe with the convexity directed

uiter Dolphin \Platanistagangt

towards the forehead. There are as many
as 70 short wrinkled teeth thickened at the
base. These dolphins, which are very
abundant in many localities, lead a very noisy

life, and here and there are protected by a
number of prejudices and superstitious tales
against persecution by the Indians. They
attain, like the Platanista, a length of only

Fig. 132. — The Inia or Amazon Dolphin (lain amazoiiica

feet. The back is bluish, the belly of a
rose-colour.

The true Marine Dolphins {Delphinus}
approach this fresh-water genus in the horse-
shoe-shape of the blow-hole, and in the

possession of a long beak with numerous
teeth. The Common Dolphin (Delphinus
dclphis), fig. 133, which is found in the
ocean, in the Mediterranean, and the Red
Sea, is the best-known representative of the

WHALES AND DOLPHINS.

genus. It attains the length of about 8 feet
or more, and has an arched brow separated
by a prominent swelling from the long flat
beak. The body is thickset, spindle-shaped,
the dorsal fin sickle-shaped and pretty high,
the tail fin scarcely lobed, the fore-limbs short
and pointed. The very tough skin has an
olive-brown shimmer on the back, and is
white below. There are at least 100, some-

times 200, small, conical, and very sharp
teeth.

This dolphin is the animal celebrated by
fabulists and depicted by artists, the friend
of man, who carries the singer Arion to the
shore, renders aid to the shipwrecked, draws
the chariot of Galatea, and carries the
Tritons and nymphs of the court of Amphi-
trite. Unfortunately all these virtues have

Fig. 133. — The Common Dolphin (Dclphinas delphis). page 5.

disappeared under the critical eye of modern
observers, who no doubt recognize in the
dolphin an agreeable travelling-companion,
who shortens the idle hours of a long sea-
voyage by his graceful sporting round the
ship, but who, at the same time, is a terribly
voracious ravager, who pursues with fury
the fastest swimmers among fishes, herrings,
mackerel, water-snakes (Pelamides), and
flying-fish, darting about after them with the
most rapid and abrupt changes in his course,
and hastening up to a mortally wounded
comrade, not to render him succour, as the
ancients said, but to devour him.

With this species is often confounded
another much larger one, which attains a
length of from 12 to 16 feet. This is the
Bottle-nosed Dolphin (Delphinus tursio], fig.

134, which has a shorter and more rounded
snout, and longer and narrower fore-limbs,
and which is of a bluish-black colour above,
white underneath. The less numerous teeth
are stronger, and get worn away horizontally ;
a proof that these dolphins, which advance
almost exclusively by constantly turning
somersaults, add numerous crustaceans to
their mostly fish diet.

Other dolphins are characterized by their
rounded muzzle, which is not drawn out into
a snout, and is not longer than the cranial
region of the skull. They are distinguished
from the former by having fewer teeth, and
these thick and conical, and by having the
fore-limbs situated pretty high on the sides,
while in the former species they are very
low.

THE DOLPHINS.

The best -known representative of this
genus is the Porpoise {Phocccnct communis),
%• '35' verv abundant in the northern seas,

in the ocean generally, in the Black Sea and
the Sea of Azof, not so common, however,
in the Mediterranean proper. The teeth,

Fig. 134. - The Bottle-nosed Dolphin (Dtlphinus tursio}.

which are flattened at the sides, sharp, and
somewhat expanded at the end, may be as

many as 100 in number, 25 in each half
of each jaw. It attains a length of 6 feet,

Fig. 135. — The Porpoise {Phocana communis).

is black with a violet-blue shimmer on the
back, white on the belly; the fins are black.
Its food consists of fish, which it pursues
pretty far up rivers, and it is often caught

in nets in which it has got entangled in the
eagerness of its chase. On certain coasts
a considerable number of these are caught
for the sake of the oil. Its flesh was for-

WHALES AND DOLPHINS.

merly highly esteemed in France, and was
a food allowed by the church in periods of
fasting. Belon relates that he saw porpoises
sold in Paris on Friday. Porpoise flesh
has a very decided taste of train-oil, and at
the present day its use as an article of food
is confined to the high north.

The number of the teeth is much smaller

in the terrible Killer-whale (Orca gladiator],
fig. 136, the hysena of the northern seas.
This formidable dolphin may attain the length
of 26 feet. It has a round head, a short
flattened and rounded muzzle, and broad
fore-limbs rounded at the end. The dorsal
fin is very high and pointed, in the form of
a bent sabre; the tail fin large, halfmoon-

Fig. 136. — The Killer-whale (Orca gladiator).

shaped; the body slender, black above, white
below, often marked with white patches above
the eyes and behind the dorsal fin. The jaws
have only 1 1 very strong conical and slightly
recurved teeth in each half, 44 accordingly in
all, and these are all situated in front

The killer- whales swim in a line, one
behind the other, with a speed that really
makes one dizzy to look at them. I have
often seen them on the coasts of Norway;
they came only in heavy storms to sport
round our ship. They are the absolute
tyrants of the seas, and work fearful slaughter
among the seals and among other cetaceans.
Eschricht, a Danish anatomist, who has
occupied himself with the Cetacea in a very
thorough manner, found a seal sticking in the
throat of a killer- whale of about 16 feet in
length, which had owed its death to its
voracity, since it was prevented from swallow-

ing this seal by having thirteen porpoises and
fourteen seals already engulfed in its stomach!
The shoals of killer-whales attack the largest
cetaceans, and vanquish them. They are said
to be peculiarly fond of the fat fleshy tongues
of the whalebone whales. Whale-fishers de-
test them because the whales soon leave the
parts where the killer -whales show them-
selves, and the whalers cannot harpoon the
latter because of their rapidity. They are
frequently killed with explosive bullets fired
from weapons of wide range. Frequently in
the eagerness of their pursuit they are carried
too far in their chase after fishes and seals,
and thus find their way into rivers or get
stranded on the shores.

The Pilot-whale, the Caaing Whale of the
Scotch (Globiccphalns me/as], fig. 137, although
a near ally of the killer-whale, is nevertheless
widely distinguished from it by its pacific

THE DOLPHINS.

9

character, and by the quiet submissiveness
with which it often gives itself up to man.
An accumulation of fat fills the whole space
between the end of the upper jaw and the
back of the head, so that the head appears
almost round but blunted in front. The body,
19 to 22 feet in length, is spindle-shaped,
very thick in the region of the pectoral fins,
thin towards the tail, and flattened on the
sides, the back thus forming a sort of blunt

keel. The fore-limbs are long and pointed,
and attain the length of nearly 5 feet. The
dorsal fin is short but pointed, the tail fin
deeply lobed. The body is quite black, with
the exception of a white stripe along the
belly. There is the same number of teeth
as in the killer- whale, and they all lie ob-
liquely in the gums so that the small conical
crown alone projects. The teeth are very
apt to disappear.

Fig. 137. — The Pilot-whale or Grind (GloUfcpAalus melas).

The pilot- whale or grind, as the inhabitants
of the Faroe Islands call it, always lives in
numerous shoals, frequently numbering several
hundreds of individuals, and it feeds chiefly
on squids, calamaries, and cuttle-fishes, but
also on small fish like the herring. It swims
slowly, showing the whole length of its back
above the water, and it is seldom seen in-
dulging in the violent exercises in which the
dolphins and killer- whales take so much
delight. The shoal follows almost blindly
the movements of an old male who acts as
leader. When any of their number are
wounded the others collect round them, and
do not leave them even though their own life
is threatened. The fishermen endeavour to
drive the leader ashore, and if they succeed
in this they regard the whole shoal as captured.

It appears to be the lot of the pilot- whales

Vol. II.

to be stranded on the shores. On the
Orkney, Shetland, and Faroe Islands this is
a common spectacle, and the inhabitants of
the last- mentioned islands would be un-
fortunate if there were not at least one shoal
of pilot-whales stranded during the year.
Old laws regulate the capture of this animal.
On a signal being given from a fishing-boat
that the pilot-whales are approaching, boats
are sent out to surround them and drive them
towards a bay so as to strand them, and the
crews begin the slaughter as soon as they are
certain that the animals cannot escape. From
two to three hundred are often killed at once.
It is calculated that each animal yields a tun
of train-oil. The flesh is eaten both fresh
and salted and cured like bacon. The fresh
meat is compared to coarse beef. The pilot-
whale fishery is an important resource for the

34

IO

WHALES AND DOLPHINS.

inhabitants of the Faroe Islands. On the
7th of January, 1812, a shoal of these animals
was stranded at Paimpol in Brittany, after
the fishermen had driven the leader ashore,
where he bellowed like a bull. The shoal
consisted of 7 males, 5 1 females, and 1 2 suck-
lings. One of these animals lived five days
in a bay, which he could not leave on account
of the shallowness of the water at the mouth.

The Beluga or White Whale (Beluga
Icncas], fig. 138, is very like the previous
species as regards the form of the head and
body, but the flippers are much shorter and
the dorsal fin is altogether wanting. With
reference to this character the name Delphin-
apterus ("finless dolphin") has been chosen
by some as the name of the genus. The
dentition is likewise similar to that of the

Fig. 138. — The Beluga or White Whale (Beluga leuctis).

pilot- whale, only the teeth are not so numerous,
and they are very apt to be lost with the
advance of age, especially in the upper jaw.
The whole body is of a brilliant whitish-
yellow colour.

This beautiful dolphin, which may attain a
length of 20 feet, and always lives in shoals,
is the ornament of the western parts of the
Arctic Ocean from Behring's Strait to Green-
land. It seldom comes south, and yet in the
year 1813 one was observed making itself
quite at home in the Firth of Forth near
Edinburgh, traversing the estuary at every
tide, till at last it was killed by a bullet.
Like the pilot-whale the beluga feeds on
cephalopods and small fishes. Europeans do

not attack it, and even hail its approach to
the ships with joy, in the conviction that
whales are to be found near. The Eskimo
and Aleutians, on the other hand, esteem the
flesh of the beluga very highly, both when
fresh and when cured, and they therefore try
to catch the animal in nets. According to
them the beluga is accompanied by shoals of
herring, cod, and flat-fish, which serve it as
food.

The Narwhal (Monodon monoccros), fig.
139, resembles the beluga in the form of its
head and body, as well as in the absence of
the dorsal fin. The flipper is short and
pointed, the tail pretty long, the tail fin very
large and deeply lobed. The body is yellowish-

THE DOLPHINS.

ii

white, mottled with numerous brown spots.
The animal attains at most a length of 20
feet, frequents the same parts of the Arctic
Seas as form the home of the beluga, and
feeds on cephalopods, holothurians, and fishes.
The mouth is very small.

What distinguishes the narwhal from all
other cetaceans is its peculiar dentition. It

has no teeth in the lower jaw, and in the
upper jaw only two straight canines are
formed in deep sockets of the maxillae. In
the female these teeth remain through life
in the sockets, so that it seems to be tooth-
less, but in the male one of these canines
grows straight out to an extraordinary length.
There have indeed been found rare examples

Fig. 139. — The Narwhal (Monodon monoceros).

of narwhals with two tusks, but in this case
they were always unequally developed, and
usually it is the left canine which grows out
in this manner, while the right remains
embedded in its socket. In consequence of
this peculiar dentition the want of symmetry
which characterizes the skull of cetaceans
generally reaches its acme in the narwhal.
In the embryos two small incisors and an
upper molar are also to be seen, but these
are soon lost.

The socket of the canine which forms
the tusk is so wide that the premaxilla (the
bone which holds the upper incisors when
present) comes to form part of its wall. The
tusk is straight, and composed so to speak

of spirally twisted strands, and may attain
a length of 10 feet. On these tusks, for
which high prices were formerly paid, has
been founded the fable of the unicorn, which
still figures in the English national coat of
arms.

Manifestly the tusk of the narwhal is a for-
midable weapon, but it is apparently used only
in battles between males, and not as a means
of defence against enemies or for other pur-
poses. Broken or injured teeth are often met
with, but the narwhal has never been seen to
use its tusk against the killer-whale, which
commits fearful ravages among them. All
observers are agreed in depicting the nar-
whals as peaceable creatures and excellent

12

WHALES AND DOLPHINS.

swimmers, which migrate in numerous shoals
when driven on by the ice-masses, by which
they often get forced into bays and there
hemmed in and suffocated. The Europeans
do not often pursue them, but the Eskimo
are very eager in the chase of this animal,
prizing its flesh very highly.

The Sperm-whale Family (Physeterida).

This family consists of those forms which have fully developed
teeth only in the lower jaw.

As representative of a group of pretty
numerous but little -known cetaceans with
only two permanent teeth in the lower jaw,

Fig. 140.— The Bottlehead or Common Beaked Whale (Hypcroodmi rostratus).

we have selected the Bottlehead or Common
Beaked Whale (Hyperoodon rostratus), fig.
140. This whale, which attains the length
of about 26 feet, usually inhabits the Arctic
Seas round Greenland, but some individuals
have been stranded on our coasts. The first
good description of this species was given by
John Hunter, to whom it owes its English
name, and whose description was based on
a specimen caught in the Thames. In winter
this whale migrates pretty regularly as far
as the waters of Iceland and the Faroe
Islands.

The back part of the head is swollen, and
this swelling is still further increased by a
remarkable accumulation of fat in front of the
nostrils between two vertical plates which

stand up like walls on the outer edges of the
jaw-bones (maxillae). The flattened snout is
continued in front of this swelling. The Ice-
landers compare its head to that of a duck.
The opening of the mouth is small. In adult
animals there are only two large conical teeth
in each half of the lower jaw near the front.
But in young animals, in each half of the jaw
both above and below, a dozen small teeth
begin to be formed, but they never cut the
gum and are soon re-absorbed. The flippers
are very small, the dorsal fin pointed and
also small, the tail fin not divided into lobes.
The colour is gray, inclining to black, darker
on the back than on the under side. The
animals feed on cephalopods. In the northern
waters they are very eagerly hunted for their

THE SI'KK.M-U'IIALK FAMILY.

fat, which is of excellent quality, and is largely
used for mixing with spermaceti.

The Sperm-whale or Cachalot (Pkyseter
macrocephalus), fig. 141, owes its Latin specific
name (derived from two (ireek words meaning

long-headed) to the monstrous size of its
head, which makes up about a third of the
whole length of the body, in old males ac-
cordingly upwards of 30 feet in length. Along
with the right whales and rorquals the sperm-

ale (Phvscter macroccfhalus}.

whales are the most gigantic members of the
fauna of the present world. The weight of
an adult animal is estimated at about 200
tons. In a male of only 66 feet in length
the short, broad, thick flipper was found to
measure only 5 feet 3 inches, while the two-
lobed tail fin had a breadth of nearly 20 feet.
The form of this inhabitant of the deep in
temperate and warm seas is in the highest
degree remarkable. The enormous quad-
rangular head, so abrupt in front, carries on
the upper edge of the anterior surface the
S-shaped blow-holes, the canal from which
leads obliquely backwards to the bony nasal
cavities, which, as usual, are situated on the
crown of the skull. The opening of the
mouth is very long, but narrow like a furrow,

and the two halves of the beak-like lower
jaw are united in front for half their length.
The eye is situated behind the angle of the
mouth, and immediately behind it again comes
the flipper. The top of the back is con-
tinued almost in a straight line from the
upper part of the head. A long thick fold
of the skin of little height forms a rudimen-
tary dorsal fin. The belly is enormous, the
body becomes very much thinner towards the
large tail.

If we examine the skeleton we have at first
some trouble in bringing it into correspond-
ence with the form of the living animal. The
skull in fact rises up behind like a wall some-
what as in other cetaceans, and more especially
in the bottle-nosed whale. The jaws are

THE WHALEBONE WHALES.

flattened, and the crest on the back part of
the head is continued forwards on the edges
of the upper jaw so as to form a wide basin.
There is no resemblance at all between this
skull and the head of the living animal. The
enormous cylinder which forms the latter is
in fact composed of sinewy tissues forming
large cells filled with a fat, which at the tem-
perature of the animal is fluid, but which in
the solid form is known as spermaceti or cetin.
It is chiefly for the sake of this fat that the
sperm-whale is pursued. A large male may
yield as much as twelve tons of spermaceti,
for the valuable substance is contained not
only in the cells in the head, but in a long
cellular tube which runs along the back. The
dentition is peculiar. The upper jaw has
only rudiments of teeth during embryonic
life, but the lower jaw is armed with large,
strong, conical teeth, which are at first sharp-
pointed but afterwards get blunted, and which
are received into corresponding pits in the
upper jaw when the creature shuts its mouth.
The sperm-whales, of which there are pro-
bably two species, one living in the southern
seas the other in those of the northern hemi-
sphere, appear to feed exclusively on cuttle-
fishes. Now that we know that enormous
cuttle-fishes, gigantic specimens of which are
occasionally, though rarely, cast on our shores,
are found in almost all seas, this kind of food
does not appear so incompatible with the size
of the creature as it once did. Though it is
chiefly for the spermaceti, as has already been
stated, that the sperm-whale is pursued, that
is not the sole product of commercial value
that it yields. Besides the blubber, which is
not very abundant and yields only a mediocre
oil, this whale supplies us also with the am-
bergris which is so highly esteemed in the
East as an article to burn as incense and for
use in perfumery, and which is not only
obtained directly from the animal itself, but is
likewise found floating on the waves in clumps
about the size of one's fist. It is probable
that these fatty masses are formed either in the

bladder or the genital glands of the male.
The teeth are also used for the same purposes
as ivory.

The chase of the sperm-whale is difficult
and dangerous: difficult, because the animal
avoids man more carefully than any other
cetacean, and remains, on diving, much longer
under the water; dangerous, because, when
wounded, the creature defends itself with
courage, attacks the boats and even the ships,
endeavouring to capsize them or to pierce
their sides. Numerous cases have been
known in which ships have had their sides
shattered by sperm-whales which dashed
against them with the utmost rapidity, giving
a shock with their heads like that inflicted by
the ram of an ironclad.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES

(MYSTICETE).

The members of this group are much less
numerous than the toothed whales. The
head, which is always massive, relatively very
large and broad, has a weak lower jaw of
elliptical outline, a mouth with an enormous
cavity, from the roof of which hang down the
horny plates which yield the whalebone, while
the lower part of the cavity is filled with an
enormous tongue composed almost entirely
of fat. The halves of the lower jaw are
separate, connected only by a rather loose
ligament. In those countries in which the
whale-fishery is carried on these bones of the
lower jaw are used as gate-posts at field-gates.
In the rest of their organization the whale-
bone whales do not differ very much from the
toothed-whales. They all have double blow-
holes, the halves of which are separated by a
narrow partition.

We have already said that in the embryo
numerous teeth which never cut the gum are
concealed in a continuous groove running
round the jaw. These little teeth, similar in
form to those of the sperm-whale, become
absorbed as the animal grows.

THE SPERM-WHALE FAMILY.

The roof of the mouth, even in the embry-
onic condition, is marked with numerous
transverse folds, such as are found also in
many other cetaceans, and in general in most
mammals. Only in the group with which we
are now dealing these folds are very numer-

ous and covered with a thick horny epithelium.
During the growth of the young animal this
horny epithelium goes on developing. It
grows down on both sides in the form of a
fringe, and at last forms triangular transverse
plates, which are attached to the roof of the

Bal<cnoptera boops). page

mouth by the small grooved edge, while they
present to the exterior a firm, slightly curved
edge, and on the interior are broken up into
a number of cylindrical fibres, the ends of
which form the third side of the triangle
which slopes away from the middle line of
the palate towards the outer edge of the
mouth. Into the above-mentioned groove on
the upper edge of each of these plates there
sinks a fold of the mucous membrane, which
is richly charged with blood-vessels and
secretes the horny substance. These closely-
packed whalebone plates, the number of
which may amount to 200 on each side, the
middle ones with a length of about 15 feet,
while the edge attached to the roof of the

mouth is only about i foot in length, form
by their union an arched sieve, in the cavity
of which lies the tongue. The water runs
through the free fibres on the inner edges of
the whalebone, while all the small molluscs,
crabs, and fishes are retained.

These enormous animals feed, in fact,
chiefly on small swimming creatures, shell-less
pteropods, crustaceans, &c., which swarm in
the northern seas, and are swallowed by them
in tons. The throat of the whalebone whales
is pretty narrow; but its narrowness has
sometimes been exaggerated, since fish of the
size of a herring can be swallowed quite easily.
It is known that the herring-fishers 'are very
glad to see the rorquals approach their coasts,

THE WHALEBONE WHALES.

because they know that these whales drive
shoals of fishes before them.

Two chief groups are distinguished: the
Fin -backed Whales (Bahenoptcrida], with
longitudinal parallel folds extending from
the throat to the belly, and a dorsal fin ; and
the Right Whales (Balffiiida), which have
neither folds nor dorsal fin.

Fin-backed Whales (Balcenoptcrida).

As representative of this family an illus-
tration is given of the Rorqual (Balcenoptcra
hoops, Physalus antiqiwrnm], fig. 142, which
may even attain the length of 1 1 5 feet, and
is pretty frequently met with on the coasts
of England and Norway. Its true home
appears, however, to be further north.

It is the longest, most slender, and most
agile of all whalebone whales. The head
is relatively short; the body spindle-shaped;
the flippers flat, short, and curved; the dorsal
fin small, sickle-shaped, placed very far back ;
the tail broad and half-moon shaped. The
rorqual is black above, white below. The
ventral folds are bluish-black at the base.
The whalebone plates are small, and of little
value. The animal has little blubber, and
since it is courageous and rapid in its move-
ments, and when in danger attacks instead of
fleeing, it is seldom pursued.

The rorqual feeds chiefly on fishes. It is
fond of remaining for a considerable time at
one place when it finds that the place suits it.
At Nice I saw one of this species swim daily
backwards and forwards in front of my
windows between Antibes and Monaco for
weeks together, and sometimes it came so
near the shore as to alarm the promenaders
on the beach. It had a group of dolphins
playing round it, and appeared like a sovereign
surrounded by his court. It was afterwards
stranded at St. Tropez (French department
of Var). In the course of our voyage along
the Norwegian coast we were accompanied
for several days in the Great Altenfjord by a
rorqual of about the length of a two-master,

which approached so near us that we could
fire a bullet into its back, which appeared
scarcely to tickle it. Without any apparent
exertion this monstrous animal could traverse
the waters with a rapidity which rendered it
difficult for the gulls that swarmed around
to follow it. Agile and powerful as it is,
the rorqual loves to tumble about after the
manner of dolphins. On one occasion when
in the latitude of the Lofoden Isles we re-
peatedly heard thundering noises at a distance
as if proceeding from heavy artillery. When
we approached we saw a large rorqual, which
jumped out of the water, then plunged its
head underneath the waves, turned itself
vertically downwards, made two or three
rapid vibrations with its enormous tail, which
we guessed to be at least 20 feet in breadth,
and then brought it down , !th a mighty
stroke on the surface, producing a noise
which resounded far and wide. It continued
this exercise for hours together.

The Right Whales (Bahcnida).

The Greenland or Right Whale (Balana
mysticetus), of which there is a full -page
illustration (Plate XVI.) showing a mother
with her young one, forms the type of the
whalebone whales without a dorsal fin and
without ventral folds. In contrast with the
rorqual it is very clumsy, thickset, and un-
gainly. It may attain a length of upwards
of 80 feet and a weight of nearly 150 tons.
The head is one-third of the whole length.
The body is short and round, and decreases
in thickness towards the tail very rapidly.
The flippers are heavy and thick; the tail
only slightly lobed. The right whale is not
very agile, and not much given to sports, yet
it swims pretty quickly. It repels an assail-
ant with little vigour, except in those cases
in which a mother tries to defend her suck-
ling.

This species, to which a very similar but
smaller one known as the Cape Whale (B.
aristralis) corresponds in the Antarctic Ocean,

To face page 270.

PLATE XVI. - THE GREENLAND OR RIGHT WHALE (Balana mystiettui).

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND DESCENT.

has been driven back by the ceaseless pursuit
to which it has been exposed since the middle
ages to the remotest parts of the Polar seas.
The chase is in itself not very dangerous.
It sometimes, though rarely, happens that one
of these whales capsizes a boat with a stroke
of its tail, or carries the boat down with it in
diving when the sailors have not succeeded
in cutting at the right moment the rope to
which the harpoon is attached. The dangers
which threaten whalers are those to which
all navigators in the icy regions round the
poles are exposed, and every year a certain
number of ships are lost through being caught
and crushed in the ice. In spite of these
dangers the pursuit is actively carried on in
both the Polar seas for the sake of the train-
oil and the whalebone. A Greenland whale
60 feet in length yields 24 tons of oil, and
about 32 cwt. of whalebone.

While the Greenland whale formerly
advanced as far as the Bay of Biscay it now
seldom crosses the 65th parallel of north
latitude. The southern whale till about fifteen
years ago used to come pretty regularly as
far north as the Gulf of Mexico; but now,
probably in consequence of the pursuit carried
on uninterruptedly in the Pacific Ocean (the
Sandwich Islands forming the headquarters
of this business), the fisheries already men-
tioned as carried on in the channel between
the island of Trinidad and the mainland of
South America have come to an end. Perhaps
these whales have also been scared away by
the increasing steamship traffic. The Green-
land whale also speeds away on hearing any
noise. The utmost possible quietness is an
essential condition of a successful chase.

[Some peculiarities in the mode of whale-fishing
in the Antarctic Ocean at Kerguelen's Land are
mentioned by Moseley in his Notes of a Naturalist
on the Challenger (chap, viii.) : — "A difficulty would
arise from a whale when struck running through
the thick beds of kelp (Macrocystis) which every-
where form tangled barriers at a certain distance

from shore. This is got over by having large very
VOL. n.

sharp knives ready, which are held close beside the
line as the boat scuds through the water, dragged
by the whale, and cut a clear passage in the weed.

" The whales are killed by means of a bomb, a
cylindrical iron tube full of powder provided with
a fuse and pointed at one end; at the other, pro-
vided with feathers like an arrow. The whole is
not unlike a large cross-bow bolt. The feathers
are made of vulcanized india-rubber, and when the
bolt is rammed into the gun from which it is fired
are wrapped round the end of the shaft. As soon
as the bolt leaves the muzzle they expand, and
prevent the bombs wobbling or capsizing.

"The invention is extremely ingenious. The
bomb is fired from a heavy gun from the shoulder,
and is good up to about fifteen paces. It is fired
into the whale just behind the flipper.

" It goes in, and after a while makes a loud
explosion, often killing the beast almost at once.
Four kinds of whales are common about Kerguelen's
Island, but only one, the southern whalebone
whale, is regularly hunted. . . . Similar bombs
are now regularly used in the North."]

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND DESCENT
OF THE WHALES AND DOLPHINS.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to say any-
thing definite regarding the geographical dis-
tribution of the whales. The facility with
which these animals traverse enormous ex-
panses of the ocean, and the readiness with
which they undertake distant migrations, the
difficulty in procuring the necessary material
for the distinction of species and genera, the
rarity of many types which inhabit the high
seas, the numerous accidents by which these
animals get carried away out of their usual
domain and stranded on shores without one
being able to learn whence they have come,
and lastly, the persecutions of man, which
have driven them away from their original
homes, all these circumstances combine to
hinder us from arriving at definite conclu-
sions on this subject.

The two great groups of the toothed
whales and whalebone whales are distributed
over all seas, and if the latter are found

35

18

WHALES AND DOLPHINS.

chiefly in the cold Polar seas, we cannot say
that they are wholly excluded from the
temperate and warm parts of the ocean.
The Basques formerly fished the Greenland
whale off their own coasts, and till about
1860 there was a whale-fishing station in the
channel separating the island of Trinidad
from the coast of South America. Only a
few individuals, to be sure, were captured
every year, but there were always some
caught sooner or later in passing through
this strait. We can thus assign a restricted
domain only to certain species, such as the
fresh-water dolphins, the beluga, the narwhal,
and the true porpoises, which are confined to
the northern seas; but as regards all the
other more or less abundant types, we must
say that they are found in all seas, and that
their presence in large numbers in this or that
sea appears rather to depend on secondary
causes, such as abundance of food, safety
from pursuit, and so forth.

Similar difficulties are presented in in-
vestigating the origin of the cetaceans. In
the Cambridge Museum there are preserved
a few fossil vertebrae belonging to a whale
different from all other known species. They
were discovered in the diluvial loam of the
neighbourhood, but Professor, now Sir
Richard, Owen found the appearance of these
vertebrae to agree so closely with that pre-
sented by the fossil remains of the Kimmeridge
Clay of the locality, that he came to the
conclusion, a conclusion, however, only very
doubtfully expressed, that these vertebrae
may have been washed out of Jurassic strata
into the diluvial loam in which they were
found. If this surmise should be confirmed,
then these vertebrae would be the oldest
known remains of placental mammals, and
the cetaceans would, therefore, have to be
regarded as having preceded all other Mono-
delphia. ' In that case, accordingly, one
might not find the roots of this stock in other
orders from which it has been attempted to
derive it. This is still an open question.

But with the exception of this still doubtful
case the earliest fossil remains of cetaceans
that have yet been found belong to the
Miocene. Europe has yielded a great num-
ber of such remains from Pliocene strata.
In the Pliocene period the mouth of the
Scheldt appears to have formed a bay in
which numerous shoals of whales were
stranded from time to time. America has
likewise yielded many of the same kind of
remains dating from Miocene times. But
these remains teach us nothing whatever
concerning the derivation of this order, for
the large groups of the toothed whales and
whalebone whales are already represented in
the Miocene, and even the secondary sub-
divisions are not wanting there. It may
accordingly be said that from a palaeontological
point of view the Cetacea present themselves
on their first appearance with all the characters
which now distinguish the various groups.

Embryological studies, again, are too in-
complete and fragmentary to allow of any
well-grounded conclusions on this matter.
Anatomy reveals to us a number of points
which indicate a low organization related to
that of the reptiles. The absence of marrow
cavities in the long bones; the spongy nature
of the bony tissue generally; the structure of
their vertebrae, only imperfectly fused with
their apophyses ; the arrangement of the bones
of the skull, which often exhibits gaps and
breaches of continuity ; the uniform character
of the dentition, which is composed of un-
specialized teeth often set in a continuous
groove without distinct sockets, the absence
of fleshy movable lips, the smallness of the
brain compared with the size of the body-
all these characters appear to be derived from
the reptiles. The fore-limbs, although re-
maining in a certain measure in the embryonic
condition, yet show by their organization,
and especially by the large number of the
phalanges, or small bones of the fingers, a
tolerably close resemblance to those of the
large extinct sea-reptiles, the Enaliosaurii,

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND DESCENT.

whose best-known representatives are the
Ichthyosaurus and Plesiosaurus.

On the other hand, we can point to char-
acters which are plainly the result of a retro-
grade development. The small bones found
in the pelvic region in many cetaceans mani-
festly show that the ancestors of the whales
had hind -limbs, which became degraded
through a process of special adaptation, and
finally disappeared. In all the series of
extinct and living mammals and reptiles yet
known we cannot point to any type to
which the whales could be attached without
violence. The Zeuglodonts, large marine
forms, with hind -limbs, belonging to the
upper Miocene and the Pliocene, unite cer-
tain characters of the whales with a den-
tition similar to that of the seals, but it is
impossible to regard them as representing
the primitive type of the whales, which are
contemporary with them or even precede
them. The diffuse placenta connects the
cetaceans with the ungulates. If it is possible
to connect the other placental mammals in
more or less direct lines of succession with
the old dwarf mammalian types, whether

marsupial or otherwise, which have been
discovered in Triassic and Jurassic strata,
such an attempt would be altogether impos-
sible with the whales. How could animals
with a reptilian dentition be derived from
old stems which already possessed a speci-
alized dentition and molars with double
roots!

All these questions are insoluble in the
present state of our knowledge. The balance
inclines at present, perhaps, in favour of a
direct connection of the whales with the
extinct sea-lizards, the Enaliosaurs, on the
one hand, and the Mosasaurs and Clidastes
of the Chalk, on the other, although all these
have only a single joint-surface at the back
of the head (a single occipital condyle), while
the whales, like all mammals, have two. If
this surmise should be confirmed, it would
furnish a beautiful proof of the evolution of
the class of the Mammalia from various
stocks. But for the present these are only
doubtful surmises, which, nevertheless, are
better supported than those which would
derive the whales either from the seals or
from the ungulates.

THE SEA-COWS

(SIRENIA).

Fish-like herbivora without dorsal or ventral fins, with a small head and distinct neck, thick lips set with tactile
hairs, molars with broad crowns, nostrils at the end of the muzzle, and pectoral teats.

At the first glance we perceive that the
Jbody of these inoffensive herbivorous animals
resembles that of the whales in its general
form, in the possession of a horizontal tail
and of flippers, and in the absence of external
ears and hind -limbs. As in some whales,
one or two small bones are indeed found
buried in the flesh in the pelvic region, repre-
senting an undeveloped pelvis; but externally
no trace of a hind-limb can be seen. In the
skeleton some other characters can be pointed
out which these creatures have in common
with the whales, such, for example, as the fact
of the bone inclosing the inner ear being
distinct l from the other bones of the skull,
with which it is connected only by sutures;
the simplification of the vertebral column,
the absence of a sacrum, and so forth. But
there the resemblances end, and with respect
to all the rest of their organization these
animals are quite different from the whales.
The head is small, round, well marked off
from the neck, the vertebrae of which are
not fused together; the eyes are on the
upper surface, not low down at the sides;
the muzzle is comparatively small, and sur-
rounded by swollen fleshy lips, on which are

1 In most mammals, as in man, that bone is fused witli the
temporal bone, forming what is called the petrous portion of the
temporal bone. — TR.

set thick and often very long tactile hairs.
The nostrils are situated at the end of the
muzzle, and lead into nasal cavities of the
same structure as in other mammals. The
flippers have indeed the form of oars of
uniform width, but are longer than in the
whales; the digits have only three phalanges
each, and all the bones of the flippers are
movable on each other by joints, while in
the whales, as we have seen, they are firmly
united together by fibrous masses. The
teeth are differentiated. In the milk-dentition
we can distinguish incisors, no canines, but
premolars, to which molars of diverse form
are afterwards added, these latter being
formed in different genera on the type of
those of the ungulates. The form of the
skull is altogether different from that of the
whales, and the same may be said regarding
the structure of the brain and the respiratory
and circulatory organs. The teats are situated
in the pectoral region. Short stiff hairs are
scattered over the thick tough skin.

The sea-cows are often included in one
and the same order with the true whales.
But when we consider that all the characters
which these orders have in common with one
another proceed solely from the adaptation
to an aquatic mode of life, while the other
characters, to be explained by inheritance,

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.

21

are different, we must confess that this asso-
ciation is not in harmony with the principles
that must be followed in a natural classifica-
tion.

The sea-cows are large, peace-loving animals
which inhabit the gulfs and bays on the sea-
coast, and advance up the mouths of rivers
far into the interior of the land in order to

seek their food, which consists solely of
vegetable substances — various alga; in the
sea, leaves, roots, and fleshy fruits in the
rivers. Only two living genera are now
known. A third, the Rhytina, which formerly
inhabited the shores of the Behring Sea and
other coasts of Eastern Siberia, has been
extinct since 1768. Steller has left us a very

Fig. 143. — The Dugong (fJalicore Dugong).

valuable and complete description of this
animal, but that description unfortunately
was not accompanied by a drawing. Since
the year mentioned no living example of this
remarkable species has been seen, although,
indeed, in certain districts regular graveyards
of bones belonging to it have been dis-
covered.

The Dugong (Halicore Dugong], fig. 143,
inhabits the Indian Ocean and its bays, the
Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, &c., and extends
even to Australia. It is a large massive
animal, attaining the length of 16 or 17 feet.
The pretty thick body becomes rapidly
thinner towards the broad halfmoon- shaped
tail. The flippers are short and broad, and
without nails. The small head ends in a

very thick upper lip, which is very blunt
below and behind, and incloses the swollen
ball-shaped lower lip. The skin, dark gray
on the back but lighter on the under surface,
is sparsely covered with short hair. The
eyes are pretty small, provided with a large
third eyelid or nictitating membrane, and
protected by a semicircle of stiff eyelashes
above. The hairs of the whiskers are strong
and short, almost spiny.

The form of the jaws and the arrangement
of the teeth are very remarkable. The very
large premaxilla is bent downwards in an
adult animal at an angle of 60 degrees, and
in the male each half of it carries at its end
a strong straight tusk which gets worn away
obliquely and thus kept sharp by use. This

22

THE SEA-COWS.

incisor is the only tooth in the whole set
which takes the place of a milk-tooth. In the
female it is not developed. On the inner side
of this curved premaxilla the palate forms a
sort of narrow groove, which is continued
backwards to the posterior nares. Near
these openings there are in each half of the
jaw large teeth with quite smooth, round or
oval grinding surfaces. The lower jaw is
very high, but short, and is cut away in front
in correspondence with the curve of the upper
jaw; and this abrupt and narrow portion,
which fits into the above-described groove of
the upper jaw, is covered by a rough, thick
horny plate, below which there are in the
bone four empty sockets from which the teeth
have disappeared. In the posterior horizontal
part of the jaw there is a varying number of
molars similar to those of the upper jaw. In
the milk-dentition there are five molars in
each half of the jaw, both above and below,
but these gradually get reduced to two.

It is still doubtful whether the specimens
obtained in the Red Sea and those on the
coast of Australia belong to different species
or not. In any case these animals have the
same habits. They keep to the coasts, seldom
ascend the rivers, swim slowly, and allow
themselves to sink to the bottom like a lump
after coming to the surface to breathe, during
which process they show the upper part of
their body. Only in moments of danger do
they make use of their strength, which is
sufficient to enable them to deal vigorous
blows with their tail. The mothers keep
their young one pressed to their breast under
their flipper, defend it to the last, and allow
themselves to be killed rather than desert it.
The dugongs prefer bays that are not very
deep, where they find abundance of sea-weed.
They assemble in flocks where they find
themselves secure, migrate to fresh parts
when they have fully cropped a submarine
pasture, but always keep to the coasts during
these migrations. They are hunted for their
fat, for their hide, and for their tolerably

palatable but rather sweet flesh. They are
either harpooned, as in the Red Sea, or are
caught in nets and being thus prevented
from breathing are actually drowned.

The Manatees (Manatus) are distinguished
from the previous genus by their straight
head, thicker body, by having smooth nails
on the last phalanx of the four outer digits of
the flipper, and by having the tail rounded off
to the form of a thick disc. The jaws ex-
hibit only a faint indication of that very pro-
nounced curvature by which those of the
dugong are characterized. The incisors and
canines are both wanting in adults, but in
new-born animals some representatives of
these teeth are found, but these soon drop
out in the lower jaw, while a single pair of
incisors persist in the young animal, but after-
wards get lost. The sockets of these teeth
are covered, as in the dugong, by a callous
horny skin. The molars are never shed, but
are gradually developed one after the other
as the old ones get worn away by use. In
this way a dozen molars may be formed in
each half of the jaw, but there are never more
than seven or eight in use at one time. These
molars are similar in form to those of the
tapirs. They all have two or more roots, and
the almost cubical crown has on the chewing
surface two transverse ridges separated by a
deep groove.

Two species of manatees are distinguished,
the smaller of which (Manatiis scnegalensis)
inhabits the coasts of West Africa and
ascends the Senegal and other rivers, while
the other larger species (M. aus traits), fig.
144, which attains as much as 10 feet in
length, is confined to the east coast of
America. This latter species has two geo-
graphical varieties, one in the north found all
round the Gulf of Mexico, the other further
towards the south

The manatee of the Amazon ascends very
high into the interior of the mainland, as
high as the rapids. It is eagerly pursued in
the large rivers of Brazil and Guiana and

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.

their affluents as well as in the lakes com-
municating with them. The upper lip is in
the form of a rounded knob, and covered
with a delicate skin ; it probably serves as an
organ of touch. The colour of the skin is a
dark bluish-gray on the back, but lighter
underneath. The few bristles which are
scattered over it, and which form a sort of
brush on the lips, are of a bright yellow.

The thick but not very dense skin is easily
permeated by water, and is used for making
cords and whips.

The very abundant fat has a good flavour,
and is used both for food and as a material
for illumination. The tasty flesh is not
unlike pork. The animal is easily harpooned
when confined beyond the power of escape
in the temporary lakes left behind after

Fig. 144. — The Manatee of the Amazon (Afanatus australis).

inundations. It has been found possible to
tame a few of these gentle and inoffensive
animals. They were kept in closed tanks.
They came when called to receive their food,
and even carried people on their back to
the other side of the tank. A German
named Kappler, settled in Surinam, who in
the course of twenty years had sent forty
manatees to various museums in Europe, had
a suckling which he reared first with milk
and afterwards with bananas. To the
training of this little animal, only about
three feet in length, he devoted a good
deal of attention, and succeeded so well that
at last it would even leave the water to cling
to the knees of its benefactor. It died during
the voyage to England.

The following account is given by Dampier of
the method employed in his day (seventeenth
century) by the inhabitants of the Mosquito Coast,
Central America, in killing and capturing the mana-
tee:— "The Mosquito-men have always a small canoe
for their use to strike fish, tortoise, or manatee, which
they keep usually to themselves and very neat and
clean. They use no oars, but paddles, the broad
part of which does not go tapering towards the
staff, pole, or handle of it, as in the oar; nor do
they use it in the same manner, by laying it on
the side of the vessel, but hold it perpendicularly,
griping the staff hard with both hands, and putting
back the water by main strength and very quick
strokes. One of the Mosquitos (for there go but
two in a canoe) sits in the stern, the other kneels
down in the head, and both paddle till they come
to the place where they expect their game. Then
they lie still or paddle very softly, looking well

THE SEA-COWS.

about them, and he that is in the head of the canoe
lays down his paddle, and stands up with his
striking staff in his hand. This staff is about
8 feet long, almost as big as a man's arm at the
great end, in which there is a hole to place his
harpoon in. At the other end of his staff there is
a piece of light wood called lobwood, with a hole
in it, through which the small end of the staff
comes, and in this piece of lobwood there is a line
of 10 or 12 fathoms wound neatly about, and the
end of the line made fast to it. The other end
of the line is made fast to the harpoon, which is at
the great end of the staff, and the Mosquito-man
keeps about a fathom of it loose in his hand.
When he strikes, the harpoon presently comes out
of the staff, and as the manatee swims away the
line runs off from the bob ; and although at first
both staff and bob may be carried under water, yet
as the line runs off it will rise again. Then the
Mosquito-men paddle with all their might to get
hold of the bob again, and spend usually a quarter
of an hour before they get it. When the manatee
begins to be tired it lies still, and then the Mos-
quito-men paddle to the bob and take it up, and
begin to haul in the line. When the manatee feels
them he swims away again with the canoe after
him; then he that steers must be nimble to turn
the head of the canoe that way that his consort
points, who, being in the head of the canoe and
holding the line, both sees and feels which way the
manatee is swimming. Thus the canoe is towed
with a violent motion till the manatee's strength
decays. Then they gather in the line, which they
are often forced to let all go to the very end. At
length, when the creature's strength is spent, they
haul it up to the canoe's side, and knock it on the
head and tow it to the nearest shore, where they
make it fast and seek for another; which having
taken, they go on shore with it to put it into their
canoe, for it is so heavy that they cannot lift it in,
but they haul it up in shoal water as near the shore
as they can, and then overset the canoe, lying on
one side close to the manatee, and roll it in, which
brings the canoe upright again, and when they
have heaved out the water they fasten a line to the
other manatee that lies afloat, and tow it after
them. I have known two Mosquito-men for a
week every day bring on board two manatees in
this manner, the least of which hath not weighed
less than 600 pounds, and that in a very small
canoe, that three Englishmen would scarce adven-
ture to go in. When they strike a cow that hath

a young one, they seldom miss the calf, for she
commonly takes the young one under one of her
fins." — The Voyages and Adventures of William
Dampier.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND
DESCENT OF THE SEA-COWS.

The geographical distribution of the sea-
cows plainly shows that the type must
formerly have been more wide-spread than it
is now. The two species of manatees, which
are both in a great measure fresh-water forms,
are separated by the whole breadth of the
Atlantic, and it is scarcely conceivable that
these animals, living only on plants, should
at any time have been able to cross this wide
expanse of water. The dugong frequents
the shores of the Indian Ocean throughout
all its vast extent from Mozambique to the
north coasts of Australia, and it has only had
to cross arms of the sea of no great width in
order to extend its domain in this manner.
The third genus, the Rhytina, as we have
already stated, still swarmed in and near
Behring's Strait in the first half of last
century, the flocks of this harmless creature
feeding on the pastures of sea-weed on the
coasts of Kamchatka, Northern Siberia, and
Western North America, as cows graze on
the pastures of the mainland. Thanks to
the ferocity of man this species is now com-
pletely extirpated.

The sea-cows appear in both hemispheres
with the Miocene, and their remains are
found in all the deposits which were formed
along the coasts during this and the following
periods. There are genera very closely allied
to the manatees (Prorastomus in Jamaica),
others which can scarcely be distinguished
from the dugong (Felsinotherium in Italy),
others again which appear to occupy an
intermediate position (Halianassa, Metaxy-
therium) and which during the Miocene
were distributed from the west of France
through Germany as far as Vienna. The

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND DESCENT.

type was accordingly well established from
the time of the Miocene epoch, and the local
isolation of the present species is no doubt to
be explained by this wider distribution in
former times.

The sea-cows approach the whales in the
characters due to special adaptation, and if
we take into account only these characters,
to which, as already mentioned, belong the
form of the body, the presence of a horizontal
tail fin, and the absence of visible hind-limbs,
we may rank them as a sub-order of the
Cetacea. But all the rest of their organiza-
tion proves clearly enough that the sea-cows
are derived from a different stock from the
whales, and that by their thick fleshy lips set

with tactile hairs, their dentition, their small
distinct head capable of being moved at the
neck, the position of their nostrils, the structure
of their skull, their brain, and their organs
of reproduction, and by a number of other
characters which we cannot fully explain
here, they are associated with the ungulates.
Since the ungulates are already met with in
the oldest Eocene strata, while the sea-cows
first appear in the Miocene, there is nothing
to prevent us from regarding them as a
retrograde branch of the former, as repre-
sentatives of a type which, by a process
similar to that which we have demonstrated
in the case of the seals and the carnivores,
has adapted itself to an aquatic life.

VOL. II.

36

THE ELEPHANTS

(PROBOSCIDEA).

Large animals whose nose is prolonged into a proboscis, which serves as a prehensile and tactile organ, with
column-like legs, and feet with five toes united into a mass and covered with flattened hoofs; the upper incisors
mostly in the form of tusks, no canines, compound molars ; placenta zonary.

This order, much more abundantly de-
veloped in former geological periods, is re-
presented at the present day only by the
elephants inhabiting the tropics of the Old
World. There are now, in fact, only two
species, one of which is confined to Africa,
and the other to Southern Asia and the Sunda
Islands. They are sufficiently different from
one another for us to be able to regard them,
along with the fossil species, as types of
different sub-genera.

The elephants are the most gigantic of
land animals, and as such are held in becom-
ing respect by all other creatures except man.
These peaceable colossi, which live in bands,
often very numerous, and tenderly protect
their young up to the age at which they are
able to defend themselves, would be able to
pass their life unmolested even in the com-
pany of tigers and lions if it were not that
man attacks them, and even succeeds in
taming them.

The external characters are easily seized.
The head seems enormous, high and short;
the neck short; the huge body raised very
high on the massive, straight, columnar legs.
The skin is very thick, and has clumsy-
looking folds, and is sparsely covered with
hairs. These form a tuft at the end of the

tail, which scarcely reaches to the "heel,"
that is, it must be remembered, to the joint
of the hind-legs. The head is striking on
account of the unusual development of the
brow, the relatively small size of the eyes
situated at the. sides, the large size of the
fan -shaped external ears, and lastly, on
account of the trunk, which is always long
enough to touch the ground when the animal
stands erect. This trunk is formed through-
out its whole length of two tubes separated
by a middle partition, and consisting of a
fibrous continuation of the cartilaginous nose,
surrounded by very thick masses of muscle,
the fibrous bundles in which intercross in
various directions and thus impart an extra-
ordinary degree of mobility to this organ. At
the end of the trunk the partition forms a
finger-like process, which, like the entrance to
the nasal cavities, is covered with a delicate
skin. This fleshy, very mobile finger serves
chiefly as an organ of touch and prehension,
and the elephant makes use of it with wonder-
ful dexterity to pick up even the smallest
objects.1 Under the trunk is seen the trian-

1 This dexterity, nevertheless, seems often to have been ex-
aggerated. Mr. R. A. Sterndale, author of the Mammalia of India
and Ceylon, speaks of the difficulty with which an elephant " scrapes
up" a coin; and both he and Mr. G. P. Sanderson are incredulous
as to the stories of elephants picking up needles. — TR.

(iKNKRAL CHARACTERISTICS.

s^ular opening of the mouth, from which emerge
two huge tusks embracing the root of the
trunk. These tusks are much longer and
stronger in the male than in the female. The
root of the trunk represents, so to speak, the
upper lip, the side parts of which alone are
present. The lower lip is triangular, and is
drawn out in front into a pendent point. If
the trunk is mainly an organ of touch and
prehension it serves at the same time as a
means of procuring food and as a weapon of
defence. The elephant takes hold of its food
and carries it to its mouth with its trunk; when
it wishes to drink it fills the trunk with water,
which it then squirts into its mouth. A
good blow with the trunk is enough to break
the back-bone of a tiger which might have
the audacity to attack this colossus. Lastly,
the different sounds which the animal emits
by driving air through this wonderful organ
express its feelings of joy and pain.

Behind the short neck with its broad folds
of skin comes the huge and thick but com-
paratively short body supported by the four
clumsy and unshapely columns formed by its
legs, which appear to have only one joint in
the middle, since the upper arms and the
thighs are concealed in the flesh. All the
bones of the limbs are present in the skeleton
in their full number; but the short and plump
bones of the toes and the wrist and ankle are
so completely surrounded by sinewy and
fibrous masses that the foot has the appear-
ance of an enormous pavior's beetle, with a
broad, flat, undivided sole. On the front
edge of the foot-plate of this beetle, and partly
on the upper surface, are found short, rounded,
somewhat arched hoofs, which only cover the
ends of the toes and are very apt to be lost.
With these clod-crushers the elephant tramples
to death an antagonist which he has laid low
with a blow of his trunk.

Altogether the elephant creates the impres-
sion of a huge clumsy creature imposing by
its size, but yet not fitted to inspire the same
terror as a large well-armed carnivore. One

would at once say that with a little adroitness
it would be easy to elude this awkward booby.
One might find one's self mistaken, however.

The internal organization of the elephant
proves, indeed, the necessity for having a
separate order for these creatures, but at the
same time reveals many affinities with other
orders, and especially with those forms of
which the large group of the pachyderms was
formerly composed. The skull is very high
behind, and thus presents a certain resemblance
to that of the whales, a resemblance which
would be still more marked if the bones of
the forehead were not greatly enlarged by
enormous cavities separated by leaf-like bony
partitions, and communicating with the cavities
of the nose. These frontal cavities are so
large that they far exceed in size the cavity
of the brain-case, and in an adult elephant the
external plate of the frontal bone is about half
a yard or more distant from the internal plate
adjacent to the brain. The hunters know
very well that a bullet shot at the forehead
never penetrates to the brain, but remains
sticking in these cavities, which are lined with
a mucous membrane such as that which lines
the cavities of the nose.

The dentition consists of a single incisor in
each of the premaxillae and of a huge and
very complex molar in each half of each jaw.
The premaxillae are, in fact, drawn out into
huge tubes whose cavities extend very far
back, even to the region beneath the eyes.
In these sockets there arises and grows on a
conical papilla one incisor on each side, which
is at first straight and conical. This incisor
is present even in the milk-dentition, and at
the shedding of the teeth gives place to a
permanent tusk, which on emerging from the
socket curves outwards and upwards, goes
on growing during the whole of life, and
often becomes remarkably large in the males,
while in the females it is straighter and less
massive. It is from these tusks that ivory
is derived. The short, high, deeply grooved
lower jaw, thick behind and pointed in front,

28

THE ELEPHANTS.

somewhat similar to that of the dugong,
carries no incisors. The molars deserve
special attention. These teeth, the grinding
surface of which may attain a length of more
than 15 inches and a breadth of 4 inches,
may be considered as composed of a number
of very close-set transversely -placed tooth-
fragments, each of which has its own root,
pulp-cavity, dentine, and enamel-layer, while
all the crowns are united together by a bony
cement. These compressed tooth-fragments
are clearly seen to be separate at the roots.
At first they form separate transverse ridges;
afterwards the cement brings these ridges
to a uniform level, and when the tooth has
emerged from the socket and is brought into
operation it gets worn away horizontally so
as to present an almost level surface, on
which the folds of enamel are not, indeed,
very prominent, but yet form very distinct
lamellae. In different species these lamellae
exhibit a characteristic arrangement, and in
the fossil genera and species of the Probos-
cidea we can trace all the transitions from
molars with transverse ridges (Dinotherium),
or with series of tubercles (Mastodon), to the
more complicated forms of the elephants
proper.

This structure has as its consequence the
gradual replacement of the molars as they get
worn away by use, and this renewal takes
place from behind forwards. A second molar,
larger and having more numerous plates, is
formed in a closed cavity behind the active or
functional molar, and this second molar, by a
rotatory movement which goes on in the pro-
cess of growth, pushes out the older one,
when it is used up, and takes its place. The
elephant thus has in most cases only a single
active molar in each half of the jaw, but there
may be as many as three: one in front just
ready to drop out and worn down to an insig-
nificant stump, a second in full operation, and
a third behind just beginning to emerge from
the socket. So far as our observations yet
go this renewal may be repeated five times in

the Asiatic elephant. The first milk-molar,
which cuts the gum at the age of three
months and is replaced in the second year,
consists of only four plates or lamellae, while
the sixth has as many as twenty- seven. I n the
fossil proboscideans we can prove a more or less
decided tendency to this successive replace-
ment of the molars carried on almost through-
out life, in place of the single shedding and
renewal which is the prevalent process in
other animals.

Among the features of the internal organ-
ization we mention first of all the form and
size of the brain. The elephant has the
largest brain of all living and fossil animals.
This brain, besides being larger than that
of the whales, exhibits very numerous and
complex convolutions. These are two notable
facts, which, however, should not be exagger-
ated. The point of importance lies not in
the absolute size of the brain, but in the pro-
portion of its mass to that of the whole body.
Now, in proportion to the size of the body the
elephant has not a very large brain. To show
this it is enough, without making any accurate
measurements, to compare the contents of the
brain-case of the skull of an elephant and that
of a man after both have been sawn through.
The development of the convolutions of the
brain likewise stands in close relation with the
size of the animal. Large animals always
exhibit more complex convolutions than small
ones of the same family. The brain of the
elephant even exhibits some characters which
point to a lowly organization. The hemi-
spheres of the large brain (the cerebrum) do
not cover the small brain or cerebellum. The
stomach is simple, the coecum enormous, the
uterus bicornuate. The elephants are distin-
guished from the other ungulate animals,
except the Hyracida or rock-badger family,
by their zonary placenta, which is not indeed
contracted like that of the Carnivora, but
nevertheless admits of the development of a
deciduous membrane in the uterus.

In the moist primeval forests of their native

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.

29

regions the elephants roam about, often in
numerous bands. The more abundant is the
supply of water the more agreeable is it to
the proboscis-bearers, and they often venture
up into pretty high and cold mountains, pro-
vided they can find there ponds and marshes
in which to bathe and cool themselves
during the heat of the day. They are fond
of a moist heat, but they do not dread the
cold if they can only get plenty of food and
water. During the day the elephants seek
the densest parts of the thickets, or plunge
into pools up to their heads in order to pro-
tect themselves against the Hies and all sorts
of parasitic insects which frequently make
their abode on their skin. An elephant living
in a state of freedom is seldom seen without
having its back occupied by African beef-
eaters (Bitpkaga africana) and other birds,
which render it the service of seeking out
these parasites and the larva; which bore into
its skin. Without being entirely nocturnal
in their habits a herd of elephants yet rest
mostly by day, and set out on the march only
at sunset.

The elephant is exclusively herbivorous.
All that he can reach with his trunk comes
right to him. Still he has his favourite plants.
He eagerly plunders certain trees by breaking
off thick branches, from which he not only
eats the leaves and the buds, but also strips
off and swallows the bark, and even eats the
wood. The ravages which a herd can com-
mit in the woods, and in sedge and bamboo
thickets, as well as in the plantations of the
natives, are extraordinary. Not only are the
branches broken all along the route selected
by such a troop, but even tolerably thick trees
are overthrown, and everything is trampled
into the ground. The interior of many
woods on the island of Ceylon, on the Sunda
Islands, and in the interior of Africa is acces-
sible only by the paths which the elephants
have made in traversing them. The herds
frequently number as many as a thousand in-
dividuals, and formerly, before man had com-

menced his disastrous raids, they were, with-
out doubt, much more numerous.

It will readily be understood that such
numerous companies of these huge animals
must lay waste the region in which they have
settled for a time. Moreover, the elephant
is essentially a vagabond which continually
changes its quarters and even undertakes great
migrations, in the course of which it is stopped
neither by rivers nor mountains, nor even by
sandy plains if they are not of too great size.
The elephant swims easily and long without
getting tired, merely keeping the end of his
trunk above the surface of the water. It
climbs among rocks with no little skill, man-
ages to find out the lowest passes in crossing
mountains, and knows how to overcome the
worst difficulties of the ground. But this
dexterity is often prejudiced by an excessive
caution. The movements of the animal are
in themselves neither graceful nor expert. It
is always a very ponderous clumsy creature,
greatly impeded by its own massiveness.
The trunk alone is worthy of admiration on
account of its flexibility, the certainty with
which its movements can be executed, and
the strength which it can put forth. But
otherwise the elephant is not very adroit.
Its gait is pretty slow, though the colossus
can run very fast when once in full career,
but this pace never lasts very long and is
always maintained in a straight line. The
animal turns only with difficulty, and a leap
to the side is usually enough to get men and
beasts when pursued out of the reach of its
fury.

The elephant is very shy and mistrustful.
The slightest noise alarms him, and any kind
of artificial hindrance, however insignificant,
stops his progress. It is manifestly acquaint-
ance with man that has developed this timidity.
The powerful animal, which easily uproots a
moderately large tree, allows itself to be kept in
by a wretched stake stuck in the earth by man.

The disposition of these giants is very
pacific. Observers have never been able to

THE ELEPHANTS.

witness quarrels or serious battles among the
herds. Live and let live seems to be the
highest law of these troops. Every individual
drinks, eats, bathes, and rests according to
its own pleasure, while keeping on good
terms with its neighbour. The young are
guarded and tended in common, are fondled
and caressed by all, and are suckled by the
females in milk. Only at the breeding season
do serious battles take place between the
males; and the rejected males, which live as
hermits, the so-called "rogue" elephants,
alone exhibit a fierce disposition, and are
dangerous even to man.

The female remains pregnant for 20 or 2 1
months. The new-born elephant is about
three feet or more in height. It sucks with
the mouth, bending back its trunk, and is
able to follow the herd at the end of a few
hours. The young continue growing till
they are about 25 years old, and examples
are known of elephants which have lived to
be more than a hundred.

The mental qualities which the elephant
exhibits in a wild state scarcely surpass those
of other social animals, and are certainly
inferior to those of the apes and monkeys,
while, on the other hand, they far excel those
of the generally stupid ruminants. An old
male leads the herd with infinite care and
caution. It is he who scrutinizes suspicious
places, leads the marches, selects the halting-
places, and stations the sentinels to ensure the
safety of the herd while resting, bathing, or
feeding. The herd follows him with a blind
confidence, and all the members of it give
themselves up to their sports without fear
when the leader shows himself satisfied.

It may justly be said that the higher
mental qualities of the elephant, which cannot
be called in question, have been developed
only after he came into contact with man, his
sole enemy. It is for that reason that he has
an unbounded fear of man, and it is on
account of this fear that he allows himself
to be easily tamed and employed as a

domestic animal, which still has its value in
certain parts, but wherever civilization
advances must yield to the ox and horse,
whose services in the way of labour are much
greater in proportion to the food consumed.

The African Elephant (Elepkas africanits,
Plate XVII.) may attain the height of 16
feet. It is easily distinguished by its short,
thickset body, supported by long and rather
thin legs, by its steep brow, and its enor-
mous flat ears in the form of nearly half-
moon shaped discs, which cover the neck
and shoulders and touch the nape of the
neck as well as the under surface of the
throat with their extremities. These enormous
fans are almost always in motion, and impart
to the animal a quite peculiar appearance
according to the position in which it holds
them. The brow appears to be less arched
than that of the Indian elephant, not in
consequence of the lower development of the
brain, as some recent writers assert, but
because the hollow spaces which we have
described in the frontal bone are not so much
puffed up. The trunk is pretty slender,
somewhat compressed, and has numerous
folds which stand out on the edges like
flattened scales. The tusks of the males are
enormous, and may attain a length of several
yards and a weight of no Ibs. each.1 The
skin is roughly folded, of a dirty slate-blue
colour, and almost destitute of hair, which is
found in small quantity only on the neck, the
breast, and the belly.

At the present day the African elephant,
which far excels the Indian in size and
strength, and also in wildness, is only the
object of unceasing and destructive pursuit,
carried on for the sake of the ivory, the
tusks. The yield of ivory and the size of
the tusks brought to market are gradually

1 Isolated instances of much heavier tusks are recorded. Officers
belonging to the Niger expedition of 1837 reported that a negro
chief had shown them two tusks each measuring 2^ feet in circum-
ference at the socket and weighing more than 330 Ibs., and Broderip
states in his Zoological Recreations that a tusk of that weight was
sold at Amsterdam. See Von Scherzer, Das wirihschqftlickt Leben
der Viilker, p. 366, n. — TR.

To face past Jo.

PLATE XVII. - THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT (Elep/uts africanus).

THE INDIAN ELEPHANT.

diminishing with the steady diminution in
the number of the animals. While in 1810
the tusks exported from Africa weighed on
an average about 29 Ibs., this average has
decreased since then by about one-third.

Though the tusks in both species are pretty
much alike, this is not the case with the
molars. Those of the African elephant ex-
hibit on the grinding surface at most twelve
lozenge-shaped bands of enamel, the middle
angles of which almost touch one another.
In early years these teeth with their tubercled
lamellae of enamel still unworn resemble in a
certain measure those of the mastodons, and
it may be said in general that, as regards the
dentition, the inferior development of the
frontal spaces, and a number of other char-
acters belonging to the skeleton, the African
elephant has preserved many archaic forms.

The ancients used to tame this species
and employed a large number in their circus
games as well as in war. In the time of the
Caesars thousands of elephants were caught
every year and sent to Rome to be trained
to all the arts for which Asiatic elephants are
now used. In our time hunters have begun
to send over young specimens to our zoo-
logical gardens.

The chase of the wild elephant is not in-
deed without danger, but cannot be compared
in this respect with that of other large ani-
mals. The elephant is essentially timid; it
flees when it can, and though when wounded
it darts with fury on its pursuer, it is not
very adroit in its defence, and usually spends
its strength in vain. The hunters of various
tribes of Inner Africa pursue it on horseback
or on foot armed only with a two-handed
sword. While one of the hunters keeps the
elephant engaged, the others seek to approach
him in order to cut through at a stroke the
sinews of the foot, or even to cut the trunk
itself in two. In other regions the elephants
are inclosed in a ring of fire by setting fire
to the tall grasses of the steppes, and in
other places again they are entrapped in

carefully concealed pits. But all these earlier
modes of elephant hunting are gradually giv-
ing place to the method introduced by Euro-
peans, that of shooting them with heavy
bullets shot from rifles specially made for the
purpose. The hunter adopting this method
usually follows the elephant on horseback.
The ball is fatal only when it strikes behind
the ear, the only part of the head at which it
can penetrate to the brain, or behind the
shoulder-blade so as to reach the heart.
The thick, tough hide is often used to cover
shields or to make into straps, but in most
cases the hunter contents himself with hew-
ing out the tusks, leaving the carcass to the
hyaenas and vultures.

The Indian Elephant (Elephas indicus),
Plate XVI II., is not so large and has not such
long slim legs as that of Africa. The fore-
head is somewhat depressed in the middle
and highly arched at the sides. The ears
are much smaller and have the form of paper-
cornets with the points hanging down and
the upper edge rolled in. The tusks of the
male are straighter and not so large. The
molars are specially characteristic. The
grinding surface exhibits a great number of
transverse enamel plates, which form a series
of closely adjoining very narrow ellipses, so
that one may say that the whole tooth is
transversely striped with narrow plates of
enamel which are united in pairs at the edges
of the tooth. As fossil species are found
similar to the African elephant in respect of
its dentition, so also are there fossil species
the molars of which resembled in structure
those of the Indian elephant. Of these the
best known is the mammoth (E . primigenius),
a gigantic species with enormous highly-re-
curved tusks, which lived along with man in
great numbers on the whole of the European
continent during the Quaternary period, and
at the end of this period perished in heaps in
the Polar regions. As has been proved by
the discovery of well-preserved carcasses of
this species in the frozen diluvium on the

THE ELEPHANTS.

banks of the Lena, these mammoths were
covered with a thick fleece, and had long
fluttering manes depending from the back
and breast.

The Indian elephant is scarcely hunted at
all now like the African one for the sake of
its ivory, but it is often captured to be tamed
and used for the transport of heavy material
over marshy and difficult ground where there
are no roads. For such work the elephant
is admirably adapted by its patience, caution,
and skill, and its remarkable strength enables
it to overcome the greatest obstacles. In
general they are obedient and attached to
their masters. But at the time of heat,
which occurs at irregular periods, they can-
not be trusted, since they are then subject
to sudden accesses of fury. Their keepers
know very well that the increased excretion
of a strongly-smelling oily fluid from a super-
ficial gland behind the eye bodes no good.

It has been said that elephants do not
propagate in captivity. That is entirely
false. In the countries in which elephants
are still frequently used, in which they are
attached to the royal train, and even enjoy a
kind of worship, as, for example, in Siam,
there are breeding-studs of elephants, as we
have breeding-studs of horses, and not very
long ago a young elephant was born in New
York of a female that had been kept for
twenty years in a menagerie. But the pro-
pagation in this way takes place extremely
slowly, so that it is necessary to have constant
resort to wild animals to make up deficiencies.
In some countries, especially in Ceylon,
there are certain castes, in which the business
of elephant -hunter is handed down from
father to son. Mostly these hunters go out
in pairs armed only with a very strong lasso
or noose made of buffalo hide. They know
how to slink up to an animal unobserved,
but instead of severing the sinew at the knee,
like the African hunters, one of them throws
the noose round one of its feet while his
companion fastens the other end to a thick

tree. The captured elephant becomes furious,
makes all possible efforts to get free, but is
at last subdued by hunger, thirst, and pain;
and at the end of a few months the elephant-
catchers return in triumph with the tamed
elephant, which is often accompanied by a
female and her young one. Sometimes also
great elephant battues are organized for the
purpose of capturing whole troops.

The following notices regarding the elephant, and
account of the mode of capturing it in large bands,
by G. P. Sanderson, superintendent of government
elephant-catching operations in Bengal, will be read
with interest: —

"The opinion is generally held by those who have
had the best opportunities of observing the elephant,
that the popular estimate of its intelligence is a
greatly exaggerated one; that, instead of being an
exceptionally wise animal, its sagacity is of a very
mediocre description. The truth of this opinion no
one who has lived amongst elephants can doubt.
It is a significant fact that the natives of India never
speak of the elephant as a peculiarly intelligent
animal, and it does not figure in their ancient litera-
ture for its wisdom, as do the fox, the crow, and the
monkey.

"One of the strongest features in the domesticated
elephant's character is its obedience. It may also
be readily taught, as it has a large share of the
ordinary cultivable intelligence common, in a greater
or less degree, to all animals. But its reasoning
faculties are undoubtedly far below those of the
dog, and possibly of other animals ; and in matters
beyond the range of its daily experience it evinces
no special discernment. Whilst fairly quick at
comprehending anything sought to be taught to it,
the elephant is decidedly wanting in originality.
To begin with, the elephant displays less intelligence
in its natural state than most wild animals. Whole
herds are driven into ill-concealed enclosures, which
no other forest creatures could be got to enter; and
though these enclosures are made immensely strong,
and are generally capable of resisting the efforts of
any single elephant, they would not for a moment
withstand the combined attack of even two or three,
much less of a whole herd. But elephants never
thus combine to free themselves. I have frequently
seen fifty or sixty crowded into a stockade only
thirty yards in diameter, the palisades of which
would have been of no more account than corn-

To/act faff J*.

PLATE XVIII. - THE INDIAN ELEPHANT (Elefhas indicui).

THE INDIAN ELEPHANT.

33

stalks before the rush of three or four of them, but
no such rush has been made. More significant still,
I have, on several occasions, seen a single elephant
in a herd, by a bold dash, burst through the palisade
and effect its esqape, but I never yet saw any other
elephant follow, and the hunters have at once re-
paired the breach.

"When a herd of wild elephants is secured within
a stockade, or kliftidali, the mahouts ride trained
elephants amongst the wild ones without fear,
though any one of the wild ones might, by a move-
ment of his trunk, dislodge the men. This they
never do. Single elephants are caught by- being
bound to trees by men under cover of a couple of
tame elephants, the wild one being ignorant of
what is going on until he finds himself secured.
Escaped elephants are retaken without trouble;
even experience does not bring them wisdom.
Almost yearly, one or two tame elephants of the
hunting establishment at Dacca are lost in the
jungles by straying, or other accident, whilst en-
gaged in the capture of their fellows. As an ex-
ample, in December, 1878, an elephant which had
been captured three years, and partially trained to
hunting, took fright at the fires and guns used in
driving a herd, and ran away. Her mahout fell off,
and nothing more was seen of her until March
last, when we recaptured her after four and a half
years' absence, in a herd of twenty-one elephants,
100 miles from where she was lost. She had a calf
at heel. When pricked with a spear, and ordered
to kneel, she did so promptly, and in three days
she, and another reclaimed runaway, were employed
in the capture of their fellows. Whilst such facts
testify to the docility of the elephant, they tell
heavily against its intelligence

" The 'government kheddah plan is the most cer-
tain and economical method of taking wild elephants.
As many as 1 18 have been secured in one drive by
this means. ... A kheddah party of 370 men
having been collected, it marches to the hunting
grounds, sometimes 200 miles distant, where a base
camp is ready, and where the establishment of tame
elephants, generally from loo to 150, has been col-
lected, together with the stores, tools, and ropes
required for the operations. Muskets and rations
having been delivered to the men, and religious
ceremonies for success having been performed, the
hunters enter the jungle. The trackers of the party
have probably already marked down a herd, where-
upon the hunters approach to within a mile, and then

divide under two experienced leaders, one half filing
> OL i r.

off to the right, and the other to the left, their
object being to enclose the herd in a large circle by
meeting beyond it. A man is left at every 30
yards or so along the lines, according to the nature
of the ground. The skill with which this move-
ment is effected is very remarkable, as the ground
is usually quite unknown to the hunters, and the
difficulty of crossing streams and hills, of forcing
their way through dense jungle where no path
exists, and of gaining the point they are making
for without a compass, is considerable.

"The circle, when completed, is often five or six
miles in circumference. A large one, with men
posted fifty yards apart or so, is more efficient in
keeping in a herd than a smaller one with men
much closer. Unless plenty of room be allowed to
the elephants, they are liable to break through the
cordon of guards; but it is a maxim in elephant
catching that, the circle having once been formed,
a herd can only escape through accident or great
carelessness. It usually takes three or four hours
to surround elephants. In a couple of hours the
hunters run up a thin fence of split bamboos round
the enclosure, and clear a path for communication
between each others' posts. Their chief duty then
is to see that the elephants do not break out of the
circle. The animals seldom give trouble during
the day ; at night large fires are kept up, and shouts
and shots are used to drive them back should they
approach. The bamboo fencing serves to show the
chief hunters, who patrol the circle at intervals,
where the elephants have broken out should they
escape, so that the particular men who are to blame
can be detected. This investment of the elephants
may have to be maintained for a week, sometimes
for a month, if the elephants cannot be secured in
the first attempts.

"The elephants usually give some little trouble for
the first two nights, but their conservative nature
then seems to lead them to believe that there are
set bounds to their wanderings ; and unless fodder
or water becomes scarce, they seldom try to force
the guards. A small herd always gives more trouble
than a large one. The former may only be a
wandering party from some large body of elephants
not far away; it then shows a strong desire to break
through to join its companions. A small herd, too,
probably has no calves with it, which is a great dis-
advantage, as it is then restless and quick in its
movements. And a herd of a dozen elephants or
so may be well in command of one courageous
leader; whereas, in a large gathering, timid animals

37

34

THE ELEPHANTS.

preponderate so greatly that a panic is easily esta-
blished, and elephants that might otherwise behave
boldly become infected with the general fear. . . .
"On the day following the investment of the herd,
the construction of the kheddah, or small enclosure
into which the elephants are to be driven, is com-
menced. It is situated on one of their chief paths
(within the circle) and is constructed with the trunks
of young trees, about 6 inches in diameter, and 12
feet high, arranged in a circle of from 20 to 50
yards across. Inside, round the foot of the pali-
sades, a trench 6 feet wide and 4 feet deep is dug,
the earth from this being thrown up into a bank on
the inner side. The trench and bank of loose earth
usually deter elephants from attacking the stockade,
or should they do so, prevent their employing their
full force against it. The palisades are lashed to-
gether with canes, and are strongly supported by
cross beams and forked supports behind, the whole
structure being designed to support outward pres-
sure only. Were elephants to pull the palisades
inwards, they would yield at once, but they never
use their trunks for this purpose. An entrance of
4 yards in width is left for the ingress of the herd,
and a gate, studded inside with sharp spikes, is
either slung from the trees overhead, or is made in
two leaves, and is pushed to upon the entrance of
the herd, by men stationed behind it.

"Astockadeof 40 yards indiameteraccommodates
100 elephants easily. To guide the elephants into
it, two lines of strong palisades are run out from
the gate along each side of the path by which the
herd is to approach. These guiding wings diverge
to perhaps 60 yards across at their commencement,
which may be 100 yards or so from the gate.
When the whole is completed, the new woodwork
is hidden with leaves and branches. The stockade
is usually completed in three or four days. The
hunters consider Friday the most lucky day for
driving, and they make extraordinary efforts to get
the stockade ready by that day if possible. The
work of the stockade is done by one half the hunters
being taken from the large circle from morning till
evening daily, as a weak cordon of guards suffices
to keep the elephants in during the day.

" All being in readiness for driving a number of
men are taken from the original circle, and a smaller
interior surround is formed by commencing at the
guiding wings of the kheddah, and posting the men
until the elephants are again closed. The original
circle is, of course, still maintained, in case of the
elephants breaking through the inner one. If the

herd be in two or three detachments, as frequently
happens, these are quietly driven together, and the
whole are then moved forward towards the kheddah.
Should they show an inclination to break to the
right or left, the men deter them by striking their
axes against the trees. When the elephants gain
the funnel-shaped approach to the stockade, the
men close in from behind, and from the sides, and
urge them on with shots and shouts. If the herd
suspects danger, and breaks back through the
beaters, fatal accidents not uncommonly occur.
Sometimes a herd declines altogether to go in the
direction of the stockade, owing to their having the
wind from thatquarter. In sucha case a new stockade
may have to be constructed, and if that does not
succeed, others also. In this way elephants are
sometimes kept in a surround for a month. . . .

"When a herd has been driven into the stockade,
the gate is closed and barricaded, and men with
firebrands and spears repel any attacks upon it or
the palisades. But the trench is usually sufficient
to deter the elephants from crossing it. On the
same, or following day, ten or twelve tame ele-
phants are admitted with a mahout and rope-tier
upon each. . . . The mahouts separate the
wild elephants one by one from their companions,
when their hind legs are tied by men who slip to
the ground for the purpose. A rope is then secured
round each captive's neck, and to its hind legs, and
it is led out and picketed in the forest near. . . .

"The number of wild elephants that can be taken
care of is, at the most, 50 per cent more than the
tame ones. As each capture is concluded, the wild
elephants are marched out of the jungle into open
country, for if kept in the forest they continue to
be excited by jungle sights and sounds, and to
struggle for liberty, whilst flies are much more
troublesome to their wounds in the jungle than in
the plains. Each batch of new elephants requires
a number of tame ones to be detached in charge of
it; thus the hunting operations are limited by the
number of the latter.

"When a sufficient number of elephants has been
taken, the hunters are dismissed, and all elephants
under 7 feet in height are sold to merchants who
follow the kheddah parties for the purpose of pur-
chasing such. Those above 7 feet are retained for
government service, except some males and old
females, which are also disposed of. Not more
than 30 per cent of the elephants captured are
young and strong females, thoroughly suitable for
government service."

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND DESCENT.

35

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND
DESCENT OF THE PROBOSCIDEANS.

The geographical distribution of the pro-
boscideans of the present day may be summed
up in a few words. They are entirely con-
fined to the warmer parts of the Old World,
and while the African elephant inhabits the
whole of the mainland of that continent south
of the Sahara, the Indian elephant is found
everywhere to the south of the Himalayas
as far as the frontiers of China, and on the
large islands in the south from Ceylon to
Borneo and Sumatra. It may be that the
elephants from the last-mentioned island form
a separate geographical variety, but, if so,
this variety is only slightly different from the
elephant belonging to the mainland.

The problem becomes much more com-
plicated when we take into account the fossil
proboscideans, of which we know with cer-
tainty besides the elephants two different
genera now quite extinct : the Mastodons
with a few tubercled molars, and the Dino-
theria with numerous smaller molars, whose
crowns have transverse ridges (Zygodonts).
To enter more thoroughly into the problem
we must study the origin of the Proboscidea,
and the relations in which the individual
genera stand to each other.

The true elephants have come down to us
from the Miocene period, and in particular
the Upper Miocene of India. They are
accordingly of comparatively recent date, and
are not even known in the contemporaneous
strata of other countries. In Europe it is
not till the time of the Lower Pliocene that
we meet with species which approach the
African form in the structure of their molars.
The Miocene Indian elephants from the
Sewalik Hills, from Ava and Perim, belong
to a pretty considerable number of species,
whose molars form transitions to the masto-
dons through having their enamel folds
notched into the form of tubercles. This

approximation is so close, indeed, that certain
species (Elephas Cliftii, E. insignis), forming
the sub-genus Stenodon, are considered by
some naturalists to be true mastodons. Only
in the Pleistocene of the "forest bed" of
Cromer, near Norwich, and in the contem-
poraneous strata on the mainland of Europe
and in North America, are there found
elephants whose dentition approaches more
nearly to that of the Indian species, and
since the African type still continues we find
the two still living forms almost everywhere
together at that time. But in Quaternary
times the species of the African type are for
the most part restricted to the regions lying
round the Mediterranean Sea, while those of
the Indian type, and especially the mammoth
(E. primigenius), are spread over the whole
of the European mainland and the whole of
Asia north of the Altai as far as the Polar
Regions. The elephants of the African type
(E. prisons, meridionalis, &c.) died out earlier
than the others. The mammoth, as already
intimated, survived to be a contemporary of
man, and an allied species (E. Columbi) lived
in Georgia and Mexico into the Ice Age.

The molars present so many transitional
forms not easy to distinguish that we may
fairly infer a progressive development of the
species from one another. Since the elephants
undertake extensive migrations, we are driven
to assume that they gradually extended their
domain westwards and northwards from India,
becoming meanwhile slightly modified in
their forms, and that these migrations re-
quired a long interval of time, so that the
elephants did not reach the centre and south
of Europe till Pliocene, nor the north till
Quaternary times. The Miocene deposits
of India have yielded species from which the
types now living can be derived without
difficulty. The African elephant still lived
beyond a doubt in Malta, Sicily, and Southern
Italy during the Quaternary period.

Be that as it may, the astounding fact still
remains that enormous accumulations of the

THE ELEPHANTS.

remains of the mammoth, and even whole
carcasses with the flesh and skin, have been
found even in the most remote islands of the
Arctic Seas, and that this extinct species,
which furnishes us at the present day from
Siberia with much of the ivory of commerce,
was adapted, as is shown by its maned woolly
fleece, to much colder climates than those of
our temperate zone, while our still living
almost naked elephants are not met with far
outside the tropics. The presence of Quater-
nary elephants in the United States and in
Mexico perhaps finds its explanation in this,
that migrations of these animals took place
across Behring's Strait, a view supported
by the fact that on the islands and coasts
of this strait enormous accumulations of
remains have been found partly buried under
very old glaciers.

The genus Mastodon is distinguished from
the elephants especially by its tuberculated
molars, by having more or less deciduous
tusks (incisors) in the lower jaw, and by the
absence of air-spaces in the frontal bones.
This remarkable genus appeared, in Europe
at least, at the time of the Middle Miocene
at Simorre and in Orleanais, and prevailed
chiefly during the time of the Upper Miocene,
when Europe rivalled India in the wealth of
species. The Pliocene witnessed a diminu-
tion in the number of species. At this stage
the genus died out in Europe and the whole
of the Old World, while it appears again with
the Pleistocene both in North and South
America, and evens exhibits several species
in the Quaternary strata of that hemisphere.
The great mastodon of the Ohio {Mastodon
giganteunt] played a similiar role during the
Quaternary period in North America to that
played by the mammoth in the Old World.
The elephants have, without doubt, developed
from mastodons, for in spite of all the dis-
tinctions which we have mentioned, there are
yet transitional forms so closely related to
one another that we cannot but agree with
Gaudry in saying, " In reality it is impossibfe

to say at what moment a tooth can no longer
be ascribed to a mastodon or must be ascribed
to an elephant."

But while we remain confined to the region
of well -distinguished species, we must con-
clude from the fact above enumerated, that
the mastodons, having first appeared on the
mainland of the Old World, migrated to
America towards the close of the Pliocene,
and there continued to exist till the beginning
of the present period.

The extinct genus Dinotherium deviates
most widely from the rest of the Proboscidea.
The skull so closely resembles that of the
sea-cows that many naturalists included the
animal in this order before the limbs were
discovered. The molars were ascribed by
Cuvier to a gigantic tapir, and lastly, the
enormous sabre-like tusks set in the down-
wardly curved lower jaw impart to the animal
a quite peculiar aspect. The bones of the
limbs discovered at Pikermi and in Bohemia
leave no doubt as to the true relationships
of the Dinotheria; they exhibit very close
affinities to those of the Mastodons. The
form of the molars with transverse ridges,
the so-called zygodont molars, can throw
little light on the affinities of the Dinotheria,
for this form is found also in the kangaroos,
manatees, and tapirs, as well as in our
elephants. The presence of large incisors
in the form of tusks in the lower jaw is
remarkable. The Mastodons, the oldest
proboscideans, have incisors in both jaws;
the elephants, their successors, have them
only in the upper jaw, and the Dinotheria
only in the lower jaw. The Dinotheria be-
came extinct at the close of the Tertiary
period.

If we can trace back the ancestral stock
of our present elephants to the Miocene
mastodon of Simorre with narrow teeth, it is
impossible for us to pursue it to a more
remote antiquity. The mastodons, no doubt,
exhibit distant relationships to the ungulates
generally, and especially to the even-toed

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND DESCENT.

37

ungulates (Artiodactyla), but these relations
do not suffice to represent any special stock.
All the affinities that have hitherto been
suggested break down in face of one slight
objection, namely" this, that the supposed
ancestors belong to more recent strata than
their assumed descendants. There is only
one exception. The members of the genus
Dinoceras, gigantic animals from the Middle
Eocene of Wyoming and Colorado at the foot
of the Rocky Mountains, are older than the
mastodons. But does that suffice to entitle
us to regard these forms as constituting the
primitive stock of our proboscideans? I do
not believe it. It appears to me difficult

to bring these animals, furnished with horn-
like bony excrescences, numerous very
small molars, and enormous canines and
no incisors, into connection with the pro-
boscideans, in which the incisors play so
important a role and the canines are always
absent.

To sum up, the Proboscidea form a separate
order, which has some affinities to the Un-
gulata, which was formerly spread over the
whole breadth of the mainlands of both hemi-
spheres, but which is now in process of rapid
decay, since its members are all extinct with
the exception of two species living in the
tropics of the Old World.

ODD-TOED UNGULATES

(PERISSODACTYLA).

Hoofed animal mostly of large size, usually with an odd number of toes on both pairs of feet, the middle toe being
the one that continues the axis of the leg. The thigh-bone has a third trochanter; dentition complete;
stomach simple; teats abdominal or inguinal; placenta usually diffuse and composed of separate cotyledons
distributed over the whole surface of the ovum.

The animals belonging to this order formed
the greater part of the division of the Pachy-
derms with an odd number of toes of Cuvier,
the group of herbivorous Pachyderms of
other authors, who do not ascribe so much
importance to the structure of the feet as has
been done in recent times especially with
respect to the fossil series. The genera now
living are, in fact, only the greatly thinned
and isolated relics of the fossil types, and in
order to acquire a proper understanding of
the relations of the living Perissodactyla
among one another, it is necessary to have
recourse to the fossil forms from which they
are derived.

We comprise in this order the Rock-badger
or cony family (Hyracida), Rhinoceroses,
Tapirs, and Horses, but willingly confess that
the rhinoceroses and the tapirs alone have
near relations of affinity to one another in the
fauna of the present day, while the horses,
and in a still greater degree the rock-badgers,
appear to be much more divergent types.

The leading character of this order consists
in the structure of the feet, which serve for
no other use than standing or running, and in
which the distal or lower end is dominated by
an axis running through the middle toe, to
which all the others are from the first sub-

ordinate. We have at the present day not a
single five-toed perissodactyle surviving, but
the original number of the toes was five, and
if we trace the series back to the oldest Eocene
strata, we can demonstrate the existence of
certain five-toed perissodactyles in these strata,
and arrange the forms in stages, showing how
by a gradual reduction in the number of toes
we arrive at the apparently single-toed foot of
the horse. The law according to which these
reductions take place is easy to understand.
First of all the toes destined to disappear
do not develop sufficiently to touch the
ground, they become steadily shorter and
more rudimentary, while the middle toe gains
in importance, and is brought into the same
line with the bones belonging to it of the
carpus and metacarpus in the fore-limbs, or
tarsus and metatarsus in the hind limbs (that
is, the bones corresponding in the one case
to those of the wrist and palm of the hand, in
the other to the ankle and sole of the foot).
This process of reduction first affects the first
or innermost digit, which disappears before
all the others. The fore-feet of the tapirs
and rock-badgers still have four toes; the first
digit is altogether wanting, but it is at once
felt that the fifth digit is already condemned
to impotence and tends to vanish. This loss

THE ROCK-BADGER OR CONY FAMILY.

39

is completed on all the four feet of the rhin-
oceroses and on the hind-feet of the Hyracida
and tapirs, so that these feet are composed
only of the dominant middle toe together with
the second and fourth digits. The gradual
loss of the latter two digits can be traced in
the series of fossil horses. In the fossil genus
Hipparion they no longer touch the ground,
and carry so-called false hoofs, and in our
present-day horses they are reduced to two
little style-like splint-bones, as they are called,
attached to the two sides of the enormously
enlarged metacarpal (or metatarsal) bone.
This reduction, which converts the limb into
a column, leads, as may easily be imagined,
to the loss of the ulna in the fore-limb and to
that of the fibula in the hind-leg, so that
the lower arm and lower leg, each originally
composed of two distinct bones, come at last
to consist only of the radius (chief bone of the
fore-arm) and tibia (shin-bone) respectively.

The limbs themselves are sometimes
shorter and more massive, as in the rhino-
ceroses and the tapirs, sometimes longer, as
in the horses; but whatever their special
organization may be, one characteristic is
always present: the thigh-bone always has
below the great trochanter a separate bony
process, known as the third trochanter, for
the attachment of the muscles. This process
often becomes remarkably large, as in the
rhinoceros, and since it is never absent it
affords an excellent distinguishing character.

What still further distinguishes the Peris-
sodactyla is the large number of vertebra
between the neck and the pelvis — of rib-
bearing dorsal vertebrae and of lumbar
vertebrae. The number of these vertebrae is
never less than 22, it may rise even to 29 or
30. In a rock-badger belonging to the Cape
I have counted as many as 21 rib-bearing
and 8 lumbar vertebrae.

The dentition presents highly archaic
characters in the cheek-teeth along with
pretty considerable modifications in the front
teeth. We always find, in fact, in the first

instance seven cheek-teeth in each half of the
jaw, both above and below, and these re-
semble each other so closely that it is scarcely
possible to distinguish premolars from true
molars by the form. All these teeth are
compound and exhibit on the grinding surface
of the crown varied forms of enamel folds,
which become more and more prominent as
the teeth get worn away by use, and which,
at least in the horse series, increase in com-
plexity from ancient to more recent times.
The close-set series of cheek-teeth are separ-
ated from the front teeth by a larger or
smaller interval or diastema. In this front
set of teeth there prevails great diversity.
The incisors, originally present in considerable
number, may become specialized as in the
Hyracida, or become deciduous as in the
rhinoceroses; the canines, always weak, may
become quite rudimentary.

The brain of all perissodactyles is not very
large, and the hemispheres of the cerebrum
always leave the cerebellum uncovered. The
brain of the rock-badger shows some very
simple convolutions ; the hemispheres of the
large genera, as is always the case with larger
animals, have more complex convolutions.
The intelligence of these animals, even of the
most perfect, such as the horse, is always
very limited. The stomach is simple and
relatively small, and shows no tendency to
a further subdivision. The intestines, and
especially the caecum, are very long, as in
many entirely herbivorous animals.

THE
ROCK-BADGER OR CONY FAMILY

(HYRACIDA).

This family contains animals of the size of
a rabbit, which are so very different from the
other Perissodactyla in respect of various
characters that they may very well be taken
to form a sub-order.1 Formerly these little

1 By many naturalists they are regarded as constituting a separate
order. — TR.

40

THE ODD-TOED UNGULATES.

inhabitants of the stony deserts of Africa and
Syria were regarded as rodents, and the older
zoologists were not a little astonished when
Cuvier declared that they had a great resem-
blance to the rhinoceroses. Their possession
of a zonary placenta induced many more
recent naturalists to rank them with the ele-
phants. Now that we are acquainted with a
considerable number of fossil ungulates of
small size, both odd-toed and even-toed, the
persistence of a genus, which is about equal
in size to such old genera as Tapirulus, has
nothing so very remarkable about it as ap-
peared to be the case when only the large Per-
issodactyla of the present day were known.

In their external appearance the Hyracida
resemble small marmots, the bobaks of the
Russian steppes, and the prairie dogs of North
America (Cynomys). The short fat body
ending with a thick head, pointed in front
and supported by two pairs of short slender
limbs, while at the other end there is only
a short stump representing a tail, is clothed
with a fine thick silky fur of a yellowish-gray
colour, which is darker on the back than
underneath, and is somewhat shaded round
the eyes and mouth. The muzzle is that of
a rodent, the upper lip is cleft in the middle,
the eyes are small and prominent, the ears
rounded, almost concealed under the hair.
The weak and short feet have four toes in
front and three behind, and these toes are
united down to their extremities by skin and
are covered with small slightly arched hoofs,
with the exception of the inner toe of the
hind-foot, which carries a small claw. The
sole of the foot is covered with a firm, rough
naked skin divided into several lobes by
means of deep furrows. The Hyracida can
make use of these little cushions and furrows
for the production of vacuums which act as
suckers. In this manner they cling to the
smooth surfaces of the rocks, in the clefts of
which they have their retreats. They climb
just as easily as geckos, and attach them-
selves like tree-frogs to smooth surfaces.

What is most striking in the skeleton of
these little animals is the very large number
of dorsal and lumbar vertebrae, the fused tail
vertebrae, the structure of the feet, which
resemble those of tapirs on a small scale, the
remarkable width of the skull between the
eyes, and the great height and breadth of
the posterior half of the lower jaw.

The dentition is distinguished by an ap-
proximation to that of the rodents, indicated
mainly, indeed, in the incisors, but made still
more marked by the entire absence of canines
in both jaws. The development of a large
rootless curved incisor in each half of the
premaxilla reminds us of the rodents. But
these incisors present, not one, but two
external surfaces covered with white enamel,
while the internal surface is merely formed
of dentine. A transverse section of one of
these continuously growing incisors exhibits
the form of an equilateral triangle, and as the
tooth gets worn away by use it always shows
two cutting edges, which unite in the middle
in a point corresponding to the angle at
which the enamel surfaces meet one another.
In the milk dentition there is a second pair
of quite small incisors, which are soon shed
and are never replaced. The lower incisors
are four in number, and are very closely set
at the fused symphysis of the halves of
the lower jaw. They have the form of long
compressed blades lying obliquely and worn
away transversely.

Behind the incisors there follows a
diastema in place of the canine, and after-
wards there follow seven, or even eight,
cheek-teeth in each half of the jaw, and these,
while all very similar in form, increase in size
from before backwards. There are, in fact,
four premolars and three or four true molars.
The upper cheek-teeth are larger than the
lower; both above and below each tooth
seems to consist of two halves. In the upper
jaw each half has an internal heel surrounded
by a strip of enamel, and both heels are
united by a strong external serrated enamel

THE TAPIR FAMILY.

plate. In the lower jaw each cheek-tooth
is formed by the union of two half- moon
shaped parts with the convexity to the out-
side. These molars resemble those of the

1 . o .-7-8

2 . o . 7-8

fossil Palaeotheria. Dental formula:

= 34-38 teeth.

The largest species of the genus Hyrax,

the Cape Daman (H. capcnsis], which the

Dutch settlers call Klippdass, that is, rock-

badger, attains a length of 15 or 1 6 inches.

Like the Syrian

Hyrax (H. syria-

fits), which is

known in the He-

brew Scriptures

by the name of

Saphan (in the

authorised version

Cony), and the

Abyssinian hyrax,

the Ashkok of the

natives (H. habcs-

sim'fus), which is

shown in fig. 145,

this animal is found in large companies in-

habiting stony deserts, where it can easily

find retreats amongst fragments of rock,

and has abundance of savoury plants for

its food. These companies behave very

much as marmots do. They come out of

their holes and corners only after they

have cautiously examined all round to see

that there is no danger. They sit upright

on the watch, never go very far from

their holes, and give warning of danger by

means of a sharp whistling sound. They

bring forth only two young ones at a time,

but these soon become independent of their

mother, and would soon swarm all round if

it were not that many of them, in spite of all

their caution, become the prey of carnivores.

They are delightful little creatures, always

good-humoured, agile in their sports, but

rather lazy where food is abundant, and,

according to the reports of travellers, live

VOL. II.

Fig. 145. — The Abyssinian Hyrax (Hyrax habessinicus}.

notwithstanding their timidity on good terms
with ichneumons and large lizards. The flesh
is similar to that of the rabbit, and here and
there is much liked and eaten.

Although in most species there is a com-
plete adaptation to a life among the rocks, it
is not to be inferred that this is universally
true of the group. There are, in fact, in
Mozambique and in the interior of Africa
certain species out of which the genus Den-
drohyrax has been formed, a genus scarcely

distinguishable in-
deed by any es-
sential characters
in the dentition
or in the struc-
ture of the limbs,
but one of which
the species pass
their life on trees,
pairs buildingnests
for themselves in
holes in the trunks,
and, in short, be-
having altogether
as climbing animals. The structure of the
extremities already described facilitates in
these species the climbing even of straight
stems. It is a remarkable example of
adaptation to a tolerably diverse mode of
life, but one which is rendered intelligible
by the relations that may have subsisted
between the essentially arboreal Prosimii
and their supposed ungulate ancestors.

THE TAPIR FAMILY

(TAP I RID A).

The family of the tapirs has originated
from one of the oldest mammalian stocks,
one that was distributed in Eocene times
over the whole earth.

The Tapirs (Tapirus) are clumsy, massive,
short-legged animals of about the height of
an ass, but with the general appearance of a
pig, from which, however, they are at once

88

42

distinguished by the structure of the feet,
these having four hoofed toes in front, three
behind. The longish head with pretty high
brow has a certain resemblance to that of a
pig in the development of a short proboscis
which hangs down over the muzzle. This
proboscis is almost naked, with a round

THE ODD-TOED UNGULATES.

extremity pierced by the nostrils, and serves
mainly as an organ of touch. It is constantly
in motion. The tapir sniffs and feels objects
with it, and even employs it to press things
into its mouth; but it cannot use this pro-
boscis as the elephant does his, and in
particular it drinks directly through the

Fig. 146. — The Brazilian Tapir or Anta (Tapirus amcricanus}.

mouth instead of squirting into its mouth
water which it had previously sucked up into
this proboscis. In some species the partition
between the nostrils terminates in a small
finger-like process as in the elephants. The
ears are always straight, in the form of
pointed paper-cornets. The neck is short,
the belly round and large, the tail rudi-
mentary. The last phalanges of the toes are
inclosed in flat rounded hoofs, which all
touch the earth. The pollex or first (inner-
most) toe is wanting in the fore-feet, and of
the other four toes the fifth or outermost is
the shortest, while the middle toe exceeds in
length and size the second and fourth on each
side. The hind-feet have only three toes,

namely, the second, third, and fourth digits.
The hallux or innermost digit and the fifth
digit are wanting.

In the skeleton we observe the massive
form of the bones, the large number of rib-
bearing vertebrae (eighteen), the third tro-
chanter on the thigh-bone, and the peculiar
form of the astragalus (the ankle- or sling-
bone) — all characters common to the Perisso-
dactyla generally. The skull is elongated,
and has its height increased behind by a well-
marked ridge or crest running along the
middle line longitudinally (sagittal crest). In
the ordinary tapirs the nasal bones, which
are sometimes very short, form an incomplete
roof triangular in form extending horizontally

THE TAPIR FAMILY.

43

over the cavity of the nose. They are very
unequal in sixe, and are attached at a rather
open angle to the very narrow forehead. In
the genus Klasmognathus, which has been
separated from the true tapirs, the structure
of the nasals approaches that seen in the
rhinoceroses. The nasal roof in this case
is much larger, is arched, and supported by
a long partition.

The dentition is very characteristic. In
both jaws there are six incisors, three on
c.uh side; but while in the lower jaw these
incisors are chisel-shaped and diminish in
sixe outwards, those of the upper jaw, on the
contrary, are conical, massive, pointed, and
assume altogether the appearance of strong
sharp canines. The true canines are very
small in the upper jaw; in the lower jaw, on
the other hand, furnished with a short,
strong, sharp crown. In both jaws these
teeth are separated by a wide interval from
the cheek-teeth, of which there are seven
above, six below, in each half of the jaw, all
indistinguishable in form and structure. They
have almost quadrangular crowns, which are
often so deeply divided by a transverse fissure
that they seem to be composed of two blades
set behind one another. In the lower jaw
this so-called zygodont structure of tooth is
most marked, since the ridges are very straight
and appear to be completely separate, while
in the upper cheek-teeth they are connected
externally by a strip running length-ways.

These creatures are inoffensive vegetable-
feeders, which live in families, seldom forming
small troops, and roam about especially in
morasses and in moist forests abounding in
streams and pools. They are somewhat
nocturnal in their habits, sleeping by day,
while by night they go out in search of tasty
plants, roots containing plenty of starch, and
fruits; they are very timid, and when danger
threatens at once seek refuge in the water,
where they swim and dive with great facility.
They are fond of diving to the bottom like
hippopotamuses. They bring forth one or

two young ones at a time, and these have
a striped skin similar to that of porkers.
The females are larger than the males.

Two genera can be distinguished. The
Brazilian Tapir, the Anta of the natives
(Tapirus ameruattus), fig. 146, belongs to
the genus of the true tapirs, with a cartila-
ginous nasal septum. The proboscis is cylin-
drical at the end, the finger-like process but
slightly developed, the colour of the skin
brownish-gray, rather darker along the middle
line of the back. On the neck there is a sort
of mane, composed of short stiff hair. In
other respects the covering of hair is similar
to that of a pig, being composed of thinly-
scattered adpressed bristles.

The animal lives in the low marshy forests
of South America, hides by day, forms paths
by which it regularly passes and repasses
in the thickets, wallows in the marshes and
the mud, is remarkably timid, and endeavours
to make its escape at the least sound, either
plunging into the water or rushing blindly
through the underwood. Only in defending
their young do the mothers become furious,
and dart violently against the hunters and
dogs that attack them. In their own country
tapirs feed solely on vegetable matters, and
are just as eager as ruminants in searching
out salt pools and ponds. The large felines,
jaguars and cougars (pumas), pursue the
tapir with not less eagerness than man, who
finds his flesh, which is somewhat like beef,
very much to his taste, and in addition makes
an excellent thick leather out of his hide.
The anta is often kept in zoological gardens,
where he thrives pretty well if only supplied
with plenty of water and mud in which to
bathe and wallow, and with a good warm
crib for winter.

Altogether the tapirs are harmless creatures,
which love rest and quiet, show little attach-
ment to their keepers, are as fond as pigs are
of being scratched, and live on good terms
with their fellows, but do not inspire visitors
with any great interest.

44

THE ODD-TOED UNGULATES.

The Malayan or Shabrack Tapir, the Maiba
of the natives ( Tapirusindicus(»ialayaiius}\ fig.
147, is distinguished from the Brazilian only by
its rather shorter proboscis flattened under-
neath, by the less abrupt profile of the head,
by the absence of the mane, and by the
colour and markings of the skin. The whole
body is very dark with the exception of the

hinder part, which is of a dirty-white colour,
and makes it appear as if the whole of the
body from the shoulders to the root of the
tail and the top of their thighs were covered
with a shabrack or horse-cloth fastened under
the belly. This rare species, found chiefly
on the Malay Peninsula and the island of
Sumatra, was first made known to science in

1820. A few specimens have been brought
to Europe, but they have not lived long.

An American species, the Andes or Hairy
Tapir ( T. Roulinii or villosus), has a still more
sloping forehead than the previous one, very
thick and dense hair, quite black, with an
indistinct whitish patch on the lips. By this
development of a woolly covering the species
has adapted itself to a life in the high valleys
of the Cordilleras at a height of 10,000 feet
and more, where severe winters prevail.

Finally Baird's Tapir (Elasmognatkus
( Tapirus) Bairdii], of a uniform dark brown,
with white lips and without a mane, has only
recently been discovered in Guatemala and
on the isthmus of Panama. This tapir is
distinguished in a very marked manner from

the others by the very level brow like that of
a boar, by the bony septum of the nose, and
by the more delicate and narrower hoofs.
The structure of the nose causes the skull to
resemble that of the following family.

THE RHINOCEROS FAMILY

(NASICORNIA).

At the present day this family consists of
only a single genus, Rhinoceros, within which
subordinate groups have been formed in
accordance with the degree of persistence in
the incisors, the presence or absence of a
second horn, or even the greater or less thick-
ness of the hide.

All rhinoceroses are huge, heavy, clumsy

RHINOCEROS FAMILY.

45

animals, with bent legs so short that the belly
seems almost to drag on the ground, extremely
ugly in appearance, with a rather surly temper
generally, and during accesses of fury ter-
rible. They are confined at the present day
to the tropics of Africa and I ndia, and present
specific differences in different localities.

The head is of moderate size, we may even
say small in comparison with the huge body;
it is greatly elevated behind. Above, at the
back of the head, there are long ears in the
form of pointed paper-cornets with a narrow
thickened rim. The small eyes are placed at
the side, the long projecting snout is arched
above, and on this arch stands a horn of vari-
able size, or sometimes there are two horns
one behind the other. These horns, which
are borne on very strong upwardly-curved
nasal bones, are composed solely of fused
horny fibres, and their texture is exactly like
that of the hoofs or the hollow horns of oxen.
But they are distinguished from the latter in
that they have- no bony core, being quite solid
and connected only with the skin. The nasal
bones are only wrinkled and spongy at the
parts where these horns are attached not very
firmly. The horns readily come off a few days
after the death of the animal, through the
destruction of the vessels and the horn-pulp.
In certain districts these horns still have a
considerable value. They are used to make
cups, which have the reputation of destroying
the efficacy of poisons poured into them.

The jaws and opening of the mouth are
enormous, the lips thick, and especially the
upper lip, which is covered with a very thin
skin, and is produced in the middle into a
finger-like prolongation, which enables the
animal to seize the twigs and stems of plants
on which it feeds. The neck is usually thicker
than the head and surrounded by broad folds
of skin, the belly very thick, the tail short,
and ending in a tuft. The legs cannot be
better described than by comparing them to
those of a badger-hound, so twisted and un-
shapely are they. They terminate in three

toes, which are placed very close together,
covered with arched hoofs, and which all
touch the ground. Behind these hoofs there
is a broad callous sole. The very thick tough
hide is highly valued for the making of
shields, straps, cords, and whips. In living
aninials it presents two very remarkable
modifications, which have even been employed
for the grouping of species. In the Asiatic
forms there are scattered over it broad shield-
like plates composed of firmer parts, which
are connected together by more flexible folds
all running in the same direction. The animal
appears to carry a coat of armour composed
of several pieces, admitting of a certain amount
of mobility at the neck, shoulders, and hips.
In the African species, on the other hand, the
hide, though far from thin, is yet more flexible,
adapts itself better to the outline of the body,
and presents a smooth surface, instead of ex-
hibiting, like the armour-clad forms, as we
might call them, a number of knobs and
bosses, which have a distant resemblance to
the inequalities in the shields of the armadillos.
Usually this skin is quite naked; only a few
hairs are found on the edges of the ears and
at the end of the short tail, where they form a
tuft which never reaches down to the hollow of
the knee. The Quaternary rhinoceros, whose
remains are found in such abundance along
with those of the mammoth (R/t. tichorhinus),
had a woolly fleece interspersed with stronger
bristles, manifestly as the result of adaptation
to colder climates.

The skeleton of these animals everywhere
shows heavy clumsy forms, with very marked
ridges for the insertion of the muscles. The
skull is in some species short and compact, in
others greatly lengthened in consequence of
the enormous size of the jaws. The rough
warty patches indicating the place of attach-
ment of the horns (which, in some species,
may grow to a length of more than 3 feet)
are very conspicuous on the back of the
nasals. The transverse ridges at the back of
the head, the processes of the vertebrae, the

THE ODD-TOED UNGULATES.

ridges on the bones of the limbs, and especi-
ally the third trochanter on the thigh, are
enormous ; even the ribs have oblique middle
ridges throughout their entire length.

The dentition is characterized by the want
of constancy in the front teeth, and the
peculiar form of the enamel folds in the
cheek-teeth. The canines are always want-
ing, so that a considerable interval separates
the cheek-teeth from the incisors, which were
originally (in fossil forms) four or evert six
in number both above and below. The
rhinoceroses of the present day have at first
two incisors in each half of the jaw, but their
subsequent development varies greatly. In
the upper jaw the incisors are very close-set;
the outer pair are the smaller and first dis-
appear. In the lower jaw the incisors are
conical, almost horizontal, and directed for-
wards ; the outer ones are often very strong,
and in some fossil species developed almost in
the form of tusks. They persist the longest;
while the inner ones drop out early, although
always subsequently to the shedding of the
outer incisors of the upper jaw. At last all
the incisors disappear and are never replaced.
We thus have species in which there are only
two incisors above and four below; others in
which only two incisors are found below in
the adult ; and others again in which they are
latterly altogether wanting, and in which the
callous margins of the gum serve to root up
plants. In the young animal the various stages
of this gradual reduction can be observed.
The cheek-teeth are seven in number in each
half of each jaw, in all twenty-eight, but they
are very diverse in their nature. The upper
ones are much larger than the lower. They
have two irregular transverse prominences,
which are separated on the inside by a deep
winding fissure, but on the outside are con-
nected by a longitudinal fold. When the tooth
has been worn down to some extent these pro-
minences seem to be surrounded by a con-
tinuous curiously-twisted strip of enamel. The
lower cheek-teeth are longer than broad, and

exhibit two sickle-shaped bodies surrounded
by enamel, these bodies standing obliquely be-
hind one another and having their convexity
behind.

Among the internal parts of the organization
we may take note of the relatively small
simple stomach, the enormous colon and
caecum, the small brain, the two -horned
uterus, the two inguinal teats, and the diffuse
placenta. The female remains pregnant
seventeen months, and brings forth a single
young one, which is defended by the mother
with fury. The horn begins to grow only
when the young animal has advanced a little
in age ; the new-born animal has only a slight
swelling on the nose, such as characterized
the hornless ancestors of our present rhino-
ceroses (Aceratherium) throughout life.

The habits of these dull, stupid, and clumsy
but powerful animals are almost everywhere
the same. They are exclusively herbivorous ;
but while most of them prefer marshy woods,
the jungle, and the banks of rivers and ponds
where they can wallow in the mud, we have
African species (Rh. simus) which show a
preference for the steppes with dry stiff
grasses. But in general rhinoceroses require
water and mud if it is for nothing else than
to defend themselves against the insects which
torment them in spite of the thickness of
their hide. These giants have no enemy to
fear except man. Lions and tigers go out
of their way, for their horns and feet are
terrible weapons, and when once a rhino-
ceros has broken out into fury nothing can
withstand the violence of his onslaughts.
With head down he darts upon his enemy,
throws him to the ground, and tramples him
under his feet. We have heard of battles
between elephants and rhinoceroses, but no
recent observer has ever witnessed one. But
it appears that these two giants of the forest
shun one another, although in Quaternary
times the mammoth and the rhinoceros with
bony nasal septum manifestly lived together
as peaceable neighbours.

PLATE XIX. - THE INDIAN RHINOCEROS (Rhinoceros inditus).

THK RHINOCEROS FAMILY.

47

The rhinoceroses have an acute sense
of hearing and a keen scent. They avoid
man when they have come to know his power,
and in hunting these animals it is necessary
to observe carefully the direction of the wind
and to proceed without noise. But when
met unexpectedly or driven into a corner the
rhinoceros becomes terrible, and woe to the
sportsman who misses his aim! In the forests
which they inhabit they make paths for them-
selves through the densest underwood by
treading down everything in their way, and
although the hunters make use of these paths
they nevertheless carefully avoid meeting
with these stupid and passionate animals.
In captivity the rhinoceroses are sluggish,
unintelligent, and unsocial. They can scarcely
be rendered attached to their keepers, who
are obliged to behave with great caution
towards them. They astonish but do not
attract visitors.

The rhinoceroses may be divided into two
groups.

The Asiatic Rhinoceroses have permanent
incisors, and armour-plates on the hide sepa-
rated by deep folds. They have sometimes
one, sometimes two horns.

In a full-page illustration (PI. XIX.) is
shown a one-horned species known from time
immemorial, the Indian Rhinoceros (Rh.
indicus), which is distributed over the region
from Bengal to Cochin- China. It attains a
length of 13 and a height of 6^ feet. The
horn, more than a foot and a half long, is
curved backwards and is rather slender; the
upper lip is very large. It has the most
complete armour of all. One plate covers
the back of the neck, another the shoulder, a
third the belly, a fourth the rump, and a fifth
the thigh. The hide is of a dirty-gray colour.
Pompey caused the first specimen which was
ever seen in Europe to be brought to Rome
in the year 61 B.C. It is eagerly pursued on
account of the tremendous ravages it commits
in plantations. Among the other eastern
species the Javan Rhinoceros (Rh. javanictis

(sondaicus) ) is one-horned like the preceding
specie's; while that of Sumatra (A'/t. siimai-
rcnsis), and another from Malacca, with tufts
of hair on the ears (Rh. /asiotis1), have two
horns and form the transition to the African
species.

The African Rhinoceroses have all two
horns and a thinner hide forming folds with-
out plates. Their incisors drop out.

The Two-horned Rhinoceros (R/i. bicornis),
PI. XX., is quite as large as the Indian
species, but the head is shorter and carries
two horns, the foremost of which is the long-
est. The hide has a dark-brown colour
inclining to black. The animal formerly
inhabited the whole of the mainland of Africa
clown to the Cape, but has been driven north-
wards towards the interior by the colonists
on account of the ravages it committed in
their plantations. It is regarded as much
more stupid and much wilder than the Indian
species. The hide has only small folds.

[The Hon. W. H. Drummond, author of The
Large Game of Soutli and South-east Africa, speaks
on several occasions of the ferocity of Rh. biconris,
which he considers the most dangerous of all
African game. This ferocity, however, is exhibited
only towards man, and without doubt there is
good reason for its manifestation. " Their cun-
ning," he writes, " is only equalled by their vicious-
ness. In most, if not in all cases, they will at once
charge on getting the wind of a human being, and
if they cross his track they will often follow it up
like a dog, making none of the puffing sounds
natural to them when angry, till they absolutely
see him. When wounded, and occasionally when
much disturbed, their spoor consists of parallel
straight lines, so that it is next to impossible to
overtake them without being discovered, and giving
them an opportunity of charging you from one
side. They will wait with the utmost patience
concealed in thick jungle, until you almost touch
them, and then rush out at you. When they do
catch an unfortunate being, they knock him down
and knead him with their feet, returning again and
again until nothing but a shapeless mass remains,

1 This is a very mre animal. Only two examples are said to l>e as
yet known. See Nature, vol. xxix. p. 427. — TR.

THE ODD-TOED UNGULATES.

uttering all the day their shrill squeal of rage.
This I once saw myself.

" Four of us, consisting of myself, three native
hunters, and my gun-bearer, were on our way to
join a native hunting-party some twelve miles off,
and just after crossing a small stream about half-
way we saw a flock of rhinoceros-birds hovering
over an ukaku thicket, and evidently accompany-
ing some game passing through it. The place was
of no great size, so two of the hunters ran round
to the further sides, while I and the remaining
one went into it, and in a few seconds struck the
spoor of an upetyane.1 I am thankful now to
recollect that I at once suggested leaving the
vicious brute alone, partly because it was such
dangerous work and its death would do us no
good, partly on account of the time it would waste
and the distance we had yet to go. However, the
hunter wanted to go after it, and to have said
more would have implied fear on my part, a thing
one has to guard against when, being the only
white man among natives far in the interior, one's
comfort, and not impossibly one's life, depends
upon one's prestige; and so we went on, and in
scarcely five minutes I saw it, having already
heard it snorting like a steam-engine, trotting
along, tossing its head, and looking like mischief
personified, having evidently got the wind of some
of us, and being quite as anxious to find us as we
it. It was about fifteen yards off, and I instantly
let drive with both barrels into its shoulder, spring-
ing as I did so into the tree under which I was.

"My unlucky companion, who was a little distance
on one side, and had hitherto only heard it, came
running towards the shots, and absolutely met it
face to face; he at once fired and turned to run,
but it was too late, and he was caught on the spot,
thrown up with a single toss, which must probably
have stunned him, and was then trampled out of
all semblance to humanity by the bloodthirsty
brute. Any description would be sickening. I
could do nothing, for my gun-bearer had disap-
peared, seeking safety in some other spot, and I
found that I had not a single cartridge left in the
little pouch I carried ; but after a minute I could
stand the inaction no longer, and getting down
from the tree unperceived I stole away, and as
soon as I was out of reach began to shout to the
others. Two of them soon came up, my gun-
bearer and a hunter, one of them having hidden
himself on finding the sort of animal we had to

1 Native ( Kaffir) name of the Kit. bicornis.

deal with ; and I having got a supply of cartridges,
we went back to the spot until we got sight of the
brute, still trampling and squealing, when, kneeling
down, we fired at it together.

" My nerves had been so much shaken that I was
unsteady and missed clean, not twenty yards off,
but the ball from my companion's great elephant-
gun sped more truly, and the brute fell on its
knees, where, by dint of repeated if not very well-
aimed shots, I succeeded in keeping it until he had
reloaded, when we finished it off together."

In illustration of the ferocious disposition of the
animal one instance is related in which the con-
sequences are little more than amusing to read,
though disagreeable enough no doubt at the time
of the occurrence. A small party of hunters, of
which Mr. Drummond was one, were engaged in
roasting an antelope, the sole resource after a hard
day's work, for their evening meal. " In about an
hour the first shoulder was done, and the boy
brought it to me and stuck it up in front of me by
means of the stick which had already been sup-
porting it while roasting, and I, drawing my hunt-
ing-knife, and sharpening a stick for a fork, was
just in the act of breaking my fast for the first
time that day, when I heard a sudden succession
of puffs, like a train just starting, and could dis-
tinguish the heavy footfall of some animal. In a
second everybody was on his feet, and in another
we were all scrambling up the tree, I, I am sorry
to say, still holding on to my shoulder of antelope,
and oblivious of the fact that I had left my gun
down below. We were barely in time; indeed, if
the rhinoceros had charged straight up to the tree
it must have caught me; but it was not necessary
to go very high, and I was soon able to watch its
movements. Hardly ten seconds had elapsed
since I had heard the first warning puff, and now
our fire was scattered in every direction, and the
vicious animal was stamping upon it and every-
thing else it saw, and squealing with rage the
whole time. The meat had disappeared, some of
it trampled into the ground, and some thrown
yards away by its feet; two great burning logs of
wood were smoking on the top of my spread-out
bed, and even from where I was I could smell the
smouldering blankets; the remains of my water-
calabash were lying in every direction, and every-
thing in camp, save my gun, which the brute had
not so far touched, was more or less destroyed.
It was enough to try any one's temper, and I
asked the man next me if his gun was loaded, and

To face page fit.

PLATE XX. - THE TWO-HORNED RHINOCEROS (RAin

THK HORSE FAMILY.

49

on getting an affirmative answer I told him to
pass it over to me, and propping myself up against
the trunk to prevent myself being knocked down,
for it was an elephant-gun of six to the pound, I
aimed at the shoulder of the trampling and squeal-
ing beast and pulled the trigger. A stillness fol-
lowed the report for a second, and then a heavy
thud, and after that violent struggles on the ground.
The other hunter had a double-barrel, and emptied
both of them into the struggling mass below him;
but despite the shots the brute regained its legs,
and went away the moment after it did so, its
vicious temper much sobered by the treatment it
had received. Ours were not, however, improved
by the incident, and it was all I could do to pre-
vent one of the hunters, who was almost speechless
with rage at losing his supper, from giving chase
on the spot. ... A shoulder of antelope was
not much among four famished men."]

Another African species (Rk. simtis) is the
largest of all. The head is very long, the
snout rounded like that of an ox, the front
horn very large, a yard and more in length,
the hinder one very small. This species fre-
quents the steppes covered with tall grass,
amidst which it often grazes in very numer-
ous herds, and in the dry seasons it under-
takes great journeys in search of water.
This species, notwithstanding its superior size,
is regarded as the most good-natured of all.
It is hunted chiefly for its flesh, which appears
to be excellent.

THE HORSE FAMILY

(EQUIDA).

In our present fauna this family forms a
group so well characterized by the structure
of the feet, and so natural, that if only the
living types are taken into consideration one
is perfectly justified in making a separate
order out of them under the name of Solidun-
gula, the single-hoofed. But the distinctions,
seemingly so sharply defined, gradually dis-
appear when we place the forms that have
lived in earlier times side by side with the
living ones. The feet provided with a single
hoof are then seen to be the last stage in a

VOL. II.

process of evolution in course of which there
first appeared forms which had feet like the
rhinoceroses and tapirs, and in which the
general characters of the Perissodactyla are
revealed with so much clearness and distinct-
ness that it is impossible to assign a greater
value to the equine type than that of a family.
The horse is the last member in a series of
forms due to a process of specialization gov-
erned by the tendency to transform many-toed
and comparatively sluggish, heavily -built
animals into runners, which do not yield in
fleetness to any other forms. The feet are
simplified by this process to the highest
degree, and are modified so as to be adapted
solely for running. If we adopt the stand-
point which it has been our constant aim to
maintain in this work with respect to the
evolution theory, we must regard the Solid-
ungula as the type of a highly-specialized
family.

We all know the general characters of the
horses, zebras, and asses which make up this
family. The greatly -elongated head with
straight profile and sharp-pointed ears, the
long neck, the relatively short body borne
on long slender legs, the feet ending in
rounded hoofs, the tail of moderate length
bearing a long brush composed of coarse hair,
the mane of bristly hair on the neck, the
covering of finer short hair on the body lying
very thick but so closely applied to the skin
that the most minute details of the form are
visible; all these characters are such as the
reader does not need to be reminded of.
The feet with only a single hoof enable us
to recognize at the first glance the not very
numerous species of this family which are
now found wild only in the Old World. As
domestic animals the horses have not only
reconquered the domains which they formerly
inhabited, but have spread over the entire
surface of the earth save only the extreme
Polar regions.

The skull of the horses when seen from
above strikes us by its narrow greatly-elon-

THE ODD-TOED UNGULATES.

gated rhomboidal form. The cranial region
is relatively very small, forming only a little
more than one-third of the whole length of
the head, and it becomes greatly constricted
near the foramen magnum or opening by
which the spinal column passes into the brain.
The brow is flattened and is continued almost
horizontally into the long nasal bones, which
form a beak-like roof above the nostrils. In
front of these projects the elongated portion
of the upper jaw which carries the incisors
and canines. The pretty large orbits are
surrounded by a complete bony ring, but
leave a wide opening behind into the temporal
fossae. The halves of the lower jaw are com-
pletely fused in the middle, as in the tapirs,
whose jaws have a great resemblance in their
general features to those of the Solidungula.

The dentition of the horses also resembles
that of the tapirs in the general arrangement.
Both above and below we find a semicircle
composed of six incisors in the form of some-
what curved chisels with blunt edges. The
canines, which are in all cases but slightly
developed, and which in the females for the
most part disappear entirely, although more
prominent in the males, are larger in the
lower jaw than in the upper, and in that jaw
follow close after the incisors, while in the
upper they are rather farther apart from
these. As in all other Perissodactyla a long
interval divides the cheek-teeth from these
front ones. It is in this interval that the bit
is placed. The cheek-teeth, seven in number
in each half of each jaw, are much larger in
the upper jaw, where they present a quad-
rangular chewing surface, than in the lower,
in which these teeth are more elongated and
laterally compressed. The first of these
cheek-teeth is always very poorly developed,
reduced, in fact, to a mere stump; it is very
readily and often very early lost. The other
six cheek-teeth in the upper jaw appear as if
composed of two halves, which are soldered
together by a strong external vertical pillar.
To this external pillar there corresponds on

the inner side another less prominent broad
pillar, which shows on the grinding surface
in the form of a loop of enamel. On the
surface of each tooth are to be seen four
sickle-shaped enamel stripes with their con-
cavity directed outwards; and these stripes
are separated from each other and in the
middle by deep fissures. In the lower cheek-
teeth the pillars are wanting. Each tooth
has on the outside and in the middle a deep
vertical groove, which indicates the separa-
tion into two halves, and the enamel stripes
run back each into itself, as if there had been
bosses or tubercles, the surface of which be-
came planed away. This kind of dentition
forms, as will be readily seen, an excellent
masticatory mill.

The structure of the limbs deserves special
attention. The bones corresponding to the
upper arm and thigh are short, thick, and
buried in the flesh of the body. The third
trochanter on the thigh-bone is placed pretty
low down. The ulna and fibula are greatly
reduced, and are recognizable only as un-
shapely adjuncts at the upper part of the
radius and tibia respectively. The bones of
the wrist and ankle are greatly reduced both
in number and size. These are followed
below by a single bone, which is often errone-
ously spoken of as the shin-bone, but which
is nothing else than the excessively developed
metacarpal (or metatarsal) bone of the middle
toe, and has at its upper end two small
pointed style-like bones (the splint-bones)
attached to it on both sides, these being the
remains of the metacarpal (or metatarsal)
bones of the second and fourth digits, which
are thereby only indicated. Finally, at the
lower end of this elongated metacarpal or
metatarsal there come the three phalanges of
the middle digit, which form the fetlock and
hoof, the bone of which latter has pretty much
the same form as the horny hoof that covers
it. By studying the development it may be
shown that in the embryo three digits begin
to be formed, but that the two outer ones

To face pag€ SO-

PLATE XXI. - THE DAUW OR BURCHELL'S ZEBRA

THE HORSE FAMILY.

remain rudimentary ; and the examination of
the feet of the ancestors of the horse reveals
to us the fact that there were actually five
toes in the first representatives of this group.
Examples of foals born with two or three
more or less developed toes are not rare.

We wish further to draw special attention
to the smallness of the brain and its lowly
organization, indicated by the fact that the
hemispheres of the cerebrum do not cover
the cerebellum. This lowly organization is,
to be sure, in a certain measure compensated
by the number of the convolutions, which in
their disposition follow the same general plan
as those of the tapirs, but are much more
complicated. Between these two animals
the relations in respect of brain-structure are
somewhat similar to those which subsist be-
tween man and the macaque. The general
plan is the same, but in the lower type it is
shown in its original simplicity, while in the
higher it is complicated by a thousand
secondary formations. We likewise mention
the structure of the digestive organs, which
is in accordance with the plan exhibited in
all herbivorous perissodactyles : a simple and
relatively small stomach, a very thick colon
and ceecum. The two teats are situated in
the region of the groin.

The wild horses — for it is only these with
which we have to do — live in great herds in
prairie and steppe regions. That is their true
home. For this social life in lands with a
wide horizon they are wonderfully organized.
Mountains they shun, and they seek the
woods only to enjoy the shade for a brief
interval. It must be allowed that neither
the keenness of their senses nor their powers
of defence are sufficient to adapt them for a
life in the thickets, where each individual is
compelled to have his qualities developed in
the highest degree. The range of vision in
horses is not very great; they can distinguish
only near objects clearly. Their scent is dull.
Only their hearing is very acute, and enables
them to distinguish the least audible com-

ponents in distant noises. Observations on
the development of the senses have been
made chiefly, though not exclusively, on
domesticated horses that have run wild. It
has been established that in the pampas the
mustang does not scent the jaguar at more
than thirty paces off, and that the lion is
always sure of getting within the necessary
distance for a spring when a zebra is the
object of his pursuit.

The herds live under the leadership of
some old males, which have to watch over the
well-being of their subjects. We cannot but
admire the courage of these proud creatures,
which, seeming to rejoice in battle, dart down
upon an attacking carnivore, the whole herd
arranging itself in a circle with the foals in
the middle, and all ready to strike with the
hoofs of their hind-legs. In fighting with
wolves stallions try to seize their antagonist
with their teeth by the nape of the neck, then
to lift them up and dash them on the ground,
after which they trample them underneath
their feet.

But these battles, from which perhaps the
military art has derived the formation of
squares, are only exceptions to the rule, and
take place only in cases of sudden attack or
when the herds are driven to straits. Usually
the herd seeks its safety in rapid flight.
Tearing along in furious gallop, with ears and
mane erect, the herd dashes away with the
speed of the wind, driving their young ones
before them, the males galloping on the
flanks and at the end of the column to protect
the herd in its hurried flight. No carnivore
can follow them long. The Cape hunting-
dogs alone can keep up the pursuit for
several hours, and even then they are compelled
to content themselves with the stragglers who
have got wounded in the flight; they are not
able to follow the herd, which at last dis-
appears beyond the horizon of the immense
plain.

The leading traits of wild horses are ac-
cordingly these: dull senses, little intelligence,

52

great sociability, and a courage amounting
even to rashness.

Except for the battles between the fiery
stallions, and especially the younger ones, in
their efforts to secure rights for themselves
as regards the mares, the herds live together in
harmony. The old males chase the young

THE ODD-TOED UNGULATES.

ones out of the herd when the latter begin
to show an inclination for the mares, and
these young ones, which are compelled to live
as celibates, bring on serious battles with a
view to acquire by conquest a few females
with which to found a new family. The
herds make great migrations in the steppes

Fig. 148.— The Zebra (Hippotigris Zebra}.

and deserts in order to seek out good pastures
or water.

Wild horses are keenly pursued for the
sake of their skin and flesh, which is highly
esteemed, and also in order to procure men-
agerie specimens. They are caught in winter
in snares; but usually advantage is taken of
their excessive curiosity, and of the passion
which the males betray even for domesticated
mares. The arts resorted to differ according
to the locality and the character of the people;
but they all come to this, that the hunter en-
deavours to introduce himself either on horse-
back or on foot into a herd in order to kill the
adults and capture the foals.

The species are but slightly different from

one another in internal structure. The skele-
ton, the dentition, are so much alike, that
apart from the size it is difficult to distinguish
the species except when seen alive or stuffed,
when the colour and markings of the coat, the
length of the ears, &c., afford more or less
well-defined characters.

The horse family may be divided into two
groups, distinguished by the markings of the
coat, and almost completely separated from
one another in geographical range.

Most of the African Horses have a coat
adorned with dark stripes on a light ground.
They have been united into a subdivision
under the name of Hippotigres, that is, Tiger-
horses. They are in general well-proportioned,

THK HORSE FAMILY.

S3

have a small head, moderately large ears, and
short straight mane. The: middle line of the
hack is somewhat curved downwards as in the
horse; the tail has little hair at the root, hut
ends in a long tuft; the hoofs are elegant, but
exceptionally broad behind. A dark stripe
always runs along the middle line of the hack
as far as the tail. The transverse dark stripes
are differently distributed in the three known
species, which all inhabit Africa south of the

Sahara. It has been observed that the herds
ot these beautiful and fleet animals live on a
gooil understanding with certain antelopes,
and still more with ostriches, and thus derive
advantage from the watchfulness of these
comrades. A few specimens have been tamed,
but they mostly remain savage and intractable,
much given to biting.

The Zebra (I I ippotigris Zebra (Eqiius
)), figure 148, frequents chiefly hilly

'- SrSsrir

Fig. 149. — The African Wild Ass (Equus tteniopus). page 54.

regions. It is entirely marked with black
stripes on an almost white or yellowish
ground. The legs are ringed down to the
hoofs, and the mane is composed of alter-
nate black and white stripes. The tail is
black. It is the rarest species in our men-
ageries. The Jardin d' Acclimatisation at
Paris has a well-trained pair which draws a
carriage.

The Dauw (H ippotigris (.Equus) Burchellii],
PI. XXI., is distinguished from the former
species by having the legs and feet not ringed
but of a uniform light colour like the ground
colour of the body. The stripes on the body
are broader, directed obliquely backwards,
and forked at their lower ends. The head

presents pretty much the same mingling of
colours as in the zebra.

A third species, the Quagga {Hippotigris
(Eqmis) quagga] is brownish above, white
underneath. The tail, which is completely
covered with bushy hair, and the ears are
white. The rather broad brown stripes attain
a considerable length only on the neck and
shoulders, gradually diminishing in length on
the back. The whole of the hinder part of
the body as well as the legs remain unstriped.

It is these two latter species that are gener-
ally seen in menageries. They are more
easily tamed than the zebra, and it is said
that in the South African colonies individuals
caught young are associated with herds of

54

sheep, which they defend vigorously against
the attacks of wild animals and especially
hyeenas.

The Asiatic Horses approach more nearly
to the ass in the greater length of their ears,
in the nature of the dark stripe along the
back, in the greater thickness of the head, and
in the more delicately-formed feet. Like the
ass they have only a terminal tuft on the tail,

THE ODD-TOED UNGULATES.

and frequently a dark vertical stripe on the
shoulders, forming with the longitudinal stripe
on the back the cross common on the domes-
ticated ass. They are found on both sides
of the Red Sea.

The African Wild Ass (Equus tceniopiis),
fig. 149, inhabits the districts east of the Nile
to the shores of the Red Sea. It is probably
one of the parent stocks of the domesticated

Fig. 150. — The Onager {Equus onager).

ass, and in particular that of Egypt. It is
large and slender, of a pale -brownish or
grayish-yellow colour, with a very marked
cross, and some inconspicuous circular mark-
ings round the lower part of the legs imme-
diately above the hoofs. The mane is long,
the tail-tuft very long, the ears pretty long
but elegantly formed and sharp. The do-
mesticated ass of Abyssinia closely resembles
this species, which, with its markings on the
legs, forms the transition from the "tiger-
horses" to the wild asses of Asia.

Among the two known species belonging
to Asia the Onager, the Gurkur of the natives
(E. onager], fig. 150, approaches most nearly
to our domesticated ass. It inhabits the

steppes of Asia Minor, Arabia, and Persia,
and extends as far as the frontiers of India.
The head is clumsy, thick and short, the ears
long, the mane soft, the tail-tuft pretty long.
The general colour is grayish-white, passing
over to a pale isabel-yellow. The brown
cross is bordered with white, but is sometimes
wanting.

The Tibetan Wild Ass (E. hemionus), fig.
151, stands midway between the horse and ass.
The different names which the natives give
to this species, distributed over the whole of
the interior of Asia from the Kirghiz steppes
to Tibet and China, have given rise to
confusion. According to some of the more
recent authorities, whose opinion we share,

THE HORSE FAMILY.

55

the Kulan of the Kirghiz, the Jiggetai of the
Mongols, anil the; Kiang of the Tibetans are
one and the same species, comprising a few
very slightly different geographical varieties.
Besides the short and somewhat massive
head the animal has the same very harmonious

proportions, the same graceful outlines, slim colour is a light isabel-yellow. The belly

legs, and thin hoofs. The ears are somewhat
longer than those of the horse, but shorter
than in the mule. The line of the back is
straight, but slightly elevated at the croup;
the tail is furnished with a long tuft; the
mane is erect and pretty thick. The general

Fig. 151. — The Tibetan Wild Ass (Equus htmionus).

and inner sides of the legs are whitish yellow;
the mane and tail dark brown. The dark
line on the back sends no branches down the
shoulders. Examples of this species are now
to be seen in almost all menageries. Most
of them come from the Jardin des Plantes at
Paris, into which Dussumier introduced a few
pairs, which propagate there. On several
occasions some of these animals have been
trained with pretty fair success. Numerous
variations in colour have been observed.

We have now to face the question of the
origin of the domesticated horse (E. cadalliis],
which man has diffused over almost the whole
surface of the earth. The problem is not less

complicated than that relating to the origin
of the domestic clogs, and all the more
difficult of solution since we know very few
wild species that could be brought into
relation with the domestic races.

With regard to the Ass (E. asinus) there
are, perhaps, scarcely any differences of
opinion. We may feel certain that the two
species above-named, the onager and the
African wild ass, have each contributed their
contingent to the formation of the different
races.

But with reference to the domesticated
horse we can take into consideration only the
kiang or Tibetan wild ass among living

THE ODD-TOED UNGULATES.

species, together with the extinct species
which have lived during Quaternary times.
The tiger- horses of Africa cannot have
contributed to the formation of the domestic
breeds. Stripes and lines are too rare in
these latter for us to be able to consider them
as reversions to an original type of colouring.

One fact dominates the whole problem, at
least so far as Europe is concerned. Through-
out the Quaternary period the whole of our
continent was inhabited by a race of small
wild horses which were eagerly hunted in the
Stone Age. Whole graveyards of these ani-
mals slaughtered for food have been found,

-"^*J-

Fig. 152.— The Tarpan (Eyuus Tarpan}.

lor example, at Solutre, near Macon (Saone-
et- Loire). While previously an object of
eager pursuit this small animal was probably
domesticated at the time when polished stone
implements were used (the Neolithic Age),
when agriculture was introduced. It is
accordingly highly probable that the small
horses of Norway, the Shetland ponies, and
those of Corsica and Sardinia, are the more
or less modified descendants of this prehistoric
small and rather thick-headed horse.

But there were also horses of larger size
during Quaternary times. As regards Amer-
ica this is incontestable. The horse with
curved incisors (E. curvidens), which roamed
over the whole of America during Quaternary

times, was of about the size of a pretty tall
domesticated horse. But this American
species has left no descendants. At the time
of the discovery of America there were no
horses in the New World.

The large domestic horse was probably in-
troduced into Europe along with the use of
metals. It came from some of the countries
bordering on the Mediterranean, perhaps from
India, where it had long been domesticated.
But we do not know with certainty any
Quaternary predecessor. Can the domestic
horse be derived from the Tibetan wild ass?
That is very doubtful.

If we turn our attention to the horses that
have again become wild in the steppes of

THE HORSE FAMILY.

57

Asia and America, we scarcely meet with any
solution of the riddle.

An illustration is furnished of the degener-
ate; horse of Asia, the Tarpan (7f. Tarpaii),
fig. 152. These horses as well as the mus-
tangs of America exhibit some common char-
acters. The skin has acquired a uniform
colour, dark -brown in summer, lighter in
winter. The head is thick and short, the
neck long and slim, the ears long and pointed,
the hoofs delicately formed and narrow. The
sixe has diminished, and the mane, which has
become shorter, exhibits a decided tendency
to become erect; but the tail is bushy through-
out its whole length. We thus see that these
degenerate horses have made a few steps back-
wards in the direction of the Tibetan wild ass;
but yet the distance that separates the two
appears to be still too great. It is possible
that by careful selection, by giving an abun-
dance of suitable food, and by constant atten-
tion, the domestic breeds have gradually been
reared out of the Tibetan wild ass; but it is
also possible that Quaternary horses, the
remains of which may some time be found in
Asia, have contributed to the production of
our domestic breeds.1

The domesticated horse has acquired its
valuable qualities chiefly by association with
man. Its courage must have been the quality

1 A recent discovery of Przevalsky's has a great deal of interest in
connection with the question of the origin of the domestic horse.
That traveller has made the scientific world acquainted with a horse
hitherto unknown inhabiting Central Asia, and possessing characters
more closely approaching those of the domestic horse than any mem-
ber of the genus hitherto discovered. The following paragraphs
relating to it are taken from feature, vol. xxx. p. 391 (where a cut
of the new horse is given).

" The horses, which constitute the genera Equus of Linnseus, and
are the sole recent representatives of the family Equidae, fall natur-
ally into two sub-genera, as was first shown by Gray in 1825 (Zoo!.
'Jour. i. p. 241) — Eqiiiis and Asians.

"The typical horses (Equus) are distinguishable from the asses
(Asimts) by the presence of warts upon the hind-legs as well as upon
the fore- legs, by their broad rounded hoofs, and by their tails begin-
ning to throw off long hairs from the base, instead of having these
hairs confined, as a sort of pencil, to the extremity of the tail. Up
to a recent period all the wild species of Equns known to science
were referable to the second of these sections, that is, to the sub-
genus Asians, known from Equns by the absence of warts or callos-
ities on the hind-legs, by the contracted hoofs, and by the long hairs
of the tail being restricted to the extremity of that organ. . . .

" Under the circumstances great interest was manifested when it
was known that Przcvalsky, on his return from his third great jour-
ney into Central Asia, had brought back with him to St. Petersburg
VOL. II.

which man first learned to prize. Remote
antiquity knew only how to employ the horse
in war, in which it still shines. But whatever
may be said, its intelligence is limited. What
the horse is at the present day it owes to the
training founded on its docility and curiosity.

[The behaviour of wild horses in Patagonia is
graphically described in more than one passage by
Lady Florence Dixie in her account of her journey
across that part of the South American continent.
" After a time," she writes in one place, " we came
to a region evidently much frequented by wild
horses, and eventually we hit on a path worn by
them right through the woods, and following this,
we jogged along at a very fair pace. Soon our
horses began to neigh and prick up their ears as
we advanced towards a clearing. Their cries were
answered from somewhere beyond us, and pushing
forward into the open we came upon a herd of
wild horses, who, hearing our advance, had stopped
grazing, and now they stood collected in a knot
together, snorting and stamping, and staring at us
in evident amazement. One of their number came
boldly trotting out to meet us, and evidently with
no pacific intentions; his wicked eye, and his white
teeth, which he had bared fiercely, looked by no
means reassuring. But suddenly he stopped short,
looked at us for a moment, and then with a wild
snort dashed madly away, followed by the whole
herd. They disappeared like lightning over the
brow of a deep ravine, to emerge again to our view
after a couple of seconds, scampering like goats up

an example of a new species of wild horse, which belonged, in some
of its characters at least, to true Equus. . . .

"Przevalsky's wild horse has warts on its hind-legs as well as on its
fore-legs, and has broad hoofs like the true horse. But the long
hairs of the tail, instead of commencing at the base, do not begin
until about half-way down the tail. In this respect Equns przevalskii
is intermediate between the true horse and the asses. It also differs
from typical Equus in having a short, erect mane, and in having no
forelock, that is, no bunch of hairs in front of the mane falling
down over the forehead. ... Its whole general colour is of a
whitish-gray, paler and whiter beneath, and reddish on the head.
The legs are reddish to the knees, and thence blackish down to the
hoofs. It is of small stature, but the legs are very thick and strong,
and the head is large and heavy. The ears are smaller than those
of the asses.

" Przevalsky's wild horse inhabits the great Dsungarian Desert
between the Altai and Tianshan Mountains, where it is called by
the Tartars ' Kertag,' and by the Mongols ' Statur.' It is met with
in troops of from five to fifteen individuals, led by an old stallion.
Apparently the rest of these troops consist of mares, which all
belong to the single stallion. They are lively animals, very shy,
and with highly-developed organs of sight, hearing, and smelling.

" They keep to the wildest part of the desert, and are very hard to
approach. They seem to prefer especially the saline districts, and
to be able to do long without water." — TR.

40

THE ODD-TOED UNGULATES.

its opposite side, which rose almost perpendicular
to a height of six or seven hundred feet. They
reached its crest at full gallop in the twinkling of
an eye, and without pausing an instant disappeared
again, leaving us wondering and amazed at their
marvellous agility. I had often seen their paths
leading up hill-sides which a man could scarcely
climb; but till now that I had witnessed a specimen
of their powers with my own eyes, I had scarcely
believed them possessed of a nitnbleness and clever-
ness of foot that would not discredit a chamois."
— Across Patagonia, chap, xvii.]

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND DESCENT
OF THE ODD-TOED UNGULATES.

The present Geographical Distribution of
the Perissodactyla would be altogether unin-
telligible if the relations to the extinct types
did not shed some light upon the question,
without, however, solving all difficulties. We
must trace the stems of the different families
back to their deepest roots, in order to obtain
some fairly valid indications on the subject.

The Rock-badger Family (Hyracida] is an
essentially African type, which, however, has
advanced further east and has spread into
Syria, Palestine, and Stony Arabia, where
suitable conditions of life offered. Hitherto
no direct fossil predecessors of this family
have been found. But we must here take
into consideration the fact that the soil of
Africa is precisely that which has as yet been
least examined with reference to palaeontology.
On the other hand, we know a pretty large
number of fossil Perissodactyla derived from
the upper Eocene and Miocene strata (Lophio-
therium, Tapirulus, Hyracodon, &c.), which
approach the Hyracida in size, in the general
character of their dentition, and in particular
in the structure of their teeth, and which
therefore might well be their remote ancestors.
The type would accordingly be one that had
been very little modified since Eocene times.

In the case of the Tapirs it is altogether
different. They occupy at the present day
two widely-distinct centres in the tropics, the

larger in south America, the other in the
Malay Peninsula and on the islands of Borneo
and Sumatra; and what is very remarkable,
the shabrack-tapir of the Sunda Islands is not
so different from the Brazilian tapir as this
is from the highly- interesting neighbouring
mountain species of Colombia, out of which
the genus Elasmognathus has been formed.
We find the explanation of this striking
phenomenon in the fact that during Eocene
times the entire surface of the earth, with the
exception of Australia, was inhabited by con-
siderable numbers of tapir-like animals, which
have indeed been continued down to present
times, but have become steadily reduced in
numbers while their domains have become
more and more limited. These animals,
which are distributed by palaeontologists
among numerous genera, were represented
by different genera on the two sides of the
ocean. The genus Lophiodon in Europe,
those of Hyrachyus and Helaletes in America,
were the ancestors of genera which already,
in the Miocene of Europe, approached very
near to the true tapirs, while this approxima-
tion in America did not become very marked
till the close of the Tertiary period. On the
other hand, their domain on the mainland of
the Old World became contracted much earlier
than on the New. Tapirs still existed in
Quaternary times in North America, and it
was only in the present geological period that
they became confined to South America. I
would insist especially on the great difference
between the original American and Oriental
stocks. These two stocks approach one
another by a gradual process of development,
each for itself and independently of the other,
producing at last two species so closely re-
sembling one another as the Malayan tapir
and the Brazilian anta, which are so widely
separated from each other in space.

The other two families of Perissodactyla
now living, the rhinoceroses and the horses,
agree in being now entirely restricted to the
Old World, while they are both represented,

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND DESCENT.

59

ami that in quite respectable numbers, among
tht: fossil remains of the New.

Let us speak first of the Rhinoceroses. At
the present clay we have about eight or nine
species, half of which inhabit tropical Africa,
while the other half are confined to India ami
the Sunda I slands. All the African rhinoceroses
have two horns; in Asia there are both one-
horned and two-horned species. All these
species approach one another so closely that
they can hardly be grouped with propriety
into sub-genera.

The distribution during the Quaternary
period was quite different from the present.
Rhinoceroses were then found everywhere;
in the extreme north as well as in the tropics,
on the highest mountains (16,000 feet above
sea-level in Tibet) as well as on low-lying
plains, in the Old as well as in the New
World. We know about twenty species from
Quaternary, Pliocene, and Miocene strata,
and we can trace their descent backwards to
the time of the Upper Eocene. Step by step
we can demonstrate the gradual modifications
by which the old rhinoceroses have arrived
at their present forms. The old types (Acera-
therium) had no horns, and the development
of the horns, which have mostly got separated
from the fossil skulls, can be traced on the
nasal bones, which at last come to be streng-
thened by a bony partition, to enable them to
carry the enormous outgrowths by which they
are surmounted. But in this case also we
can follow out in the two hemispheres two
different independent lines, derived from dif-
ferent stocks, which gradually approach nearer
to one another, and which in Europe pass
from the Palseotheria through the hornless
forms (Aceratherium) to the true rhinoceroses;
while in America the original genera are called
Colonoceras, Diceratherium, and Amycodon,
and are totally different from the European
stem-forms. But in America there were only
hornless forms, which die out with the Plio-
cene; while in the Old World the type is
continued down to the present time, though

getting gradually more restricted in the area
of its domain, which in Quaternary times
was far more extensive. A rhinoceros with
enormous horns and a bony nasal septum
(AY/, tichorhinus) was the faithful companion
of the mammoth, and, like this elephant, had
a thick fleece as a protection against the
severe cold of the Polar Regions.

The Wild Horses finally have a pretty
simple distribution in the present-day fauna.
The "tiger-horses" are inhabitants of tropical
and sub-tropical Africa. The asses with a
coat of uniform colour hail from the steppes
and deserts of Asia, and the wild ass distributed
over the western shores of the Red Sea forms
the connecting link. But in this family we see
astonishing circumstances in relation to the
origin.

One of the most beautiful discoveries of
the palaeontology of the present day is that
of the two parallel lines in which the horse
type has gradually developed in the Old and
the New World. In the latter have been
found small five-toed animals of the size of a
fox (Eohippus Phenacodus) in strata belonging
to the Lower Eocene, and from this all the
different stages up to the Quaternary horse
(Eguus eurvidens) have been discovered with-
out the omission of one. Every geological
series of strata has revealed a separate genus
different from that of the preceding group,
and these successive genera approach the
modern horse step by step through the in-
crease in the size of the body, through the
multiplication and increasing development
and complexity of the enamel folds in the
cheek-teeth, and through the gradual reduc-
tion in the number and size of the toes. In
the Lower Eocene genera the tendency to-
wards a reduction in the five toes present is
already manifest. The middle toe is the
longest and strongest ; the second and fourth
digits are equal in length, and though some-
what shorter than the middle one, still fur-
nished with broad hoofs, which, without doubt,
touched the ground. The fifth digit is much

6o

THE ODD-TOED UNGULATES.

smaller, has the last phalanx pointed, and,
there can be no doubt, both it and the first
digit, or pollex, which is quite rudimentary,
bore a false claw, which could touch the earth
only on sinking into soft or marshy ground.
Henceforth the first digit disappears entirely.
In Orohippus from the Middle and Upper
Eocene the fifth still carries a false claw, but
in Mesohippus from the Lower, and Miohip-
pus from the Upper Miocene, is already re-
duced to the metacarpal (or metatarsal) bone,
having no phalanges, while the second and
fourth digits have become smaller. In Pro-
tohippus from the Lower Pliocene, as well as
in the succeeding genera, the metacarpal bone
of the fifth digit has also vanished, and the
second and fourth digits no longer carry hoofs
but claws. Then these two digits likewise
get reduced to their metacarpal bones in
Pliohippus belonging to the Upper Pliocene.
The last member of this long series of genera
forming successive links in an unbroken chain
was a horse which was similar to the domes-
ticated horse, but possessed rather differently
formed incisors, and which, during the Qua-
ternary period, roamed over the whole of
America, both North and South, so that it
has left remains in the deposits of the Pampas,
as well as in the caves of Brazil and the
alluvium of the United States.

In the Old World we have a similar though
a less complete series. Our horses appear
to be traceable back to the Palaeotherium as
their stem-form, this being an equivocal in-
termediate type with four toes on the fore-
feet, and apparently also the stem from which
the rhinoceroses have been derived. But in
the genus Anchitherium of the Upper Eocene
and the Lower Miocene the equine characters
are already expressed with the utmost dis-
tinctness in the dentition as well as in the
structure of the feet, and may be traced
through the genus Hipparion, corresponding,
we may say, to the American Protohippus,
a genus which had three toes, and whose

numerous remains, found in Upper Miocene
deposits at Pikermi in Greece and Sansans
at the foot of the Pyrenees, prove that these
elegant animals then traversed southern Eu-
rope in numerous herds.

I cannot enter into details here, but will
only state that none of the genera belonging
to the series in the evolution of the American
horses is identical with any one of those
belonging to the succession on this side of the
ocean, and that the initial differences are
greater than those at the end of the two series.
The difference between the Anchitherium of
the Lower Miocene of Europe and the
Mesohippus on the same horizon in America
is considerable, while the differences between
the Quaternary horses of the two hemispheres
are but slight. The series have accordingly
approached one another instead of presenting
increasing divergencies. But in both series
is seen the same tendency to form out of
small, plump, plantigrade or semi-plantigrade
animals, omnivorous in their diet, and pro-
bably dwellers in marshy districts, larger,
slimmer, light-footed herbivora inhabiting dry
steppes.

To sum up, we see in the Perissodactyla a
great original and old order which has gradu-
ally declined in the process of geological
evolution. The stems to which we can now
with greater or less probability refer the
branches of our present fauna were much
more varied, much richer in forms than they
are now. There has been a gradual decay
along with a one-sided development. By
domestication the highly specialized type of
the horses has reconquered the domain which
it had lost at the beginning of the present
geological epoch; the other types, not capable
of domestication, seem to be surely advancing
towards extinction, in which several pretty
rare types have preceded them, types which
have gradually died out in the course of
evolution, and of which we do not need to
speak here.

EVEN-TOED UNGULATES

(ARTIODACTYLA).

Ungulates of very variable size, almost always with an even number of toes, which are arranged about two parallel
axes running through the middle line of the second and fourth digits. The thigh-bone has no third trochanter.
The stomach shows a tendency to subdivision. The originally complete dentition gets gradually specialized
and reduced. The teats are abdominal and inguinal. Placenta diffuse.

This order, now the most numerous after
the Rodents, presents similar phenomena to
those which we have observed in the previous
one. In it, if we consider only the members
now living, we in fact recognize two pretty
different series of forms, which would neces-
sitate a division into two orders, the rumi-
nants on the one hand, and the pigs or
many- toed ungulates on the other; but when
we enter into the details of the organization,
and especially also into those of fossil forms,
then we must acknowledge that the lines
of demarcation fall away one after the other,
and that even among the living forms these
limits are not so complete as those which
separate the tapirs and rhinoceroses from the
horses. Among the palaeontological remains
we find proofs of an evolution similar to that
which we have traced in the perissodactyles.
Out of the originally clumsy and heavy forms
with a complete dentition and at least four
toes touching the earth have at last arisen
slender, shapely forms with elegant limbs,
in which the toes are reduced to two and the
dentition is no longer complete. The many-
toed forms with complete dentition of our
present fauna approach more closely to the
ancestral stem-forms, from which have sprung,
as palaeontology proves, the two-toed forms

with incomplete dentition, those, namely,
which have been called the Ruminants, on
account of a special function, while the others
may be called the Many-toed (Polydactyla).

The predominant character of the Artio-
dactyla is that which is presented by the
structure of the feet, which always have the
toes clothed with hoofs, and which are
adapted only for locomotion. All these ani-
mals "divide the hoof," as the Bible says; in
other words, the toes are arranged in pairs,
and there are two equivalent widely separate
axes formed by the third and fourth digits.
The first or innermost digit is wanting even
in the ancestral forms, which have four almost
equal toes, with the corresponding meta-
carpal and metatarsal bones quite separate;
while both bones of the lower fore-limb and
hind-limb, that is, the radius and ulna in the
one case, and the tibia and fibula in the other
case, are likewise separate and attain an equal
degree of development. This structure of
the limbs has been preserved in the hippo-
potamus. The two lateral digits, the second
and the fourth, then get steadily reduced in
size in the general evolution of the group.
The two middle toes alone touch the ground ;
the two lateral ones are shorter, but still carry
false or accessory hoofs ; the two middle toes

THE EVEN-TOED UNGULATES.

have their metacarpal or metatarsal bones
still separable; and the bones of the limbs,
radius and ulna in the fore-limb, tibia and
fibula in the hind-limb, still persist as distinct
bones. This structure is that seen in the
pigs. Everyone knows that a pig's foot may
be split along its whole length to the wrist or
ankle. The reduction in the toes advances
still further in the peccaries, that peculiar
family of American pigs. In one species the
inner toe of the hind-foot has vanished, so
that this foot is only three-toed, and the
metatarsal bones of the middle toes begin to
get fused at their upper ends. Step by step
we can follow in the same manner the reduc-
tion of the radius and fibula, that of the two
lateral toes, and the fusion of the principal
metacarpal and metatarsal bones, in the fossil
forms as well as in those now living. A
genus of living musk-yielding animals, Hyae-
moschus, which has also been found fossil,
still presents astonishing similarities to the
peccaries in the structure of its limbs. The
ulna, which in the other ruminants is reduced
to a rudiment, still exists entire and quite
separate from the radius. The metacarpal
bones are not fused, while in the hind-limbs
the tibia and fibula are completely fused and
the metatarsal bones united at their lower
end. The fusion goes on in such a manner
that in the other ruminants, as in the horses,
there comes to be only a single metacarpal
or metatarsal bone, which, however, is dis-
tinguished from that of the Solidungula by
always having more or less well-marked lon-
gitudinal grooves running down the middle
line both before and behind, indicating the
place of fusion of bones which are still sepa-
rate in the embryo. This bone carries only
the two middle toes, and at its lower end
shows two rounded joint-surfaces correspond-
ing to them. The two side toes gradually
disappear, but are still represented externally
by prominences and so-called false or acces-
sory hoofs, and are recognizable in the skele-
ton by small style-like bones. Finally, in the

giraffe the limbs have reached the last stage
of simplification: there is neither ulna nor
fibula; the metacarpals and metatarsals are
simple, without any visible groove or any trace
of lateral toes. It will be seen that the process
, of simplification in this case is similar to that
which we observed in the Perissodactyla,
with only this difference, that in these there
was only a single dominant toe, while in the
Artiodactyla the changes all took place in
relation to two toes of equal importance.

We do not intend to enter into details re-
garding the modifications which the different
bones of the limbs undergo, but must, never-
theless, remark that the astragalus, the bone
which is so characteristic in the ankle of the
hind-foot, has a very different form from that
which it presents in the Perissodactyla, so
that we can say at the first glance whether
this bone belongs to a member of the one
order or the other.

The dentition likewise presents remarkable
transitional series. Originally all these ani-
mals had forty-four teeth in all, three incisors,
one canine, and seven cheek-teeth in each half
of the jaw, and this number has only got re-
duced at a comparatively late period; for even
in the ruminants, which have neither upper
incisors nor canines, there are found in the
embryos the germs of these teeth, which never
get developed. In an Eocene artiodactyle,
the Anoplotherium, we even find all the teeth
in continuous close-set rows of equal height,
as in man. The cheek-teeth are always com-
plex in structure; composed of eminences or
wrinkled and folded tubercles as in our pre-
sent pigs, forming the type of the Bunodontia,
or, as in our ruminants, of half-moon-shaped
enamel folds, forming the type of the Seleno-
dontia. Now the specialization of the teeth
goes on hand in hand both with their reduction
in number and with the change in the habits
of the animals from an omnivorous to a purely
vegetable diet, which change again is con-
nected with the conversion of sturdy thickset
forms into slender ones and with the loss or

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.

transposition of the weapons of attack and
defence. The incisors, which stand vertically
in the upper jaw but are almost horizontal in
the lower, gradually disappear altogether in
the former. While the pigs have in all six
incisors in the upper jaw, the hippopotamuses
have only four, the camels only two, and in
all other ruminants they are altogether absent.
On the other hand, the lower incisors in the
latter are increased by a pair, so that their
total number is brought up to eight. It is
probable indeed that the outermost pair con-
sist of canines which have got displaced for-
wards. The canines, which in the hippopo-
tamuses, pigs, musk-deer, and chevrotains
are formidable weapons, always more highly
developed in the male than in the female, are
reduced in size in the camels and most of the
deer family, and disappear entirely in the
other ruminants. It cannot, however, be
said that the growth of horns is an equivalent
for the loss of the canines, for the muntjac
has both horns and large canines, which are
used by it as weapons. The number of
the cheek-teeth, which are separated by an
interval from the front-teeth, and can often
be distinguished by their external form as
molars and premolars, diminishes through the
loss of the latter. The last molar exhibits a
manifest tendency to increase in size, and
this tendency is so marked in the wart-hogs
that the masticating surface in them belongs
wholly to this single enormously enlarged
molar.

There is little to say regarding the internal
organization. The brain and the skull are
always very small in relation to the size of the
body and the development of the elongated
jaws. The brain itself exhibits a peculiar
system of convolutions, which, in the smaller
forms, are more simple, in the larger more
complex. The cerebral hemispheres never
cover the cerebellum, and they even leave a
portion of the mid-brain exposed. More-
over, the Artiodactyla in general stand upon
a very low level of intelligence, which, how-

ever, does not prevent them from having a
certain keenness of sense.

Among the anatomical features we would
draw attention also to the tendency of the
stomach to become subdivided, a tendency
which goes hand in hand with the change
from a miscellaneous to a purely vegetable
diet. In the Perissodactyla this change of
habits affected chiefly the colon and caecum.
Most of the pigs still have a simple stomach.
In the hippopotamuses and peccaries that
portion of the stomach into which the oeso-
phagus or gullet opens, the so-called cardiac
end, is divided into two, making three parts
in all. This threefold division is maintained
likewise in the chevrotains; but in the other
ruminants the other end of the stomach, the
pyloric end, is also divided into two parts,
so that the stomach now consists of four dif-
ferent sacs, which have four distinct functions.

Only in the pigs are the teats found ex-
tending in pairs along the whole length of the
abdomen. In the other Artiodactyla they are
situated in the region of the groin (placed in-
guinally). The placenta is always diffuse,
spread over the whole surface of the ovum;
but while in the pigs, camels, and chevrotains
the placenta has still preserved a primitive
character, being composed of delicate isolated
tufts, these form in the other ruminants more
compact masses, which have been called coty-
ledons.

Almost all Artiodactyla live socially, often
in numberless herds, which, however, are
without that more or less intelligent organ-
ization observable in troops of horses or
societies of monkeys. Some rely for their
safety on their strength, others on their
speed. Although these animals are mostly
stupid and unintelligent, yet certain of their
senses, as smelling and hearing, may be
extraordinarily keen and delicate. They can
scarcely be said to show any attachment to
man, who, nevertheless, has domesticated a
great number of them. In all, without ex-
ception, even in the most peaceably disposed,

64

THE NON-RUMINANT OR MANY-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

we can observe a liability to sudden accesses
of fury, the causes of which it is difficult to
guess, though they may be so violent as to
lead the animals affected thereby to dash
blindly against everything that stands in
their way. Yet among all the orders of the
Mammalia this is probably the one that is
most useful to man, who derives the greatest
advantage from it in respect of clothing, food,
and labour. If in civilized countries it is
impossible to dispense with the hollow-horned
animals, such as the ox, sheep, and goat,
which yield us their wool, milk, and flesh,
and are in part an important aid in field

labour, the steppes and the deserts would be
impassable without camels, and the existence
of the Polynesian and Malayan races would
be endangered if they were deprived of pigs,
as that of the Polar races would be impossible
without the reindeer.

We adopt two subordinate groups or sub-
orders: the Non-ruminant many-toed forms
(Polydactyla), which comprise the hippopo-
tamuses and the pigs, constituting one; and
the Ruminants (Biclactyla), to which belong
the musk-deer, the true deer, the hollow-
horned animals, the giraffe, and camels con-
stituting the other.

GROUP OF THE
NON-RUMINANT OR MANY-TOED ARTIODACTYLA

(POLYDACTYLA).

THE HIPPOPOTAMUS
OR RIVER-HORSE FAMILY

(OBESA).

The River-horses (Hippopotamus) rival and
even, if possible, surpass the rhinoceroses in
ugliness. They form a specially African
type, which consists of only two species, the
smaller of which (H. liberiensis), almost a
dwarf form, hitherto found only in the repub-
lic of Liberia, is but little known. This
dwarf species, which has many affinities to
a fossil form found in Europe (H. minor),
attains only the size of a tapir, while the
well-known species kept in our zoological
gardens, the Common Hippopotamus (H.
amphibius), which inhabits the whole of Cen-
tral Africa, and even extends to the Cape,
and which is figured in a full-page illustration
(PI. XXII.), attains a length of about 15 feet
and a weight of about 2^ tons.

It is with good reason that the river-horses
have been taken as the type of a separate
family under the name of Obesa, the stout
animals. Everything about them is heavy
and large. The enormous belly almost drags
on the ground; the feet are short, massive,
somewhat twisted, and have four rounded
hoofs on the short toes, which are connected
together by an insignificant swimming mem-
brane; the neck is short and thick, the head
massive, long, and almost level on the surface,
the tail short and furnished with a few thick
bristles arranged in the form of a tuft. The
hide, at least three-fourths of an inch in
thickness, forms great folds on the shoulders
and thighs, and is quite naked except for a
few thinly scattered hairs in the folds. It is
of a dirty copper colour. There is no other
mammal which creates such an impression of
a formless mass of revolting nakedness as the
hippopotamus does.

The enormous head has the form of an

PLATE XXII. - THE HIPPOPOTAMUS (Hippopotamus amphibiui).

THE HIPPOPOTAMUS.

elongated rectangle, somewhat contracted
below the eyes and rounded off in front with
a thick snout, on which the nostrils open in
the form of S-shaped slits. The eyes are
small and surrounded by a projecting orbit.
The cars stand at the angles of the back part
of the head, where it sinks abruptly down
towards the neck, and are small and in the
form of pointed paper-cornets. When the
animal is in the water, its true element, it so
to speak drives this unshapely head along
the surface in such a manner that only the
ears, eyes, and nostrils are visible above the
water, which forms a small pool on the
depressed part between the eyes and nostrils.
The latter open in breathing with a great
noise and can be hermetically closed in diving.
( )nly when the creature leaves the water can
we see the muzzle, on which the upper lip is
puffed up at the sides so as to conceal the
tusks, and this gives a peculiar curved form
to the opening of the mouth.

The skull of the animal is elongated in
consequence of the enormous size of the jaws,
while the brain -case is very small. The
dentition is terrible. In the upper jaw there
are two incisors, one on each side, set in the
two halves of the premaxilla, which are
separated by a wide excavation in the middle.
These incisors resemble short pegs, and are
kept sharp by use. The canines which follow
these incisors form two lateral projections,
and, like the incisors, keep growing without
interruption throughout life. Their crown
is very short, but is kept sharp by use. In
the lower jaws both incisors and canines like-
wise keep constantly growing. The inner
incisors are enormously long and straight,
and directed obliquely forwards and upwards.
In a young hippopotamus, whose last molars
had not yet cut the gum, these teeth were
more than a foot in length and about an inch
and a half in thickness. The outer pair of
lower incisors are smaller, but also of cylin-
drical form. The lower canines are of enor-
mous size, and curved upwards, grooved on

VOL. II.

their enamelled surface and worn away on
their inner face so as to present a sharp
cutting edge at the end. A pretty wide
interval separates the cheek- and front-teeth
in both jaws. In each half of each jaw there
are seven cheek-teeth in all — four premolars
with a conical elevation in the middle, and
three true molars, which, before they are
much worn, exhibit four folded conical
tubercles separated by two deep fissures
forming a cross. Through the effect of use
the crowns come to present to view in place
of the tubercles four figures like clover-leaves
surrounded by stripes of enamel. This figure
is characteristic of the teeth of adult hippo-
potamuses.

The "behemoth ' of the Bible is an essen-
tially herbivorous and aquatic animal. For-
merly extending from the mouths of the Nile
to the rivers of the Cape, it has now been
pushed back into the interior by the advance
of civilization, and in proportion as the rifle
shooting heavy bullets with great power of
penetration advances up the rivers and lakes
of Central Africa will this huge animal
gradually disappear. The natives hunt it
successfully by hurling against it harpoons
attached to floats, and then killing it with
lances after terrible battles. But these are
always only isolated encounters which cannot
seriously diminish the numbers of the herds.

The hippopotamus is on the whole a
nocturnal animal, and where it has made
acquaintance with firearms leaves the water
only by night, or if by day, only to bask in
the sun on sand-banks and islands out of
range of bullets. In the rivers and lakes
whose banks are occupied by tasty plants
rich in starch, such as it can easily uproot by
means of its incisors and canines, it remains
constantly in the water while seeking its food ;
but, on the other hand, where the banks are
naked it quits the water in order to browse in
the neighbouring woods and plantations, which
it devastates in a piteous manner. Besides
the fact of its having tolerably palatable flesh,

41

66

THE NON-RUMINANT OR MANY-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

a hide yielding a good thick leather, and
tusks affording an ivory as highly esteemed
as that derived from the elephant, it is chiefly
these devastations that have always drawn
down upon it the furious persecution of the
colonists.

It is a peaceable animal, a capital swimmer
and diver, able to remain five minutes under
the water without coming up to breathe, and
fond of roaming about on dry land in the
evening, when it will sport with other members
of its own species, bellowing with joy in a
voice which, according to the negroes, is equal
to that of a hundred oxen. It spends the day
in inactivity, and then affords an opportunity
to insect-eating birds to wander about on its
back hunting out the numerous parasites by
which it is infested. It is said that these
birds also serve as sentinels to the hippo-
potamus, giving it warning by their cries of
the approach of danger. The only danger
to which the hippopotamus is exposed is that
which is due to man ; other animals take
good care not to attack this Titan. The
stories told of battles between hippopotamuses,
lions, and crocodiles are mere fables. The
females of the species are tenderly attached
to their young, which follow them about in
the water a few hours after birth, and often
sit riding on their back.

When wounded or pursued, or when from
any cause it falls into a fury, the hippopotamus
becomes terrible. It attacks boats, which it
shatters between its formidable jaws, crushes
men to death with its teeth, or tramples them
with its paws, and sometimes it will dart
upon its opponent from some place of con-
cealment with the rapidity of lightning, over-
turning every obstacle by its mere momentum.
The mothers appear to take revenge for their
slaughtered and captured young even a con-
siderable time after these have been lost.
The narratives of travellers and natives are
full of exciting accounts of hunts after and
battles with these terrible beasts, which are
all the more dangerous since even the heaviest

bullets can pierce their hide only at short
distances, and the animal is remarkably
tenacious of life.

Even the ancient Romans brought hippo-
potamuses to Europe for their games in the
circus, In our time some specimens are to
be seen in all zoological gardens, where they
have even multiplied. Their intelligence is
certainly very obtuse, and their keepers must
always be on their guard; and so likewise
must the spectators — for the hippopotamus
has the habit of ejecting its semi-fluid excre-
ment out of the water to a distance of perhaps
twenty yards, this process being accompanied
by jerking movements of the tail.

THE PIG FAMILY

(SUIDA).

The pigs or hogs form a separate family,
characterized for the most part by having the
upper canines almost always directed upwards,
while the lower canines are so closely applied
to them that the two together on each side
form only a single tusk. With the exception
of the peccaries, which have the upper canines
directed downwards in the normal manner,
the pigs do not defend themselves by biting,
but make thrusts to the right and left and
from beneath upwards with these laterally
projecting weapons. The muzzle is drawn
out in the form of a proboscis, and spread
out at the end into a disc in which the
nostrils open. With this very tough instru-
ment, which is supported internally by the
cartilage of the nose, the animal digs up the
earth. The incisors are three in number in
each half of each jaw, but the upper ones are
very apt to be lost, and not infrequently do
not cut the gum at all. The cheek-teeth are
composed of numerous tubercles arranged in
folds. The eyes are small, the ears always
erect, pointed, paper-cornet-shaped; only in
the domestic forms do they become broad
and pendent. The hide is covered with stiff
bristles, which often become lengthened to

PLATE XXIII. - THE WILD BOAR

THE PIG FAMILY.

67

form a sort of mane. The legs are thin in
the lower parts; only the two middle digits
touch the ground, and these are completely
encased by hoofs; the lateral digits are short
and carry accessory hoofs. The tail is
rather short, sometimes even quite unde-
veloped; when present it carries a tuft of
long bristles. The teats are numerous, and
are situated on the abdomen. In most cases
the young have a striped or spotted coat.

All members of the family are social and
nocturnal in their habits, omnivorous in their
diet, given to frequenting waters and marshes,
and fond of wallowing in mire. They live
in more or less numerous troops, and feed on
all that they find. Though they consume
principally plants, roots, and tubers, they
have no hesitation in devouring the living
animals that fall in their way, and do not
leave even carrion untouched. Notwith-
standing their voracity, their frequently dis-
gusting food, and their habits, it cannot be
said that they are in themselves filthy animals.
They dig with their snouts in the ground,
wallow in mire, rub themselves against trees
to coat their bristles with resin, but they
always choose out a particular place far from
their lair in which to deposit their dung. By
day they remain inactive, and they go about
in search of their food by night. The banks
of rivers and pools, bogs and marshes are
their favourite resorts. They run and gallop
tolerably well, uttering loud grunts, are excel-
lent swimmers, and are assisted in this mode
of locomotion by a thick layer of fat developed
between the skin and the muscles. Their
sense of smell is very acute. They follow
the track of a wounded animal like dogs, and
manage to find out underground fungi and
tubers by means of their nose. Their hear-
ing is likewise very keen, but the other senses
are obtuse.

Usually peaceable, but by no means timid
animals, the pigs know how to defend them-
selves both against beasts of prey and against
man, when they find that they cannot escape

by flight. They support one another in their
battles; the males, which are always better
armed, defend the females and young with
courage, and though not always victorious
they are antagonists not to be despised.

The genera which we distinguish in this
family are distributed over both hemispheres;
but the pigs of the Old World are altogether
different from those of America. We will
begin with the former.

The true Pigs, forming the genus Sus,
have preserved more of the original characters
than the other members of the family, and if
one will speak of antediluvian animals it is
rather the pigs than the much more recent
hippopotamuses, as is usually the case, that
should be so designated.

In PI. XXIII is represented a family of
wild boars (Sits scrofa) belonging to our own
division of the globe. This species has a
very remarkable geographical distribution.
It is found in all Asia and Europe, including
the islands of the Mediterranean and the
countries round, and extends even to the
neighbourhood of the Arctic zone. A species
so widely distributed could not fail to exhibit
local varieties or races, which may present
considerable differences among one another.
It is, therefore, not to be wondered at when
we find that each of the Sunda Islands has its
own race, which has been described by many-
naturalists as a separate species, or that the
wild pigs of the Atlas are a little different
from those of Central Europe, which latter
again can be very easily distinguished from
their Indian kindred. The difficulties arising
from this production of local varieties are
multiplied by the facility with which all these
races can be habituated to a certain kind of
domestication, though just as ready to revert
with equal rapidity to the wild condition when
opportunity offers. Now, since the wild-
boar has been domesticated from the earliest
times in Egypt as well as in the East, there
arises therefrom an extraordinarily intricate
problem, since the naturalist always has to

68

THE NON-RUMINANT OR MANY-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

meet the question whether he has to do
with a reversion to the wild state, or an
adaptation to the conditions of more or less
complete domestication.

Be that as it may, our wild-boar has its
head in the form of an elongated pyramid,
with a flat brow and thick proboscis, behind
which project the strong sharp tusks. The
ears are small, erect, the legs pretty short but
elegantly shaped, the tail curled and adorned
with a long terminal tuft. The body is thinly
covered with black bristles with yellow points,
and these stand up as a mane on the back of
the neck. The general colour is dark gray
since the surface of the skin is black.

The dentition shows in the upper jaw six
sharp incisors, close set in a long curved line
on the edge of the very narrow premaxilla,
two massive canines grooved on the outside
and directed outwards and , upwards, and
seven close-set cheek-teeth. The first pre-
molar is very small and laterally compressed;
the three next in order gradually increase in
size till we come to the true molars, the last
of which is as long as the two immediately in
front taken together. The crowns of the
cheek-teeth consist of tubercles with numerous
folds and furrows, and those of the lower jaw
also are similar in structure. In this jaw,
however, the six sharp incisors are placed
horizontally and directed forwards, while the
strong and long canines, which are triangular
in section, are curved like a bow, and exhibit
behind a polished surface resulting from
friction against the upper canine. The first
very small but sharp premolar stands pretty
close behind the canine, and is separated by
a considerable interval from the other teeth,
which form a continuous series.

Fortunately for agriculture wild-boars are
almost entirely extirpated in civilized coun-
tries. Among us l they are still kept in closed
parks for the sake of the pleasures of the
chase — a chase no longer dangerous. They
still live in perfect freedom after the manner

1 That is, in Germany. — TR.

of all pigs in a few large forests and in unculti-
vated districts. Formerly they were hunted
with packs of strong and well-knit dogs,
against which they show an instinctive hatred.
When after a bloody battle, in which several
dogs were usually ripped open, the wild-
boar was driven into a corner, it received
its death-blow from a particular kind of lance
or spear (whence this form of sport is known
as "pig-sticking"), or from the hunting-knife,
which the hunter rested against his knee.
The wild-boar would charge the huntsman,
who was then placed in great danger if he
did not succeed in transfixing the animal
with his weapon. At the present day plat-
forms are erected on which the hunters can
stand in safety while the game is driven past
them. Boar-hunting has come to signify
shooting for a wager at a rolling disc. The
flesh of a wild-boar more than two years old
is decidedly bad — tough and hard; that of
sucklings and porkers, on the other hand, is
excellent, and the head and snout are particu-
larly esteemed.

The domesticated races have arisen from
numerous crosses between varieties origin-
ally reared in the country to which they be-
long. Our wild -boar, and another smaller
variety with longer legs, the wild-boar of the
lake-dwellings (Sus palustris], the wild-boars
of India and the Sunda Islands, perhaps even
the river-hogs of Africa have contributed
to the production of these races, in which
domestication and selection have given rise
to remarkable characters — hanging ears, head
truncated behind, face marked with folds and
furrows, shortened snout, and other characters
which are described in detail by Nathusius
and Riitimeyer, but which we cannot enter
upon here.

The African Hogs are distinguished by
bony excrescences on the sides of the face.

In the River-hogs (Potamochcerus) these
excrescences form two rounded and not very
prominent swellings. In the illustration on
the opposite page is represented the oldest

THL-: PIG FAMILY.

69

known species, the Red River-hog of Guinea
(/'. />i>ir/ts (paiicillatns) ), fig. 153, which
attains the length of rather more than three
fei-t exclusive ol the tail. The river-hogs are
distinguished from ordinary pigs by their more
slender forms, longer legs, thinner bellies,
and especially by the dentition, which always

wants one premolar, so that they have only
40 teeth in all. The bristles are finer, and
are greatly elongated on the middle line of
the back, on the abdomen, and on the sides
of the face where they form whiskers. The
most striking external character consists in
the form of the ears, which are long pointed

Fig. 153. — The Red River-hog (Potamocharus farcus).

paper-cornet-like organs, the points of which
are considerably prolonged by tufts of fine
bristles. It is on account of this structure
that a name meaning "tufted hogs"1 is applied
to the members of this genus in German.
The species shown in the illustration above is
of a beautiful dark orange-brown colour; the
brow, cheeks, ears, and slim legs are black ;
the ear-tufts, whiskers, eyebrows, and mane
white; the delicate long snout of a grayish
colour. It is the most highly coloured of all
pigs. Another species with a less variegated
coat was discovered by Stanley near Lake
Tanganyika. The very agile young ones of
this species have a striped coat. They live
in troops in marshy districts. In captivity

1 Pinselschweine.

they are comparatively gentle animals, yet
liable to accesses of sudden fury.

The Wart-hogs of Africa (Phacochcerus)
certainly form one of the ugliest types known
among animals. Two species are distin-
guished, the Emgalo of the Cape {Ph. cethio-
picus) and that of Inner Africa (Ph. africanus),
which is spread over the whole of Africa
from the shores of the Red Sea to the ocean.
The distinctions between the two species are
not very important. The first has a shorter
head, broader snout, more prominent cheek-
swellings, and more readily loses the incisors
with advancing years.

The wart-hogs, fig. 154, are of the size of
a wild -boar, with enormous head and long
legs. The body is almost naked, of a dirty

THE NON-RUMINANT OR MANY-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

gray colour, and set with coarse bristles very
sparsely scattered, except on the middle line
of the back, where they form a pretty long
mane which hangs down on both sides. The
cheeks are surrounded by whiskers, and the
short tail carries a tuft. The head forms the

fourth part of the whole length of the body.
Behind, it terminates abruptly in the form of
a quadrangle, at the upper corners of which
are situated the broad, short, sharp-pointed
ears, while small prominent eyes are placed
on the flat brow. Two warty protuberances

Fig. 154. — The Emgalo or /Ethiopian Wart-hog (Phacochasrus cethiopicus], page 69.

as large as the ears rise beneath and in front
of the eyes, like two short, flattened, recurved
horns. A second pair of small warts is found
on the sides of the face near the enormous
tusks, to form which the upper and lower
canines are set close together so as to form
terrible weapons curving upwards and back-
wards. The snout is short, but very broad,
and oval in section. The legs are pretty
long, but strong, and on the joints of the
wrist there are broad callosities or warty
patches. In order to be able to turn up the
soil with greater force the wart-hogs have
acquired the habit of kneeling on these
patches and advancing by pushing with the
hind-feet.

The dentition is very remarkable, unique

in its kind. In the premaxilla there is only
a single incisor on each side, and this is
placed behind a bony eminence supporting
the snout. This pair of incisors, which bend
inwards towards each other, often disappear,
especially in the Cape species. In the lower
jaw there are six incisors arranged in a semi-
circle, and these also in the Cape species
often disappear in the adult. The upper
canines are of enormous size, set in project-
ing sockets, and have their anterior surface
grooved and worn away at the base by
friction against the slender and very sharp-
pointed canines of the lower jaw. In each
half of each jaw the last of the cheek-teeth
is of enormous size, and takes up almost the
whole length of the jaw, while in front of it

THE PIG FAMILY.

there are a few small blunt rudimentary
premolars, which gradually get squeezed out
by this huge molar, or, so to speak, become
included in it. Thus in the skull of a wart-
hog which I now have before my eyes, there
arc three premolars above and below on the
right side and only two on the left, where the

large molar has undergone an elongation
which enables it to replace both in form and
size the absent premolar. The large molar
is at least six times as long as it is broad,
and its chewing surface, which is always
getting worn away while in use, consists of
a double series of oval tubercles surrounded

Fig. 155. — The Babirussa (Porcus iaiirussa).

by enamel, eight to nine in each row, between
which a number of smaller tubercles similarly
isolated are arranged like squares on a chess-
board. These large molars, it will be seen,
are very similar in structure to those of the
elephants.

The wart-hogs live in troops in marshy
regions, and have a certain reputation for
savageness and untamableness. The natives
of the Cape dread them more than they do the
lion. The wart-hogs are fond of hiding in
the holes of other digging animals, and some-
times they dig pits for themselves. Speci-
mens are now often to be seen in zoological
gardens. They are not very sociable, and
show no interest in anything, but are rather
fond of having their unshapely head scratched.

Nevertheless one must constantly be on one's
guard against them. The first specimen
brought to Europe killed its keeper in a
moment of fury.

The Babirussa (Porctis babiriissa (Babirussa
alfurus}}, fig. 155, is a not less remarkable
type found on the island of Celebes and some
of the neighbouring islands, such as the
island of Bouro. It attains almost the size
of an ass, having rather long slim legs. The
hide, of a dirty grayish-black colour, forms
numerous folds, and is set with only a few
stiff bristles. The tail is short, pendent,
straight, without a terminal tuft; the back is
arched. The relatively small head, with
longish pointed proboscis, carries paper-
cornet-shaped ears and small eyes. The

THE NON-RUMINANT OR MANY-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

upper canines have their roots set in sockets
which open upwards, and appear as it were
glued to the sides of the jaw. They pierce
the skin, and in the course of growth get so
bent round that the compressed points come
to lie on the middle line of the forehead. In
profile these teeth have almost the form of

The fourth digit on all the feet remains much
smaller than in all other Suida. Nothing is
known of the mode of life of these animals,
which obviously approach the ruminants in
the characters mentioned.

The American Peccaries (Dicotyles) like-
wise form a separate group approaching the

a chamois horn. The lower tusks are less
curved, more slender, pointed like triangular
daggers, and di-

•

reeled outwards.
They are not
closely applied
to those of the
upper jaw, but
are placed fur-
ther forwards,
and form dan-
gerous weapons.
There are in all
only four incisors
in the upper jaw,
six in the lower.
Each half of each

jaw has tWO Ore- Fig' 'S6-— The Collared Peccary (Dicotyles torqualas).

molars and three molars, the last of which

ruminants in the division of the stomach into
three parts and the loss of the outermost

digit of the hind-
feet. They have
only two incisors
in each half of
the premaxilla,
and often lose
the outer pair.
The canines are
short, but very
strong and sharp-
edged ; they do
not project be-
yond the lips.
The upper ones

is the largest. In the arrangement of the
tubercles of these teeth, which are somewhat
like those of tapirs, there is a remarkable
tendency to the zygodont form.

The mode of life of the babirussa is like
that of the other members of the family.
It runs and swims very well, and defends
itself with courage when driven into a corner.
Specimens have often been brought to
Europe, but like other inhabitants of moist
tropical climes they have not survived long.
A suckling born in a zoological garden was
not striped.

Lastly, among the types belonging to the
Old World we must mention the Pigmy Hogs
(Porcula), discovered by Hodgson in the
Himalayas. They are, in fact, the dwarfs of
the group, attaining the length of scarcely
two feet. The tail is only a stump. The
incisors of these animals remain undeveloped.

are not directed
upwards, but, as
in the ruminants, downwards. Moreover the

peccaries do not butt, but bite.

They are pretty little animals, for the
smaller species, the Collared Peccary (D.
torquatus\ fig. 156, which inhabits the main-
land of America as far north as Mexico, is
only about three feet in length; while the
larger species, the White-lipped Peccary
(D. labiatus), grows to a length of little more
than three feet and a half. The body is
short and thickset, the neck very thick, the
head thick behind, becoming finely pointed
towards the snout, the tail rudimentary, the
legs slim. The general colour is dark-gray;
the stiff and not very thickly planted bristles
are longer on the neck and along the middle
line of the back. The northern species is
marked with a yellowish stripe on the
shoulders, forming a sort of collar. They
have at most three pairs of teats.

All peccaries have on the back a pretty

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.

73

well developed superficial gland, which exudes
an oily fluid with a disagreeable penetrating
odour. When the animal is killed in hunting
this gland must be at once removed with the
adjoining part of the skin, otherwise the
highly palatable llesh of the animal would
become quite unfit for food.

The peccaries are nomads which roam
about in large troops in the forests both by

night and by day. They are not so fond of
marshes as other members of the family, are
often found hiding in hollow trees, and support
each other loyally in battles against beasts
of prey, and especially against dogs. They
are very zealously hunted, but the hunters
always try to single out from the herd a
few individuals, which can then be easily
mastered.

GROUP OF THE

TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA OR RUMINANTS

(DIDACTYLA OR RUMINANTIA).

We have already drawn attention to the
principal characters of this group, and these
we will now only shortly summarize.

The feet are always two-toecl, the toes are
encased in hoofs and mostly articulated to a
single long metacarpal or metatarsal bone,
which is only rarely divided longitudinally,
but for the most part exhibits a trace of the
fusion that has taken place in a longitudinal
groove of greater or less depth. The two
latent digits never touch the ground, and
carry more or less well developed accessory
hoofs. But if, on the one hand, the meta-
carpal and metatarsal bones belonging to
these digits remain for the most part more
or less distinct, in other cases they are rudi-
mentary, and in others again they vanish
altogether with the toes themselves. There
is thus a series of developments by which
the two lateral digits get more and more
reduced, and this series is the continuation
of that which was presented by the preceding
group. At the same time the limbs become
more slender and longer, as the fleetness of
the animal increases. Among the ruminants
we meet with runners which surpass all other
known mammals in point of speed.

In many ruminants there are found on the
hoof-bearing joints of the toes special sacs
formed of folds of the skin lined with hair, at
the bottom of which open numerous glands,
from which an oily, often strongly smelling,
fluid is exuded. The presence of these
so-called interdigital glands often serves to
distinguish genera and groups of genera.
The dentition displays very characteristic
evolutional series, but confined within pretty
narrow limits. In the first place there is
observed a tendency to dispense with the
upper incisors, which often begin to appear
in the embryo, but remain undeveloped
except in the camels, in which a single incisor
survives in each premaxilla. A callous pad
covering the edge of the jaw takes on the
function of the absent teeth. On the other
hand, the number of incisors in the lower jaw
is brought up to eight, which are united in
a semicircle and placed almost horizontally.
This increase perhaps arises in most cases
from the fact that the lower canine assumes
the form of an incisor and gets attached to
the series of true incisors. The upper canines
remain longer distinct, but in the hollow-
horned ruminants and the giraffes they

You II.

74

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

disappear altogether. The true cheek-teeth
are always formed of semi-cylinders, which,
through the disposition of the enamel, exhibits
on the chewing surface a half-moon, the con-
vexity of which in the upper cheek-teeth is
turned inwards and in those of the lower jaw
outwards. The selenodont (moon- shaped)
type of dentition is here accordingly developed
in all its purity. The premolars readily fall
into two groups. The first frequently stands
near the incisors and canines, so that it is
separated from the others by an interval or
diastema, while the originally simple hinder
premolars become associated with the true
molars both in position and form. Since the
function of the cheek-teeth consists specially
in the bruising of the grass by a lateral
grinding motion, the condyle, or joint-surface
at the end of the lower jaw, has the form of
a longish, transversely-placed cylinder.

Even in some members of the hog family,
those, namely, belonging to Africa, we may
observe a tendency to the formation of bony
outgrowths on the skull, these having the
appearance of swellings. In the ruminants
we can trace step by step the growth of such
bony excrescences, which, according to their
structure, are called horns or antlers. The
original types of the ruminants had no horns,
which are likewise entirely wanting in some
still living families, as the camels and the
musk-deer. Three different forms can be dis-
tinguished in these weapons, which are often
developed only in the males, and, in any case,
are always stronger and larger in them than
in the females. In the giraffe a bony knob
rises in the middle of the brow a little behind
the eyes, and two short horns are formed just
at the back of the head between the ears.
They have bony cores which are connected
by sutures with the bones of the skull. All
these protuberances are covered by the quite
unmodified hairy skin. From this primitive
structure of a simple bony peg, so to speak,
covered with skin, have been developed, on
the one hand, horns, on the other, antlers.

In the former we have a solid or hollow bony
core completely fused with the skull and
traversed by numerous vessels, the canals
through which these run giving a spongy
or striped appearance to the internal struc-
ture. This permanent core is covered by a
hard sheath, which, like the nails and hoofs,
is composed of horny fused fibres. These
horny sheaths keep constantly growing by
the addition of new layers internally. They
can easily be separated from the bony core,
with which they are connected only by vessels
and the soft tissue out of which the horny
substance is formed. Like the hoofs they
persist throughout life, and at the lower part,
where the bony core enters them, they are
hollow. It is the family of the Hollow-horned
Artiodactyla (Cavicornia) the members of
which are furnished with horns of that sort.

The antlers of the Deer are formed in a
different way. From the hinder .and upper
angles of the frontal bones there rise processes
or protuberances known as dossets, which
belong to the bone itself, and like it are
covered by the hairy skin. These processes,
usually very short, may attain, as in the case
of the muntjac, a considerable length, and
are manifestly analogous to the horns of the
giraffe. But in the deer they spread out at
the end into a disk surrounded by a ring of
bony knots forming the burr. On the disk
may be observed at certain times what is
nothing else than an inflammation, which
leads to the extraordinarily rapid growth of a
true bone traversed by numerous vessels and
covered by a thin layer of skin with short
hair. During the growth of this bony pro-
cess the number of blood-vessels is remarkable,
and the circulation of the blood in the grow-
ing bone is very active. But as soon as the
bone has attained its full length the circulation
gradually slackens, and ultimately it ceases
altogether. The skin becomes dry, breaks
off in fragments, and the whole antler dies.
It still remains for a time attached to the
burr, but finally it breaks off in order to give

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.

75

place to a new antler. Iv xcept in the case
of the reindeer only the male deer carry
antlers, and their formation is intimately
related to the sexual function. A castrated
slag produces no new antlers after the shed-
ding of those which it had at the time of the
mutilation, or these latter may be permanently
retained. Originally all antlers are simple
spikes or stilus, and it is only in course of the
periodical renewals that we see the formation
of the lateral shoots or lines, which are
sometimes expanded and flattened.

Notwithstanding the amount of difference
between horns and antlers there is yet a
connecting link in the American Prong-horned
Antelope (.•Intilocafii'a ai/icn'cana}, the tines
of whose antlers are covered with horny
sheaths as in the Cavicornia, sheaths formed
of a thickened and hardened epidermis or
outer skin, but which are shed and renewed
several times in the process of growth, fresh
ones budding off round the bony cores.

The structure of the stomach in the pres-
ent group is likewise remarkable. It is this
which gives rise to the process of rumination.
All the members of the group are exclusively
herbivorous, and most of them can escape
from their enemies only by their fleetness
of foot. They accordingly consume great
quantities of herbs and leaves with the utmost
haste, filling therewith a capacious compart-
ment in their stomach, which serves as a sort
of storehouse, and then betake themselves to
some retired spot where they can perform
the second mastication at their leisure. Since
the first mastication is very imperfect and
does not suffice for the extraction of the
nutritive matter contained in the herbs and
leaves, such an arrangement is all the more
advantageous, inasmuch as it permits of a
more intimate mixture of the food with the
saliva. The structure of the stomach is mani-
festly due to the necessity for returning to
the mouth the material stored up in the large
compartment above mentioned in order that
it should be finely ground by the action of the

teeth. The stomach is first divided into two
parts, one which serves as a storehouse, and
the other which carries on the proper work
of digestion. The first part is in direct con-
nection with the gullet through the cardiac
opening, the second part is continued by the
pyloric opening into the intestine. Now
each of these parts is again divided into two

Fig. 157. — The Kanchil (Tragulus pygmirus). page 76.

subordinate compartments, those of the car-
diac portion being the paunch or rumen,
which is always very capacious and often
forms several secondary pouches, and the
reticulum or honey-comb stomach. Into these
two compartments the food is first admitted,
and from the reticulum it can ascend again
to the mouth through the gullet, which is
widely expanded for the purpose. But the
gullet has throughout its whole length a thick-
lipped groove opening into the cavity of the
pyloric section of the stomach, which pyloric
section is subdivided into the liber, psalterium
or manyplies, and the abomasum or rennet
stomach. The remasticated food glides down
the groove just mentioned, the lips of which
shut so as to form a tube, and passes thence
directly into the psalterium, and from there

76

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

into the abomasum, in which is secreted the
acid gastric juice by which the work of
digestion is performed. In young ruminants
still sucking, the paunch and reticulum are
only slightly developed; these organs attain
their full size only as the animals pass over to
a purely vegetable diet. There are numerous
variations in the structure of these different
parts of the stomach, but the most remarkable
is that seen in the chevrotains (Tragulida),
in which the psalterium is altogether absent,
which brings about a close resemblance
between their stomach and that of the
peccaries. The teats are situated in the
region of the groin. The young come into
the world in a very advanced state, and
are able to follow their mothers a few hours
after birth. They are not numerous; one,
or at most two, at a birth is the rule in the
ruminants.

THE CHEVROTAIN FAMILY

(TRAGULIDA).

This family stands nearest to that of the
pigs, and especially, as just stated, to the
peccaries, in virtue of the structure of the
stomach, which has no psalterium; and also
in virtue of the structure of the feet, in which
the metacarpal and metatarsal bones are not
yet completely fused; the structure of the
brain, which is very simple, has few con-
volutions, small cerebral hemispheres, and
the cerebellum, often even a part of the mid-
brain, uncovered; and lastly, in virtue of the
structure of the placenta.

They are the smallest of the ruminants,
for the Kanchil (Tragulus pygmczus), fig 157,
does not exceed the size of a hare, and the
Water Chevrotain (Hyamoschus (Hyomoschus}
aqnaticus], the largest species, is of about the
size of a roebuck a few months old. The
family is represented only by the genera just
mentioned. The true chevrotains, forming
the genus Tragulus, in which several species
are distinguished, are indigenous in India, the

Eastern Peninsula, China, Ceylon, and the
Sunda Islands; the water chevrotain is con-
fined to the west coast of Africa — the
Gaboon and Sierra Leone. The head of the
Tragulida is finely shaped and pointed in
front. In the males two sharp, slender,
pointed canines curved downwards and out-
wards project beyond the mouth from the
upper jaw. The eyes are very large and
sparkling, the ears small and but slightly
covered with hair, the neck short, the body
thick, the back arched, the legs slender and
well formed, the tail short and bushy. The
fur is short, very thick, usually of a yellowish-
brown colour, almost white underneath, and
often marked with white stripes and spots on
the throat and sides. The lateral digits are
well developed, and are carried by complete
metacarpal (or metatarsal) bones; the lower
incisors are set close together, and the middle
pair has the crowns spread out like a spade.
The lower canines are absent. The three
premolars above and below are simple, with
sharp triangular crowns. The three upper
molars exhibit double crescents, while on
those of the lower jaw there are only single
crescents on the edges. There are no
horns, and the males have no musk-pouch.
These pretty little creatures live singly or in
pairs in mountainous regions. They are
very agile, leap and climb admirably, run
well, but not long at a time; and among the
Malays, who have a saying, "as cunning as
a kanchil," enjoy a perhaps exaggerated
reputation for craftiness. They feign death
in order to escape pursuit. They are eagerly
hunted for their flesh, and they have often
been brought to Europe, where they thrive
very well in the zoological gardens; they are
graceful, but very shy and timid.

The Musk-deer (Mosck&s inoschifcrus), fig.
158, forms the connecting link between the
chevrotains and the true deer. Like the
former, it has no horns, has a pretty thick
body highly arched behind, large accessory
hoofs and strong canines, which in the males

11 IK DliER FAMILY.

77

project beyond the mouth; but in respect of
all the other characters of the dentition, the
limbs, the whole skeleton, anil the- stomach
and intestines, are in no way different from
the true deer. On these grounds Alph.
Milne Kdwards has separated the musk-deer
from the chevrotains, with which they were
formerly united in the same group.

Fig. 158.— The Musk-deer (Moschus mosckiferus).

What distinguishes this species, which is
distributed over an enormous range in all the
mountainous parts of Central Asia, from
Siberia to Cochin-China, and from Kamchatka
to the Ural Mountains, is the pouch, which
stands in close relation to the sexual organs
of the male, and yields the musk, which was
formerly highly esteemed in medicine, but at
the present day is used almost exclusively in
perfumery. The musk-pouch is a fold of the
skin as large as the fist which opens in the
middle line of the abdomen behind the navel,
and contains numerous glands which excrete
an oily substance of a yellowish-red colour,
becoming brown on drying. The pouch of
an adult male may contain as much as two
ounces of the precious substance, or even

more, and it is chiefly for the' sake of this
product that the very shy and agile; animal
is hunted. The musk-deer is of the size of
a roebuck, and like this animal has a stiff
coarse hair-covering, which is very variable
in colour. Reddish-gray is, however, the
prevailing hue, but white-spotted and even
quite white varieties are found. The musk-
deer hides itself by day and goes out in
search of pasture at sunset. It jumps and
climbs about on the mountains as cleverly as
a chamois; but since it is much attached to
its own retreats, and always returns thither
after an excursion, it is easily caught in snares
or shot with bullets. The Siberian musk is
the least highly prized; nevertheless this
country yields about 9000 pouches every
year.

THE DEER FAMILY

I RVIDA).

By the exclusion of the musk-deer from
the deer family this group is restricted to
those ruminants which possess antlers, which
are always developed in the males, but seldom
in the females. The males almost always
have canines also, which in some species
even grow to a considerable size, but in most
cases remain small and insignificant. The
eight lower incisors form a close-set series,
and are almost alike in form and size. The
premolars are very little different either in
form or size from the true molars. Deer
have large ears, prominent eyes, and always
have under the eye lachrymal glands or
tear-pits exuding an oily fluid which in the
breeding season acquires a peculiar smell.
The tail is very short, the body usually long,
and covered with coarse, stiff, thickset hair.
The long slender legs carry small accessory
hoofs at a considerable height above the
ground. Between the hoofs of the hind-feet
there is a brush of stiff hairs. Polygamy
appears to be the rule in the deer family;
they seldom live in pairs, almost always in

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

herds. They prefer the woods, are shy and
sudden in their movements, but the males
become quarrelsome and even ferocious in
the rutting season, when they utter loud
bellowings and carry on furious battles with
one another. The family is distributed over
the whole of the Old and New Worlds as
far as the limit of forests, occasionally even
beyond that
limit, andevery-
where they are
the objects of
keen pursuit,
for the sake of
their tender
flesh, their hide,
which furnishes
pretty good lea-
ther, and even
their antlers,
which are used
in the making
of instruments
and works of
art. The fe-
males have four
teats, but sel-
dom bring forth

more than one young one at a time. Hearing
is the most highly developed of all the senses ;
the intelligence is very slight. Beautiful,
but stupid! is the motto for them.

The very numerous family of the deer has
been divided into genera and sub-genera,
regard being had, in making these sub-
divisions, chiefly to the form of the antlers,
which are sometimes simple spikes, sometimes
forked, branched, or spatulate — expanded
somewhat like a spade. The distinctions are,
however, very slight, so that no great value
can be attached to these subdivisions. From
these groups we select a few characteristic or
specially interesting species.

Through the possession of large project-
ing canines by the male and the absence of
bunches of hair on the soles of the hind-feet

the Muntjac (Cervulus muntjac], fig. 159, also
called by the natives Kidang, approaches the
musk-deer, while in all other characters it
is a member of the true deer family. The
muntjac lives on the Great Sunda Islands,
Borneo, Java, and Sumatra; an allied but
little-known species inhabits India. These
pretty deer, of the size of our roe, are distin-
guished by the
structure of the
antlers, the vel-
vet-clad por-
tions of which
begin in the
form of two
strong lateral
bony ridges on
the nose, and
rise free above
the brow to a
height equal to
about half the
length of the
head. At a
point a little
way above the
burr there rises
a short brow-

g|3§

Fig. 159. — The Muntjac (Cfrvultu muntjac).

tine, while the stem or beam is continued in
a form like that of a bow with the concavity
inwards. The fawns are spotted; the adult
animals have a brownish-yellow coat, with
two white spots on the throat; the tear-pits
are very large and surmounted by tufts of
hair. The males live solitary in the woods,
associating with the females only in the
breeding season, are very courageous, and
can defend themselves very well against dogs
with their horns and teeth. In confinement
they are subject to accesses of fury which
may prove dangerous at times.

South America nourishes several species
of small deer about equal in size to our roe-
deer, but even more slimly built. These are
distinguished by the name of brockets (genus
Subulo) on account of their small, somewhat

PLATE XXIV. - THE ROE-DEER (Cap reolus wlgaris}.

THE DEER FAMILY.

79

curved, pointed antlers without tines. An
illustration is given of the commonest species,
the Red Brocket (Snlnt/o (Cariacus) ntftis),
fig. 160, which has a coat of a brilliant reddish-
brown colour on the back and reddish-yellow
underneath. This very timid animal lives in
pairs in the densest parts of the forests of
Brazil and Guiana. The tail is short, the
tear-pits are slightly developed. Canines are
present only in the
young males.

Our Common Roe
(Capreolns vulgar is
(•-apr(ca) ), which is
represented in PI.
XXIV., is the type
of a group charac-
terised by having
short strong antlers
with a thick, round,
straight beam, the
end of which forks
one or more times
with increasing age.
The tear- pits are
scarcely indicated,
the tail is only a
stump, the canines are present only in the
young males. The roe-deer lives in small
troops scattered over all Europe. A larger
variety extends over Central Asia as far as
China. The general colour is brownish-gray.
The very stiff fur is shorter and redder in
summer, longer and grayer in winter. There
is a white patch on the hips behind known
to hunters as the speculum. The males in
the rutting season are very combative and
challenge one another with a peculiar cry,
which in hunting is sometimes imitated by
means of a small instrument placed in the
mouth. The roebuck imagines that he hears
the voice of a rival and at once dashes to
meet him. At other times the roe is a timid
animal, hiding by day in the dense parts of
the forest, but preferring the neighbourhood
of open glades and fields. The troops go

Fig. 160.-

out only at night under the leadership of an
old male. The roe yields us the most highly
esteemed kind of game. The pregnancy of
the female presents an exceptional condition
like that which we have already observed in
bats. The ovum is impregnated in July and
August, but only in November does it begin
to develop, and the young are born in May.
Roes have often been tamed, but the instances
•MUB ; ; have remained isol-

ated, since the bucks
become very ill-tem-
pered as they grow
old.

The members of
the genus Blasto-
ceros (sometimes in-
cluded in the genus
Cariacus) take the
place of our roe-deer
in S. America. The
commonest species,
the Pampas Deer, or
Guazui of the natives
(/?/. (Cariacus) cam-
pestris), is repre-
sented in fig. 1 6 1.

They are distinguished from the roes by their
longer tail and larger and thinner antlers,
which besides the terminal peak carry two or
three long, thin, and sharp -pointed tines.
The species represented is of the size of a
small fallow-deer, with very long slender legs.
The under parts are white, and the eyes are
surrounded by white rings. This pretty
creature prefers the pampas and treeless
steppes, which, however, are covered with
tall grasses in which it hides by day. It is
easily tamed, and becomes very confiding,
but the male in the rutting season has such
a penetrating and clinging smell that it be-
comes a very disagreeable guest, while its
flesh is rendered quite unpalatable.

In the East Indies there are numerous
forms allied to those just described, forms in
which the antlers attain the length, and

8o

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTVLA.

exhibit in the beams the roundness and cur-
vature characteristic of our common deer, but
scarcely ever give off more than three tines,
one of which, the brow-tine, is situated near
the burr above the eyes.

As type of this group an illustration is
given of the Axis or Spotted Deer (Axis
mactdata (Cervus axis}), fig. 162, whose

beautiful brownish-yellow fur is marked with
a dark stripe on the back, and is dotted
over with numerous white spots. The antlers
are thin and almost smooth. This beautiful
stag, which does not quite attain the size
of the fallow-deer, inhabits the jungles of
India. It is often hunted. It is propa-
gated pretty easily in our zoological gar-

Zsyjf&Snfv^" - **fci^r ,r- i- __ " ^ — . -^* * *-- *»-_ — . _ - — fe-T-T^^i?1"-

Fig. 161. — The Pampas Deer or Guazui (Blastoccros campestris}. page 79.

dens, but can scarcely stand the cold of our
winters.

[A close ally of this species is the sambur or
samber deer (Cervus Aristotelis), which in Ceylon,
where it is much hunted, goes under the name of
the "elk." The hunting of this deer is described
by Sir Samuel Baker in the following enthusiastic
terms in his Rifle and Hound in Ceylon: —

" It is a glorious sport certainly to a man who
thoroughly understands it; the voice of every hound
familiar to his ear; the particular kind of game
that is found is at once known to him long before
he is in view by the style of the hunting. If an
elk is found the hounds follow with a burst straight
as a line and at a killing pace directly up the hill,
till he at length turns and bends his headlong
course for some stronghold in a deep river to bay.
Listening to the hounds till certain of their course,

a thorough knowledge of the country at once tells
the huntsman of their destination, and away he goes.
" He tightens his belt by a hole, and steadily
he starts at a long swinging trot, having made up
his mind for a day of it. Over hills and valleys,
through tangled and pathless forests, but all well
known to him, steady he goes at the same pace on
the level, extra steam downhill, and stopping for
a moment to listen for the hounds on every elevated
spot. At length he hears them! No; it was a
bird. Again he fancies that he hears a distant
sound — was it the wind? No; there it is — it is old
Smut's voice — he is at bay ! Yoick to him ! he shouts
till his lungs are well-nigh cracked; and through
thorns and jungles, bogs and ravines, he rushes
towards the welcome sound. Thick-tangled bushes
armed with a thousand hooked thorns suddenly
arrest his course; it is the dense fringe of under-
wood that borders every forest; the open plain is

THK DKKK. FAMILY.

81

within a few yards of him. The hounds in a mad
chorus are at bay, and the woods ring again with
the cheering sound. Nothing can stop him now —
thorns, or clothes, or flesh must go — something
must give way as he bursts through them and
stands upon the plain.

" There they are in that deep pool formed by the
rivrr as it sweeps round the rock. A buck! a noble
fellow! Now he charges at the hounds, and strikes
the foremost beneath the water with his fore-feet;
up they come again to the surface— they hear their
master's well-known shout — they look round and

sec his welcome figure on the steep bank. Another
moment, a tremendous splash, and he is among the
hounds, and all are swimming towards their noble
game. At them he comes with a fierce rush.
Avoid him as you best can, ye hunters, man and
hounds!

" Down the river the buck now swims, sometimes
galloping over the shallows, sometimes wading
shoulder-deep, sometimes swimming through the
deep pools. Now he dashes down the fierce rapids
and leaps the opposing rocks, between which the
torrent rushes at a frightful pace. The hounds are
after him, the roaring of the water joins in their
wild chorus, the loud holloa of the huntsman is
heard above every sound as he cheers the pack on.
He runs along the bank of the river, and again
the enraged buck turns to bay. He has this time

Vou II.

taken a strong position ; he stands in a swift rapid
about two feet deep, his thin legs cleave the stream
as it rushes past, and every hound is swept away
as he attempts to stem the current. He is a
perfect picture, his nostrils are distended, his mane
is bristled up, his eyes flash, and he adds his loud
bark of defiance to the din around him. The
hounds cannot touch him. Now for the huntsman's
part; he calls the staunchest seizers to his side,
gives them a cheer on, and steps into the torrent
knife in hand. Quick as lightning the buck springs
to the attack; but he has exposed himself, and at
that moment the tall lurchers are upon his ears;
the huntsman leaps upon one side and plunges the
knife behind his shoulder. A tremendous struggle
takes place — the whole pack is upon him; still his
dying efforts almost free him from their hold, a

82

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

mass of spray envelopes the whole scene. Suddenly
he falls — he dies — it is all over. The hounds are
called off, and are carefully examined for wounds."
Elsewhere the same writer records another
striking incident in elk-hunting. " One great plea-
sure," he says, " in the hunting at Newera Ellia
is the ease with which it is obtained. In fact, the
sport lies at the very door. This may be said to
be literally true, and not a fagon de parler, as I
once killed an elk that jumped through a window.
It was a singular incident. The hounds found
three elk at the same time on the mountain at the
back of the hotel at Newera Ellia. The pack
divided; several hounds were lost for two days,
having taken their elk to an impossible country,
and the rest of the pack concentrated upon a doe,
with the exception of old Smut, who had another
elk all to himself. This elk, which was a large
doe, he brought down from the top of the mountain
to the back of the hotel, just as we had killed the
other which the pack had brought to the same
place. A great number of persons were standing
in the hotel yard to view the sport, when old Smut
and his game appeared, rushing in full fly through
the crowd. The elk was so bothered and headed
that she went through the back-door of the hotel
at full gallop, and Smut, with his characteristic
sagacity, immediately bolted round to the front of
the house, naturally concluding that if she went in
at the back-door she must come out at the front.
He was perfectly right ; the old dog stood on the
lawn before the hotel watching the house with
great eagerness. In the meantime the elk was
galloping from room to room in the hotel, chased
by a crowd of people, until she at length took
refuge in a lady's bed-room, from which there was
no exit as the window was closed. The crash of
glass may be imagined as an animal as large as a
pony leaped through it; but old Smut was ready
for her, and after a chase of a few yards he pulled
her down."]

In the True Deer (Cervus) the round
antlers become very large, and have an
additional tine added to them every year; at
first a simple shoot each branch may come
to bear ten or even more tines or prongs.
Since our Common Stag or Red-deer (Cervus
elapkus], PI. XXV., is so highly esteemed
as an object of the chase the increase in the
number of the tines is a subject which has

been closely studied, and books on hunting
are filled with minute details regarding
animals with ten and twenty tines or even
more. We cannot here enter upon these
particulars any more than we can take
account of the refined investigations which
have enabled hunters to judge of the age,
sex, size, and weight of an animal from the
impressions of its hoofs — their size and de-
gree of divergence.

The red -deer, which is shown in Plate
XXV., is a beautiful well-formed animal with
a majestic bearing, of a reddish-gray colour,
about 5 feet high at the withers, with large
ears, large lachrymal glands, and antlers
curved upwards and outwards. The tail is
pretty short, the fur slightly spotted in the
young animal. The stag prefers the depths
of the forests, defends itself bravely against
depredators, and at the season of heat is very
combative; this occurs in September and
October, and then the male may be heard
challenging his rivals to fight with hoarse
trumpet-like tones, which resound to a great
distance. The older the stag is the deeper
is the sound that it emits. Formerly it was
the practice in hunting the stag to imitate
this sound by means of small horns specially
made for the purpose, and in order all the
more surely to attract the animal the horns
were made to resemble the sound of a com-
paratively weak stag.

Several allied species, such as the Wapiti
or Canadian stag, the Persian Deer, and
others, have been distinguished. All these
presumed species appear to us to be only
geographical varieties, the distinctions between
which are of little moment. Thus the wapiti,
for example, is certainly much more powerful
and much taller than our European stag. Its
antlers are much stronger, and animals with
twenty tines are no rarity in Canada. But
in the middle ages our stag reached a much
greater size than it does now, and the nu-
merous antlers which have been collected in
the neighbourhood of lake-dwellings are so

Te/act faft to.

PLATE XXV. — THE RED DEER OR STAG (C«w«

THE DKKK FAMILY.

thick and have so many tines that they would
have to be assigned to the wapiti rather than
to our stag. All these stags have the same
habits, the same keenness of sense, the same
savage impulses at the breeding season, and
we are obliged to add the same stupidity.
Notwithstanding repeated efforts at domesti-
cation, they remain but little adapted for the
companionship of man, but for all that ex-
cellent animals for the chase.

If the varieties are considered as belonging
to the same species as the red-deer, the
territory occupied by this species is a re-
markably large one, extending as far as the
limit of forests in the temperate zones of
both hemispheres. Everywhere the red-deer
is hunted with eagerness, although its flesh
is not very much to be recommended, for,
according to our experience, it resembles
tough beef with thick fibres. But for the
sportsman the chase of the stag has always
been one of the keenest of pleasures. The
chase proper is rather an exercise in horse-
manship than a true hunt. Almost every-
where in civilized Europe the stag has given
way before the persecution which it has well
deserved on account of the devastation which
it commits in fields and forests. It is now
seldom found except in the large inclosures
reserved for game.

[Of the species or varieties above referred to the
commonest in America is that known as the
Cariacou (Cervus virginiamis). It is smaller and
more elegant than the red-deer, and throughout
the southern part of North America, as far as
43° N., it is a favourite object of the chase. This
deer is the one which American sportsmen have
the most frequent opportunities of hunting. " It is
where the country is divided into ranges of wood-
clad mountains, or high hills divided by valleys,
down which rivers or creeks run, or in which
lakelets are situated, that the proper theatre is
found for running the deer with hounds. For this
purpose packs of greater or less number are kept
as in different parts of Europe. In such localities
different runways are adopted by the deer, where
they pass the water-courses in going from one
elevation to another, or where they approach the

little lake for bathing. Several sportsmen engage
in the hunt. Karly in a still, frosty morning they
n pair to the ground, generally on horseback, when
one, and sometimes two, are stationed at each of
the well-know n runways, when their horses are con-
cealed and the hunters secretly station themselves so
as to command the crossing place and its approach.
The hounds, in lead, are sent on to the mountains,
and at a likely place they are slipped, and the hunt
commences. So soon as the deer is started, the
hounds give tongue. This is the signal anxiously
listened for by the watchers at the several runways.
Far away in the distant mountain, at first like a
faint murmur, the sound is heard, uncertain whether
it is the baying of the dogs or the whisper of an
insect. The note soon becomes more distinct, and
it is certain that the game is afoot. Anxiety now
increases to determine who occupies the favoured
location. All along the line the attention of each
watcher is strained to the utmost tension, to detect
by the sound the course selected by the deer.
Rifles are cocked, not a whisper is breathed, not a
twig is broken, not a leaf is stirred. Every wander-
ing thought is summoned back and absorbed in
the excitement of the moment. The course of the
hounds may be traced by their voices, each listener
calculating the chances of their arriving at his stand.

" This is the moment when the inexperienced
hunter is liable to make his greatest mistake. He
forgets that the deer is not with the dogs, but may
be a mile or more ahead of them. He listens to
the dogs, and his eyes are in the direction whence
the sound comes. If they seem to approach him,
he forgets that the game may be already upon him.
When he least expects it there is a rushing noise,
a crackling of the bush, and the deer emerges from
the thicket, and with an elastic bound is already
at the ford, and with a few lofty leaps is across
the creek, and like a flash disappears in the dark
covert beyond, before the startled watcher, quaking
from head to foot with the buck-fever, could more
than bring his gun to his face and fire a random
shot, when all is still again, save the tumultuous
beating of his own heart.

" Less fortunate is the deer if he makes the run-
way occupied by the experienced sportsman. Only
thinking of the danger behind him, and confident
of his powers to far outstrip the baying pack, he
bounds through the forest, proudly throwing aloft
his great branching antlers, as if in derision, bidding
defiance to his pursuers, nor dreaming of danger
before, he fearlessly rushes to the little opening on

84

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

the bank of the stream, where he is accustomed to
make the crossing, whether at his leisure or when
pursued. This is just what the watcher is hoping
and expecting. While he hears the distant baying
of the pack, he is intently listening for the least
noise in the near forest which could indicate the
approach of the game. And now he hears the
breaking of a dry limb, or the heavy tramp among
the rustling leaves. If his pulse quickens a little,
as it surely will, still no tremor or agitation is felt,
but only tension and firmness are established in
every nerve and in every muscle. The trusty rifle
is quickly brought to the cheek, and the next
instant, with a lofty bound, the magnificent but
graceful form of the stately stag bursts from the
border of the covert, his face in a horizontal line,
his antlers thrown back upon his shoulders, so that
every branch and vine must easily glance from the
backward pointing tines, his seat erect, and his
bright eye glistening in the excitement of the
moment, when instantly and while he is yet in
mid-air, a sharp report is heard, when, to use a
hunter's expression, ' he lets go all holds/ his hind-
feet, propelled by the great momentum, are thrown
high in the air as if his very hoofs would be snapped
off, and he falls, all in a heap, or turns a complete
somersault, and then rolls upon the ground pierced
through the heart, or with both fore -shoulders
smashed. . . . It is a glorious moment, and
unsurpassed by human experience. I have been
there, and know how it is myself, and so I speak
from knowledge. Had the deer been standing,
and with a full inspiration, he might have made
a few bounds before he fell, but in the position
described he could never rise again." — Caton, The
Antelope and Deer of America?^

A group less rich in species is formed by
the Cervida with broad shovel-like antlers, in
which the beam and the tines show a tendency
to become flat.

The Fallow-deer (Dama vulgaris), shown
in PI. XXVI., is still to be seen in our in-
closures for game. Its home was Central and
Southern Europe, including the Asiatic and
African countries bordering on the Mediter-
ranean. I n point of size the fallow-deer stands
between the roe-deer and the stag. It is more
thickset and not so long-legged as the latter,
but has much shorter and more elegant ears

and a longer tail. Though less in height it
is more graceful than the stag, which appears
always to serve as the model for the draughts-
man. The elegantly curved antlers have a
round beam with one or two tines of which the
brow-tine stands very near the burr. After
the beam has given off these tines it spreads
out into a shovel from the edge of which
proceed small tooth-like prongs. The colour
of the fallow-deer is very variable ; in some
the coat is spotted like that of a fawn, in
others again uniformly reddish, grayish, or
even white. The fallow-deer easily accustoms
itself to the presence of man, and its flesh is
much more tender and palatable than that of
the stag.

The Reindeer (Tarandus rangifer (Ran-
gifcr tarandus) ), fig. 163, is the deer of the
polar regions in both hemispheres. With
the exception of the elk it is probably the
least elegant species in the whole family.
The long body is supported by relatively
short and thick legs, which have swollen and
knotty joints, and end in broad divergent
hoofs, and which carry accessory hoofs almost
touching the ground. The head is borne
horizontally, not erect as in the other deer.
It is short, and has a blunt naked muffle.
The reindeer is the only species of deer in
which the female carries antlers as well as
the male. Those of the female are indeed
smaller than those of the male, but otherwise
resemble the latter very closely in form,
although in both the form is very variable.
It is indeed impossible to find two reindeer
antlers of the same form, or even a single
symmetrically formed pair; the two branches
of the antlers are always unlike. We must
accordingly seek out the common characters
from a great number of variations. These
consist in a thin flattened beam, which has a
well-marked curve first backwards and then
upwards, and near the burr gives off two
tines within a short distance of each other.
At their extremity these tines spread out
considerably and frequently even fork again.

To fact

PLATE XXVI. _ THE FALLOW DEER (Dama vulgaris).

or- TH ;

UNIVERSITY

OF

Till; DKKK FAMILY.

One brow-tine, sometimes the right, some-
times the left, is always longer than the
other; it turns and curves inwards so that its
Made becomes perpendicular to the middle
line of the nose, thus forming a broad spade

which the animal makes use of to sweep away
the snow under which it seeks its food. A tier
giving off the two pairs of unlike tines of
which we have spoken, the long drawn-out
beam of the antler bends round in the manner

Kig. 163. — The Reindeer (Tarandus riingi/er).

described and terminates in a small blade
bordered with very irregular teeth. The
coat of the reindeer consists in winter of a
thick woolly fur with very long hair, which
forms a long mane-like beard under the neck;
this dirty-gray winter fur is shed in summer
in large tufts disclosing to view the darker
and shorter summer hair. The gait of the
reindeer even in running is very inelegant;
it takes very long strides, and appears rather
to slide along the surface than to run. The
divergence of the hoofs, which are, more-
over, very broad, is admirably adapted to aid
its movements across the snow and across

bogs. While walking or running it causes a
crackling sound to be heard almost like that
of an electric spark; this noise is no doubt
produced in the interior of the joints.

The reindeer in the wild state must of
course be distinguished from the animal in a
half-domesticated condition.

The former is an animal of the plains and
high plateaux, which shelters itself in winter
in the woods, and only in summer ventures
into treeless low grounds. Such are the
habits of the wild reindeer in America,
Siberia, and even in Lapland. The reindeer
has erroneously been considered as a climbing

86

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

animal, because naturalists have for the most
part observed it only in the Scandinavian
Alps. But these highlands have the char-
acter of stony plateaux, which indeed are
intersected by profound gorges, but spread
out into enormous and mostly marshy flats.
Upon these high moss-grown table-lands the
reindeer is in its element, but not among
mountains with narrow valleys with steep
sides and without vast level stretches like
our Alps or the Pyrenees. I have hunted
the chamois and the wild reindeer; there is
not the least comparison to be made between
these two animals; the one climbs and leaps,
the other strides and trots.

The life of many northern tribes is depen-
dent on the domesticated reindeer, which
nevertheless remains an awkward stubborn
animal, difficult to manage. The Laplander
makes use of everything derived from it,
even the contents of its stomach, which he
boils as a vegetable, and the still warm
marrow, which he eats raw. The reindeer
is even made use of as a beast of draught.
It is led about in large flocks under the
conduct of small intelligent dogs, which are
highly esteemed by their owners. But the
reindeer always remains half wild, and is
very apt to return to a state of freedom. It
never becomes tame enough to allow of the
female being milked before it has been bound
by means of a noose thrown over the antlers.
The pleasure of riding in a sledge drawn by
reindeer is one which most people would
gladly leave to the Laplanders, who are
accustomed to the somersaults and all the
other disagreeables which a wild, stubborn,
and stupid mule could cause.

The largest, but at the same time the
ugliest of all the deer family is the Elk (Alces
palmattis (Macklis) ), PL XXVII. This
species, which at the present day is confined
to the tracts bordering on the Baltic on the
east and north and to Canada, was during
the middle ages an object of the chase in
Central Europe, from whence it is now

entirely banished. In Prussia, where the elk
was formerly very abundant, there is now
only a single forest, that of Ibenhorst, near
Tilsit, where a herd has been preserved
through the adoption of severe protective
measures. The elk ranges from the Baltic
provinces, Finland, and the south of Scan-
dinavia, throughout Asia as far as the shores
of the Pacific Ocean near the Amur.

It is a large animal, about six and a half
feet high at the withers, with a short thickset
body and long thick legs, with narrow hoofs
connected by loose skin, and accessory hoofs
long enough to touch the ground. The
head is very ugly ; the ears are so large that
the female, being without antlers, resembles
at a distance a large ass; the eyes are small
and without expression. But what specially
disfigures the head is the enormously thick
and broad loose upper lip, which hangs down
over the mouth like a rounded curtain. It
is very flexible, and serves admirably for
tearing off the shoots, the young twigs, and
the bark of the shrubs and trees on which
the elk prefers to feed. The muffle formed
by this upper lip gives to the head an ex-
tremely ugly termination. The fur consists
of a short and fine down and long brittle
hairs of a gray colour, which form a goat's-
beard at the chin, a sort of mane on the back,
and a tuft at the end of the short tail. The
antlers of the male acquire a characteristic
form only in the fifth year. It is only then
that the antlers begin to spread out so as to
form a broad hollow shovel, on which the
tines, the number of which increases with
age, are in most cases set in two groups.

The Canadian Elk, the Moose-deer of the
Americans, the Orignal of the French Cana-
dians, is only a geographical variety, which
when full-grown is larger and stronger than
the elk of the Old World. It answers to our
elk as the wapiti does to our stag.

The elk inhabits damp woods containing
marshes and peat-bogs here and there. It
feeds almost exclusively on willow leaves,

PLATE XXVII. - THE ELK (Alct* palmate,).

O"TH£

UNIVERSITY

OF

THE HOLLOW-HORNED RUMINANTS.

bilberries, alders, and the bark of shrubs such
as grow in the damp and marshy soils which
it frequents. Like all members of the deer
family, it lives in Hocks, which conceal them-
selves by day and go out in the evening
under the leadership of very combative and

even fierce males. The flesh of the elk is
tough, coarse, and of an unpleasant taste; but
the hide, which is of a very firm texture, is
highly esteemed on account of the very good
flexible leather which is made from it. Great
havoc was wrought among the flocks of elk

Fig. 164. — The Pronghorn Antelope (Antilocapra americana). page bti.

in those times when it was thought impossible
to have a good cavalry without tightly-fitting
leather hose.

THE HOLLOW-HORNED RUMINANTS

(CAVICORNIA).

The family of the hollow-horned ruminants
is distinguished, as the name indicates, by
the possession of hollow horns, which form
cases round bony pegs or processes from the
frontal bone.

All typical Cavicornia have only simple
horns, without branches, formed over bony
axes, which are either, as in the goats, solid
and traversed only by the canals of the blood-
vessels, or are hollow in the middle, and in

that case have the bony tissue of a much
more spongy texture, as is the case with the
ox genus. It is impossible to convey a
better idea of these horny but very variously
formed cases than by saying that they stand
in the same relation to the bony core as the
hoof to the last phalanx of the toe. A thick
and highly vascular coat forming a continu-
ation of the skin covers the bone, and is
nourished by its vessels; and the hollow case
or envelope is composed of fused horny
fibres formed from fluids which exude from
this vascular coat. The growth of the horny
case goes on throughout life, but with less
rapidity in advanced age, and with numerous
interruptions, which betray themselves by
the presence of rings and knobs.

88

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

Diverse as the Cavicornia are in external
form, they yet agree so closely in their
general structure that the dividing up of this
numerous group into families becomes very
difficult, if not impossible. There are many
forms in which the horns belong only to the
males, but frequently there are closely-allied
species in which both sexes are horned.
The dentition is remarkably uniform; the
upper incisors and upper canines are alto-
gether wanting, the lower incisors, to the
number of eight in all, have very similar
forms; the cheek-teeth, always six in number
in each half of each jaw, exhibit on the
surface of the crown typical half-moon-shaped
folds; the three premolars gradually assume
the form of the true molars. The forms
presented by the teeth may indeed serve to
distinguish genera and species, especially
through the absence of side-columns in the
molars of the large species, but these forms
vary within very narrow limits.

The Cavicornia almost always have pretty
well developed accessory hoofs; some have
tear-pits, others not ; but here also there are
transitions which render it impossible to fix
definite boundaries. Pretty much the same
holds good with respect to all the other
characters; from the plump forms of the ox
genus we pass by gentle gradations to forms
the most elegant and graceful, such as
those of the gazelles. Though most of the
species live in very numerous flocks, there
are others which are to be met with only in
pairs; some are stationary in their abode,
others on the contrary undertake great mi-
grations ; some prefer moist places, morasses,
and the banks of running and standing waters,
others the dry and withered plains, others
again the steep slopes of the mountains; the
Tropics are not too hot for them nor the
Arctic regions too cold.

The Cavicornia are usually broken up into
sub-families or groups, which are designated
by the names antelopes, goats, sheep, and
oxen. But in order to avoid mistake, we

must repeatedly insist on the fact, that these
subdivisions have no sharp lines of demarca-
tion, that on all sides we meet with transitional
forms, with respect to which doubts might be
raised as to the group to which they ought
to be referred, so that we must consider these
groups only as aids which help us to connect
the less clearly defined forms with well-
characterized types.

The Antelopes.

The antelopes (Antilopida) are a collector's
group, if I may so express myself. They
cannot be characterized zoologically. They
exhibit the most various forms. Certain
antelopes can scarcely be distinguished from
oxen, others resemble goats or sheep. There
is not a single character common to all the
animals so called. We accordingly renounce
the idea of characterizing them in any other
way than in the words of Pallas, who said,
naturalists have given the name of antelopes
to those ruminants with hollow horns which
cannot, without violence, be grouped with the
oxen, the goats, or the sheep.

We have already pointed out in the opening
remarks on the ruminants that a connecting
link between the deer and the hollow-horned
ruminants exists in the Pronghorn Antelope
(Antilocapra americana}, fig. 164, which
inhabits the broad plains on both sides of
the Rocky Mountains from Mexico as far as
the 53d degree of northern latitude. The
horns are without doubt constructed on the
type of those of the Cavicornia ; they have a
solid bony core and a horny case of little
thickness. In the young animals these horns
are simple prongs. These first horns are
often changed, and the change takes place
not by the shedding of the bony core as in
the deer, but by the growth of a new horny
case, which gradually raises and finally thrusts"
off the old one. When the horns have
acquired their permanent form they are no
longer shed, and then they are forked pretty
much in the same manner as those of the

7* /att fa ft St.

PLATE XXVIII. — THE CHAMOIS (Cafella ruficafra).

THE ANTELOPES.

muntjac, but are broad and flattened, ele-
gantly curved inwards, and provided with a
short prong directed forwards and another
ending in a hook directed backwards. The
pronghorn antelope is the only member of
the Cavicornia with a branched horn; in all
the others the horns, whatever their form
may be otherwise, are simple. In this case,
accordingly, we must recognize an approxi-
mation to the deer family. As regards the
rest of its organization, the pronghorn ante-
lope may be described as an antelope of
about the size of a small fallow-deer, with an
expressive head, which, on account of its long
ears, resembles that of a stag. The neck is
somewhat long and rounded, the body slender,
the tail short, like that of the deer; the slim
and rather long legs carry only two narrow
and pointed hoofs. The accessory hoofs are
entirely absent as in the giraffes. The hair
is thick and wavy, but brittle. The general
colour is a fine isabel-gray, which becomes
darker on the back, round the eyes, round the
large tear-glands, as well as upon the nose;
the belly, the speculum on the back of the
thighs, the upper part of the head, and the
cheeks are white; a few white spots are also
to be seen in front of the neck and breast.
The horns of the female are less developed
than those of the male.

This beautiful animal traverses the prairies
of its native land in great herds under the
lead of an old male. The hunters are unani-
mous concerning the grace of its rapid move-
ments, its extraordinary fleetness, its wonderful
leaps; as special characteristics they mention
its remarkable shyness and the courage with
which it defends its young against the prairie-
wolves (coyotes). When caught young these
antelopes may easily be tamed in their native
land, but they do not survive long in our
gardens, which cannot afford them the room
necessary for their movements. The prong-
horn is the only American species of antelope,
all the others without exception belong to
the Old World. Since there are no scientific

VOL. II.

characters to distinguish them we group them
according to the form of their horns and their
size.

The sole representative of the antelopes
in Western Europe is the Chamois (Capclla
rnpicapra (Rupicapra tragus)), PI. XXVIII.
It is a characteristic animal of our high moun-
tain chains, and ranges from the Pyrenees,
the Abruzzi, and the Balkans, through the
Alps and the Carpathians as far as the
Caucasus and Georgia. There are geo-
graphical and localized varieties. The "isard"
of the Pyrenees is smaller than the others
and is of a reddish colour; the "achi" of the
Caucasus has a slightly peculiar curve of the
horns, but at bottom it is always the same
species, a creature of not very elegant form,
resembling a beardless goat with a short thick
neck and thick knotty legs. The head is
small, rather long and pointed; the ears of
moderate length, straight and pointed; the
eyes large and prominent ; the tail short ; the
broad hoofs divergent, very hard and almost
sharp at the outer edge, the accessory hoofs
concealed under a tuft of hair. Both sexes,
which in all respects, except the somewhat
slighter build of the female, are exactly
alike, carry horns, which are supported by
almost straight solid bony cores, and, rising
at first almost perpendicularly, afterwards
diverge a little to the side, and finally end
in very sharp hooks directed backwards.
These horns, at first round and slightly
ringed, afterwards become smooth, and at
the hook, which is delicately grooved or
striated, somewhat compressed. The stiff
and coarse hair is longer in winter than in
summer. In general it is of a dirty gray
colour, in winter darker, in summer lighter.
With the exception of a characteristic dark
stripe stretching from the root of the ear
over the eye to the corner of the mouth, the
head is of a lighter colour.

The chamois inhabits the mountains as far
as the limit of trees, and sometimes advances

beyond it. In winter it often descends pretty

M

90

far down into the valleys, while in summer
it visits the treeless and stony heights as far
as the snow limit. It runs with great rapidity
even upon ice-fields and glaciers, exhibits the
most wonderful dexterity in climbing among
the rocks, taking advantage of the slightest
inequalities in the surface of the ground, and
makes astonishing leaps with remarkable
precision and security. It rests by night and

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

goes out to graze by day, always in larger or
smaller troops under the guidance of an old
female, which stations itself on an elevated
spot whence it can keep an outlook over the
surrounding country so as to be able to give
warning of threatening danger by a sharp
whistling sound. The scent of the chamois
is very keen, the hearing likewise, the sight
less highly developed. Curiosity and timidity

Fig. 165. — Gazelles {Gazella dorcas

are the chief qualities in the disposition of
the chamois; the extraordinary adroitness
which it displays in the wild mountainous
regions which it inhabits saves it from many
dangers which its limited intelligence would
not enable it to perceive. The chase, the
favourite sport of the mountaineers, is ren-
dered difficult only by the nature of the spots
which the chamois frequents — spots which are
often quite inaccessible to man. Were it not
for that it would be scarcely less easy than
that of the roe-deer. In the Alps the chamois
would have been extirpated long ago had it
not been protected by severe laws against
hunters. In Switzerland, where the chase is

allowed at certain seasons of the year, the
chamois is already a rare animal, while in the
Eastern Alps one still may meet with pretty
numerous troops in the estates belonging to
the great land -owners. The old bucks are
quarrelsome and ill-tempered; they live
solitary except in the season of heat, when
they wage savage battles with their rivals.
For the most part the chamois brings forth
only one young one at a time. The young
animal is very attached to its mother, who
leads it about with great care till about the
age of six months. It can follow its mother
from the first day of its life, and soon exhibits
as much cleverness in leaping and climbing

THK AN 'I I-.I.OI'I'.S.

as tin: adult animals, while it manifests at the
same time a great deal of sportiveness.

The chamois can easily he kept in captivity,
but it does not live
long, and its keepers
have' only seldom been
successful in obtaining
offspring. Hybrids
between the chamois
and the goat have
often been met with,
but it has never been
found possible to cause
these hybrids to pro-
pagate. I hope I may
be permitted to say
without offence to the
lovers of chamois flesh
that I have never my-
self found it palatable
except in the case of
young animals. As soon as the chamois
becomes pretty well grown its flesh becomes

166. — Tin-

tough, and this is especially true of old bucks,
of the killing of which many a hunter is so
proud. The flesh of such an animal has not

only a shockingly bad
taste, but also a dis-
agreeable smell.

[" The tenacity of life
exhibited by the chamois
is very remarkable.
Tschudi, author of Das
Tliicrlcbcn der Alpenwclt,
mentions an instance in
which a chamois buck
was shot dead, which had
previously had one of its
horns shot away and one
of its legs broken, and
which bore the scars of a
bullet that had passed
through its body. In
another case two chamois
were shot over a precipice,
and the hunter, in taking up one of them, detected
signs of life still remaining in it, and gave it two or

Antelope (On't>tmgu.<i sti/ttifor). page 93.

Fig. 167. — The Bleekbok or Urebi (Calotragus scoparius). page 93

three smart blows on the head. This, however, had
only the effect of making the animal recover more
completely, for though held by one leg it at once
bounded off dragging the hunter along with it, till
at last it managed to disengage itself by a great

leap, after which it was quickly lost to view.
Often the hunter follows an animal that he has
struck on what would seem to others quite im-
practicable steeps, and the most astonishing adven-
tures are recorded of huntsmen, who, in the heat

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

of the chase, have achieved feats which in cold
blood they could not have had the hardihood to
contemplate. The following adventure is related,
on the authority of Kohl, by the author referred to
above. A chamois-hunter in the Bernese Oberland
leaped down upon a friable ledge of slate only a foot
in breadth running along the face of a precipice
about six hundred feet high. When he found the
rock crumbling away , , . .. . ..

and threatening togive
way altogether beneath
his feet he was com-
pelled to lay himself
slowly down on the
ledge, face downwards,
and drag himself cau-
tiously along. With
a small axe he broke
away the brittle slate
in front of him, and
crawled on foot by
foot, in constant dread
of seeing the ledge
break entirely away.
After labouring on for
an hour and a half
he observed a shadow
fluttering on the face
of the rock beside him,
and managing with
some difficulty to look
upwards saw a large
eagle circling in the
air above, and evidently bent on hurling him down
the abyss. He at once began to contrive the
means of turning round on his back, and having
by dint of great efforts and the exercise of the
utmost caution accomplished this, succeeded at the
end of another quarter of an hour in bringing his
rifle into position for firing. Then resting the back
of his head against one small projection in the
rock, and twisting one of his legs round another,
he lay for a while in that position watching the
eagle, which in the end thought it better to fly off
and leave the hunter to continue his efforts to crawl
along the narrow shelf on which he was hanging
on the brink of destruction. Three hours of the
most desperate exertions it cost him before he got
to the end of the ledge and was able to stand on
firm ground with torn clothes and lacerated hands
and arms.

" When the hunter has succeeded in overtaking

Fig. 168. — The Duyker-bok or Madocqua (Cephalophus mergens), page 94.

his game he fills the air with a shout of victory,
gives the animal the final thrust, tears out the
entrails and throws them away, taking, however,
great care of the fat, ties each of the lower legs
to the thigh, and then swings his booty, perhaps
seventy pounds in weight, by a strap over his back.
His comrades follow, and they seldom fail to finish
up with a grand carousal. If the leader of the

troop, the ' Fiihrgeiss,'
has been slain, the
others usually run con-
fusedly round in a
circle, not knowing
what to do, and fall an
easyprey to the hunter.
" The reader will no
doubt ask, what is the
reward of the risks and
hardships that the
chamois-hunter has to
encounter? He per-
haps imagines that the
chase of the chamois
is, at anyrate, a lucra-
tive occupation. Not
so. A Freiburg pro-
verb says that it re-
quires nine chamois-
hunters to support one.
The dangers and diffi-
culties of the chase
itself arealmost its sole
attraction, but, never-
theless, they form an attraction so strong that with
the true chamois-hunter the love of the sport is no
less than an irresistible passion. The following case
may seem almost incredible, but can be matched, it
is said, by many others. A devotee of the sport had
one of his legs amputated, and two years afterwards
sent his surgeon out of gratitude half of a chamois
that he had shot, remarking that with his wooden
leg he could not get along so well as before in the
chase, though he hoped to bring down many a
chamois yet. At the time of the amputation the
man was seventy-one years old. Alongside of this
case may be mentioned that of the guide who
said to Saussure: 'A short time ago I was very
happily married. My grandfather and my father
both perished in the chase of the chamois, and
I am sure to meet my end in the same way.
But if you would make my fortune on condition
that I should give up the chase, I could not

Till-: A NTH LOPES.

93

accept the offer.' '—Switzerland: Its Scenery and

Next to the chamois we may arrange .1
large number of elegant animals which have-
horns of simple form and attain at the most
the size of a goat or a roe-deer. In this
group the Arabians have always claimed the
first place for the Gaz-
elle ((,'azc/ta t/orctis).
lig. 165, in which both
sexes are adorned with
the characteristic black
horns with a slight
lyre-shaped curve.
The large straight ears
are rounded at the
end. The wonderfully
beautiful yellowish-
brown eyes are held in
as high esteem by the
Arab poets as the for-
get-me-not eyes among
those of Germany.
The body is slender,
the tail short but with
a thick tuft, the legs
long and very slim.
On the elegant little
head may be observed
tear-pits of no great
size. The colour is
yellow on the back,
darker stripe separates these two colours.

The home of the gazelle extends from the
mimosa-clad steppes and deserts of Nubia
and Kordofan to Arabia on the east, and
to Morocco on the west. The colour of its
coat conceals it perfectly in the midst of the
stones. The flocks pasture by day under
the leadership of an olcl female. In some
cases the young are rather weak on the legs
for several days after birth, so that they
easily fall a prey to wild animals or to man.
The flesh is good to eat, and the chase is
carried on by all methods — by means of the
cheetah, by means of falcons, with dogs, or

Fig. 169. — The Four-horned Antelope (Tctraceros quadricornis}. p. 94

a beautiful grayish-
white underneath, a

with fire-arms. The gazelle has a keen scent
and acute hearing, but is not very intelligent.
It is often met with in the East as a domestic
animal; gentle and even docile as a rule, it
is yet subject to accesses of fury, during
which it may become dangerous to children.
In the high mountains of the Cape region,
of Sennar, and Abys-
sinia, the Sassa of the
Abyssinians (Orcotra-
giis saltator), fig. 166,
takes the place of our
chamois, which it quite
equals in adroitness and
facility of movement.
The male alone carries
small, almost straight
horns, with the points
bent a little forwards.
The head is small and
short, the legs thick,
the tail rudimentary,
the hoofs sharp at the
edge. Tear-pits are
present. The colour
is a light olive-green
marbled with white.
The animal lives in
pairs or in families,
shows much attachment

to its chosen seats, and is eagerly hunted on
account of its excellent flesh.

The Bleekbok (pale-buck) of the Boers,
the Urebi of the natives (Calotragus scopa-
rius], fig. 167, is also met with at the Cape.
It lives in pairs, and prefers the steppes with
tall grasses. The horns of the male, some-
what stronger than those of the previous
species, are similar in form ; the tear-pits are
tolerably large. This pretty antelope is of
about the size of a roe-deer. It is reddish
or cinnamon-brown on the back, white under-
neath, with white spots round the eyes and
on the lips and chin. On the knees there
are long tufts of hair. Notwithstanding its
agility and the extraordinary leaps which it

94

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

makes this game easily becomes the prey of
the hunter, who takes advantage of its
stupidity.

The Duyker-bok or Madocqua (Cephalop/i/is
mergens), fig. 168, is distinguished by the
short and straight horns of the male, which
are almost hidden by a tuft of hair and by
the very large pointed ears. The legs are
very thin, the tail short and provided with a

terminal tuft. The colour varies very much
from gray to olive-green. The animal fre-
quents moist places in the denser parts of
the bush, and shows great skill in taking
advantage of the shelters afforded by its
retreat to hide itself from pursuit; hence the
name, meaning "ducker," bestowed upon it
by the Boers. It takes a zigzag course in
running. Its flesh is tough, but the leather

Fig. 170. — The Kietbok (Keduncus eleotragus).

made from its hide is highly esteemed as a
material for whip-cords.

The Chikara of India, the Four-horned
Antelope ( J^etraceros quadricornis}, fig. 1 69,
an animal of about the size of a gazelle, is
easily distinguished by the possession of a
second pair oi small horns above the eyes,
while the principal horns, which are almost
straight and not very large, are set between
the ears. The ears are large, the tear-pits
rather long, the nose broad and naked, the
legs long and slender. The male alone carries
horns. The animal inhabits the wooded
mountainous regions of Bengal and Nepaul.
In captivity it shows boldness and ill-temper.

The Rietbok (reed-buck) of the Boers, the
Umseke of the natives (Rcduncus eleotragus),
fig. 1 70, is a little larger than our roe, and at
the same time a little more slender and
higher on the legs. The very sharp horns
of the male are curved forwards, the ears
long, the neck long and round, the tail com-
paratively long and bushy, the fur rather
short but thick, of a reddish-gray colour,
lighter underneath. The animal lives in
pairs in the dense thickets of Central and
Southern Africa. When hunted it allows its
pursuer to approach pretty close up to it,
concealing itself meanwhile carefully. On
perceiving signs of danger it gives warning

THE ANTELOPES.

95

to its comrades by means of a kind of detested by the Kaffirs and Namaquas on
sneezing as many antelopes do; and it is account of the devastation which it works

!&aja?fB

Fig. 171.— The Harnessed Antelope or Guib ( Tragdaphus serif tus]

111

their fields. It is very tenacious of life.

Its flesh is highly esteemed.

The Harnessed Antelope, the Guib (Tra-
gelaphus scrrptus), fig. 171, an animal of the

Fig. 172. — The Saiga Antelope (Colus tartaricus}. page 96.

of a fallow-deer, a native of Abyssinia
and the whole of West Africa, is remarkable

for the bright colours of its coat. The head,
the neck, the breast, and the back are of a

96

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

brownish-gray colour; the sides and the thighs
of a rusty red, and upon these parts there
are white spots and stripes, of the arrange-
ment of which the illustration will give a
better idea than a long description. The
horns of the male are thick, flattened, and

provided with two keels or ridges, which
meet at the extremity of the horn. The
two horns have an elegant curve inwards.
This beautiful animal lives in pairs in the
forests; it is easily tamed, stands our climate
pretty well, and on account of its gentleness

Fig. 173. — The Nylgau (Portax picfus).

and easiness of management has become
one of the favourites as well as one of the
most frequent ornaments of our zoological
gardens.

The Saiga (Cohis tartaricus (Saiga tar-
tarica)}, fig. 172, is the only European an-
telope besides the chamois. Its domain for-
merly extended as far as the foot of the
Pyrenees; but at the present day it is con-
fined to the steppes of Russia, from the
frontiers of Poland to the Altai Mountains.
It is a rather abnormal type, with a sturdy
massive body and short legs, and is spe-
cially distinguished by the peculiar form of

its nose and upper lip, which are swollen and
wrinkled, the lip hanging down over the
mouth like a short but very mobile proboscis.
The horns of the male are short, curved
slightly in the form of a lyre, almost trans-
parent. The animal possesses a large num-
ber of skin-glands, which exude fragrant oily
fluids. Besides the very deep tear-pits there
are glands in the region of the groin. The
fur, gray on the back and the flanks, whitish
on the abdomen and brow, is almost like the
fleece of a sheep. The animal lives in troops,
which are often very numerous, is very timid
but easily tired out when pursued, and in

THE ANTELOPES.

97

spite of its keen scent easily becomes the
prey of the hunter. The flesh is made dis-
agreeable by the smell of musk imparted to
it by the superficial glands. The saiga is
often seen in zoological gardens, where it
frequently perishes through its own stupidity,
breaking its neck or its legs by clashing
against the bars of its cage.

The Nylgau (Portax pictus (Bosclap/nix
tragocamclus) ), fig. 173, forms the transition
to the powerful and clumsy species which are
higher at the shoulders than behind, the
reverse being the case with the slighter and
more elegant forms of which we have just
been treating. The nylgau, which inhabits
principally the edge of the jungles in the

Fig. 174. — The Sing-Sing or Waterbok (Kobus ellipsiprymnus}. page 98.

East Indies, is often imported into Europe,
where one can make its acquaintance in the
zoological gardens. It is of the size of a
stag, is on the whole ill-proportioned and in-
elegant, has a rather shaggy coat, and appears
to be decidedly weak in the loins. The small
longish head is often furnished in both sexes,
most commonly, however, only in the male,
with short, pointed, slightly curved horns.
The ears are large, the eyes small and lively
but malicious, the tear-pits deep. On the
breast is a slight dewlap. The shoulders are
very high and angular, the back slopes rapidly
towards the hinder extremity, the tail is pretty

Vm.. II.

long and bushy, the feet strong and provided
with broad hoofs and flattened accessory
hoofs. The hair is rough and coarse; it
forms a sort of mane at the neck and shoul-
ders, and there is a long tuft about the middle
of the neck in front as well as at the end of
the tail. The general colour is a grayish-
brown with blue reflex colours, which have
procured for the nylgau the name of the
" blue ox." Besides a few white spots on
the lips, the throat, and under the tail, the
nylgau is specially distinguished by two white
rings on the feet, one immediately below, the
other above the accessory hoofs. The nylgau

45

98

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

is much hunted on account of its excellent
flesh as well as on account of its hide, which
makes a very flexible leather. When wounded
it attacks the hunter, throwing itself upon its
knees and creeping up to him. In captivity
it is ill-tempered and often attacks its keepers.
Since 1860 the King of Italy has possessed

a pretty large herd of nylgaus at San Ros-
sore, near Pisa, where the animals appear to
thrive.

The Sing-Sing, the Waterbok of the Boers
(Kobus cllipsiprymnus), fig. 1 74, has the ap-
pearance of a large fallow-deer and almost
attains the size of our stag. The horns of

Fig. 175. — The Sable Antelope or Swarte-bok (Hippotragus niger

the male are large, curved in the shape of a
lyre, ringed for two -thirds of their length,
the ears of moderate size, the eyes pretty
large. The hair is rough but oily-looking
and shining, somewhat longer at the neck
than in other parts, and there is a tuft at the
end of the tail. The legs are slender. The
waterbok lives in small • herds under the
leadership of an old male, and inhabits the
marshes of Central Africa and the Cape re-
gion. It always remains in the vicinity of
water, into which it plunges when danger
threatens, in order to save itself by swimming.
The flesh of adult animals smells strongly of
musk ; that of the young alone is eatable.

The Sable Antelope or Swarte-bok {Hippo-
tragus niger), fig. 175, is of about the size of
a stout short stag. The male carries long
horns curved backwards and ringed to the
points like those of a goat. The horns of
the female have the same form but are
smaller. The head is small and short, the
ears long like those of an ass, the tail of
moderate length, very thin and with a large
terminal tuft. A long loose mane runs from
the nape of the neck to the middle of the
back, and there is a shorter one on the under
surface of the neck. The colour is a brilliant
black; a broad white stripe extends from the
eye to the lips and here unites with another

To fact faft ft.

PLATE XXIX. - THE CANNA OR ELAND (Bnulaphtu canna).

OF THE

UNIVERSITY

OF

TIIK ANTELOPES.

99

white chin-stripe. The under side of the
breast and the belly, as well as the inner
sides of the legs, are white. Formerly this
animal was considered to be a "blauw-bok
(//. Icucopluca) in its summer dress, but it
has now been ascertained to be an inde-

pendent though rare species. Blauw-boks
and swarte-boks live in troops under the
leadership of an old male in the rocky and
mountainous parts of Central Africa. In the
Cape region they are almost extirpated. They
are extremely shy and timid, darting off on

Fig. 176. — The Leucoryx or Sabre Antelope (Oryx leucoryx).

the least hint of danger. The flesh has an
abominable taste like that of a he-goat.

The Spietboks (Oryx) are large African
antelopes, heavy-looking and clumsy in form.
They are of about the size of a stag, and are
distinguished by their enormous horns, which
are usually as long as the body, They are
straight or very slightly curved, thin, pointed,
plainly ringed, and are developed in both
sexes. The head and the tail resemble those
of the cow, of which the short and massive
neck also remind us, especially since it often
carries a slight dewlap. The species repre-
sented in fig. 176, the Leucoryx or Sabre
Antelope (O. leucoryx}, is found in the deserts

of Central Africa, especially in Sennar, and
it advances up to the Egyptian frontier.
Formerly its domain extended further to the
north, as is shown by the numerous figures
seen on the ancient monuments. These
beautiful animals wander about in small
troops in the dry steppes, and in spite of their
apparent clumsiness rival the best horses in
running. Bold and defiant, they make a
stand against both beasts of prey and hunters,
endeavouring to transfix their assailants with
their horns. Where they have made acquain-
tance with fire-arms, however, they flee before
the hunter, whom they scent at a great distance.
The species represented is whitish -yellow

100

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

above, white underneath, and marked with
brown spots on the head. It is often seen
in zoological gardens.

The Canna of the Kaffirs, the Elen of the
Boers (Buselaphus areas), PI. XXIX., is
the heaviest of all the antelopes, and that

which has most resemblance to the oxen, and
especially to the zebu. This resemblance is
so great that at a distance, when the horns
cannot be distinguished, one is in doubt
whether a herd grazing in the steppes con-
sists of cannas or zebus. The neck adorned

Fig. 177. — The Mendes Antelope (Addax nasomaculatus}.

with a large pendent dewlap, the short sturdy
limbs, the pretty long tail with a large
terminal tuft, the absence of tear-pits, the
presence of a hump on the shoulders, the
brownish-yellow colour, with the white spots
on the head and neck, the habits, the gait—
everything reminds us of the humped oxen.
The horns, however, are very different.
They are straight, of moderate length, con-
tinue the line of the brow, and have a large
thick keel or ridge wound round them spirally
to the extremity. A strong bull of this species
may reach the weight of a ton. The canna
is now found only in Inner Africa between
the equator and the Tropic of Cancer, but

its domain formerly extended to the Cape
region, where, at the time when the settlers
arrived, troops of several hundred head used
to pasture. Mounted hunters endeavour to
overtake the old bulls, which cannot hold out
very long in running. Descendants of a pair
of cannas which the Earl of Derby intro-
duced in 1840 are now found in almost all
zoological gardens, where they behave like
cattle. The flesh is very savoury, that of the
young animal tender, while that of the old
bulls has a disagreeable odour like the flesh
of a he-goat.

The Mendes Antelope,1 the Abbu Addas of

1 Supposed to be the pygarg of Deut. xiv. 5. — TR.

Till': ANTKI.OPKS.

101

the Arabs (^li/i/ti.v nasoiiiacit/a/iis), fig. 177,
is found in the eastern Sahara and as lar east
as Xuln'a, usually in pretty large (locks.
This antelope, which is more eagerly hunted
than any other by the nomads with their
slughis or Arabian greyhounds, is indeed less
clumsy-looking than the canna, but yet resem-

bles the oxen pretty closely in the plumpness
of the body, the thickness of the legs, and the
general appearance of the tail, which is long
and has a large terminal tuft. The horns,
which are found on both sexes, are straight
from base to tip, but have a double spiral
twist round their axis, and for two-thirds of

Fig. 178.— The Caama or Hartebeest (Butalis Caama).

•<*— -- ,. » ;/&• - • *

their length up are surrounded by numerous
oblique rings. These horns served as an
ornament for the head in many of the deities
of the ancient Egyptians. The head, the
neck, and the short mane are brown, the rest
of the body whitish-yellow. A white trans-
verse stripe is always to be seen on the nose.
Regions of drought are the favourite abode
of the addax. It is a swift runner, and
defends itself with courage against dogs when
wounded. In captivity it is ill-tempered and
liable to accesses of fury.

The Koodoo (Strepsiceros kudu], of which
there is a full-page illustration (PI. XXX.),
has long flattened horns, indistinctly ringed

and with a marked spiral twist. The size,
the appearance, and the habits of this beau-
tiful antelope remind us of our stags. It
frequents the forests and the bush of the
whole of the interior of Africa from the Cape
to the borders of Sahara, lives like our stag,
and is used and hunted like it. The general
colour is a reddish or brownish gray, but
there are irregular white spots on the flanks.
The mane and the tail-tuft are blackish, the
long hair on the dewlap gray, the legs and
the middle of the forehead white.

The Caama of the Kaffirs, the Hartebeest
of the Cape Colonists (Bttbalis (Alcelapkus)
Caama], fig. 178, which is also of about the

IO2

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

size of a stag, is distinguished by its longish
head and its short stout horns, which meet
at the base, are markedly ringed and curved
in the form of a lyre. Recently naturalists
have distinguished several species which
approach very close to the hartebeest, and are,
perhaps, only local varieties. The species
shown in fig. 1 78 is cinnamon-brown, the
forehead, the front of the legs, and the bushy

tail are black, narrow rings round the eyes,
the inner side of the thighs and the speculum
are white. The hartebeest was formerly very
abundant near the Cape, but has been almost
extirpated there by the ceaseless persecution
to which it has been exposed on the part of
hunters. It is still found in Inner Africa, in
the land of the Bogos and the Niam-niam,
and is generally to be seen on the banks of

Fig. 179. — The Indian Antelope {Antilope ceruicapra}.

rivers in herds of about twenty individuals.
It is a rather quarrelsome animal, but may to
a certain extent be tamed, though it some-
times becomes dangerous.

We have reserved till now a singular ante-
lope belonging to India, and known as the
Indian Antelope, though called by the Hindus
themselves the Sassi (Antilope cervicapra],
fig. 1 79. Its long, ringed and spirally twisted,
but straight horns remind us of the addax,
but in other respects it has rather the appear-
ance of a gazelle. The animal is reverenced
by the Hindus, who have placed it in the
zodiac in place of the ibex (Capricorn), and
regard it as sacred to Chandra-, the goddess
of the moon. The male, which alone is
horned, is of a dark grayish-brown colour,

the female lighter; the belly, the inner side
of the legs, the speculum, the lips, the ears,
and the rings round the eyes are white.
The legs are thin, the tail short and provided
with a terminal tuft, and tufts of hair adorn
the knees. The tear-pits and inguinal glands
are remarkably large, and filled with an oily
ill-smelling secretion. The animal lives in
open woods and groves in pretty numerous
troops led by an old male. The great nobles
of Bengal hunt it with falcons or grey-
hounds.

The Gnus (Catoblepas (Connochaetes) ) pre-
sent a union of rather singular characters,
which may always be observed in our mena-
geries and zoological gardens. Two species
are known, both natives of the Cape; of

To face fa f€ tea.

PLATE XXX. — THE KOODOO (Strefsiceros k«du).

UNIVERSITY

OF

THE GOATS.

103

these the one shown in fig. 180, the Wilde-
beest of the colonists (C. gun], is the com-
monest. The head resembles in a measure
that of a small buffalo; the horns, which are
placed near one another and are present in
both sexes, are twisted first outwards and
downwards and then upwards and forwards,

and finally end in sharp points. The ears
are of moderate size, there is a tuft of stiff
hairs on the nose, another on the throat; a
short stiff mane similar to that of the zebras
runs along the neck from the nape to the
shoulders. Tufts of hair also hang from the
breast, and the tail, which is moderately long,

Fig. 180.— The Wildebeest or White-tailed Gnu (CutoUefas gnu).

is bushy. The body is pretty long, the legs !
strong and of moderate length, the hoofs i
broad and high. The nostrils can be com-
pletely closed ; the small eyes have an expres-
sion of wild savagery. The general colour
is a dark brownish-gray; the eyebrows and
the hair on the lips are white. The animal is
of about the size of an ass. Large flocks of
it inhabit the plains of Africa south of the
equator. From all other antelopes it is dis-
tinguished by its alternately roguish and
frolicsome, but frequently also sullen and
savage disposition. The colonists were right
when they bestowed upon it the name of
"wild cattle." It is now often seen in our
menageries, but its outbursts of fury always
make it dangerous to its keepers.

The Goats.

The group of the goats (Caprida) is dis-
tinguished by the structure of the horns.
These have solid bony cores, and the horny
sheath is bent backwards and laterally com-
pressed, so as to form an edge, and has
knobs or tubercles arranged transversely in
the form of rings. Both sexes carry horns,
but those of the female are always smaller
than those of the male, and are like those
of the young he-goats. The goats almost
always have a beard at the chin. They
have neither tear-pits nor inguinal or inter-
digital glands. The short tail with two lines
of hairs and naked on the under surface is
usually carried erect. The large hard hoofs

104

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

are almost sharp on the outer edge, and when
seen in profile have the form of a rhomboid.
The hair is sometimes coarse, sometimes fine
and silky, but it does not present the character
of true wool. The straight nose distinguishes
the goat from the ram's-nose of the sheep.
But it must be confessed that there are tran-
sitional forms between these two groups, as
well as between antelopes and goats, the con-
necting links being the chamois on the one side
and the Rocky Mountain goat on the other.

The goats inhabit high and steep un-
wooded mountains, where they can climb
about to their heart's content, scorning the
dangers presented by the chasms and preci-
pices. They are not fond of woods, but
delight to graze among shrubs and dwarfed
and creeping trees, where they find aromatic
herbs in abundance. They run, climb, and
spring with wonderful dexterity; the smallest
point of support serves to enable them to
make a leap or to take foothold. The ibex

Fig. 181. — The Rocky Mountain Goat (Hafloceros americantis}.

surpasses even the chamois in the certainty
with which it estimates distances for extraor-
dinary leaps. The senses, especially those
of smell and sight, are extremely well devel-
oped. The goats are very capricious in the
choice of plants on which to feed; they are
roguish and fond of teasing, cunning in case
of need, bold in presence of danger, if they
cannot escape from it by rapid flight. The
old males become ill-tempered and even
dangerous to man. The old females take
charge of the herd in turn while it is grazing
or resting. The young goats are delightful

on account of their graceful movements and
comical attitudes. They can follow their
mothers a few hours after birth. All goats
have that peculiar smell which is so well
known, and which is present even in the flesh,
which on that account is less highly esteemed
than that of the sheep. The hunting of goats
is always laborious and exhausting, and often
likewise dangerous on account of the nature
of the resorts where they are found.

The American Rocky Mountain Goat (ffap-
loceros americamis], fig. 181, inhabits the
heights of the mountains from which it is

THE GOATS.

105

named as far as the 65th parallel of northern
latitude. It is a wonderfully beautiful animal,
of the si/e of a goat, but with more thickset
body, stronger legs, and this appearance is

still further enhanced by the long thick white
coat of hair by which it is completely covered.
Only the borders of the nose and lips besides
the hoofs are naked. This beautiful coat

Fig. 182. — The Markhor (Capra falconer!), page 106.

consists of a thick close-set down and of
stiffer hairs, which become longer on the
back so as to form a thick erect mane,
extending from between the horns along the
middle line of the back to the root of the tail.
The pretty thick beard rather forms whiskers
than a true goat's beard. The down is not
wool composed of flattened and spirally
twisted hair, but is, on the contrary, made up
of very thin, long, and perfectly cylindrical
hairs. The animal undoubtedly shows a

VOL. II.

tendency to approach the antelopes in the
character of its horns, which are round, with-
out edges or tubercles, and feebly ringed at
the base, yet the terminal hook is not so well
marked as in the chamois. Besides, the tail
is not that of a goat. It is covered with hair
all round, and, instead of being carried erect,
bends down between the legs. These goats
may, therefore, be ranked as a separate genus,
approaching more closely to the antelopes
than others, but belonging to the goats in

46

io6

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

respect of the rest of their organization. The
Rocky Mountain goat frequents the highest
naked peaks of its home, between the limit
of forests and the snow-line, and among the
few hunters of those sparsely inhabited
regions enjoys the same reputation as the
chamois with us. Its flesh is very bad.

The Markhor of the natives of the East
Indies (Capra falconeri (mcgaccros} ), fig. 182,
is a powerful animal, much stronger than the
domestic goat. It is distinguished by the
strongly keeled horns of the male, which are
twisted like a cork-screw, and are very similar
to those of the koodoo antelope; the horns

Fig. 183. —The Grecian Ibex (Capra cegagrus).

of the female are much smaller and less
twisted. It also has the skin pretty uniformly
covered with hair, while in the adult male
the beard is prolonged into a kind of mane
which envelops the neck and breast, and gets
lengthened on the shoulders and back into
a shaggy fur. This mane is a little lighter
than the rest of the fur, which has a dark
grayish-brown colour on the hinder parts and
the front of the legs, while the under surface
and the inner side of the legs are again
somewhat lighter. The markhor lives on
the high peaks of the Himalayas of Tibet, in
Kashmir and Afghanistan, and the hunters
maintain that it devours serpents. Speci-
mens of this goat have been brought to
Europe, where it has been tamed to a certain

degree, but has always remained somewhat
capricious.

The Grecian Ibex or Bezoar goat, the
Pasong of the Persians (Capra agagrus), fig.
183, is manifestly the wild goat which Homer
mentions when he speaks of the islands of the
Cyclops and Crete. Even at the present day
its domain extends from the islands of the
Archipelago to Persia. The strongly curved
horns of the male exhibit about a dozen
knobs or tubercles in front, those of the
female are simply compressed. The beard
is very strong. The usual colour of the hair
is reddish-brown; the under surface and the
inner side of the legs are whitish ; the patch
on the brow, the tail, and a longitudinal stripe
on the back are black. On the shoulders

THK COATS.

107

also darker stripes ran be distinguished, as
well as on the under parts of the Hanks and
the legs. Formerly these goats were much
hunted in Asia Minor, because peculiar
medicinal virtues were ascribed to the round
swellings which are formed in the stomach
of these- as well as many other ruminants, and
which arc; known as bezoar balls.

Here the question of the origin of the
Domestic Goat (Caflra hirciis) is forced upon
us, a question which, as in the case of all
other animals domesticated at a remote
period, is complicated by the number of
varieties, the mingling of species, and the
influence of man. In the first place it is
incontestable that the wild goats already

184. — The Angora Goat (Cap,

mentioned and figured, as well as many others,
all originally belonging to Asia, which have
not been figured in this work, are capable of
producing fertile hybrids with our domestic
goat. On the other hand, it is equally in-
contestable that goats belong to the oldest of
domestic animals, that their remains have
been found in the neighbourhood of lake-
dwellings, that among the ancient Egyptians
at least two, if not more, easily recognizable
races were represented, and that at the present
day we know at least a dozen different races
distributed over all countries of the world.
Yet we are now acquainted with not a single
wild goat either in Western or Central Europe,
or in Africa, with the sole exception of the
ibex, which is essentially different in the struc-

tgtrauis). page 108.

ture of its horns from the domesticated breeds.
It is accordingly probable that the goats were
introduced into Egypt and the lake-dwellings.
The two species represented in this work are
so like certain domesticated races that we
must allow that they have contributed to
their formation, which does not exclude the
possibility that other species also have co-
operated with these towards the same end.
But whatever the truth may be as regards
this matter, it is at least certain that goats
easily revert to the wild condition, just as
wild goats are very easily tamed.

But it is not our business to discuss the
tame races which have been formed by the
influence of man. We take, however, this
opportunity of expressing our opinion of the

io8

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

utility of these animals. If, on the one hand,
it is unquestionable that the goat must be
called on account of its milk the cow of the
poor, that it yields, especially in countries
where cattle
and sheep do
not thrive very
well, an impor-
tant element of
food, that the
skins are of the
highest value,
and that cer-
tain races, such
as the Kash-
mir and the
Angora Goat
(Capra hircus,
van angoren-
sis), fig. 184,
have been
brought, in
certain moun-
tainous coun-
tries with a
raw climate, by
careful in-and-
in breeding, to
produce an in-
valuable kind
of long wool,
which envel-
ops almost the
entire body
of the animal,

and is unsur " Fig' l8s-The Alpine Ibex

passed for delicacy and softness ; yet it must
be confessed, on the other hand, that the
goat is the most destructive creature in the
world in forests, and that the old seats of
civilization, namely the countries round the
Mediterranean, owe the destruction of their
forests, the nakedness of their mountains,
and the inevitable consequence of that con-
dition, the dryness of their climate, to the
devastations of these animals. Man destroys

the forests when full-grown in order to pro-
cure the timber, the goat prevents their being
renewed. It devours the young plants as
they spring up out of the ground and the

young shoots
on the trees;
wherever the
goat comes it
makes the
work of

re-

afforestation
an impossibili-
ty. It is not
without rea-
son that a Ger-
man legend
ascribes the
creation of the
goat to the
devil. The
evil spirit is
said to have
bestowed upon
it its horns, its
eyes, and its
beard, and to
have bitten its
tail short be-
cause it got
caught by it
in the under-
wood. Its
influence in
lands deprived
of trees has
been perni-

(Ibex alpinus). page 109.

cious enough to justify such a legend.
The Ibex.

The Bouquetins, the steinbocks of German
Switzerland (Ibex), are distinguished from
the goats proper by the enormous size of
their horns. These are triangular in section ;
in front they are broad, and on that side
there is on each horn a series of transverse
ridges. In other respects they are goats.

THE SHEEP.

109

Every chain of lofty mountains in Europe
and \Ycstcrn Asia has its own species of ibex.
The Alps, the Sierra Nevada, the Caucasus,
the Altai Mountains, Mount Sinai, and the
mountains of Abyssinia have ibexes \\hich are
somewhat different from each other as regards
their horns and skins, but are similar to one
another in the rest of their structure and their
mode of life. They are all animals which
dwell in the highest regions and exhibit all
the (nullities of goats in the highest degree.
\\'e have not considered it necessary to repeat
here what has already been said, and we only
add a few words concerning the Alpine Ibex
(//h-.v alpiiins (Capra ibex} ), fig. 185, which
has no beard, and simply curved, and slightly
divergent horns with very prominent ridges
or knobs.

This majestic animal, formerly distributed
over the whole Alps, had already in the
middle ages become rare, thanks to the un-
reasing pursuit of which it was the object, in
consequence of a fancy which ascribed all
sorts of medicinal virtues to different parts of
the animal. Even at the present day the fat
and the dried blood of the ibex are sold in
certain Alpine valleys at high prices. The
horns, likewise, had a considerable value, and
the labours, privations, and dangers connected
with the chase of the ibex on the almost
inaccessible peaks where it had to be followed,
were among the highest enjoyments of sport.
Now the ibex exists only in a few districts of
the Alps, where it is protected in the strictest
manner. From the Swiss Alps it has en-
tirely disappeared, and in the western Alps
it is still found only in the Val de Cogne and
the ravines opening into it, which King
Victor Emmanuel placed under strict super-
vision. On the summit of the Col de Geant,
between Chamounix and Courmayeur, there
is to be seen at the height of ten thousand
feet a board with the inscription, " Defense
de chasser," and keepers are placed all round.
There are perhaps in this district still about
three hundred head in all, distributed in

small troops of about a dozen each. Attempts
have been made without success to re-intro-
duce the ibex into the Austrian Alps. In the
zoological gardens at Schonbrunn and a few
others elsewhere are kept a number of ibexes,
which excite general astonishment by their
enormous leaps. They are capable of being
tamed to a certain degree, but in old age they
become ill-tempered. Hybrids between the
ibex and the common goat have also been
reared, but all of these became in advanced
years so ill-tempered and unmanageable that
they had to be killed. The descendants of
these hybrids acquired in course of time the
characters of common goats.

The Sheep.

The sheep are distinguished from the goats
by their flat brow, the ram's nose, the absence
of the beard, and the presence of tear- pits
and interdigital glands, as well as by the
character of their horns, which are twisted
like the shell of a snail, and adorned with
rings of knobs or tubercles. These rings
are continued on the three or four sides of
the horns. The legs are thinner and longer
than those of the goats, the body more
slender, and the tail shorter and covered with
hair all round. This covering is made up of
a thick wool mixed with longer fine hairs.
But, as already mentioned, there are connect-
ing links between the two groups, for ex-
ample, goats without any beard and with
interdigital glands and small tear-pits, and,
on the other hand, sheep with a straight nose
and without tear-pits. In the sheep both
sexes are provided with horns, but those of
the female are always smaller than those of
the male, and also, for the most part, less
twisted.

The mode of life of wild sheep is absolutely
the same as that of goats. But for us, who
only know the tame animal, rendered stupid
by slavery, the sheep is the type of dull sub-
missiveness, of peace-loving indolence and
blind obedience, without will, without vivacity,

I IO

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

and without individuality. Further, we know
sheep only as numbers of a herd which acts
in a mass under the direction of a foreign
will, blindly following the movements of
whatever leader happens to be selected,
whether a male of their own species, a dog,

or a man. The wild sheep is quite different
from this; it is intelligent, when young full
of spirit and sportiveness, when full-grown
courageous. It climbs and leaps well, and is
an untiring runner; no mountain slope is too
steep for it, no peak inaccessible. As in-

Fig. 186.— The Barbary Wild Sheep or Ami (Ovis tragelaphus).

habitants of the lofty naked parts of mountain
chains, the sheep behave altogether like goats,
except that in them the social tendencies are
more highly developed, since they very
readily collect into considerable troops, and
are easily led by their watchful and careful
leaders. They likewise become very easily
attached to man ; yet, while other animals
have advanced in the development of their
capacities by association with man, the sheep,
cattle, and to a certain extent also goats, have
in that way lost their intellectual and in-
dividual qualities, inasmuch as they have
become in the hands of their master merely
means for the production of flesh, milk, and
wool.

The Barbary Wild Sheep, the Ami of the

Arabs (Ovis tragelapfms], fig. 186, is an essen-
tially African type, characteristic of the high
chains on the south of the Mediterranean. It
approaches most nearly to the ibex in respect
of its straight forehead, thick-set body, thick
and simply curved horns, with numerous but
only slightly prominent rings, and by the
absence of tear-pits. It possesses, however,
interdigital glands. It is a large animal,
which is found only in the most desolate
tracts of the Atlas and the Aures, where it is
hunted with infinite labour and even danger,
for the old males, which attain a height of
upwards of three feet at the shoulders, will
attack man without hesitation. The male is
distinguished by the possession of very long
hair in front, where it hangs down to the

THE SHEEP.

in

ground. This appendage begins with the
heard, and is particularly well developed on
the hn-.isi and fore-feet, and it gives to the
animal a peculiar appearance. In the female
this hair is considerably shorter, and reaches
only to the knee. The tail is pretty long,
and carries a long tuft of hair at the end, the

hairs being set very thick on both sides.
The colour of the coarse and shaggy fleece
is a bright reddish yellow, and admirably
adapted to the rocks, in the midst of which
it lives in small herds. The ami has been
brought to Europe, where it propagates itself
very readily in zoological gardens. The old

Fig. 187. — The Rocky Mountain Sheep or Big-horn (Ovis montana).

males, however, become very ill-tempered,
and often attack with fury some part of their
cage, which they try to break through by
butting with their horns.

The Rocky Mountain Sheep, the Big-horn
of the Americans (Ovis montana), fig. 187,
attains even a greater size than the ami.
The body is more slender, the legs are longer
and thicker, the profile of the forehead is
likewise straight, as in the latter animal ; but
the horns of the male are thicker and very
broad in front; they have more of a spiral
twist than in the ami, and end in blunt points
directed outwards. The rings on the horns
are very close-set. The horns of the female,
however, resemble those of an ordinary goat.
An adult male may attain the weight of nearly

four hundred pounds. The hair is short,
erect, and soft; its usual colour a grayish-
brown, darker on the back. The under sur-
face, the inner side of the legs, and a patch
on the hinder quarters are white; the tail is
short, and ends in a blackish point or tuft of
hair. The big-horn climbs and leaps in the
most wonderful manner. It inhabits the
desert tracts on the western slopes of the
Rocky Mountains between the 4oth and 68th
degrees of northern latitude. A living speci-
men has never been obtained. A mouflon
belonging to Kamchatka, the Kurile and
Aleutian Islands (O. nivalis] has been de-
scribed, but it is probably only a slightly
different variety of the big-horn.

The Kashkar of the Kirghiz (Ovis Polii),

112

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

fig. 1 88, inhabits the high plateaux of the
Pamir in the east of Bokhara, and probably
extends to Tibet. This splendid animal has
been figured as a representative of a pretty
considerable number of sheep inhabiting
Central Asia, among which the Argali (Ovis
Argali] is the best known, and the largest,
for it attains the size of a moderately large

stag. The kashkar, which, according to
Wood, is of about the size of a two-year old
foal, and attains the weight of about five
hundred pounds, has had its Latin specific
name bestowed upon it in honour of the
celebrated traveller Poli, who was the first to
describe it. The horns of the male are very
large, bent round in a circle with the ends

K==g5r:N

Fig. i88.-The Kashkar (Ovis Po/ii).

turned outwards, and very broad in front;
the two side faces form at their junction a
sharp cutting edge. The ringed structure is
very marked, and the rings themselves lie
very close together. The female has horns
resembling those of a goat, and also closely
ringed. The profile of the head is slightly
curved, the body rather long, the legs long
and tolerably slim, and the tail quite short.
The back and sides are usually of a brown
colour with a shimmer of gray and red; the
front, the neck, breast, under surface, the
lower portion of the legs, the tail, and hind-
quarters are white; a dark stripe extends
along the back to the root of the tail. The
fleece is composed of a very delicate, but not
very dense wool, interspersed with strong
coarse hairs, which become rather longer

on the neck and hind -quarters. Wood
designates the beard of the male expressly
"a reverend beard." The animal frequents
more particularly the elevated stony plateaux,
and is generally found in troops of about
thirty under the lead of an old male. At the
season of heat the males are very combative.
The chase is extremely difficult, especially on
account of the extraordinary tenacity of life
by which these animals are characterized.
The Kirghiz build pyramids with their
colossal horns in order to serve as land-
marks in their vast solitudes.

The Musimon or European Mouflon (Ovis
musimoii), fig. 189, is distinguished from the
giants of Central Asia even by its size, being
little larger than the common sheep. This
native of the mountain chains in the countries

THE SHEEP.

bordering on the Mediterranean (for it was
formerly found in Greece, on the island of
Sicily, and the Balearic I si.-' ids) is at the
present day confined to Corsica and Sardinia,
and chiefly
met with on
the latter,
where it is still
to be seen in
the mountain
chains of the
east and centre
in pretty nu-
merous herds
under the lead
of an old male.
The head has a
curved profile,
that of the
male resem-
bles the h<ad
of a ram. The
horns describe
a curve of
three-fourths
of a circle; at
the base they
are triangular
in section,
towards the
end laterally
compressed
and marked
with promi-
nent rings.
The female is

quarters are whitish. A whitish or yellowish
spot is to be seen especially on the winter
fleece on the flanks. Like all wild sheep the
musimon is lively and agile, a good leaper

and climber,
and does not
allow anyone
to approach it
i easily. It is
much hunted
for the sake
of its excellent
flesh. It is
now to be seen
in all zoologi-
cal gardens.
It is easily ren-
dered tame,
but exhibits a
peculiar stub-
bornness in its
attacks on the

of its
There

(9. — The Musimon or European Mouflon (Ovis musimon)

bars
cage,
was once in
the Jardin des
Plantes at
Paris a musi-
mon which
took it into its
head to break
through a cer-
tain part of
its inclosure.
Every day it
made fierce

often entirely without horns; when present at
all they are small and straight. The animal
possesses a sturdy thickset body, with long
thick legs and a small tail, which is naked at
the lower end and is bent between the legs.
Tear-pits and interdigital glands are present.
The fleece is short and thick, and is composed
of coarse hairs rather longer on the throat
and breast than elsewhere. The under sur-
face, the inner sides of the legs, and the hind-

VOL. II.

attacks for several hours together against this
spot, part of which had been strengthened with
thicker stakes. The blows which it gave in
butting with its horns were heard to a great
distance. It would easily have broken through
any other part of its inclosure, but it did not
think of that, and for at least a year I con-
tinued to hear it from the workroom which
M. Laurillard had given up to me, regularly
repeating its onslaughts on the chosen spot.

47

114

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

At this point we must take up the question
of the Domesticated Sheep (Ovis arics], and
it may be observed at the outset that there
are a few important facts that dominate the
whole question. In the first place, it is
manifest that the sheep became domesticated
among the ancient Egyptians at least much
later than the ox and the horse, since the old
wall-paintings which represent these two
animals never represent the sheep, while we

have found drawings of the arni, from which
Jupiter Ammon derived his horns. We come
upon drawings of a later date, however, ex-
hibiting sheep of various breeds, and in
particular breeds with pendent ears, which is
always a sign of lengthened domestication.
The Egyptians of the later dynasties appear
accordingly to have received this animal after
it had first been domesticated elsewhere. In
the second place, we must take into con-

Fig. 190. — The Anoa (Prohitalm diprtssictmis).

sideration the fact that there have been found
representations of sheep with woolly fleece,
which is likewise plainly a result of domesti-
cation; for wild sheep, such as the kashkar
and the argali, may indeed have a little fine
wool under the hair of which the fleece
consists, but never have a fleece entirely of
wool. On the other hand, remains have
been found round the Swiss lake-dwellings
of a long-legged sheep, whose horns resemble
those of a goat, and whose descendants, but
slightly altered in form, appear to have been
preserved to the present day in the mountains
of the Grisons. In short, the sheep is, if I
may so express myself, the animal which has
been least remodelled in the hands of man.

Every country, even those regions in which
it is certain that there has never been any
wild sheep, possesses its own peculiar race.
In some cases the breeds have undoubtedly
been produced according to the demand that
had to be supplied — whether wool, flesh, or
tail -fat, which last is the case in certain
Oriental breeds, in which the tail is an
enormous lump of fat, which the animal has
to drag along on a small wheeled cart. Be-
sides the wild sheep already indicated there
are three or four others all belonging to
Tibet, the Himalayas, or other parts of
Central Asia, and all similar to the European
sheep. It is accordingly probable that wild
sheep have been domesticated on the spot,

THE OX GROUP.

and that these different species have con-
tributed to produce the various breeds of
domesticated sheep, which can easily be
crossed with one another or with the still
existing species of wild sheep.

The Ox Group.

The members of this group (Bovida) un-
distinguished from the other hollow-horned

ruminants by the massive forms of their bodies
and skeletons, and their smooth round un-
ringed horns, which have a decided curve and
a hollow bony core. The forehead is broad,
and so also is the moist and naked muffle.
From the neck depends a dewlap; the long
round tail ends in a tuft of hair; the hoofs
are broad, and there are no accessory hoofs;
the tear-pits are absent. On the cheek-teeth,

Fig. 191. — The Musk-ox (Ovibos moschatus}. page 116.

at the point where the half- moon -shaped
lamellae meet, there stands a small column,
which in the upper cheek-teeth is situated
on the inner surface, in the lower ones on
the outer surface. Like most ruminants they
live in herds under the lead of an old male,
are peaceable and gentle in disposition
through indolence, but become terrible and
dangerous during accesses of fury. When
attacked they arrange themselves in a circle
and show their horns to the enemy. They
are fond of plains and marshy tracts.

In this group we are acquainted with two
animals which form connecting links with

other cavicornia, the anoa forming the tran-
sition to the antelopes, and the musk-ox to
the sheep.

The Anoa of the Malays (Probubalus
(Anoa} depressicornis), fig. 190, has the form
and general bearing of a young cow, for it
attains the height of only about four and a
half feet at the withers. The forehead is
broad, but the head becomes more pointed
towards the naked muffle. The ear is small
and pointed, the eyes are large and promi-
nent. The much-compressed horns, rounded
on the outer edge, but with almost a cutting
keel on the inner edge, are pretty straight,

u6

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYEA.

short, very sharp -pointed, and indistinctly
ringed. They are set on the head at some
little distance from each other. The tail is
moderately long, and tufted at the end; the
legs are slender, and the accessory hoofs are
pretty long. The tear-pits are wanting, the
coat is dark brown, but some parts on the
under jaw are white. A half-moon-shaped
patch on the breast, and the inner sides of
the legs are light in colour. The hair is
thinly scattered. Concerning the mode of
life of this animal very little is known. It
dwells in the mountains of the interior of
Celebes, and prefers marshy tracts. It is to
be seen in certain zoological gardens, where
it exhibits a rather sluggish disposition, but
among the natives of the region where it is
found it has the reputation of being shy and
wild. The form of the horns, the colour,
the slender limbs, and the presence of the
accessory hoofs give it a good deal of resem-
blance to the antelopes in external appear-
ance.

The Musk-ox (Ovidos moschatus), fig. 191,
is found at the present day only in the polar
parts of America,1 Greenland, and the terri-
tories round Hudson's Bay, while during the
Ice Age its domain extended as far as
Germany and the middle of France. This
is the dwarf among the oxen, for a full-grown
bull measures at the shoulders only about four
feet. The rather long body, resting on short
legs, is completely covered with long coarse
hair, which envelops also the legs as far as
the knees, and leaves only the end of the
mouth, the region round the eyes, the horns,
and the lower parts of the legs free. Mixed
with this long hair, which is of a brown
colour, is a long dense and bushy wool of a
gray colour which imparts a marbled appear-
ance to the body generally. A brighter patch
is observable on the buttocks. The imper-
fectly-developed tail is completely hidden
under the fleece. The horns are very thick,

1 It was discovered by Lieut Greely, the commander of the
United States Polar expedition of 1882-83, in Grinnell Land in as
high a latitude as Si «i° N.— TK.

are round in section, and their swollen bases
meet on the brow. They are peculiarly
curved like a fishing-hook, and have their
sharp ends directed forwards. The hoofs
are strong and broad, the accessory hoofs are
small.

The musk-ox roams over its inhospitable
home in large herds. In winter it makes
great migrations in order to approach the
woods, but it knows how to find the mosses
and lichens under the snow. It has been met
with in East Greenland in places where the
temperature was such as to freeze mercury.
It flees from man when it has once become
acquainted with him, but when driven into
a corner or obliged to defend its young will
charge him boldly. Its flesh is often an
invaluable resource for those who are com-
pelled to pass the winter in the dreary wastes
of Polar America. That of the bull has a
decidedly musky taste.

The Buffaloes.

The Buffaloes (Bubalus) form a pretty dis-
tinct sub-group, which has been raised to the
rank of a genus. They are oxen with thickset
bodies, thick legs, large ears placed at the
side of the head, and having hair round the
edges, arched brow, very broad muffle, and
thick horns, which are curved first outwards
and then inwards. The tail is long, the hair
coarse and very thinly scattered, so that old
animals are almost completely deprived of it.
They are forms belonging to the warmer
parts of the Old World.

The Cape Buffalo (Bubalus coffer), fig. 192,
may be taken as the type of the subdivision
of the buffaloes with round horns. The head
is relatively small, the ears are very large,
fringed with long hairs, and spread out side-
ways like two fans. The extraordinarily
broad bases of the horns meet in the middle
line of the brow, and are wrinkled and flat-
tened. The very sharp ends are turned
upwards and forwards. The small eye has
a wild expression. The muffle is very broad,

the tail thin but long, the hide almost naked
and very dark. The Cape buffalo lives in
pretty numerous herds throughout South and
Central Africa as far as the i Jth degree of
northern latitude. It is fond of plains and
marshy forests, and delights to remain the

THE BUFFALOES. 117

whole day buried in mud up to the shoulders
in order to protect itself against insects by
which it is infested, and from which it is partly
delivered by birds that settle on its back.
Terrible battles are waged between the bulls
in the season of heat, and the vanquished

e Cape Buffalo (Butalus caffer).

animals roam about in solitary savageness,
and are then highly dangerous even to man.
The Cape buffalo is, in fact, more dreaded
by the natives than the lion. The solitary
bulls dash with blind fury on everything that
comes in their way, and conceal themselves
in the bush or even behind trees in order to
fall unexpectedly on men or animals passing
by. All the accounts of travellers in those
regions are filled with narratives of disastrous
encounters with these terrible buffaloes, and
there is not a village in which one does not
meet with persons who have been maimed
by them. When caught young they may be

tamed to a certain degree, but they are always
to be dreaded on account of their liability to
outbursts of fury. The hunting of the buffalo
is dangerous. The flesh is good, and the
thick leather made from its hide of the first
quality.

The buffaloes of Asia have compressed
horns placed on the sides of the brow at some
little distance from one another. Their bases
do not meet in the middle line.

To this group belongs the Common Buffalo
(Biibalus vulgaris), which occurs both tame
and wild in India, and has been introduced
into Europe and Egypt, where in some dis-

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

tricts it takes the place of ordinary cattle.
The marshes of Italy are peopled by these
animals in a half- wild condition, and the
buffaloes are there employed on account of
their great strength for field labours, while
their very rich milk, their hides, and horns
are also utilized. The flesh, on the other
hand, is by no means good. In India they
are even ridden like horses, and no one
mounted on a buffalo needs to fear tigers.
The hotter the country in which these animals
live the more docile and tractable are they
found to be. In Egypt, for example, they
are as gentle as sheep; in Italy, on the
contrary, very wild.

[The following adventure will show, however, that
even in Ceylon the disposition of the animal is not
always so mild that its pursuit is unattended with
danger. The narrator had pursued a Ceylon buffalo
to the edge of a small lake, and seeing it take to
the water ran round to meet it on the other side,
wading in a certain distance towards it. Fifteen
paces off the animal stood sullenly eyeing him, and
the narrator then goes on to say: — " I took a quick
but steady aim at his chest, at the point of con-
nection with the throat. The smoke of the barrel
passed to one side — there he stood — he had not
flinched; he literally had not moved a muscle.
The only change that had taken place was in
his eye; this, which had hitherto been merely
sullen, was now beaming with fury; but his form
was as motionless as a statue. A stream of blood
poured from a wound within an inch of the spot at
which I had aimed ; had it not been for this fact I
should not have believed him struck.

"Annoyed at the failure of the shot, I tried him
with the left-hand barrel at the same hole. The
report of the gun echoed over the lake, but there
he stood as though he bore a charmed life; an
increased flow of blood from the wound and
additional lustre in his eye were the only signs of
his being struck.

" I was unloaded, and had not a single ball re-
maining. It was now his turn. I dared not turn
to retreat, as I knew he would immediately charge,
and we stared each other out of countenance.
With a short grunt he suddenly sprang forward,
but fortunately, as I did not move, he halted; he
had, however, decreased his distance, and we now

gazed at each other within ten paces. I began to
think buffalo shooting somewhat dangerous, and I
would have given something to have been a mile
away, but ten times as much to have had my four-
ounce rifle in my hand. Oh, how I longed for that
rifle in this moment of suspense! Unloaded, with-
out the power of defence, with the absolute certainty
of a charge from an overpowering brute, my hand
instinctively found the handle of my hunting-knife,
a useless weapon against such a foe.

" Knowing that B. was not aware of my situation
at the distance which separated us (about a mile),
without taking my eyes from the figure before me
I raised my hand to my mouth and gave a long
and loud whistle; this was a signal that I knew
would be soon answered if heard.

"With a stealthy step and another short grunt
the bull again advanced a couple of paces towards
me. He seemed aware of my helplessness, and he
was the picture of rage and fury, pawing the water
and stamping violently with his fore-feet.

"This was very pleasant! I gave myself up for
lost, but putting as fierce an expression into my
features as I could possibly assume, I stared hope-
lessly at my maddened antagonist.

" Suddenly a bright thought flashed through my
mind. Without taking my eyes off the animal
before me, I put a double charge of powder down
the right-hand barrel, and tearing off a piece of
my shirt, I took all the money from my pouch,
three shillings in sixpenny pieces, which I luckily
had with me in this small coin for paying coolies.
Quickly making them into a rouleau with the piece
of rag I rammed them down the barrel, and they
were hardly well home before the bull again sprang
forward. So quick was it that I had no time to
replace the ramrod, and I threw it into the water,
bringing my gun on full cock in the same instant.
However, he again halted, being now within about
seven paces from me, and we again gazed fixedly
at each other, but with altered feelings on my part.

"At this time I heard a splashing in the water
behind me accompanied by the hard breathing of
something evidently distressed. The next moment
I heard B.'s voice. I dared not turn my face from
the buffalo, but I cautioned B. to reserve his fire
till the bull should be close into me, and then to
aim at the head.

" The words were hardly uttered when, with the
concentrated rage of the last twenty minutes, he
rushed straight at me! It was the work of an
instant. B. fired without effect. The horns were

To face fage nS.

PLATE XXXI. - THE EUROPEAN BISON (Bison eurof,™

THE BISONS.

119

lowered, their points were on either side of me,
and the muzzle of the gun barely touched his fore-
head when I pulled the tricar, and three shillings'
worth of small change rattled into his hard head.
Down he went, and rolled over with the suddenly
checked momentum of his charge. Away went
B. and I as fast as our heels would carry us through
the water and over the plain, knowing that he was
not dead but only stunned. There was a large

fallen tree about half a mile from us, whose whitened
branches, rising high above the ground, offered a
tempting asylum. To this we directed our flying
steps and after a run of a hundred yards we turned
and looked behind us. He had regained his feet
and was following us slowly. . . .

" On he came, but fortunately so stunned by the
collision with her Majesty's features upon the coin
which he had dared to oppose that he could only

-

Fig. 193. — The Kerabati Buffalo (Unia/us Kcrabau}.

reel forward at a slow canter. By degrees even
this pace slackened, and he fell." — Sir Samuel
Baker, Rifle and Hound in Ceylon.~\

Fig. 193 gives an illustration of the Kerabau
Buffalo (J)iibalus Kerabaii] as a representative
of this group with flattened horns. This
animal is a native of the Eastern Archipelago
from Celebes to the Philippines. In size it
is equal to the largest buffaloes of the Kaffir
country. The head is rather long and slender,
the muffle is broad, the body long and plump,
the dewlap only slightly developed, the colos-
sal flattened horns have well-marked rings
and are gently curved first outwards and
then backwards. In a wild state this animal
lives, like other buffaloes, in morasses ; when
tamed it is very gentle and tractable in the
hands of the natives, but ill-tempered and
dangerous towards Europeans. It

is em-

ployed like other buffaloes as a beast of
draught and burden. Specimens of it have
been brought to Europe, and have been
paired with the common buffalo.

The Bisons.

The Bisons (Bison) likewise form a sepa-
rate group, the members of which are charac-
terized by their broad arched brow, their
small short horns, which are thick and bent
upwards, by their coat of long thick hair, and
by their height at the withers, which part
presents a marked contrast to the relatively
small hinder quarters. There are two species
of bisons, one of which lives in Europe and
Western Asia, and the other in America.

The European Bison (Bison europceus
(bonams}\ PI. XXXI., has at all times had the
singular fortune to be confounded with another

120

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

large member of the ox tribe, the Ur or
Auerochs, while the inhabitants of the coun-
tries to- which they belonged distinguished
these two rather different species very well.
Both species were favourite objects of the
chase in the middle ages. In the account
of Siegfrid's hunting expedition at Worms,
which is introduced into the Nibelungenlied,
an account in which mention is made of all
the leading kinds of game then hunted in
Germany, two species of wild cattle, namely,
the Bison and the Ur, occur among the
number. The Poles also had separate names
for the two species, distinguishing the one as
Subr and the other as Tur. Pliny likewise
mentions the same species, which in his day
were brought to Rome for the games of the
circus, and distinguishes the Bonassus with
its thick mane from the Urus with its terrible
horns. It was only about the sixteenth
century that the two species began to be
confounded in Western Europe. At that
time the urus was already extinct or had
been transformed into domesticated cattle,
while the bison survived only in Poland.
The name of the extinct animal was trans-
ferred to the survivor, and the bison was
called also the Ur, Aur, or Auerochs, a name
which has, unfortunately, been preserved in
French nomenclature, but which ought to be
allowed to drop out of use altogether in
order to prevent the confusion from becoming
endless.

We see then that the bison, the Wisent
of the Germans, the Subr of the Poles, still
exists. It is found at the present day in
the large forests of Bialowicza, in the govern-
ment of Grodno in Lithuania, and in the
heart of the Caucasus, in the vicinity of the
sources of the Terek and the Kuban. It
is an animal of huge size. An old bull
may attain the height of 7^ feet at the
withers. The head, with its broad arched
forehead, short ears, and broad swollen
muffle, carries the small round sharp horns,
which are turned upwards in such a manner

that the points stand over the roots at the
edge of the brow. The legs are short and
sturdy, the hoofs rounded, the accessory
hoofs small, and the short thick tail carries
a tuft of hair at the end. A thick coat com-
posed of wool and of long soft hair envelops
the breast, shoulders, and withers, and forms
a sort of mane on the head and neck. It
becomes considerably longer underneath the
dewlap, between the horns, and upon the
withers, which, apart from this, are so high
that the animal appears to carry a hump.
The close-set but shorter hair covers all the
rest of the body. The colour is a dark
brown on the back, lighter on the sides.

Bisons live in herds, which were formerly
numerous, under the leadership of one of the
older bulls, and generally frequent marshy
woods when they can. They are savage and
courageous, terrible in attack, and dash with
fury on the hunter who ventures to pursue
them. Formerly, when it was considered
the rule to kill the animal with the naked
weapon, the hunting of the bison was looked
upon as a battle for life or death. The
bisons that are found at the present day in
our zoological gardens are descendants of
a few pairs which were captured young, and
presented by the Russian emperors, by whose
command the wild animals of the forest of
Bialowicza are strictly preserved. The bisons
are always savage in their disposition, and
the cows, in themselves much more tractable
than the bulls, invariably kill their calves, to
which they are extremely devoted, when the
hand of man has touched them. The flesh
was at one time esteemed, and as late as the
year 1000 the vassals of the monastery of
St. Gall had to hand over the bisons killed
by them to the kitchen of the bishop.

The American Bison (Bison americanus],
PI. XXXII., which likewise occupies a full-
page plate, is not essentially different from
the European. The hair is thicker and
longer both on the general surface of the
body and on the parts occupied by the mane.

To face page 120.

PLATE XXXII. THE AMERICAN BISON OR BUFFALO (Bison ameri

O -• THi

UNIVERSITY

OF

THE BISONS.

121

The hump is more prominent, the tail shorter,
and the horns thicker; but in other respects
the two species are closely similar.1

Formerly the bison roamed in enormous
herds over the whole territory of the United
States as far as the Rocky Mountains. The
pursuit, or, as we well may say, the senseless
slaughter which has been practised by Indians
and settlers has driven it back to the prairies
on the other side of the Mississippi, and has
compelled it to seek refuge at the present day
either on the west side of the Rocky Moun-
tains or in the northern regions. It is easy
to foresee the time in which the American
bison, like his European cousin, will be quite
extinct. Those bisons still traverse the
prairies in herds of several thousand head,2
swim across the largest streams, and under-
take great migrations. Since the introduction

1 It may be worth while to draw attention here to an error that
has crept in a very singular manner into many accounts of the
European and American bison. The error is as to the number of
ribs, the European bison being stated to have fourteen, and the
American fifteen pairs of ribs. The fact is, that both species have
the same number of ribs, namely, fourteen pairs. In a note on this
subject, J. A. Allen, in his American Bisons, Living and Extinct
(p. 2), says: — "In this case the error had a singular origin, and its
repetition is to some degree justifiable. The first skeleton of the
American bison known in Europe was that obtained from a living
specimen received at the Paris menagerie in 1819, and which was
described by Cuvier in his Osscmetis Fossiles (tome iv. p. 118 of third
edition). This specimen — one instance probably in thousands —
chanced to have fifteen pairs of ribs, and consequently but four
lumbar vertebras. Cuvier, of course, called attention to this fact as
affording an important distinction between the American and Euro-
pean bisons. . . . It is hence not strange that mere compilers,
and even authorities of some eminence, should for a time perpetuate
the error, especially since it was many years before a second skeleton
of the American bison fell under the eye of a comparative anatomist.
Yet it seems a little strange to find it repeated by leading English
anatomists and zoologists for many years after several of the leading
museums of Great Britain contained skeletons of the American bison.
Owen, as late as 1866, in his great work on the Comparative
Anatomy of the Vertebrates (vol. ii. p. 462), says : ' The European
bison has fourteen dorsal and five lumbar vertebra; ; the American
bison has fifteen dorsal and four lumbar, and this is the extreme
reached in the Ruminant order, of movable ribs, equalling in
number those of the hippopotamus.'" — TR.

2 This was probably still true at the date when it was written,
hut so rapid has been the destruction of this animal in recent years
that the National Museum of the United States not long ago thought
it necessary to send out an expedition to collect a few specimens
before it was completely exterminated. A report furnished to the
museum about the middle of 1886 shows what difficulty the expedi-
tion had in fulfilling its mission in consequence of the extinction of
this species having been so nearly effected already. " It is firmly
believed by good authorities," the report states, "that there are not
now more than from fifty to one hundred buffaloes in the whole of
Montana [where a few years ago this animal was remarkably abun-
dant], outside of the National Park, where there are probably from
two hundred to three hundred head." — TR.

VOL. II.

of horses and fire-arms into America they
flee from man, or only very seldom try to
make head against him. When they have
once begun to run they plunge on like sheep,
with head held down, in dense crowds.
They are hunted partly for the sake of the
sport, but also for their excellent flesh, their
fleece, and their hides. The efforts that have
been made to domesticate them have not
been successful ;3 yet in our zoological gardens
they are not so savage as the European
bison, and they are easily reproduced in
confinement.

[Throughout North America this animal is known
as the "buffalo." "I suppose," writes Dodge, one
of the veterans of sport in the United States, "I
ought to call this animal the 'bison;' but, though
naturalists may insist that 'bison' is his true name,
I, as a plainsman, also insist that his name is
buffalo.

"As buffalo he is known everywhere, not only on
the plains, but throughout the sporting world ; as
buffalo 'he lives and moves and has his being;' as
buffalo he will die; and when, as must soon happen,
his race has vanished from earth, as buffalo he will
live in tradition and story." — Plains of the Great
West.

The hunting of the buffalo is pursued either on
horseback or on foot, the latter mode being called
the "still hunt." "Although," writes Dodge, "there
is not a particle of danger in approaching a herd,
it requires in a novice an extraordinary amount of
nerve. When he gets within three hundred yards,
the bulls on that side, with heads erect, tails cocked
in air, nostrils expanded, and eyes that seem to

3 On this subject the following passages from J. A. Allen's
American Bisons, Living and Rxtinct, are worth quoting: —

" Now that the buffalo is apparently so nearly exterminated, it is
greatly to be regretted, not only that its ultimate extinction has been
so rapidly hastened by improvident and wanton slaughter, but that
no persistent attempts have as yet been made to utilize this valuable
animal by domestication. . . . That the buffalo calf may be
easily reared and thoroughly tamed needs not at this late day to be
proved. The known instances of their domestication are too many
to admit even of enumeration, but they have usually been kept
merely as objects of curiosity, and little or no care has been given
to their reproduction in confinement, and few attempts have been
made to train them to labour."

After quoting accounts of several instances in which domestication
had been successfully effected, the writer concludes: "From the
foregoing the following facts are sufficiently attested: (I) That the
buffalo is readily susceptible of domestication ; (2) that it interbreeds
freely with the domestic cow ; (3) that the half-breeds are fertile ;
and (4) that they readily amalgamate with the domestic cattle."
American Bisons, sec. 4. — TR.

122

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

flash fire, even at that distance, walk uneasily to
and fro, menacing the intruder by pawing the earth
and tossings of their huge heads.

"The enemy still approaching, some bull will face
him, lower his head, and start on a most furious
charge. But alas for brute courage! When he has
gone twenty or thirty yards Mr. Bull thinks better
of it, stops, stares an instant, and then trots back
to the herd. Another and another will try the
same game, with the same result; and if, in spite
of these ferocious demonstrations, the hunter still
approaches, the whole herd will incontinently take
to its heels."

The professional hunter, when desiring to load
his teams with meat, advances as close to the herd
as he can, concealed as far as possible by the grass
and the inequalities of the ground, and "will rarely
make his first shot at a greater distance than fifty
to seventy-five yards. If the shot result fatally,
the herd rarely moves more than fifty yards before
stopping to look for the cause of the mishap to
their fallen companion, and turning half round to
get a good view rearward, they thus present them-
selves in the best possible position to the hunter
at still short range. Here others fall before the
hunter's shots; the herd, again slightly startled,
moves on a few paces, and again stops to gaze.
The hunter, still keeping prostrate, approaches, if
necessary, under cover of those already killed, and
continues the work of destruction. The shots are
thus often repeated till fifteen, twenty, or even
thirty buffaloes are killed before the herd becomes
thoroughly alarmed and, in hunter's parlance,
'stampedes.' By keeping prostrate the hunter is
able to creep up to the herd again as it recedes, till
he has killed enough to furnish loads for his teams;
and even sometimes he has to rise and drive away
the stupid creatures to prevent the living from
playfully goring the dead! When the hunter is
thus successful, it is termed 'getting a stand on the
herd.' A 'stand' is most surely made in nearly
level ground. In shooting from ravines, the herd
usually runs away after three to five or six of their
number have fallen. During the rutting season, if
a cow falls at the first shot, the hunter is pretty
sure of a 'stand;' and of getting a dozen or more
shots, if he keeps prostrate and uses due caution.
As soon as he rises the buffaloes seem at once to
recognize the cause of their trouble, and generally
immediately stampede; but so long as he re-
mains prone they seem to have no perception of
the character of their enemy, and often do not

notice him at all." — Allen: The American Bisons,
sec. 3.

"Buffalo hunting on horseback," however, "is a
very different thing, and, to a novice, full of excite-
ment. A buffalo can run only about two-thirds
as fast as a good horse; but what he lacks in
speed he makes up in bottom or endurance, in
tenacity of purpose, and in most extraordinary
vitality.

"A herd will stand staring at an approaching
horseman until he is within about three hundred
yards. It will then begin to move off slowly, and,
when he is within about two hundred and fifty
yards, it will probably break into a gallop. This
is the sportsman's moment. A good horse ridden
by a man who knows his business will be among
them before they have gone two hundred yards, to
shoot and slaughter at his pleasure. A poor horse,
or careful rider, and the hunter will find to his sor-
row that 'a stern chase is a long chase.' If a herd
is not overtaken in five or six hundred yards the
chase had better be abandoned, if any regard is to
be had for the horse. The difficulty in this hunting
is that the herd is enveloped in a cloud of dust,
which prevents very careful aim ; the explosion of
the pistol creates a turmoil, confusion, and change
of places among the flying animals, rendering it
almost impossible to shoot at any individual buffalo
more than once; and their vitality is so great, that
it is an exceedingly rare exception when one is
brought down by a single shot.

"The danger is not so much from the buffalo, who
rarely makes an effort to injure his pursuer, as from
the fact that neither man nor horse can see the
ground, which may be rough or broken and per-
forated with prairie-dog or gopher holes. This
danger is so imminent that a man who runs into
a herd of buffalo may be said to take his life in
his hand.

"I have never known a man hurt by a buffalo in
such a case. I have known of at least six killed,
and a very great many more or less injured,
some very severely, by their horses falling with
them.

"The knowledge of the danger, the rush of the
horse, the thundering tread of the flying brutes, the
turmoil, the dust, the uncertainty, and, above all,
the near proximity and ferocious aspect of the
lumbering throng, furnish excitement enough to set
wild the man who is new to it. There is, however,
a sameness about it which soon palls, and an old
buffalo hunter rarely runs buffalo." — Dodge.}

THE TRUE OXEN.

123

The True Oxen.

The True Oxen (Bos) are distinguished by
their straight back, not elevated at the withers,
and by their unarched and not very broad
forehead.

The Yak (Bos (Poephagus) grunnicns), fig.

194, approaches most closely to the bisons in
the possession of a thick coat of hair, elevated
withers, and slightly arched brow. The
home of these enormous cattle is the moun-
tains and plateaux of Tibet, from the height
of about 13,000 to 23,000 feet above sea-level.
They are the largest members of the genus,

old bulls sometimes attaining the height of
nearly 10 feet at the withers. The very
broad head with protruding muzzle and not
very broad muffle, carries relatively small
horns, which are flattened and near the base
ringed. They are placed quite at the side
and have their sharp points directed upwards.
What specially distinguishes the yak is the
woolly covering, consisting of fine silky hair,
which is rather loose on the brow, and on the
rather hump-like withers forms a long-fringed
cushion. The yak has likewise long and
partly curly hair on the dewlap and on the
legs, which are completely hidden under this
covering. The legs are short but strong,
with broad hoofs but small accessory hoofs.
The long tail resembles that of a horse. Its

fine silky hair trails upon the ground. The
whole fleece is of a deep-black colour with
the exception of one silver-gray stripe along
the back, and the tail, which is almost white.
This splendid animal is at home only in
the rocky solitudes of its native region, where
it delights in rolling in the snow and bathing
in the icy mountain torrents. It runs and
climbs well, but is in general sluggish and
indolent; it is fond of reposing where it can
chew the cud at leisure. Its scent is keen,
its sight weak, and its intelligence very
limited. It stares stupidly when wounded
in the chase, then begins to charge the
hunter, but is apt to halt in indecision so as
to receive a second ball. The hunting of
the yak is carried on very actively, riot only

124

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

for the sake of its excellent flesh, but more
particularly on account of its tail, which is
employed to sweep away flies, and is held in
no little esteem as an ornament for banners
and as an emblem of war among the tribes
of the highlands of Central Asia. The so-

called horse-tails of the pashas and beys were
originally yak tails. The ancients knew this
species under the name of Poephagus. The
yak has been tamed, and is employed chiefly
to ride on and as a beast of burden. Its milk
also is used. Domesticated yaks are gentle,

Fig. 195. — The Gaur (Bos g aurus).

readily associate with ordinary oxen, and are
contented with any kind of food, but are liable
at times to outbursts of fury. They carry
tolerably large burdens in those elevated
regions where it is difficult for both men and
animals to breathe. The yak is now to be
seen in all zoological gardens.

The Gaur (Bos (Gav&us) gaurus], fig. 195,
is a native of the Indian Peninsula, where
it is often known by the name of the bison.
It is most abundant in the southern part of
the peninsula, and prefers the stony wooded
or bushy heights. It closely resembles the
large species of our domesticated oxen, has
short shining hair, a short thick head, long

ears, and a tufted tail. The colour is a very
dark brown, almost black, but the feet are
white. At the shoulders, where there is
very little indication of a hump, the height
is nearly 6^ feet. The old bulls are danger-
ous when hunted; but if a few English
officers have lost their life in the chase, one
ought to bear in mind that these gentlemen
expose themselves to danger with rather too
naive rashness. The natives have sometimes
managed to tame specimens of this ox. In
Europe this species is rarely seen.

The Gayal (Bos (Bibos) frontalis), fig. 196,
is a distinct species rarely brought to Europe,
a native of the mountains on the east and

THE TRUE OXEN.

125

north-east of Bengal. It is specially dis-
tinguished by its very broad and short fore-
head, and by its thick, conical, and slightly
curved horns. The body is sturdy, thickset,
and clumsy; the shoulders are slightly ele-
vated into a hump; the legs are short; the

colour of the coat black. At Antwerp I
have seen this animal represented as the
ideal of an ox by a celebrated artist. I
confess that I have conceived a totally con-
trary impression of it. However that may
be, we are assured that the gayal in its native

l"ig. 196.— The Gayal (Bas fnatalis).

country is a very agile animal, and not at all
savage. It is said to flee from man, but
defends itself vigorously against other oxen.
It is easily tamed, and whole herds of gayals
are captured by gradually accustoming them
to associate with domesticated oxen.

The Burmese Wild Ox, the Banteng of
the Javanese (Bos (Gavaus) sondaicus], fig.
197, is found on Java, Borneo, and Sumatra,
and resembles some species of our domesti-
cated oxen so much that it could not be
distinguished from them if a single individual
happened to be met with in a herd. It is
far inferior in size to the yak; a full-grown
bull measures only 5 feet at the shoulders.

It might be described as a race of oxen with
slender legs, short broad head, moderately
long horns, which are turned only upwards,
and with a fine smooth reddish-brown coat,
which shows white patches on the lips, the
lower parts of the legs, and on the hinder
quarters. It is found everywhere on the
Sunda Islands where there is water or marshy
ground, both on the mountains and on the
plains. It always flees from man, but defends
itself when attacked, and it is much hunted
on account of its excellent flesh. It also is
easily tamed. The natives are accustomed
to drive their cows into the woods in order
that they may unite with the banteng bulls.

126

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

The Zebu or Humped Ox (Bos indicus),
fig. 198, is still found in a wild state in several
parts of India, but it is a question whether
these are not domesticated animals run wild.
The wild specimens are in no respect different
from the tame, numerous breeds of which

are distributed over India and Africa. It
is remarkable on account of a cushion of fat
forming a hump on the shoulders, as well as
for its rather large dewlap, and is also char-
acterized by its pendent ears, the straight
line of its back, its pretty long slim legs, and

Fig. 197. — The Burmese Wild Ox (Bos sondaicus}. page 125.

its usually bright -coloured or spotted skin.
The size varies. The South African breeds
are commonly large and brown, and often
have horns of considerable size; but in all
countries where they are found there are
also moderate-sized and small breeds, even
genuine dwarfs of about the size of a large
pig. Then there are also breeds with moder-
ate-sized or small horns, or even without
horns at all. The zebus run, trot, and gallop
like horses; they are highly esteemed as
steeds and as beasts of draught and burden,
and among some tribes, especially in South
and Central Africa, they form, so to speak,
the sole wealth.

. The zebus furnish a contribution to the
solution of the question of the origin of the
domesticated breeds of cattle. According
to the results of the investigations of Riiti-
meyer, which have indeed been confirmed by
other inquirers, but are nevertheless far from
having exhausted the question, the European
breeds are derived from three races or species,
the remains of which are found in a fossil
condition in the Quaternary strata. Some
of these species have lived along with man,
but have afterwards become extinct or have
been modified through the influence of man.

The first place among these primitive
species belongs to the Urus, Ur, or Auerochs

Til 1C TRUE OXI'.N.

127

of the Germans, the Tur of the Poles (/>V.v
f»-i»iigf>iins), which in the middle ages still
lived wild in Central Europe, and which was
equal in size to the bison, or even surpassed
it. It was dreaded in the chase, and accord-
ing to the account of a contemporary, differed
" from the tame cattle only in being black
and in having a whitish stripe on the back."

According to Riitimeyer a white kind of
cattle with black or red ears preserved in
some English and Scottish parks, as in that
of Chillingham belonging to Lord Tankerville,
and the high parks of the Duke of Hamilton
at Hamilton, almost in a wild state, is the
most direct and least modified descendant of
the Auerochs. The tame breeds of the

lowlands bordering on the North Sea and
the Baltic, the breeds of Friesland, Holland,
Holstein, and Podolia, and so on, are likewise
said to be more modified descendants of the
same stock, the urus.

The heavy spotted breeds of Central
Europe, the spotted cattle of France, of
Switzerland, and South Germany, the Scan-
dinavian and English races with rudimentary
horns or without horns at all (short-horns of
the English) are said, on the other hand, to
be descended from a Quaternary ox, to which
the name of Bos frontosus has been given,
and which had a rather long head with a
brow either flat or even hollowed out in front,
and long curved horns.

Finally, the uniformly coloured unspotted
breeds with short strong horns, not so plump

bodies, and less massive legs, breeds which
are chiefly to be found in hilly or mountainous
countries; the breeds' accordingly of the
Highlands of Scotland, of Brittany, Auvergne,
Schwyz, and similar districts, are believed to
be derived from another stock, the Bos
bracl^irus, numerous remains of which have
been found in the vicinity of the lake-dwell-
ings.

We give our entire assent to these con-
clusions, but, as we have already intimated,
they are far from exhausting the question.
When we consider the ease with which
buffaloes, yaks, zebus, and almost all other
wild races of cattle can be tamed, acclimatized,
and rendered serviceable, such attempts must
have been made in the remotest antiquity in
all countries where such races of wild cattle

128

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

were found. Now these tamed breeds must,
through the wanderings of tribes, through
mutual exchanges of many kinds, have got
mixed together, and new breeds would aH
the more easily be formed since all these
races are mutually fertile.

As a proof of what we have now advanced
we may point to what has actually happened
in Africa. On that continent no Quaternary
cattle have yet been found, and, with the
exception of the variety of races introduced
in recent times by the Europeans, we may
probably say that the whole of the interior
of the continent was peopled by various
zebu races, from which in some cases the
hump has disappeared. It is accordingly
probable that the native African races were
introduced from India and have become more
or less modified on this continent. Now the
ancient Egyptians already knew and reared
three different races of cattle, as is proved
by numerous representations; one race with
long horns was greatly reverenced because
it produced the bull Apis, a second had short
horns, and the third had a hump, consisted
in fact of true zebus. This is a clear proof
that in that long-past epoch importations had
already been made from other countries, and
in particular from Central Asia, where there
are no zebus.

If now in Europe alone there are three
ancient stocks which have been continued in
varieties of domesticated cattle of the present
day, there is no reason to reject the opinion
which supposes the same thing to have taken
place in Asia, where the species which are
still found partly tame and partly wild have
certainly contributed to the production of
mixed races and of breeds more or less
modified by domestication. From all these
facts it would result as a final conclusion that
tame cattle are not, as Linnaeus called them,
a separate species, Bos taurus, but a mixed
product of extremely numerous and very
diverse factors, developed in widely separated
regions of the Old World.

THE GIRAFFE FAMILY

(DEVEXA).

The family of the giraffes, which on account
of their very sloping back have been called
Devexa, is composed of only a single species,
confined to Africa, namely the Giraffe (Came-
lopardalis gira/a), PI. XXXIII.

This is without doubt one of the most
singular types that can be seen, and we can
easily understand the astonishment of the
beholders when they first set eyes on the
small head carried at the extremity of an ex-
cessively long neck about twenty feet above
the ground, and the short body with its steep
backward slope elevated on legs not less long
or less stiff. Notwithstanding its beautiful
coat and its splendid eyes the giraffe must
certainly be pronounced one of the most
disproportioned of mammals, one in which
everything is stiff and angular.

The head is relatively very small and
rather long and narrow. It ends in a muffle
with very mobile lips, and is adorned with
two short horns covered with hair set upon
the occipital bone, as well as with a swelling
between the large prominent eyes, which are
placed at the side, and are distinguished by
their brilliancy and their gentle but lively
expression. The pointed funnel-shaped ears
are longer than the horns. The tongue is
worthy of special note. It is long, worm-like,
dark-blue in colour, very flexible, and capable
of serving as a tactile and prehensile organ.
The giraffe twines this tongue round the twigs
and leaves of the trees on which it feeds.
Although, as in almost all other mammals,
the neck of the giraffe has only seven verte-
bra;, it is yet of immoderate length. It is by
no means flexible, and is almost always carried
erect. The short thick body is remarkable
on account of the steep slope of the back
from the shoulders to the croup, a slope
which is due to the increasing length from
behind forwards of the spiny processes of the

To/acrfaft ,2».

PLATE XXXIII. - THE GIRAFFE (Camdopardala giraffa).

THE CAMEL FAMILY.

129

dorsal vertebra. The tail is thin, of moderate
length, and ends in a long thick tuft of hair.
The legs are of equal length, and the bones
of the lower parts of the legs, including the
metacarpal and metatarsal bones, are ex-
cessively elongated, while the upper arm
(humerus) and thigh (femur) are short and
hidden in the flesh. The hoofs are broad,
and there is no trace of accessory hoofs or of
the bones which carry them. Of all rumi-
nants the giraffe is the one that has the foot
most reduced. Tear-pits and interdigital
glands are likewise wanting. The dentition
is similar to that of the Cavicornia. The
hair is for the most part thick and short;
there are only a few longer and coarser hairs
on the middle line of the -neck besides the
very long ones of the tail. The ground
colour of the coat is a light-yellow, almost
white on the back and on the lower parts of
the legs, which are not spotted. The other
parts show irregular but always polygonal
and often pretty large brown spots.

The animal inhabits the steppes and deserts
of the tropical parts of Central Africa. It is
always met with in small troops, which haunt
in particular those places where mimosas and
other trees form very open clumps. With
the exception of the eyes all the organs of
sense seem to be very obtuse, and the
intelligence of the creature is assuredly not
very high. The giraffe feeds on the leaves
and young shoots of trees, which it is enabled
to reach by the enormous length of its neck
and the protrusible tongue. The grazing of
grass is difficult for it, and it is enabled to
reach anything on the ground only by spread-
ing out its fore-legs as widely as possible,
which gives it almost a comical attitude. It
cannot trot, but it gallops with great rapidity,
and when galloping it holds its long stiff neck
erect like a mast and keeps swinging it from
side to side, while at the same time it lashes
its back with its tail. Its pursuers hunt it
on horseback or mounted on fleet dromedaries,
relays being stationed at different points,

VOL. II.

where fresh riders and animals take up the
chase.

The ancient Egyptians received giraffes as
tribute from the subject tribes of the Soudan.
Julius Caesar brought the first giraffes to
Rome. In our times the first two young
giraffes were brought to Europe in 1827, one
to Paris and one to London. They excited
great attention; there were even fashions
"a la girafe" introduced. Since then they
have been brought over in tolerably large
numbers, and all zoological gardens now
possess specimens. They are in general
gentle and easy to manage, but do not stand
our climate very well. They are specially
liable to become rachitic if not carefully
protected from draughts and rain, which last
inspires them with a real dread.

THE CAMEL FAMILY

(CAMELIDA).

The family of the camels has also received
the name of the Pad-footed (Tylopoda), on
account of the singular structure of their feet,
which are but slightly cloven and carry small
narrow hoofs seated on a broad rounded
warty pad forming the sole.

The structure of the teeth is not less
remarkable. The camels are the only rumi-
nants which have incisors in the upper jaw.
Young animals have three of these on each
side; but the inner ones soon drop out and are
not replaced. In older animals there is in
each half of the premaxillary bone only a single
large incisor, which is prominent, conical, and
pointed like the canine, but smaller. In the
lower jaw there are three pairs of incisors,
and immediately behind the last there stands
the large pointed canine, similar to the upper,
which, however, is separated from the incisors
by a diastema. The jaws are, accordingly,
much better armed in front than in the other
ruminants, and in the countries of which the
camels are natives it is very well known that
their bite is not without danger. Immediately

49

130

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

behind the canine there comes a premolar,
which is shed sooner or later, and which also
resembles the canine in form. The diastema
occurs between this canine-shaped premolar
and the other cheek-teeth. The latter are
constructed according to the ordinary rumi-
nant type. As age advances some of the
molars are shed; we then find in the upper
jaw only five instead of six, in the lower only
four instead of six. The camels have no
horns.

The family is composed of only two genera,
which are geographically separated by the
oceans; the camels proper belong to the Old
World, the llamas to South America.

The Camels.

The Camels (Camelus) are among the
largest of the ruminants, for they attain at
the shoulders a height of about 8*/£ feet.
The head is very unshapely, the brow arched,
the mouth long, and broad at the end ; the
large upper lip is a little cloven in the middle
and protrudes beyond the pendent lower lip.
The broad movable nostrils are placed above
the mouth, but far from the end of the snout.
The large prominent eyes are not in the
least expressive; the ears are small; the back
of the head somewhat round, and occupied
near the back by two skin-glands, which,
especially in the breeding season, excrete a
fluid of a peculiarly disgusting smell. The
long neck is pretty stiff, and is flattened at
the sides; the body is short and thick; and
the dorsal ridge in the skeleton slopes some-
what backwards from the shoulders, but in
the living animal this is concealed by a large
hump or two humps of fat. The short thin
tail has a tuft at the end. The thick legs,
much swollen at the joints, appear as if they
were badly inserted in their sockets. They
end in broad padded soles which are round
behind and cloven in front, where the two
short triangular hoofs are placed. The hind-
limbs appear as if they were dislocated.
When the camel is resting it lays itself down

exactly like a frog ready to spring. On the
fore-knees there are callous protuberances on
which the animal supports itself in lying
down.

The rather long brain-case with curved
nasals has a strong ridge running along the
middle line, and connected behind with two
transverse side ridges in such a manner as
to inclose on each side a broad space in
which the strong temporal muscles are at-
tached. The dentition presents certain char-
acteristic marks. In the adult animal there
are in each half of the upper jaw three
canine-shaped teeth set close together; they
are all sharp- pointed, cutting, and a little
recurved. The first of these teeth, which is
set in the premaxillary bone, is an incisor;
the second, the largest of all, is the canine;
the third is the first premolar. A not very
large gap follows, and then comes the series
of cheek-teeth, the first two of which are
premolars with simple half- moon -shaped
lamellae, while the others are true molars
with lamellae placed in pairs. In the lower
jaw the relative situations of the different
sorts of teeth are the same. The three pairs
of incisors, which are rather prominent, are
placed at the end of the rather long narrow
jaw in a segment of a circle, and they are
immediately followed by strong recurved
canines, next to which come a pair of curved
premolars, which are flattened at the sides
and sharp. A wide interval separates this
series from the back -teeth, of which there
are only four on each side.

The structure of the stomach is extremely
interesting. On the rather large paunch are
to be seen two large swellings, which con-
sist essentially of more than 800 large cells
arranged in parallel rows and separated by
membranous partitions, in which the muscular
tissue is so beautifully developed that it forms
true sphincters capable of closing the mouths
of the cells, which are more or less filled with
water. This considerable store of fluid in
the stomach, a store which the camel eagerly

To face page /jo.

PLATE XXXIV. - THE DROMEDARY OR COMMON CAMEL (Camdus drtmedanui).

THE CAMEL.

renews when the opportunity presents itself,
enables it to go for several days without
drinking, and that too even in the glowing
deserts which it inhabits. The third stomach,
the liber, on the other hand, is undeveloped.

We are not acquainted with any camels
living perfectly wild. The animals belonging

to Central Asia which have been described
as such are probably only escapes from
domestication.

Two species are usually distinguished, the
two-humped or Bactrian Camel (Camelus
bactrianus), fig. 199, which is confined to
Asia, and in particular Central Asia north of

Fig. 199.— The Bactrian Camel (Camelus bactrianus).

the Himalayas; and the single-humped camel
or Dromedary (Camelus dromedarius), PI.
XXXIV., which is found tame throughout
Africa and Asia Minor. Both species are
illustrated in this work.

These two so-called species are distin-
guished only by their humps, those accumula-
tions of fat, which are very variable as re-
gards their volume. The state of health of the
camel is held to be indicated by the condition
of this hump, which in well-nourished animals
is large, full, erect, and elastic when touched,
but in ill-fed, starved, or diseased animals
hangs down, and is sometimes scarcely ob-
servable. Apart from this feature no dis-

tinguishing mark can be pointed out between
the two species; and we may add that the
numerous breeds which have manifestly been
produced by artificial selection by man pre-
sent far greater differences as regards the
proportions of the limbs, the structure of the
skeleton, the character of the hair-covering,
and so forth, than the two species described.
It is true that the two-humped camel is
heavier, its body more thickset, its hair-cover-
ing denser and coarser, especially on the
head, the shoulders, and round the hump;
but it must be borne in mind that this animal,
as an inhabitant of the steppes of Central
Asia, where it is employed in various ways

132

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

by Turkomans, Mongols, and Kirghiz, has
to endure very severe winters, that much
less care is bestowed in selection than in the
case of the dromedaries ; and, finally, that it is
employed almost solely as a beast of burden
in the trade between China and the countries
of the West. Manifestly the Bactrian camel
is the original breed. It is said that north
of Tibet there are animals which have be-
come wild, but we have no precise and trust-
worthy accounts of these. It is certain that
the camel is originally a native of Asia; that
the Semites, for whom it is a necessary con-
dition of life at the present day, were not yet
acquainted with it in the earliest antiquity;
that it was nevertheless introduced into
Egypt 1400 years before the beginning of
the Christian era; that mention is made of
it at the very commencement of the Bible
narrative, that the Egyptian name for it is
the same as the Hebrew, the name from
which the word camel itself comes, and that
the Semites introduced it into northern Africa
and the Sahara, while it already lived in the
Soudan in the preceding epoch, from which
we have figures of it showing that it was
then in Egypt.

But however that may be, it is certain
that the word dromedary is unknown to the
African tribes, who rear only the single-
humped camel; and everywhere in Africa
this species is called by the Europeans camel,
by the Arabs jemmel. But the latter dis-
tinguish several races, some of which, used
only for riding on, are known as meharis,
and compared with animals used to carry
burdens are as much more highly esteemed
as noble racers are, compared with draught-
horses. The mehari, excellent sires of which
are reared by the Tuaregs of the Sahara,
has very long slender legs, a short-haired
glossy coat, expressive eyes, and stands in
high repute on account of its fleetness, which
surpasses that of the best horses, since the
speed can be maintained longer.

The camel is certainly an animal wonder-

fully adapted to a life in the steppes and
deserts. The colour of its coat, a yellowish-
fawn colour or brown, is suited to that of the
ground; only with difficulty can a recumbent
camel with its long neck stretched out on
the ground be distinguished from a mass of
rock. Its moderation as regards food is quite
proverbial. In case of need it feeds on the
tough spiny plants which the desert produces,
and even devours them with delight when
incrusted with salt proceeding from the ex-
halations of the desert. When it is able to
feed on fresh juicy herbs it can endure thirst
for more than a week.1 Thanks to its broad
callous soles, it runs easily across the glowing
sands; and it carries considerable burdens,
which, however, must not overtax its strength.
It is the " ship of the desert" in the fullest
sense of the word, without whose aid the
caravans would be an impossibility; and it
has this resemblance to a ship also, that it
causes sea-sickness in riders not accustomed
to it.

[To novices in the art of camel-riding there are
other inconveniences attending this mode of pro-
gression, which are graphically portrayed in the
following account of a camel-journey: —

" We are to mount the ship of the desert. There
are several methods of doing this, each of which
has its difficulties. The most plausible appears to
be to mount while the animal is still crouching on
the ground. But we take very good care not to
attempt that alone, since, long before we could seat
ourselves properly, whenever it felt our weight in
mounting, the camel would rise suddenly and fling
us backwards and sideways. Any one who is
accustomed to riding on a camel knows that quite
well, and is able to seat himself firmly at once.
We uneducated folks, however, while mounting and
gradually trying to settle ourselves in our seat, cause
the driver to tread upon the forefeet of the still
squatting camel so as to keep them from moving,
or to tie them, and fix one hand upon the bar of
the compressing apparatus that projects before the
saddle. It is only in this way that we can prepare
ourselves for all the changes of our centre of gravity

1 Mr. F. L. James, in giving an account of a journey through the
Somali country, speaks of camels that had gone fifteen days without
water. See Proc. Roy. Geog. Soc. 1885, p. 630. — TR.

THE CAMEL.

133

that we have to undergo. We give the driver a
signal to release the animal, and our body is now
swung in rapid succession backwards, forwards, and
again backwards; for the animal first springs up with
the lower part of the f6re-leg (it is far more willing
to do this than to kneel), then brings its hind feet,
on the stretch, into play, and rears at last quite up-
right, while it now raises the lowest portion of its
fore-legs, and stands upon the sole.

"\Yc now find ourselves high above the ground,
higher than we have ever ridden before; we
shudder when we think upon our helpless condition.
If the animal were to become refractory what could
we do? \Ye sit far too high to be able to steady
ourselves with the calves of the legs as in riding on
horseback. If we sit astride upon the broad saddle,
our soles scarcely touch the ribs ; if we seat our-
selves, as is the common plan, with our feet dang-
ling down over the neck or over the side of the
animal, our position is indeed more comfortable,
but is less secure should the awkward case occur in
which both saddle and rider are flung off by the
violent movements of the camel. The bridle is of
no use, since the cord brought round its nose has
little influence on the beast however hard it is
pulled. The Mosliin merely cries, "The name of
God on you " (Bismillah Alek), when it turns res-
tive or refractory. Such misbehaviour on the part
of the animal is fortunately rare, however; were it
not so other means of subduing it would have been
discovered before now. During its ordinary running
pace we are in the greatest security.

"We find that the angular projections of the
wooden part of the saddle on which any part of the
body rests are still insufficiently padded, so that we
cannot endure to ride for a quarter of an hour, and
have to request the driver to let us dismount. He
warns us to stick on firmly as in mounting, since
the backward and forward shakings are the same,
only they occur in reverse order. We can also dis-
mount from a standing camel by grasping the pro-
jecting bar of the saddle with one hand and sliding
down by means of the other on the sloping hind-
neck. On remounting, after our seat has been im-
proved, we employ the second method for a change.
The camel stands, we grasp with one hand that
important saddle-bar, the driver forms one step
with his back or his hand, the hollow of the animal's
neck forms a second, and this being reached we
climb as gracefully as we can into the saddle. It
is certainly still better to emancipate oneself entirely
from the driver, to compel the camel to lower its

neck, and to get the knee upon this by swinging
oneself up with one hand on the saddle-bar, where-
upon the animal itself raises both neck and rider,
who can now obtain full possession of his seat.
During the latter operation, however, the animal is
again on the march, which makes turning oneself
somewhat difficult. A person should likewise learn
to make the animal let him down when travelling
alone, and how to bring it to the trot, and also how
to dismount when on the march. But this belongs
to the higher branches of the riding art; we are glad
if we can mount and dismount in any manner with-
out damage." — Upper Egypt, by C. B. Klunzinger.]

The senses ol the camel, except that of
smell, are obtuse. Their scent, however, is
keen enough to guide thirsty animals to
water at a distance of several miles. The
character of the camel has been very variously
estimated. The natives of the East in general
exaggerate its good qualities. The Europeans
overwhelm it with all kinds of denunciations.
To me it appears, when I combine all these
different estimates with my own observations,
that the camel, like so many other domestic
animals, has come to share the character of
its masters; it is frugal, patient, and peace-
able till the moment when the passion of
love comes into play. To all that one tries
to get it to do it offers a blind stubborn
resistance, accompanied with a deafening
bellowing, but at last submits with a patience
proof against any trial. Sometimes it is
cunning and mischievous, generally it yields
only to force, shows no attachment to its
keeper, and surrenders itself to all the conse-
quences of his actions with passive subjection.
To the European, to whom time is money,
these qualities are in the highest degree irri-
tating and distracting; for the Oriental they
are only the reflex of his own mode of action.
The camel avenges itself for the bad treat-
ment to which it is subjected by all kinds of
tricks, which are sometimes contrived with
devilish cunning; but except during the breed-
ing season, when it becomes intractable, it
submits in the end and does all that its master
imposes on it, so far as its strength allows.

134

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

Attempts have been made to introduce
camels into other countries besides those in
which they are already found, and a stud has
existed at San Rossore, near Pisa, for about
two centuries, but hitherto it has not rendered
any great services. Camels manifestly re-
quire the great plains with dry climate, the

steppes and deserts, and they will prosper in
Australia.1

The Llamas.

The Llamas (Auchenia (Lama)) belong to
South America, and are seen at the first
glance to differ considerably from camels,

Fig. 200. — The Llama (Auchenia Lama).

through being of smaller size, having no
hump, and having slender legs. They like-
wise differ in having the feet more deeply
cleft and the callous pads less developed.
The tail is short and rudimentary, and the
hair long and thick, which caused the first
conquerors of South America to look upon
the llamas as sheep. But with respect to
the bodily structure there are no other dif-
ferences besides those which relate to the
slighter build of the llama. The dentition,
however, is so far different, in that the first
premolar, which adjoins the rather sharp
recurved canines, is shed at an early period
of life, and the interval between the can-

ines and the back teeth is thereby rendered
greater.

Of these animals we know four species, two
of which, the Guanaco and Vicuna, are still
found in the wild condition, while the other
two, the Llama and Alpaca, are completely
domesticated. They were already subject to
man at the time of the conquest. Although
all these animals are essentially inhabitants of
the mountains, and in particular of the Cor-
dilleras, yet some of them also descend to the
plains and live there in considerable herds.

1 Camels have often been employed in exploring the interior of
Australia, and are now reared in the colony of South Australia,
where they are regularly made use of in the conveyance of stores into
the interior, and for other purposes. — TR.

THE LLAMAS.

135

The Guanaco (Avckenia iinanaco] has the
form of a large fallow-deer, and lives both in
the plains of Patagonia, where the herds, led
by an old male, readily associate with the
rheas or South American ostriches, and in
the Cordilleras, where it climbs like a goat.
Its general colour is a dirty reddish-brown;
the under parts are whitish, and so also are

the inner sides of the legs. The coat consists
of a fine wool with longer hairs interspersed.
The guanaco has been tamed in the moun-
tains; in the plains it is only hunted, and
always on horseback. It is caught by means
of the bolas, that is an apparatus consisting
of two balls attached to a long strap or thong,
which, after being swung round the head, are

fe '

Fig. 201. — The Alpaca (Auchenia Paco).

thrown at the animal so as to entangle the
legs.

The Llama (Auchenia Lama (Lama pern-
ana) ), fig. 200, a domesticated form descended
in all probability from the guanaco, which
it resembles in form and proportions. In
relation to colour all sorts of varieties are met
with: brown, yellow, red, black, white, and
often even spotted examples. The llama is
the camel of the Cordilleras, and as a beast of
burden serves to carry on the trade across the
mountain passes between the mines and the
sea-coast. It can carry one hundredweight
at the outside. It runs and climbs well, but
cannot accomplish any great distances; when
loaded, at the most thirteen or fourteen miles
in a day. The llamas are gentle creatures,

but require to be humanely treated. The
only resistance which they offer to violence
is to squirt their disgusting yellow spittle in
the face of their tormentor. When well
treated they are extremely docile. The hair
is coarse and can be used only to make string.
The flesh, especially of young fattened ani-
mals, is good.

The Alpaca (Auchenia Paco), fig. 201, is
smaller than the preceding species, has
thinner legs, and a splendid coat of long soft
wool. The alpacas are kept in great herds
on the mountain plains, where they are not
nice as to their food. Once a year they are
collected with infinite trouble into larger herds
in order to be shorn. The wool, as every
one knows, is highly esteemed, and the flesh

136

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

is excellent. To catch the animals one must
always resort to a kind of chase ; they are as
obstinate as mules, and when separated from
the herd throw themselves down on the
ground. Their colour varies like that of the
llama, which is always a sign of domestica-
tion. As beasts of burden they are not used
at all.

The Vicuna (Auckenia vicuna) is found
only at the height of 13,000 feet and upwards

on the Cordilleras of Ecuador, Peru, and
Bolivia. This species is the smallest and the
slenderest. A remarkably fine and highly
esteemed woolly fleece covers the animal like
a sheep. Head, neck, rump, and thighs are
of a reddish-brown colour, the other parts are
white. The animals live like wild goats or
sheep, like these too are agile and good
climbers, and they are eagerly hunted on
account of their wool and very palatable flesh.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND DESCENT OF THE

EVEN-TOED UNGULATES.

The geographical distribution of the even-
toed ungulates presents two peculiarities to
which we have already had occasion to call
attention, namely, on the one hand cases of
very restricted localization, and on the other
hand cases in which the range is extraor-
dinarily wide.

The hippopotamuses are entirely confined
to the African continent, where their domain is
constantly getting more and more restricted.
The small species has been found in the
republic of Liberia, the large still existed in
historical times in the Lower Nile (in Egypt)
as well as in the streams of the Cape region,
whence it has entirely disappeared. It is
still abundant and wide-spread in the interior
of Africa. In the Quaternary period hippo-
potamuses even existed throughout Central
Europe' and extended to England.

Trie Hog family has two entirely distinct
territories. The Peccaries are characteristic
in South America, and range as far north
as Texas. Before the introduction of the
domestic pig the hog-type was wholly un-
represented in the north of America. The
Wart-hogs and the River-hogs are exclusively
African types. The Babirussa is confined
to the islands of Celebes and Buru, accor-
dingly to the confines of the Indo-Malayan

and Australian regions. The true Pigs are
distributed over the whole of the Eurasian
continent, as well as over the Mediterranean
region, which was formerly separated from
the African continent, and over the islands of
Asia as far as Japan and New Guinea. Per-
haps there are also members of the group in
Central Africa, but hitherto the evidences
adduced in favour of this view are not quite
convincing.

The Tragulida have a highly peculiar dis-
tribution. The genus Hyaemoschus, resem-
bling the pigs, is found only in West Africa,
while the true Chevrotains exist only in
India up to the foot of the Himalayas, and
on the Sunda Islands.

The Musk-deer inhabits Central Asia. Its
limits are the Himalaya Mountains, the moun-
tains of Siam and Tibet in the south, and the
Altai Mountains and the banks of the Amur
in the north.

The Deer family is distributed over the
whole earth, with the exception of the greater
part of Africa and the whole of Australia,
from which great island the placental mam-
mals generally are almost entirely excluded.
With the exception of some northern species,
such as the elk, the reindeer, and the stag,
all the American species are different from

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND DESCENT.

'37

those of the Old World, but the forms belong-
ing to the two sides of the ocean show a
certain parallelism. It may be presumed
that the three forms mentioned reached
North America by migrating from the Polar
regions.

The Hollow-horned Ruminants are alto-
gether absent from South America, and are
but feebly represented in the northern division
of the continent. The curious forms of the
Rocky Mountains, the pronghom antelope,
the big-horn, and the white goat, together
with the musk-ox, are the only characteristic
forms of North America. The American
bison approaches too closely to that of the
Old World for us to be able to consider
these two forms as anything else than varieties
descended from the same species, which has
immigrated into both continents from the
Polar regions. In the Old World the Goats
and the Sheep appear to be exclusively of
Eurasian origin. The Barbary wild sheep
makes only an apparent exception; the
Mediterranean zone forms, in. fact, a whole
by itself, which belongs to the Palaeozoic
region. On the other hand, the big-horn
of the Rocky Mountains might perhaps be
only an immigrant from the opposite peninsula
of Kamchatka. Oxen and Antelopes inhabit
the whole of the Old World. These two
groups present in part very characteristic
genera and species for the two continents of
Eurasia and Africa. Among the antelopes,
for example, the saiga and the chamois for
Europe and Asia, the gnus for Africa,
among oxen the yak and anoa for Asia,
while other groups are found everywhere in
the Old World, though almost entirely absent
in the New, for North America possesses
only the forms already mentioned and South
America none at all.

The Giraffes are exclusively African types.
The Llamas are confined to South America,
and the Camels belong originally to Central
Asia, whence they have been introduced into
Africa.

VOL. II.

The present geographical distribution of
the Artiodactyla differs widely from that
which immediately preceded in the Quater-
nary period, and corresponds exactly to the
facts from which palaeontologists have inferred
certain lines of descent.

In comparing the faunas of the Quaternary
period with the present distribution we
observe remarkable transpositions in two
opposite directions, and in connection with
that fact we have to note some rather striking
instances of the extinction of certain species.
Let us now, then, examine the various groups
from this point of view, and trace them out
to the point where their characters become
clearly prominent.

In the Quaternary period the Hippopota-
muses inhabited the rivers of Southern and
Central Europe, and extended as far as
Ireland. A larger species than the present
hippopotamus (Hippopotamus major], but
otherwise very little different, lived within
these wider limits, while in Sicily and the
valley of the Arno has been found a species
(//. minor) which was no larger than a pig,
and may have been more closely allied to the
hippopotamus of Liberia. Now still older
hippopotamuses have hitherto been found
only in Algeria in the Pliocene, and in India
in the Miocene of the Sewalik Hills, where
there existed hippopotamuses with six incisors
and poorly developed canines, and in addition
to these a genus, Merycopotamus, (which
through the structure of its skeleton and its
dentition forms the transition to the pigs.
At the present day there are no longer any
members of the family in India. This new
type, for it is new, since it appears first in
the Upper Miocene, must accordingly have
migrated from its home to its present African
domain after it had peopled a part of Europe
in the Quaternary period.

The Hog Family shows two parallel primi-
tive stocks of much greater antiquity, the one
belonging to the Old World, the other to
America. True Pigs (Sus) are found already

60

138

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

in the Middle Miocene, and a series of very
closely allied genera can be traced through
the preceding strata until we arrive at the
two-toed genera E ntelodon and Chcerotherium,
belonging to the Upper Eocene, and the
four-toed genera, Chceropotamus and Hyo-
potamus, of the Eocene gypsums of Mont-
martre. The pigs accordingly belong to a
very old stock, the stages in whose devel-
opment we can follow without interruption
down to the forms now existing. No fossil
forms have yet been found, however, repre-
senting the babirussa, the wart-hog, or the
river-hogs.

A quite different series is presented by the
American peccaries. " We appear," says
Marsh, " to have in the series of genetic
forms comprised between the Eohyus of the
Lower Eocene and the peccaries of our own
time (Helohyus, belonging to the Middle
Eocene; Perchcerus, to the Lower Miocene;
Thinohyus, to the Upper Miocene), the line
of descent terminating in the typical American
Suidse of the present day. Extinct genera
are already found in the Quaternary period,
for example, Platygonus ; but at that time the
peccaries extended to the northern boundary
of the United States, whence they have since
retreated." I insist on the difference in the
primitive stocks on the two sides of the ocean
since Eocene times. "Whatever may be said
of them," Marsh continues, "so much is cer-
tain, that no authentic remains of the genera
Sus, Porcus, Phacochcerus, or Hippopotamus,
which constitute the group of the Suidse in the
Old World, have ever been found in America."

On both sides of the ocean the old
bunodont Artiodactyla of Eocene times had
four toes on the feet. The reduction of this
number has gone on during the further
development of the type, but has not been
completed; it has stopped short in the
peccaries at the stage indicated. That the
peccaries are the forms which approach most
closely to the ruminants of all the hog family
has already been mentioned.

In the series of the selenodont ruminants
we have to take note of analogous facts.
With reference to these also we may without
fear of contradiction maintain the proposition,
that we find two entirely different stem-lines
on the two sides of the ocean. These arise
from genera belonging to the Middle and
Lower Eocene, in which the characters derived
from the dentition and the structure of the
feet are still not well pronounced, inasmuch
as the cheek-teeth exhibit, so to speak,
wavering forms between bunodont and sele-
nodont types, the number of the incisors
begins to be reduced, and the four-toed feet,
by continuous reduction of the lateral toes,
become by degrees two-toed. It is only in
later epochs that we begin to obtain characters
derived from antlers and horns. It may be
taken as a general rule that these outgrowths
are only late products, and that the original
ruminants were without them, as the young
animals are still. The fact that horns and
antlers do not appear till long after birth
is in itself enough to show that these appen-
dages are of recent acquisition.

The transition from these equivocal and
variable forms, which Leidy has characterized
as " ruminant pigs," is effected principally, as
Kowalewsky has shown, by the disposition of
the bones of the wrist and ankle (carpus and
tarsus), which get arranged in two vertical
series in such a manner that each series
corresponds to one of the principal toes and
so helps to carry the weight of the body,
while the forms in which this arrangement
does not take place remain unfruitful and
cannot be continued in the direct line of the
present ruminants.

In the Middle and Upper Eocene are found
a number of these forms, whose teeth already
show the half-moon-shaped folds, but which
still retain the full number of incisors in the
upper jaw, and which, moreover, sometimes
have very strong canines. In many of these
the lateral toes are greatly reduced, although
the wrist and ankle still retain the unfavourable

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND DESCENT.

'39

condition above described. Such forms are
Hyopotamus; Anoplotherium, examples of
which are so abundant in the gypsums of
Montmartre; Xiphodon, whose canines re-
semble those of the musk-deer; the four-toed
genus Dichobune, some species of which did
not exceed the size of a hare. In America
the corresponding genera are present in enor-
mous quantity in the Eocene strata; Eomeryx,
Opomeryx, and Oreodon represented in the
New World the ruminant pigs.

The first true ruminant in Europe is the
genus Gelocus belonging to the Upper
Eocene. It was about the size of a dog, but
cannot be assigned to any particular family.

The Tragulida first appear as represented
by the still -existing genus Hysemoschus,
remains of which have been found in the
phosphorites of Quercy in the west of France,
that is, in the Upper Eocene, and in the
Middle Miocene of Sansans. This genus
accordingly lived in Europe at the same time
as the prosimian genus Necrolemur so' closely
resembling the African pottos, which has
been found in the same phosphorites; and it
is curious to note that these two genera are
now both confined to the west coasts of
Africa, while their ancestors lived in Europe.

Deer and fully characterized Antelopes
appear at the same time in the Middle
Miocene strata of Sansans and St. Gaudens.
The old deer have forked horns, which in
certain respects are like those of the muntjac
and the pronghorn of the Rocky Mountains.
Only in the Upper Miocene and the Pliocene
do we meet with antlers with several tines;
antlers have thus passed through the same
course of development in the geological
epochs as they pass through in our stags in
the course of life. Yet this family shows
the greatest development of the antlers during
the Pliocene and Quaternary period; Cervus
Stdgwickii from the forest bed of Cromer
had gigantic antlers, and still more gigantic
were those of the Megaceros from the peat-
bogs of Ireland. The latter species, standing

as regards its horns between the fallow-deer
and the elk, was distributed over all central
and southern Europe. Whole skeletons of
it have been found in the peat -bogs of
Ireland, and there is no doubt that these
gigantic deer were hunted by man. During
the ice-age the elk and reindeer were spread
over all Europe north of the Alps and the
Pyrenees. The reindeer first retired within
the Arctic circle; it did so even in prehistoric
times, and it was only in the middle ages
that it was followed by the elk.

The Antelopes are as old as the deer.
Their remains are found in the Upper
Miocene of Pikermi, Mont Leberon, and the
Sewalik Hills, and in such quantity that it
is plain that in those times numerous herds
of these animals must have roamed over
southern Europe as well as India. Some of
the species then living approached the gaz-
elles, others the cannas and the Oryx. The
saiga has had its former domain restricted
like the elk. During the Quaternary period
it was spread over the plains of central
Europe up to the foot of the Pyrenees.

The Oxen are apparently descended from
the antelopes. The oldest forms are the
buffaloes from the Sewalik Hills. The bisons
first appear in the Quaternary period in the
form of an intermediate species which is to be
placed between the European and American
bison. Ancestors of the true oxen are found
in the Pliocene strata of Italy and Asia; in
the Quaternary deposits they are very numer-
ous. Goats and sheep can be distinguished
by the structure of their skeleton, the only
means of distinction accessible to palaeonto-
logists, neither from one another nor from
certain antelopes. Unquestionable remains
of members of these two groups are first
found in Quaternary strata. The highly re-
markable intermediate form of the musk-ox,
which at the present day is confined to the
Polar regions of North America, still inhabited
during Quaternary times the north of Ger-
many and France.

140

THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA.

The family of the Giraffes appears for the
first time, represented by an actual giraffe,
in the Miocene strata of Pikermi. This type
accordingly then inhabited Europe. But at
Pikermi, as well as in the deposits of the
Sewalik Hills, which are perhaps a little
older, there are preserved also some gigantic
forms which are unquestionably allied to the
giraffe, and some of which must have been
very clumsy and unwieldy creatures; such, for
example, are the Helladotherium of Pikermi,
the Sivatherium and Bramatherium in India.
These forms are extremely curious, and
Sivatherium, for instance, had a skeletal
structure as heavy and clumsy as that of a
Rhinoceros.

The Camels, finally, are traced back in the
Old World to the Miocene of the Sewalik
Hills.

The primitive stocks have developed in
America in a manner generally analogous
to what we find in Europe, but differing in
the details. In this part of the world no
fossil remains have yet been found of giraffes,
goats, sheep, antelopes, or true cattle; and
these groups are likewise absent from the
fauna of the New World, except the goat,

the sheep, and the pronghorn of the Rocky
Mountains. The bisons date there from the
Pliocene; and during the ice age the musk-
ox ranged over the whole area of the United
States.

The Camel Family, on the other hand, has
a much older line of descent in America than
in the Old World. This line plainly begins
in the Upper Eocene with a genus Parameryx.
It gets more and more sharply characterized
in the Miocene and Pliocene, and even in
the Quaternary period the llamas inhabited
the whole area of the United States, whence
they have since retired.

The Deer finally show the same gradual
development of the antlers as in Europe.
They begin in the Lower Pliocene with genera
(Casoryx), which have the metacarpal and
metatarsal bones still separate, and are con-
tinued without interruption till we come to
the types of the present day. In the Quater-
nary period the reindeer advanced as far as
Texas.

Lastly, we mention that it has been alleged
that antelopes have been found in the caves
of Brazil, but a careful investigation is re-
quired for the establishment of this fact.

GNAWERS OR RODENTS

(RODENTIA).

The Rodents have claws on the toes (Unguiciilata) and an incomplete dentition. They have only two large
functional incisors, without roots, above and below; there are no canines; the cheek-teeth, all nearly
similar in form, stand in a close-set series beside one another, and are separated from the incisors by
a wide interval. The placenta is discoidal.

The Rodents or Gnawers are the order of
mammals richest in genera and species. It
is an order, the members of which vary in an
extraordinary degree through the diversity of
secondary characters arising from adaptations
to different modes of life, and yet are best
marked off from other orders by the con-
stancy of their essential characters. The
internal structure, on the description of which
we cannot here enter, is little different from
that of the insect-eaters, and certain details
even remind us of the marsupials.

The rodents are in general small animals;
the largest of them, the Capybara, does not
exceed in size a one-year-old pig. On the
other hand, the smallest rodents rival in
diminutiveness the pigmy shrew or shrew-
mole of the Irish. With respect to the
external characters we may observe a certain
parallelism to the insect-eaters, with which
the rodents also agree in the simple structure
of the brain as well as in the peculiar forma-
tion of the sexual organs.

The dentition presents the chief distin-
guishing character, that in which there is but
little variation, and in which there is an
essential difference from the insect-eaters.
In the latter the form, number, and position
of the teeth are remarkably varied, while in

the rodents we must enter into the details
of structure to find any distinctions at all
between the different types, and even then
they are not profound.

The long-drawn-out jaws have only four
incisors altogether, one in each half of each
jaw. These incisors have no roots, and
consequently keep growing throughout life.
They are deep-set in large sockets, which are
continued far backwards, and are always
curved in the arc of a circle. The enamel
layer, often yellow or red in colour, is found
only on the outer surface. Sometimes they
show longitudinal folds. Since the condyle
or articulating surface of the lower jaw is
drawn out in the direction of the axis of the
skull, and the gnawing action takes place
through backward and forward movements
of the jaw, these teeth get worn away on
the back by mutual friction in such a manner
that the enamel layer always presents a
chisel-shaped cutting edge transversely placed.
The marks which are left, for example, by
the teeth of a beaver on trees cut down by
them, resemble the marks of a chisel so much
that it has often been a matter of controversy
whether certain marks found on fragments
of timber that have come down from pre-
historic times are to be ascribed to the hand

142

THE GNAWERS OR RODENTS.

of man or to beavers. Since these incisors
go on constantly growing, remarkable mal-
formations can be produced in captive animals
by preventing them from using these teeth.
Only in a single family, that of the hares, do
we find behind the large functional incisors a
pair of small incisors, which are so placed that
they seem to serve as a heel to the former.1

The canines are altogether wanting even
in the milk-dentition.

The number of the cheek-teeth is rather
small, varying from two to six in each half
of each jaw. They resemble each other very
closely, so that the premolars cannot be dis-
tinguished by their form alone from the true
molars. If, however, we trace out their
development, we find that there are always
three true molars, and that the teeth standing
in front of these are liable to be shed. But
in certain rodents, for instance, it has been
observed that the milk-teeth are shed even
before birth, so that these species come into
the world with the permanent dentition.
The rodents with three molars do not get
their single premolar replaced, whether it be
shed before or after birth; those with four
molars have a single premolar replaced, and
thereby present a remarkable point of agree-
ment with the marsupials, which also have
only one replaceable tooth in their dentition.
Lastly, the rodents with five molars have two
replaceable premolars.

The structure of the cheek-teeth, although
it varies greatly in details, may be reduced
to a few types, which, however, are connected
by intermediate forms. We find in the first
place rootless constantly-growing cheek-teeth
in which the part set in the socket is wide
open below, but otherwise resembles the
crown in form. Such is the case, for example,
with the Capybara. Secondly, we see teeth
with clearly-distinguished crown and root, as
in the rats. But between these extremes
there are transitional forms with a more or

1 On this account this family is sometimes separated as a distinct
sub-order under the name of the Duplicidentata.— TR.

less complete closure of the roots, and we
even find genera in which the distinction
between root and crown first comes out in
advanced age; the root in the young animal
is open and gets constricted only with
advancing years.

The relations between the different sub-
stances which compose the cheek-teeth,
enamel, dentine, and cement (if the last is
present at all), vary considerably, and have
been made the ground of important zoologi-
cal distinctions. In some, for example the
octodonts, the cheek-teeth are simple cylin-
ders exhibiting a round or oval surface filled
with dentine and surrounded with an unbroken
ring of enamel. These teeth resemble those
of certain edentates. In others again the
teeth are tubercled, and accordingly in a
certain measure similar to those of the
Omnivora or Insectivora. As the tooth gets
worn away the tubercles form small isolated
patches surrounded by enamel. Such teeth
are found in the rats. Vertical enamel folds
producing grooves on the outside penetrate
more and more deeply into the dentine. If
there is, as in the jumping-hares, only one
such fold, the worn surface presents a figure
like that of a loaf of bread divided by a single
groove down the middle. If there are two
folds, an outer and an inner, the tooth
appears to consist of two halves connected
by a bridge, and when these folds curve and
wind, as in the beavers, the gnawing surface
presents a confused coil of folds, which pro-
duces the appearance of a piece of coarse
cloth irregularly folded and pressed. Lastly,
the folds may, as in the Capybara, pass right
across the teeth and thus become subdivided
into a number of plates or lamellae connected
by cement and having the intervals between
them filled with dentine, so that these teeth,
which resemble those of elephants, seem to
be made up of a number of small teeth pressed
close together. There are, accordingly, among
the rodents, simple, tubercled, folded, and
lamellar teeth.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.

'43

We do not mean to discuss here the
characters drawn from the skeleton and the
nature of the internal organs, but confine
ourselves to the following remarks. The
limbs present considerable differences accor-
ding to the uses to which they are adapted.
Those rodents which use their fore-feet as
hands to hold their food while they gnaw, as
well as those which climb, swim, and burrow,
always have a collar-bone, while this bone is
rudimentary or altogether absent in those
which use their limbs only for running. The
toes are almost always free, seldom connected
by a web for swimming. In most cases they
are furnished with more or less sharp claws.
But there is a South American family, to
which our guinea-pig also belongs, provided
with true hoofs, whereby it is proved that the
distinction between Ungulata and Unguicu-
lata, to which so much consequence has often
been attached, is after all of doubtful value.

Lastly, we direct attention to a singular
fact first observed in guinea-pigs, but also
verified in rats and mice. In all other known
mammals, and even in other rodents, as the
rabbit, the embryo is formed in such a
manner that the central nervous system,
which occupies the back, is turned towards
the outer part of the egg, the yolk of which
is enveloped by the abdominal side of the
embryo ; but in the species named the position
is exactly the reverse. We now know the
cause of this inversion, which at first appeared
an inexplicable anomaly; but, nevertheless,
when we observe this phenomenon occurring
in species separated by the whole breadth
of the ocean, we cannot cease to regard it as
striking.

Altogether the rodents form a well-defined
order, constituting, as we shall see, one of
the oldest types of placental mammals. It
cannot be denied that it presents certain
affinities to the insectivores and even to the
marsupials, and it is, moreover, clear that the
dentition of the aye-aye, on the one hand,
and the hyrax on the other hand, indicates

very well the manner in which the peculiar
dental structure of the rodents has been
brought about by the loss of the lateral
incisors, the canines, and some of the pre-
molars ; yet it must also be granted that these
modifications of the dentition are very old,
and that the affinities that may have existed,
either with other placental mammals or with
the still older marsupials, are very obscure
and difficult to demonstrate.

It is likewise impossible to say anything
general concerning the habits and mode of
life of the members of this order. They
have, indeed, become adapted to all modes
of life, to all the conditions which all the
different parts of the globe, with all their
varieties of climate, present. The Torrid
and the Frigid Zones, mountains and plains,
withered steppes and soft marshes, are in-
habited by them. Wherever vegetable or
animal life of any kind is found at all, rodents
of some kind are to be met with; in the
water and under the ground as well as on
the surface. Everywhere we find them
exposed to a violent struggle for existence,
pursued and preyed upon by carnivorous
animals of all classes — mammals, birds, rep-
tiles, and even fish, and from these struggles
we always see them come forth as victors,
not through bodily strength or cunning, but
through their incredible fertility. Only a
few of them are provided with means of
defence, for example, the porcupines, and
these bring forth but few young, and have a
long period of gestation. But in the case of
the great majority of rodents, and especially
the small species, the females bring forth a
considerable number of young ones, which
complete their development in a comparatively
short space of time, and soon become capable
of reproducing their kind. In this manner
the rodents, if the conditions are otherwise
favourable, multiply with extraordinary ra-
pidity, and in this fact we find the explanation
of their frequently sudden appearance in
innumerable swarms, which, like swarms of

144

THE GNAWERS OR RODENTS.

locusts, overwhelm the land and leave de-
struction and desolation behind them. Their
enemies also multiply rapidly indeed, but are
helpless in face of such prodigious swarms,
which always leave enough to continue their
species.

THE SQUIRREL FAMILY

(SCIURIDA).

The family of the squirrels comprises a
pretty large number of forms, which vary

,
V ^r

Fig. 202. — The Taguan or Brown f

between the two extremes presented by our
ordinary squirrels, the agile climbers, and the
sluggish clumsy marmots, which live almost
entirely underground. But the intermediate
forms are so numerous that it is impossible
to break up this family into any subdivisions.
It is characterized as a whole by the structure
of the teeth, the skeleton, and the feet. In
the upper jaw there are usually five, in the
lower, four cheek-teeth, with triple or quad-
ruple roots and triangular crowns; the internal
heel and the division of the tooth into external

points present the >-form so characteristic
of the insect-eaters. In the majority these
cheek-teeth retain more or less sharp peaks
and tubercles even when worn, but others
have the grinding surface flattened by use so
as to present more or less complicated folds.
The first upper cheek-tooth is small and in
some species is soon shed. In the skull we
are struck by the longish nasals, which
become broad at the end so as to support
the blunt snout. The frontal bone carries a
considerable process, which forms in the rear

THE SQUIRRELS.

'45

a boundary between the cavity of the orbit
and the temporal fossa, without, however,
forming a complete ring round the former.
A collar-bone is always present, an indication
of the fact that the fore-limbs are capable
of varied applications; they can, in fact, be
used as arms and hands. The feet have
always four free toes
in front, five behind,

and these are armed •KL^HI

with strong, sharp,
curved claws; but
there is always at
least a rudiment of
the first digit more
or less well-develop-
ed. The squirrel
family is distributed
over the whole earth
with the exception of
Australia and Mada-
gascar.

According to their
mode of life the
members of this
family may be con-
sidered as forming
two groups, the
climbing squirrels
and the crawling

marmots. The typical members of the for-
mer group live chiefly on trees.

The Squirrels.

The Flying- Squirrels (Pteromys) are dis-
tinguished by the parachute, formed of a
fold of skin stretched out between their limbs,
neck, and tail, as in the colugo or flying-cat.
By means of this hair-covered parachute they
can make extraordinary leaps. A bony spur
proceeding from the wrist serves as a support
for it. In other respects they are true
squirrels, with round heads, elegant limbs,
and a tail which is in some cases round and
bushy like that of a fox, sometimes set with
two lines of hair as in the ordinary squirrels.

VOL. II.

The small ears are not tufted. In habits they
are nocturnal. During the day they sleep in
holes in the trees, where they build warm
nests for themselves. In the evening they
awake and go out in search of food, not only
collecting fruits, nuts, and berries of all sorts,
but also catching insects and birds. Like

our squirrels, too,
they are unsparing
plunderers of nests,
and know well how
to suck out the con-
tents of the eggs,
which they hold
gracefully in their
fore-paws. Like all
nocturnal animals
they are, when kept
in captivity, sleepy
and inactive by day,
and, when teased,
ill-tempered, but at
night extremely
lively and agile.
The larger species
are rather vicious,
and their sharp nar-
row incisors inflict
deep wounds. The
flying-squirrels are

found in the East Indies, on the Sunda
Islands, and in the northern part of both
hemispheres. A markedly divergent genus
(Anomalurus), with a dentition allied to that
of the porcupine and a tail covered with
scales at the base, inhabits the west coast of
Africa. The largest of the flying-squirrels,
the Brown Flying-Squirrel, the Taguan of the
Malays, the Oral of the Coles (Pt.petauristd),
fig. 202, attains the size of a cat, while the
smallest, the Assapan of the red-skins (Pi.
vohicclla) has a body less than 6 inches in
length with a tail of about 4 inches.

The True Squirrels (Sciurus) form a genus
extraordinarily rich in species, found wherever
woods exist in the parts of the earth above

61

146

THE GNAWERS OR RODENTS.

indicated. As the type of this genus an
illustration is given of our Common Squirrel
(Sciurus vulgaris], fig. 203, a charming
creature, just as pretty as it is destructive, in
captivity very entertaining when young, but
ill-tempered and apt to bite when old. Its
bites are deep and leave ugly scars behind.
Every one, no doubt, is acquainted with this
rodent, which, like all
species belonging to
the same genus, has
a roundish head with
two large eyes and
enormous ears cover-
ed with hair ending in
a long bunch of stiff
bristles. The body is
slender, the long tail
thickly covered with
hair arranged in two
rows. The limbs are
rather short, and have
in front four well -de-
veloped toes and a
warty protuberance in
place of a thumb,
while there are five
toes behind. All these
toes are free and
armed with sharp
curved claws. Our species has a coppery-
red coat, inclining to brown or yellow on the
back, but on the under surface always yellow-
ish. In winter the colour becomes paler.
There are also black varieties, more rarely
white or spotted ones

The squirrel lives chiefly on trees, and
feeds on seeds, nuts, young shoots, and the
bark of trees when filled with sap, and often
does much damage to young plantations.
The cembra pine, that beautiful tree of the
high elevations, can hardly thrive in the Alps
because the squirrels greedily search for and
destroy their seeds, which resemble pistachios.
The squirrel is at the same time a ruthless
destroyer of birds'-nests, and is particularly

Fig. 204. — The Ch

fond of eggs and young birds. It builds
nests for itself in hollow trees, or sometimes
among the small twigs growing out from
strong branches. The nests are warmly
lined, roofed over, and have an opening below
directed to the east. The squirrels collect
considerable stores of food for winter, and
the species living in Northern Siberia under-
take great migrations.
The Ground-Squir-
rels (Tamias), unlike
the last species, live
on the ground, and
inhabit chiefly the
northern parts of both
hemispheres. They
are smaller and more
thickset than our
squirrels, have cheek-
pouches of consider-
able size, a shorter
and not very hairy
tail, and small rounded
ears without tufts,
but otherwise resem-
ble our squirrels in
bodily structure. They
dig holes for them-
selves in the ground.
The species repre-
sented in fig. 204, the Chipping Squirrel
( Tamias striatus), the Burunduk of the Rus-
sians, the Chipmunk of North America, is only
about 6 inches and the tail 4 inches long. A
black stripe along the middle of the back and
two lateral stripes stand out in relief against
the general yellowish hue which forms the
ground colour of the fur. This tiny creature,
which is detested by the tillers of the ground,
digs holes for itself under the roots of trees in
the forest, and these holes it fills with acorns,
nuts, and grains of corn. It has a winter
sleep, but not a very deep one.

The Spermophiles (Spermophilus)are hardly
any larger than the ground-squirrels, and
their general habit is exactly like that of

•:1 or Chipmunk (Tamias striatus).

THK MARMOTS.

marmots. The body is small and thickset,
the tail short, and the ears are almost com-
pletely hidden in the fur. They have large
cheek-pouches. They inhabit the cold tracts
of both hemispheres, dig holes in fields and
meadows, and connect their holes by passages.
They also collect considerable stores and
pass the winter in
sleep. The species
shown in the illustra-
tion, the Souslik
(Spermophilus citil-
lus\ fig. 205, is very
extensively distribut-
ed in Russia, and is
also found in the Sla-
vonic provinces of
Austria. The fur of
this species is reddish-
yellow, somewhat
lighter on the under
parts. The souslik
accustoms itself very
readily to the pre-
sence of man.

The Marmots.

Fig. 205. — The Souslik

The True Marmots
(Arctomys) have a
thickset body, almost
equally thick along the whole length, a flat
skull, slightly concave between the eyes, and
a short tail. There are no cheek-pouches;
the ears are hidden in the coarse fur.

The Alpine Marmot {Arctomys nian/wla],
PI. XXXV., inhabits the higher regions of
the Pyrenees, Alps, and Carpathians between
the woods and the glaciers. It is among the
larger rodents, for a full-grown marmot has
a body about 20 inches in length, exclusive
of the tail, which is about 4 inches long.
There is a smaller species, called the Quebec
Marmot (A. monax), a native of the Rocky
Mountains, and another still smaller, the
Bobak (A. Bobac], a native of the steppes of
European Russia, Mongolia, and Siberia.

The Alpine marmot is olive-brown in colour,
sometimes very dark brown on the back, but
a little lighter on the under parts.

All marmots lead the same kind of life.
They dig out underground passages, which
are often rather complicated and pretty deep,
and these passages end in a chamber vaulted

like a baker's oven,
and warmly lined
with dried herbs.
They collect no
stores of provisions,
and when they leave
their holes it is only
with the utmost cau-
tion, after they have
carefully surveyed
the neighbourhood.
When they have as-
certained that all is
safe, they stand sen-
tinel in front of their
hole, sitting on their
hind quarters with
their fore-paws hang-
ing down, and direct-
ing their glances all
round. Gradually
other marmots ven-

(Spcrmophitus citillus). , • ,

ture out, the neigh-
bours come together, they play, and devour
fresh herbs, berries, seeds, and so forth,
but an old animal always stands sentinel.
A shrill whistle gives warning of approach-
ing danger, and in the twinkling of an eye
the whole assembly has disappeared in their
holes, from which they never venture very
far. In the autumn the marmots are fat, and,
as I can testify from my own experience, very
tasty ; but since the fat is of a greenish tinge
it is rather disgusting to some people. On
the approach of the winter's cold the marmot
retires to his chamber, after carefully closing
the mouth of his hole and the passages with
dried herbs, and passes the winter in deep
sleep. The chase of the marmot is rather

148

THE GNAWERS OR RODENTS.

difficult, because in those rocky solitudes with-
out trees and without shrubs it is not easy to
find a cover under which to creep up and
surprise the object of pursuit, and unless the
marmot is killed at the first shot it escapes
at once to its hole. On the other hand, the
marmots are very easily dug out in winter if
their holes have previously been marked.

The so-called Prairie -dog (Cynomys ludo-
vicianus), fig. 206, which owes its peculiar
name to its voice, which resembles the bark
of a dog, is properly speaking nothing but
a small marmot, which inhabits the prairies
of North America west of the Mississippi.
This pretty and amusing little creature is
distinguished from the other marmots by

Fig. 206. — Prairie-dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus}.

the comparatively large size of its first
cheek-tooth, by its cheek-pouches, and by
the possession of a fully-developed thumb
armed with a claw. These prairie-dogs live
exactly like marmots, but it is a remarkable
fact that in their holes one may often find
rattlesnakes and large ground-owls, with
which they appear to live on good terms.

THE DORMOUSE FAMILY

(MYOX1DA).

This small family is composed of animals,
the general habit of which is not unlike that
of the squirrels, but which are distinguished
from them by having only four cheek-teeth
above and below, these teeth being made up
of transverse bars of enamel, and always

having roots. Apart from the structure of
the teeth and the form of the skull, which is
somewhat elongated like that of the rats, the
dormice agree more or less both with the
marmots and squirrels. Like the former
they pass the winter in sleep, while they
agree with the squirrels in their arboreal
habits. The fur is soft and woolly, the tail
long and thickly haired, except in the case of
a few African species. The ears are rounded
and have no tuft. The fore-paws have four
toes with sharp claws and a small rudimentary
thumb covered with a flat nail. On the hind-
feet there are likewise four toes.

All dormice build nests for themselves like
squirrels. In these they sleep by day. By
night they go out in search of food, which
consists exclusively of vegetable substances,

To fact fast US.

PLATE XXXV. — THE ALPINE MARMOT (Arctomys marmota).

•
ERSITY

OF

THE BEAVER FAMILY.

149

especially seeds, small nuts, and the like.
Their stomach is incompletely divided into
two sections. The large species are remark-
ably voracious, and, like the squirrels, are
ruthless destroyers of birds' nests. In autumn
they become very fat, and their winter sleep is
not less deep than that of the marmots. Out
of three European
species the largest and
the smallest have been
selected for illustra-
tion.

The Loir or Com-
mon Dormouse of the
European mainland
(Myoxus ghs), fig-
207, resembles the
squirrel most on ac-
count of its bushy tail,
which may attain the
length of 6 inches,
almost the same as
that of the body. Of
the four cheek-teeth
the two middle ones
are the largest. They
have four deep folds of
enamel, into which fit
three opposite folds.
The head with its round blunt ears resembles
that of a rat. The thick silky fur is of a gray
colour, inclining more to brown on the back
and the tail, which has the hair arranged in
two rows. The loir lives chiefly in Eastern
and Southern Europe, preferring oak and
beech woods for its home. It builds its nest
in hollow trees or in holes in the rocks, but
never exposed in the fork between two
branches like squirrels. It collects stores,
and wakes on warm winter days to eat.
The Romans prized this animal so highly
that they used to keep specimens of it in
cages called gliraria. The loir is easily
caught in traps; and it is very ready to
settle in the box -nests which are set up
in some districts for starlings and tits. In

captivity the loir is ill-natured; its bites are

severe.

The Common Dormouse, the Hazel Mouse
of the Germans (Muscardinus (Myoxus)
avellanarius), fig. 208, is just as gentle and
agreeable in its disposition as the loir is
ill-natured and disagreeable. It is a charm-
ing little creature of
about the size of an
ordinary mouse, of a
reddish-yellow colour,
with a tail about as
long as the body, but
not very hairy. It
frequents shrubberies,
and is particularly
fond of hazel hedges
and thickets; and it
advances as far to the
north and ascends as
high in the mountains
as its favourite plant
does. The dormouse
builds a very artistic
round nest, in which
it rolls itself up in the
form of a ball. It
can easily be kept in
birds' cages, and it
makes an agreeable pet on account of its
cleanliness, its graceful movements, and its
gentle and affectionate disposition.

THE BEAVER FAMILY

(CASTORIDA).

The Beaver (Castor fiber) may well be
referred to a separate family, although it is
the only species belonging to it. Formerly
the beaver was spread over all the temperate
and cold countries of 'both hemispheres. It
was so much sought after for the sake of its
flesh, its fur, and the castoreum, a product
yielded by both sexes and highly prized in
medicine, that at the present day it is con-
fined to Eastern Europe, Siberia, Canada,

Loir (Myoxus gits}.

ISO

THE GNAWERS OR RODENTS.

and the regions lying to the west of the
Mississippi. Only here and there, as, for
example, on the small islands of the Rhone
near Aries, in Bohemia and Silesia, a few
specimens are to be found; but elsewhere,
except in a few streams in which some lovers
of zoology have allowed one or two beavers
to live in a state of
freedom, the beaver
has fortunately been
extirpated in the cul-
tivated parts of
Europe.

[Among other families
of beavers that have been
maintained in a state of
freedom or semi-freedom
by lovers of zoology is
one belonging to the
Marquis of Bute in the
grounds of Mount
Stuart, Isle of Bute.
Eight beavers had been
procured by the marquis
in January, 1875, and in
September, 1877, the
family was visited by the
late Mr. Frank Buckland
in company with Mr.
Bartlett of the Zoologi-
cal Gardens, London.
Of that visit an interesting account is given in an
article afterwards published in Notes and Jottings
from Animal Life. At some little distance from
the house above named, says Mr. Buckland, "there
is a lonely pine-wood. Through part of this wood
runs a natural stream. In the centre of the wood
a stone wall has been built in such a manner
as to keep the beavers perfectly quiet and undis-
turbed.

"As far as could be ascertained by the curator
of the beavery there were twelve beavers. There
were certainly one or more young ones in the big
house which these most intelligent animals had
erected. These when born are about as large as
rats; and from their size and other observations
the curator thinks that beavers have two litters of
cubs in the year.

"On entering the inclosure one might easily im-
agine that a gang of regular woodcutters had been

Fig. 208. — The Common Dormouse (Afuscardinus avellanarius}. p. 149.

at work felling the trees all around them. Wood-
cutters had indeed been at work very busily, but
they were not biped labouring men working with
sharp axes, but fur-clad quadrupeds, armed by
nature with exceedingly sharp powerful teeth.

"The original stream, which flows gently down
a slight incline, is now divided into one larger and
two smaller ponds by means of darns or weirs,

which the beavers have
built directly across the
run of the water.

"It is difficult, if not
impossible, to see these
wonderful dam -makers
at work, as they gener-
ally, I hear, are out at
night and are very shy
beasts. From the struc-
ture they have made it
is evident that they work
with a design, I may
even say with a definite
plan. The trees have
been cut down in such
a manner that they shall
fall in the position in
which the beaver thinks
they would be of the
greatest service to the
general structure, gener-
ally right across the
stream. The cunning
fellows seem to have
found out that the lowest dam across the river
would receive the greatest pressure of water upon
it. This dam, therefore, is made by far the strong-
est. They seem to have packed, repaired, and
continually attended to the tender places which
the stream might make in their engineering work.

" A fact still more curious — the custodian of the
beavers pointed out to us a portion of the work
where the dam was strutted up and supported by
the branches of trees extending from the bed of
the stream below to the sides of the dam — forming,
in fact, as good supports to the general structure
as any engineer could have devised. . . .

" Mr. Bartlett and I closely examined the mark-
ings of the beavers' chisel-like teeth on the trees
which they had cut down. These trees were oak,
larch, pine, birch, and willow. The young ones,
judging from the markings of their teeth, are not such
good workmen as their parents, and one would

THE BEAVER FAMILY.

almost imagine that it was necessary for them to
go through some sort of education in cutting down
trees. It is very interesting to observe how the
beaver goes to work to cut down a tree. Attack-
ing one side he cuts, by means of his sharp chisel,
a regular notch in the tree. One side of this notch
is flat like a saw cut; the other side is brought
down to the saw cut by an angle; in fact, he cuts
down the trees by the same sort of incision as we
ourselves employ to cut a stick out of the hedge.
Mr. Bartlett informs me that he has seen the beaver
put his head so far into the notch that he was
afraid the weight of the tree from above would
crush down upon him and smash his head; but
Mr. Beaver is a better carpenter than this. Mr.
Bartlett has seen him at this stage of the proceed-
ings come out and go to a little distance, sit on his
hind-legs, and inspect the tree with the air of an
engineer looking at a scaffold in process of con-
struction. When the beaver has gnawed his notch
as deep as he dare into the tree, the cunning fellow
will test its stability by standing on his hind-legs
and pushing the tree to see the degree of firmness
of the portion which holds the two pieces of wood
together; but how is he to separate the bit which
unites the wood? He simply leaves off gnawing
the big notch he has made. He then goes to the
other side, where the bark and wood have not been
touched at all, and gnaws away until down comes
the tree.

"These beavers are most industrious little animals.
These water-carpenters have converted the place
into a regular subterranean city, for they have bur-
rowed out the earth in such a manner as to form
streets, galleries, highways, and by-ways. These
runs, I imagine, are made primarily for the purpose
of safety, and secondly that the houses or dams
may be connected together, so that the families
living in the different huts may be able at will to
visit their friends."

Of the beaver family to which the preceding
paragraphs relate, there survived in the spring of
1887, as the owner of the family was kind enough
to inform the translator of the present work, only
two individuals. These, however, were apparently
healthy, having raised a new dome-shaped house
and done a great deal of work in damming, &c.]

Many writers have uttered sentimental
complaints regarding the extirpation of the
beaver, but it cannot be denied that this is
one of the most destructive of animals. We

have more need of timber than of its fur and
castoreum. It feeds chiefly on roots and
the bark and young wood of trees in which
the sap is flowing, and it builds dams and
habitations in the water out of stems and
branches, sometimes measuring 2 feet in
diameter. It thus causes considerable de-
vastation in forests, especially among willows
and poplars. The beaver is consequently
an animal that is bound to disappear before
the advance of cultivation, and which neither
complaints nor pious wishes will be of any
avail to preserve.

The beaver is one of the largest of
rodents. It attains a length of more than
3 feet, and its flat scaly tail measures about
12 inches. Its weight may amount to 66
pounds. The body is short and thickset,
the back arched. The head is thick and
blunt in front. The legs are short and thick,
and have five toes with small nails. The
hind -toes are connected by a web. The
small eyes have a large nictitating membrane,
the nostrils are capable of being closed, and
the short round ears may be laid over the
external ear-passage (auditory meatus) in
such a manner as to close it in diving. With
respect to the structure of the sexual organs
of the female the beaver has a remarkable
resemblance to the marsupials, or even to the
monotremes. The fur consists of a fine soft
down interspersed with long bristly hairs; it
is of a fine chestnut-brown colour, darker on
the back than on the under parts. The four
cheek-teeth in each half of the jaw present
to view extremely complicated folds on the
grinding surface ; the thick and broad incisors
are covered with a dark -brown layer of
enamel. The castoreum is secreted in two
pouches in the neighbourhood of the anus.

The American beaver (PI. XXXVI.),
which many naturalists take to be a distinct
species, is beyond doubt only a geographical
variety. It is rather darker than the Euro-
pean, and has a narrower head and a curved
profile.

152

THE GNAWERS OR RODENTS.

Beavers live in holes, which are dug out
on the banks of rivers, and have their entrance
under the water like those of otters. From
the entrance a tunnel leads obliquely upwards
to a chamber which lies above the level of
high water and to which air is admitted by
a narrow opening. In retired places they
build dams across the streams out of the
trunks of trees, which are driven into the
ground and have their branches consolidated
by earth. In this manner they convert
streams into a series of pools with a constant
level. In front of these dams they construct
out of clay regular fortresses with arched
roofs, which have the entrances under the
water, and in addition to the warmly lined
dwelling -chambers contain also provision
rooms. The beavers are extraordinarily
expert in the use of their fore-feet and teeth
in the working up of the various materials
which they carry or drag to the desired place,
waddling on erect on their hind-feet as they
do so. In the construction of these dams
and dwellings the beaver undoubtedly reveals
a decided mental superiority to other rodents.
Its flesh, which was regarded as one of the
meats that might be used during fasts, is
very palatable, and the tail is considered a
delicacy.

The beaver is generally caught in traps.
America yields about 100,000 skins yearly.
The castoreum is in high esteem ; it is almost
ten times as valuable as the fur. There are
some Indian tribes which live almost ex-
clusively by catching the beaver.

[The following extracts, besides furnishing some
further details of interest regarding the habits of
the beaver and its trapping in older days, show at
least that some of the generally received accounts
of this animal do not apply to its behaviour in all
parts of the region inhabited by it even in North
America : —

"In regard to the beavers' houses, I am forced
to come to the conclusion, either that travellers
who have written regarding the beaver in the
country east of the Rocky Mountains, have woe-
fully taken advantage of a traveller's license, have

listened to mere hearsay wonders without seeing
for themselves, or that the habits of the beaver
differ much in different parts of the country.

"It is only after they have been pointed out to
you that the 'houses' can be recognized, as they
seem like loose bundles of sticks lying on the water.
In a recent account of the beaver in the British
provinces in North America by an anonymous
writer,- the houses are described as being exactly
the same as I have seen them in the West, and not
plastered domes. The vigilance of the little builders
is so great that it is rarely, unless closely watched
for a long time, that they can be seen. A passing
traveller rarely surprises them at work. . . . The
only approach to plastering their houses which I
have observed is its giving a self-satisfied 'clap'
of the tail on laying down its load. . . .

"In winter they have a store of food secured at
some convenient distance from their abodes^ When
they require any they start off to get it. They do
not eat there, but bring it to their house, and
there make their meal. Of the almost human
intelligence of the 'thinking beaver' the stories are
innumerable; but many of them are much exag-
gerated, or even fabulous (such as Buffon's account).
The following is tolerably well authenticated, my
informants vouching for the accuracy of it. In a
creek about four miles above the mouth of Quesnelle
River, in British Columbia, some miners broke
down a dam in the course of the operation for
making a ditch, at the same time erecting a wheel
to force up the water. Beavers abounded on this
stream, and found themselves much inconvenienced
by these proceedings. Accordingly, it is said that,
in order to stop the wheel, the beavers placed a
stick between the flappers in such a way as to stop
the revolutions of the wheel. This was so continu-
ally repeated night after night, and was so artfully
performed, as to preclude the possibility of its
being accidental. . . .

" When beaver was 30^. per Ib. Rocky Mountain
beavers were piled up on each side of a trade-gun
until they were on a level with the muzzle, and
this was the price! The muskets cost in England
some 1 5 s. These were the days of the free trapper
— joyous, brave, generous, and reckless — the hero
of romance, round whom many a tale of daring
circles, the love of the Indian damsel, the beau
ideal of a man in the eyes of the half-breed, whose

1 Mr. Green, the writer of the communication from the notes to
which these extracts are taken, states that one day's supply of sticks
for a single beaver would fill a house.

To fact p

PLATE XXXVI. — THE BEAVER (Castor fiber).

THE MOLE-RATS.

"S3

ambition never rose higher than a coureur dcs bois —

a class of men who, with all their failings, we cannot

but be sorry to see disappearing from the fur-

countries. The fall of beavers' peltry rang their

death-knell; and, as a separate profession, trapping

is almost extinct, being nearly altogether followed,

at uncertain spells, by the Indians and the lower

class of half-breeds. The world is fast filling in;

the emigrant, with his bullock-team and his plough,

is fast destroying all the romance of the far West —

fast filling up with the stern prose of the plough

and the reaping-machine and the whistle of steam

what was once

only claimed

by the pleasant

poetry of the

songs of the

voyagair, the

coureur des bois

—the hunters

and trappers of

the great fur

companies!

But perhaps it

is better after

all!" — Notes

by Mr. R.

Brown to a

the members of this family have only three
cheek-teeth in each half of each jaw, and
these teeth exhibit in most cases transversely-
placed tubercles, whereby an approach to the
zygodont structure is brought about. When
worn away by use these tubercles often
appear as more or less complicated folds, and
then the cheek-teeth have distinct roots. In
other cases, however, there are cheek-teeth
with lamellae and without roots; there are
also cases in which only two cheek-teeth are

present ; and
lastly, those
in which the
upper jaw
alone posses-
ses four teeth
of this kind.
The mice al-
ways have
well-develop-
ed collar-
bones. Us-
ually there
are on the

communication
by Mr. A. H. Green "On the Natural History and
Hunting of the Beaver on the Pacific Slope of the
Rocky Mountains," read before the Linnean So-
ciety; Linnean Society s Journal, vol. x.]

THE MOUSE FAMILY

(MURIDA).

The large family of the rats and mice and
their kindred is so numerous and varied that
many naturalists have erected it into a sub-
order, which, however, has no well-marked
distinctive characters. One might almost
say that in this family have been included all
those forms which are connected together by
almost imperceptible links of transition, and
which could not well be referred to any other
family. In this respect this family plays
pretty much the same role as that of the
antelopes among the ruminants. In general

VOL. II.

Fig. 209.— The Common European Mole-rat (Spalax typhlus).

fore-feet four
toes and a rudimentary first digit; the hind-
feet have five toes. The tibia and fibula
are fused together in their lower parts. On
the whole no general characters can be given.
From among the numerous groups we have
selected only a few characteristic representa-
tives.

The Mole-rats.

The Common European Mole-rat (Spalax
typhlus), fig. 209, may be taken as the repre-
sentative of this family, the Spalacida, a
group consisting of a large number of animals
resembling the moles in their habit, their
behaviour, and their underground mode of
life. Their head, however, presents some
differences. It is short, broad, almost as
round as a ball, and shows in front, instead
of the rather long snout of the moles, the
large incisors not covered by the lips. The

52

154

THE GNAWERS OR RODENTS.

eyes are very small, often quite hidden under
the skin; the external ears are altogether
wanting; the tail is rudimentary or quite
absent. The form of the body resembles
that of the moles. The stout fore-feet are
furnished with four toes with powerful bur-
rowing claws and a rudimentary first digit
covered with a smooth nail. These animals

live in underground galleries, in the course
of which they throw up little mounds of earth
like mole-hills. In plantations they cause
considerable damage by gnawing away the
roots even of large trees. The species re-
presented in fig. 209 is a native of the east
of Europe, very abundant in Ukraine and
Moldavia, not rare in Hungary, and met with

- -

Fig. 210. — The Hamster (Cricetus frumentariits}.

as far as the Caucasus and the Urals. The
minute eyes are completely covered with skin.
The fur is silky, soft, thick, and of a dark
yellowish-gray colour. The three cheek-teeth
have two enamel folds running into them, and
small spots of enamel in the centre.

The Hamsters.

This group (Cricetus) forms the transition
to the field-mice and the rats, but is distin-
guished by the presence of enormous cheek-
pouches opening into the mouth, covered
with a sinewy membrane, and sometimes
extending immediately beneath the skin far
back, even behind the shoulders. The first
cheek-teeth have six tubercles arranged in
three transverse lines, the others only four.

The typical species, the Hamster Proper

( Cricetus frumentarius), fig. 210, is met with
in corn-fields in the temperate parts of Eu-
rope, from the Vosges on the one side to the
Urals on the other. Formerly it was much
more widely distributed, but it has never
passed beyond the Vosges within historical
times,, although in certain years it is tolerably
abundant in Alsace and the Palatinate of the
Rhine. It is a plump, compact animal with
short legs, and measures about 1 2 inches in
length. The head resembles that of a cat,
with short broad rounded ears and brilliant
moderately large eyes. The tail is very
short; the toes, notwithstanding the burrow-
ing habits, have only short claws. The thick
fur is brownish on the back, black underneath,
and bright yellow on the feet and the rest of
the body. Light-yellow patches separate the

RATS AND MICE.

155

two leading tints on the sides of the head, the
breast, and the Hanks. As regards the dis-
tribution of the colours, however, there are
numerous varieties.

The hamster is a remarkably destructive
animal, which in many years multiplies with
almost incredible rapidity. It confines itself
to cultivated fields, where it digs tunnels in
all directions, and forms its nest and provision

. •

cellars. These it fills chiefly with grain,
which it carries home in its enormous cheek-
pouches. It is a real pest in Saxony and
Thuringia, where hamster years are recorded
as cockchafer years are elsewhere. In a
single year a hamster can store up as much
as a hundredweight of grain. All methods
are resorted to for its destruction, and its
provision stores when found are used like

Fig. an.— A Brown Rat (Mus dtcum.inus) attacking a Black Rat (Mus rattus).

grain kept in a granary. The hamster is at
once an ill-tempered and courageous animal,
which, small as it is, will spring at the throat
of dogs, bite men on the legs, and seek to
destroy every animal it meets with in order to
devour it. It is very fond of eggs and birds.

Rats and Mice.

This remarkably numerous group (Murina)
has the same sort of dentition as the hamsters,
cheek-teeth with tubercles and true roots, but
the cheek-pouches are absent, and the tail,
which is longer, is ringed, scaly, and sparsely
covered with hair, the hair being arranged in
accordance with the rings. The typical
genus may be divided into two groups : the
larger members forming the Rats, in which
the grooves of the palate run from the teeth

on one side of the mouth to those on the
other side, and the smaller members forming
the Mice, in which these folds are separated
in the middle. In this genus are found, along
with the field-mice, the most disagreeable
pests of human dwellings.

The Black Rat (Mus rattus), fig. 211,
attains a length of 6 inches, while the tail
measures 7^ inches, and is furnished with at
least 260 rings. On the back this rat is of a
dark-brown colour, underneath rather lighter.
Till the beginning of last century it was the
master on European soil, and only occasion-
ally had to fight against another rat with
white belly, which was more common in the
south and in Egypt (Mus tectorum s. leuco-
gaster). It accompanied man wherever he
went, travelled round the whole earth on

1 56

THE GNAWERS OR RODENTS.

ships, and settled everywhere— in the Tropics
as in the Frigid Zone, in America as in
Australia. But this almost universal do-
minion has been greatly encroached on by
the immigration of another rat, more powerful
and more ferocious, from Asia into Europe,
and in the latter continent the Brown Rat, as
it is called ( Mus decumamis), fig. 211, has
everywhere displaced
the black rat. In the
year 1727 prodigious
swarms of the brown
rat swam across the
Volga in the neigh-
bourhood of Astra-
khan, and since then
this species has multi-
plied with great rap-
idity, extinguished the
black rat, peopled
Europe, and has also
reached transoceanic
countries on ships.
At the present day the
brown rat has already
advanced beyond the
Mississippi, and soon
it will have overrun
the whole territory of
the United States as
it has already done
the whole area of Europe,
sewers of towns, in houses, barns, and stables,
and may become a real plague, and above
all on ships. The brown rat attains a length
of 8 inches; the tail has only about 220 rings.
The hair is coarse, and of a grayish-brown
colour on the back, lighter underneath. It
eats anything, destroys everything, burrows
everywhere, is courageous and fierce, and,
like all members of the group, extraordinarily
prolific. An albino variety with white hair
and red eyes is pretty common.

The Mice are not such mischievous de-
stroyers, but nevertheless are far from agree-
able companions. In fig. 212 is represented

• •••,

Fig. 212. — The Common Domestic Mouse (Mus miisculus).

It lives in the

the Common Domestic Mouse (Mus musculus),
which attains a length of 4 inches at the
most. Its tail, with about 180 rings, is just
about as long as the body. The colour is a
well-known gray, a little darker on the back
than on the under parts. The houses, cellars,
and barns which it inhabits it is very un-
willing to quit, and it hardly ever ventures

beyond the gardens
into the fields, where
it is replaced by the
Field-mouse (Mus ag-
rarius); in the woods
the Long-tailed Field-
mouse takes its place
(Mus sylvalicus] ; and
in many corn-fields
and reedy marshes
there is a smaller
species, the Harvest-
mouse (Mus (Micro-
mys) minutus), which
builds for itself a
round nest hanging
to the stalks of the
corn or reeds. In Al-
geria and the steppes
of the interior of
Africa occurs one of
the prettiest members
of this genus, the

Striped or Barbary Mouse (Mus striatus (bar-
6arns)}, fig. 213. Its fawn-coloured fur is
marked with ten dark -brown longitudinal
stripes; the belly is white. It attains a length
of very nearly 5 inches.

All these mice lead much the same kind
of life, residing in holes, where they make
nests for their frequent litters of young.
From eight to ten young ones are always
born at a birth. The period of gestation is
never more than four weeks, and at the age
of four months the young animals are already
capable of reproduction. A new period of
gestation begins almost immediately after the
birth of a litter. If one will only take the

THE VOLES.

157

trouble to reckon up the number of generations | joke,
possible during the
summer months,
from April to Octo-
ber, one will get some
idea of the almost
fabulous rate of mul-
tiplication of these
little creatures. S

[In South Af:ir;i Liv-
ingstone met with a
species of " rats, or
,ratHer large mice, close-
ly resembling J/WJT pn-
tni/io (Smith)," which
he says are "quite fa-
cetious, and, having a
great deal of fun in
them, often laugh heart-
ily. Again and again
they woke us up by
scampering over our
faces, and then bursting

into a loud laugh of He! he! he! at having per-
formed the feat. Their
sense of the ludicrous
appears to be exquisite ;
they screamed with
laughter at the attempts
which disturbed and
angry human nature
made in the dark to
bring their ill-timed mer-
riment to a close. Un
like their prudent Euro-
pean cousins, which are
said to leave a sinking
ship, a part of these took
up their quarters in our
leaky and sinking vessel.
Quiet and invisible by
day, they emerged at
night, and cut their funny
pranks. No sooner were
we all asleep, than they
made a sudden dash over
the lockers and across
our faces for the cabin-

They next went forward with as much
delight and scampered
over the men. Every
night they went fore
and aft, rousing with
impartial feet every
sleeper, and laughing to
scorn the aimless blows,
growls, and deadly
rushes of outraged
humanity." — Expedition
to tlie Zambesi, chap.
vl]

The Voles.
This group (Arvi-
colina) consists of
rodents very similar
to the rats and mice,
but distinguished
from them by their
thicker head with
broad blunt muzzle,
their thickset body,

their short tail, and the structure of their

cheek-teeth. These
have such a large
number of enamel
folds crossing one
another at acute
angles, that the grind-
ing surface of the
three very close -set
teeth of this kind
forms a long zigzag
line. The field-voles
live like the true field-
mice, do no little dam-
age in plantations and
forests, but never
enter houses. They
flee as much as pos-

Fig. 214. — The Common Field-vole (Arvicola arvatis).

sible from the pre-
sence of man.

Of the numerous
native members of this

door, where all broke out into a loud He! he! he!
he! he! he! showing how keenly they enjoyed the

group we mention first of all the Common
Field-vole, Campagnol, or Short-tailed Field-

158

THE GNAWERS OR RODENTS.

mouse (Arvicola arvalis (agres(is)}, fig. 214. j considerably shorter tail. This rat digs tun-

It is of about the size
of an ordinary mouse,
but its tail measures
little more than an
inch out of a total
length of 5^/2 inches.
The colour is a yellow-
ish-gray, somewhat
darker on the back
than underneath ; on
the belly it is a dirty
white inclining to red.
It is this field-vole in
particular which dev-
astates our fields;
sometimes it multi-
plies to such an extent
that the harvest is
totally destroyed. In
the circle of Zabern
(Saverne) in Alsace,

215. — The Water-rat or Water-vole (Arvicola amphibius).

in the mouse year, 1822, a million and a half
of these destroyers
were killed. Foxes,
polecats, weasels,
owls, mouse-buzzards,
and other beasts of
prey are of all the less
avail in checking its
devastations, since
these animals are
themselves relentless-
ly destroyed in the
most senseless man-
ner.

The Water-rat or
Water-vole {Arvicola
amphibius), fig. 215,
likewise belongs to
this genus. It is of
the same colour as the
black rat, and attains
about the same size,

nels in the neighbour-
hood of water, and
lays waste plantations,
though at the same
time it is very fond of
• a flesh diet. It is a
capital swimmer and
diver. It is still a mat-
ter of doubt whether
the schemnaus of the
Germans, which does
not frequent the water,
is the same species or
only a variety.

A species regarding
which many fables
have been invented is
the Lemming (Myodes
lc minus], fig. 216, a
vole with a thickset
body, large broad flat-

Fig. 216.— The Lemming (Myodes lemmus).

but is distinguished from it by its thick blunt
head, its short broad rounded ears, and its

tened head, and with ears hidden in the fur.

The lemming attains
the size of a moderate-
sized rat, but has a tail
only about an inch in
length. On the fore-
feet the first digit is
completely developed.
The coat resembles
that of the hamster,
and is in general of a
yellow colour with
brown spots and white
stripes. The under
parts are likewise
rather whitish.

The lemming in-
habits the northern
parts of Europe.
During the Ice Age
its domain extended
as far as the Pyrenees
and the Alps. Species allied to it are found
in Siberia and Canada. On the high plateaux

THE VOLES.

159

of the Scandinavian Alps, in Lapland and
Finland, it is met with everywhere. It lives
like the hamster, and like this kinsman, too, is
courageous and vicious notwithstanding its
small size. In favourable years it multiplies
to such an extent that enormous swarms are
compelled to emigrate in order to seek their
food elsewhere. In spite of the fact that their
habitual mode of life is a nocturnal one, they

then move on in a close phalanx in the full
light of day, swim across brooks and even
rivers, and are not deterred by the fact of
their being pursued by eagles, falcons, and
small carnivores. The carcasses of those
which die on the way pollute the air all round.
Similar migrations of the brown rat, voles,
and other rodents have been observed.

The Musk-rat, the Musquash of Canada,

Kig. 217. — The Musk-rat or Musquash (Fiber ziiethicus).

the Ondatra of the Indians (Fiber zibethicus),
fig. 217, is a species living entirely in the
water. This is a pretty large rat, whose com-
pressed and flattened tail, sparsely covered
with stiff bristles, is of about the same length
as the body. In the neighbourhood of the
anus there is a gland of the size of a nut, which
secretes an oily substance with a strong smell
of musk. The five toes of the hind-feet as
well as the four toes of the fore-feet are con-
nected by a web set with stiff intercrossing
bristles, which are of service in swimming.
The coat consists of very fine thick soft
woolly hair, beyond which projects a number
of long glossy bristles. On the back the
colour is brown, on the belly reddish-gray.
In Canada it is eagerly hunted for the sake
of its very valuable fur. About three millions
of skins are obtained every year. The mode

of life of the musk-rat is similar to that of the
beaver. According to circumstances it either
excavates tunnels on the steep banks of rivers
or constructs regular fortresses with domed
roofs rising above the surface of the water;
but such fortresses are of course distinguished
from those of beavers by their much smaller
size.

We now mention a few mice of which no
illustrations are given, but which yet deserve
some attention.

First there is the Australian genus Hy-
dromys, which is distinguished from all other
rodents by the remarkably small number of
its cheek-teeth. In each jaw there are, in fact,
only two such teeth ; these have oval enamel
folds. This genus lives in the water like the
musk-rats. The fore-feet are adapted for
burrowing, the hind ones for swimming.

i6o

THE GNAWERS OR RODENTS.

This animal is one of the few placental
mammals of Australia.

Secondly, we mention, by way of transition
to the next family, mice with elongated hind-
legs. Some of these (Meriones) have almost
the habit of hares. They dwell in the steppes
round the Caspian Sea. Others (Gerbillus)
have a greater resemblance to the jumping-

the collar-bone is present, and there are
almost always five toes armed with sharp
claws. A single American genus (Jaculus),
which is found in the Arctic Regions round
Hudson's Bay, has only four toes and a
rudimentary first digit with a flat nail. These
fore-feet are used in walking onlv while the

O J

animal is feeding; as a rule the jerboa goes

Fig. 218. — The Egyptian Jerboa (Dipus mauritanicus).

hares, and occur in Africa. They have a long
tail without any terminal tuft.

THE JERBOA FAMILY

(DIPODIDA).

This family is so sharply distinguished
from all other rodents by the structure of
their hind-legs that some naturalists have
constituted them a sub-order. Their whole
structure is adapted for jumping, and we find
resemblances in this structure on the one
hand to the kangaroos, and on the other
hand to the jumping-shrews among the Insec-
tivora. The fore-feet, although very much
reduced in size, are yet perfectly well formed;

— 7~- ir-^f^-.

^ — -^

Fig. 219.— The Jumping-rabbit of Siberia (Alactaga Jaculus). p. 162.

only on two feet, and the fore-feet are com-
monly used only for conveying food to the
mouth or for burrowing. The hind -leg,
which when extended to its full length is
longer than the body, has a long and thick
shin-bone (tibia), while the fibula is rudi-
mentary or rather degraded. The ankle is
greatly reduced with the exception of the
heel-bone (calcaneum), on which is a long
projecting process serving as a lever for the
attachment of the tendons of the muscles
used in jumping. The metatarsus is almost
as long as the tibia, and shows the greatest
variety of structure. In Jaculus and the
jumping-hares, which have five or four toes
on the hind-feet, there is the same number

THK JERBOA FAMILY.

161

of metatarsal bones; in the Alactagas there
are three distinct metatarsal bones for each
of the three perfect toes, while the two
rudimentary toes have none; in the jerboas
proper, finally, which have only three toes,
the metatarsal bones are fused together into
one, which shows at its lower end three
rounded pulley-like surfaces for the three

toes, and thus exactly resembles that of birds.
There is, accordingly, a marked tendency
to this fusion. The hind-toes are always
long and armed with erect claws. The
jerboas run like long-legged birds, make
enormous leaps, and in doing so draw their
fore-feet towards their breast or lay them on
their cheeks. The tail, usually of considerable

Fig. 220. — The Cape Jumping-hare (Pcdctes ca/er). page 162.

length, serves as a rudder in leaping; except
in the jumping-hares (Pedetes) it has only a
terminal tuft; in the forms mentioned it is
completely covered with hair. The jerboas
live in steppes and deserts and are nocturnal
in their habits. By day they hide in their
holes, which they hollow out with remarkable
rapidity. Their food consists of seeds, insects,
and the eggs of small birds. The northern
species have a deep winter sleep, and with a
view to this build a warm nest.

The Egyptian Jerboa or Common Jerboa
of Northern Africa (Dipiis mauritaniciis
(agyptius)}, fig. 218, is the best-known species.
It can be abundantly procured in Algeria and
Egypt, where it is wide-spread in the desert

VOL. II.

tracts. Besides the characters above men-
tioned this genus has three cheek-teeth with
tubercles and folds of enamel. The head of
our species is round and arched, the ears are
pretty large, and the whiskers of considerable
length; the three toes of the hind-feet are
protected against the heat of the sand by
small bunches of hair. The fine thick coat
of hair has the colour of the sand of the
desert. The animal is especially fond of the
alfa-covered steppes, lives socially, and digs
holes of no great depth, which communicate
with one another. In captivity the jerboa
is a charming creature, of gentle disposition
and very cleanly habits, by no means timid;
but it is advisable to keep it in metal cages.

162

THE GNAWERS OR RODENTS.

The Alactagas ( Alactaga or Scirtetes) of \ Africa, and its mode of life resembles that of
Asia have exactly the
habit of ordinary jer-

boas, but differ in not
having the three me-
tatarsal bones fused
together, and in hav-
ing, besides the three
principal toes, two
side-toes which do not
touch the ground.
The species repre-
sented (fig. 219), the
Jumping-rabbit of Si-
beria (A. jatu/us), is
nearly of the size of
a squirrel. It inhabits
the steppes of Asia
and European Russia.
The Cape Jumping-
hare (Pedetes coffer),
fig. 220, resembles an

Fig. 221.— Phiffips's Pocket-mouse (Difodpmys PkiWfai\.

the members of allied
genera. It also lives
in holes in the ground.
Its flesh is as highly
esteemed as that of
our own hare.

A rather aberrant
genus is that of the
"Pocket-mice" of the
Americans < Dipodo-
rnys). which are na-
tives of California and
Mexico, and in which
the possession of
cheek-pouches open-
ing externally by
lateral slits is added
to the general habit
of jerboas. The
pouches are situated
on both sides of the

ordinary hare in the shape of its ears and the I mouth, and are haired on the interior. Phil-

colour of its fur, and
is of about the same
size ; but its fore-legs
are stronger and the
hind-legs shorter
than in the allied
jumpers. The feet
are completely cov-
ered with hair and
have five free toes
furnished with hoof-
like nails. The long
tail is likewise com-
pletely covered with
hair. The four
cheek-teeth have
only a single enamel
fold, which in the
lower jaw runs in
from the interior and
in the upper from the
exterior. The jump-

g. 222.— The Gopher (G

lips's Pocket -mouse
(D. Phillipsii\, fig.
221, lives in general
like the jerboas. Its
domain extends even
to Texas. It is
scarcely larger than
a mouse.

A series of Ameri-
can genera in which
the difference in size
between the fore and
hind legs tends more
and more to disap-
pear, leads up to the
clumsy thickset forms
resembling the moles
in form, and posses-
sing three simple
cheek-teeth without
roots. \Ye select as
representative of this

ing-hare is a native of the steppes of Southern j group the Gopher (G corny s bursaria), fig. 222,

THE PORCUPINE FAMILY.

163

which attains the si/e of an ordinary rabbit,
and lives like moles in Canada and the Rocky
Mountain region. It digs out tunnels, builds
complicated nests, and throws up mounds of
earth. Notwithstanding its underground life
its eyes are well developed; the external ears,
on the other hand, are altogether wanting;
the tail is thin and short. The strong claws
on the five toes attain a considerable length,
especially on the fore-feet. The cheek -
pouches opening externally on the sides of
the mouth are very large and reach back to

the shoulders. The fur is soft and velvety
like that of a mole; it is of a dark-gray colour,
reddish on the back, lighter underneath.

THE PORCUPINE FAMILY

(HYSTRICIDA).

This family comprises mostly clumsy thick-
set forms, which have a defensive armour
consisting of spines on the back. In each
half of each jaw they have four cheek-teeth
with or without roots, but always provided

g. 223.— The African Brash-tailed Porcupine (At/icrur.i

page 164.

with enamel folds. The collar-bones are not
fully developed ; in most cases only the middle
portion is ossified, while the two ends are
still cartilaginous or tendinous. The porcu-
pines may be divided into two groups: those
of the Old World are animals that live on the
ground; those of the New World, on the
contrary, are arboreal in their habits, and
often even have a tail capable of being rolled
up.

The Common European Porcupine (Hystrix
cnstata], PI. XXXVI I., inhabits the countries
on the Mediterranean, but is especially abun-
dant in Algeria and Asia Minor, while in
Italy, Sicily, and Spain it has become rather
rare. On account of its plump thickset body
it has been compared to the pig. It attains

a length of rather more than 2 feet, but the
short thick tail measures only about 4 inches.
The head is blunt in front and has an arched
brow. The upper lip is cloven, and this
cleft communicates with a transverse groove
into which the nostrils open. The first digit
is rudimentary, especially on the fore-feet,
but the other toes, four in number, are all
provided with strong sharp claws. The front
part of the body is covered with short strong
bristles. The bristly defensive armour begins
on the brow. The hairs, which are at first
flexible, become stiffer and stiffer till they at
last acquire the form of strong spines marked
with alternate stripes, such as we are all
familiar with as used for pen-holders, brush-
holders, and the like. These spines, which

164

THE GNAWERS OR RODENTS.

cover the whole of the hinder part of the
body, can be erected or depressed at pleasure
by means of a strong superficial muscle. The
noise occasioned thereby resembles the crack-
ling of withered branches. The animal places
itself in an attitude of defence by rolling itself
up in the form of
a ball, concealing
its head under its
body, and pre-
senting the
points of its
spines all round.
The spines easily
come off, and
when they do so
they show the
strong bristly
hairs with which
they are inter-
mingled. The
tail also is set
with spines. This
armour is not in
general so dan-
gerous as it ap-
pears. If we
press down the
spines with a
stick it is easy to
seize the animal
by the nape of
the neck, and

porcupines inspire the carnivorous animals
with no dread.

I,

of the tail and the very sharp-pointed smooth
spines, which have a deep longitudinal groove,
these animals, with their short legs, round
head, and rounded ears, would resemble an
ichneumon rather than a porcupine. The
species shown in fig. 223, the African Brush-

_^^. tailed Porcupine

(A tJicrura afri-
cana], is a native
of Fernando Po;
the other species
live in tropical
Africa, in the
East Indies, and
on the Sunda
Islands. Their
mode of life is
nocturnal. The
spines of all these
species are much
more formidable
than those of the
porcupine. They
end in a recurved
hook, and since
they come out
very readily, they
remain sticking
in the wound
which they make.
The porcu-

^ pines of the New

Fig. 224. — The Tri-coloured Tree-pcrrcupine or Cuy (Cercolabes vHlosai). *TT i , n

World are all

climbers, and the South American species
have a tail capable of being rolled up like

The porcupine lives a solitary life in holes
which it digs in the ground, and which it
quits only at night. It is easily tamed, but
it exhibits extremely little intelligence. Its
scent is keen.

The Brush -tailed Porcupines (Atherura)
are distinguished by their rather long body
resting on short legs. The tail is as long as
the body, and ends in a bunch of flattened
horny strips which are curiously twisted and
cut. Were it not for this singular appendage

that of a howling-monkey. As representative
of this group we have selected the Tri-coloured
Tree -porcupine, the Cuy of the natives
(Cercolabes mllosus), fig. 224. The length of
its body is about 2 feet; the pointed tail is
naked on the back and measures about 14
inches. The various species of Cercolabes
are distinguished almost solely by their colour
and the relations of the spines and bristles on
their back. Their behaviour is like that of
sloths; in all their movements they are ter-

2) v v
x~-/i_j-3t

To/ate f**se 161,

PLATE XXXVII. — THE PORCUPINE (Hyslrix crisluta).

. ;-i£
UNIVERSITY ^

OF

THE SPINY RAT FAMILY.

165

ribly slow. By day they remain cowering
on the branch of a tree to which they attach
themselves by means of their tail, and they
go out in search of their food only at night.
They feed on the leaves of trees. The
spines have only a very thin root, but they
are somewhat thicker in the middle, and at
the end they are as sharp as a needle, and
are provided with a barb, which easily breaks
off. These tree-porcupines are more detested

by hunters than any other animals; they are,
perhaps, even more dreaded than the rattle-
snake. A dog which attacks a cuy at once
gets its mouth full of spines, which break off
when one attempts to pull them out, and in
consequence of their barbs penetrate more
and more deeply into the flesh. The tail of
the allied North American genus of the
Ursons (Erethizon dorsatnni) does not serve
for grasping, but the animal is large and

-~-

Fig. 225. — The Coypu (Mj/ofotanms coypu).

thickly covered with those dangerous spines.
In defending itself against attack the animal
deals vigorous blows with its broad tail.

THE SPINY RAT FAMILY

(ECHIMYIDA).

Beside the porcupines we place the spiny
rats, which are chiefly met with in South
America, but have a few representatives also
in tropical Africa. They have four cheek-
teeth, which are sometimes simple, sometimes
composed of a series of enamel folds like
those of the beaver, and mostly have roots.
The collar-bones are complete, and the feet
usually have five toes. The hair is mostly
coarse, interspersed with glossy bristles, and

often also with a few real spines, which are
sharp but short. Some of these animals are
climbers — for example, the capromys of the
Antilles — but the majority of them are terres-
trial animals living like the rats and mice.
The type selected by us is an inhabitant of
the water.

The Coypu of the Indians (Myopotamus
coypu\ fig. 225, is a native of South America,
and inhabits more particularly the marshes
bordering on the Rio de la Plata and its
tributaries. Its fine fur consists of soft woolly
hair and glossy bristles, is of a beautiful brown
colour, and is known to the fur-dealers by
the name of the " Plate beaver." The ani-
mal exceeds 3 feet in length including the
tail, which is about equal in length to the

1 66

THE GNAWERS OR RODENTS.

body. The tail is round, thin, ringed, and
covered with inconspicuous scales. The thick
flat head is blunt in front, and carries small
ears; the short sturdy legs have five toes

seldom on trees, and when attacked dart
courageously in large numbers on their assail-
ants. Allied genera (Ctenomys) advance as
far south as the desert tracts of Tierra del

Fig. 226.— The Degu (Octodon Cuminingii}. Vig. 227.— The Larger Chinchilla (Kriomys

connected by webs. The coypus live in pairs
in holes on the edge of the water; they are
excellent swimmers, but dive badly and sel-
dom ; they seek their food by day.

THE DEGU FAMILY

(OCTODONTIDA).

This family owes its scientific name1 to
the fact that the enamel folds of its four
cheek-teeth form on the grinding surface a
figure of 8. The feet have for the most part
five toes, and the collar-bone is always fully
developed. The typical species, the Degu of
the Chileans (Octodon Cummingii), fig. 226,
has the size, habit, and colour of a rat, and is
very abundant in Chile, where it does a great
deal of damage in cultivated fields and gar-
dens. These rats dig holes and galleries,
clamber about in hedges and shrubberies, but

1 !• rom Gr. okto, eight, and odoits, odontos, a tooth.

Fuego, and climb to the higher parts of the
Cordilleras.

THE CHINCHILLA FAMILY

(CHINCHILLIDA).

South America, which is so rich in rodents
generally, possesses another family of impor-
tance for us, that of the Chinchillida. The
distinguishing character of this family is
formed by the four rootless cheek-teeth,
which consist of two or at the most three
bands of enamel placed obliquely and con-
nected together in such a manner that each
tooth appears to be composed of two oval
halves. The collar-bones are complete; the
fine soft fur is almost woolly.

The Chinchillas Proper (Eriomys or Chin-
chilla) occupy the first place in this family.
They lead a similar life to our marmots, and
are natives of the higher rocky and treeless

THK CHINCHILLA FAMILY.

.67

parts of the Cordilleras of Peru, Chile, and I The other (Eriomys

Bolivia, when- they

are much hunted on
account of their ex-
traordinarily fine and
soft fur, which has a
pretty silvery look
and is of a pearl-gray
colour. Illustrations
are given of the two
species to which the
name Chinchilla is
specially applied, and
which are celebrated
under that name on
account of their ex-
tremely valuable fur.
The first of these
( Kriomys chinchilla
( Chinchilla brcvuan-
data} ), fig. 227, is of
about the sixe of a
squirrel, but has a

, . . I'ig. 228.— The Smaller Chinchilla (Eriomyi lanicfr).

much more thickset

body. It is distributed over Peru and Bolivia. | agile animals, which

(Chinchilla lani-
gcra)\ fig. 228, is the
smaller species, and
occurs chiefly in Chile.
In both species the
head is round, and
the ears are large,
the whisker-hairs long
and thick. The fore-
feet have five pretty
long divergent toes,
the hind ones four
toes with short claws.
The genus is likewise
characterized by hav-
ing the cheek-teeth
composed of three
narrow plates of ena-
mel, and their tail
completely covered
with hair, as well as
by their naked ankle
(tarsus).

The chinchillas are
run and climb well.

:ig. 229.— Cuvier's Lagidium (Lag

'). page 168.

They are fond of stony districts, and live
socially in holes dug out by themselves.

They resemble marmots in their general
mode of life. In confinement they are ex-

1 68

THE GNAWERS OK RODENTS.

tremely graceful, gentle, good-humoured, and
cleanly, yet they may become rather trouble-
some from their curiosity and their disposition
to gnaw everything that comes in their way.
Their flesh resembles that of the wild rabbit.
The members of the genus Lagidium (or
Lagotis) inhabit the same regions as the
chinchillas, and resemble these latter in the

structure of their teeth, but are distinguished
by having longer legs, a less delicate fur,
much longer ears, and a long tail, which is
haired only on the upper surface. The
general appearance of these animals is some-
thing like that of a long-tailed hare. They run
and jump like hares, and excavate burrows
like rabbits, to which they are about equal in

Fig. 230.— The Vizcacha (Lagostomus trichodactylus).

size. They are hunted solely for the sake
of their savoury flesh. An illustration is
furnished of the species which is so abundant
in the higher parts of Peru (Lagidium
(Lagotis) Cuvieri), fig. 229.

The Vizcacha (Lagostomus trichodactylus},
fig. 230, is the only species of this family that
descends to the lowlands. It literally renders
the Pampas of the Argentine Confederation
and Patagonia unsafe by the enormous bur-
rows which it makes. These burrows are in
communication with one another, and are
occupied by families which sometimes num-
ber as many as fifty individuals. By day
the vizcachas rest, but at night they move
out in dense crowds. On account of the
danger caused by their burrows to horses,

which frequently stumble in them and get
overthrown, the vizcachas are thoroughly
detested and relentlessly destroyed at every
opportunity. Whenever possible their bur-
rows are placed under water; the vizcachas
themselves are pursued by dogs, against which,
however, they defend themselves bravely.
The vizcachas are distinguished from the
members of allied genera by their thicker
head and more thickset body, by their long
stiff whiskers, their dentition, and their rather
short but very hairy tail; moreover, the fore-
feet are four-toed, the hind ones only three-
toed. The first three cheek-teeth have two
quite separate oval rings of enamel, the last
has three of these. The body attains a
length of about twenty inches. The colour is

THE AGOUTI FAMILY.

169

a dark gray on the hack, but the belly is white,
and there is a white stripe across the nose
and cheeks.

THE AGOUTI FAMILY

(SUBUNGULATA).

The South American family of the agoutis
is distinguished
from all the other
families by the pe-
culiar structure of
the toes, which in-
stead of nails or
claws carry a sort
of hoofs. This
structure of the toes
is very conspicuous
in the largest mem-
ber of the family,
and indeed the
largest of all ro-
dents, the capybara.
In this animal the
last phalanx on all
the toes appears in
the skeleton round-
ed, flat, and spongy,
as in the tapirs,
and it is encased by a horny hoof, which
is likewise flat and rounded. In the other
genera this structure of the toes is not so
manifest. The hoof stands erect in the form
of a ridge or keel, and is prolonged beyond
the bony phalanx, only the last part of which
is inclosed by it, and as it is also a little
curved it presents something of the appear-
ance of a claw. In this family there are
accordingly transitional forms, which show
that the distinction between hoofed and clawed
mammals (Ungulata and Unguiculata) is by
no means so fundamental as has been repre-
sented.

All the Subungulata have a rather coarse
fur, feet naked on the soles, and a mere stump
for a tail, often scarcely projecting beyond the

VOL. II.

pelvis. The collar-bones are altogether want-
ing. These animals are extremely stupid and
indolent. The development of the ovum and
the embryo, if we may judge from the capy-
bara, presents some remarkable peculiarities.
The dentition is far from uniform. There
are always, indeed, four cheek-teeth in each
half of each jaw; but these are so varied in

. structure that the
^ family can be di-

vided into two
groups in accord-
ance with these dif-
ferences.

In the first group
the cheek-teeth are
arranged in two
parallel rows, and
have distinct roots,
which, however,
are not completely
closed. The sur-
face of the crown
when worn flat ex-
hibits intricate folds,
so that it acquires
the appearance of
a coarse fabric
which has been
lined and then folded twice.

The Agoutis (Dasyprocta) belong to this
first group. These animals, which have some-
times been called "golden hares," have a
thickset body, which is high and arched be-
hind. The muzzle is somewhat blunt; the
ears are small and rounded; the legs, especi-
ally the hind ones, long and thin, the tail-
stump naked. The fore-feet have four toes
with broad, strong, slightly curved nails, and
a rudimentary first digit covered with a flat
hoof; the hind-feet have only three toes, but
these are very long and are inclosed in rather
long claw-like hoofs. The large incisors are
yellow in front; the cheek-teeth have two
bundles of simple folds. The species shown,
the Agouti Proper or Golden Agouti (D. Aguti],

64

:n Agouti (Dasyprocta Aguti).

i ;o

THE GNAWERS OR RODENTS.

fig. 231, has a pretty thick but coarse fur,
the hairs of which exhibit alternate lemon-
yellow and dark brown markings, which pro-
duce a peculiar shimmering effect when the
animal moves. The agouti walks, runs, gal-
lops, and jumps almost like a hare; by day it
conceals itself especially in the hollows of
trees; except at the breeding season it lives
solitary ; it makes paths for itself in the forest,
and is so eagerly pursued by dogs that the
latter will give up any other game in order to

follow up the trace of an agouti. The flesh
of these animals is not highly esteemed. In
confinement the agouti is peaceable and
gentle, but shows no sign of attachment to its
owner; in zoological gardens they excite but
little interest among the spectators.

The Paca (Ccelogenys paca), fig. 232, be-
longs to the same group. Its incisors are
orange-coloured in front, and the cheek-teeth
have still more intricate enamel folds than
those of the previous species. In the skull

Fig. 232. —The Paca (Caclogcnys paca).

of the paca we are at once struck by the con-
siderable development of the cheek-bone,
which is rounded externally, and so large that
it hides the back half of the lower jaw. On
the outer surface are prominent ridges, such
as are also to be seen on the frontal and nasal
bones. In the living animal a sinewy skin
stretches across the inner side of this bone so
as to inclose a cavity at the side of the mouth,
into which it opens. Yet the paca does not
appear to make use of this pouch as a store
for food, and no use has yet been discovered
for it.

The paca is a pretty large animal consider-
ing that it is a rodent, for it attains the length
of nearly 2^ feet. Its general appearance is
like that of a young pig; but the head is
short, almost spherical, with small ears, blunt
muzzle, and a cleft upper lip. The tail is a

mere stump. The strong legs are all five-
toed, and the toes are enveloped by large and
rather long hoofs. The short coarse and
thick fur is yellowish-brown on the back,
whitish-yellow beneath. On the sides are
five rows of bright yellow spots. The paca
lives solitary, or in pairs, in the marshy for-
ests of Brazil and the Southern Antilles. By
day it confines itself to the hole which it digs
for itself, but by night it is very active. It
runs and swims well, and works considerable
damage, especially in plantations of sugar-cane
and maize and melon fields. Its flesh is the
favourite sort of game in Brazil, and is pre-
pared for the table like pork, the hair being
boiled off in hot water. The animal is easily
caught in traps and snares, into which it is
enticed by a head of maize. The paca stands
our climate very well, but its introduction

THE AGOUTI FAMILY.

171

into Europe is not to be recommended, since
it eats a great deal, grows slowly, and is not
very prolific.

In the second group of the Subungulata the

cheek-teeth are composed of narrow flat plates
arranged transversely and obliquely and con-
nected by cement, which, however, leaves the

points of junction of the enamel plates free.
This structure is specially well marked in the
furthest back teeth, and in the capybara it is
so pronounced that one might take these teeth
for miniature elephants' teeth. As regards
structure at least there is no essential difference
between the grinding teeth of these animals.

Fig. 233. — The Patngonian Cavy (Dolichotis patagonica)

The Patagonian Cavy or Mara (Dolichotis
patagonica], fig. 233, resembles when standing
some hornless antelopes. It has long thin
legs of equal length, a rather long body some-
what arched behind, and a short tail almost
hidden in the hair. In a sitting attitude, on
the other hand, it would be more like a hare,
if its ears were not so short. It attains a
length of about 20 inches, and is about 2
inches less in height at the shoulders. The
incisors are relatively small, and the four
cheek-teeth have only a single fold in the
middle. The soft thick glossy fur is grayish-
brown in colour and has a whitish shimmer
on the back and sides. On the belly and the
buttocks it is white, and the latter white patch

(the speculum) is surrounded by a black ring.
The hair on the belly and underneath the
neck is a little longer than elsewhere. The
mara inhabits the steppes and deserts of
Patagonia. It runs well, and lives in troops
under the leadership of an old male. It is
remarkably shy, and often hides in the holes
dug by the vizcachas. In captivity the mara
behaves like a hare. Its fur is much used in
making carpets and blankets; its flesh is white
and not exactly palatable.

The Restless Cavy or Aperea (Cavia aperea
(porcelhts)}, fig. 234, is very probably the
ancestor of our Guinea-pig (C. cobayd), which,
as has been historically proved, was introduced
into Europe from America in the middle of

1/2

THE GNAWERS OR RODENTS.

the sixteenth century. The aperea inhabits rodents, and, as is indicated by its Latin and

the borders of the forests of Paraguay, lives German names (both meaning " water-pig"),

in small troops, and when it comes out to j is very fond of the water, into which it is

graze early in the morning and in the evening always ready to plunge on the approach of

is rendered by its stupidity an easy prey to danger, uttering at the time a peculiar cry.

carnivores, serpents, and rapacious birds. Its The thick head with the blunt muzzle and the

length is about 10 inches. Its colour is brown cleft upper lip carries small ears and inexpres-

or grayish-brown on the back, light gray or sive eyes. The four toes of the fore-feet and

yellowish under-
neath. The head
with the short broad
ears, the thick stumpy
body, the short legs
with four toes in
front, three behind,
the bearing, the
short trot, every-
thing, in short, is ex-
actly as in our guinea-
pig. The dentition
also is the same. In
the aperea the in-
cisors are slightly
yellow, but their size
as well as the struc-
ture of the cheek-
teeth, which are al-
most divided into
two parts by the
double fold of enamel, offer no point of dis-
tinction. The skull of the aperea is slightly
pointed in front, more rounded behind; the
guinea-pig is almost always marked with white,

Fig. 234. — The Restless Cavy or Aperea (Cavia apcrta). page 171.

the three toes of the
hind-feet have large
flat rounded hoofs,
and are connected
by a web. A stump
serves for a tail. The
anus and the sexual
organs are covered
by a fold of skin
forming a sort of
sack. The strong
reddish-brown bris-
tles are, as in the pig,
only sparsely scat-
tered over the sur-
face of the body.
The dentition is ex-
tremely remarkable.
The strong white in-
cisors are grooved ;
the cheek-teeth are

composed of obliquely placed close-set plates
of enamel, which, in the hindmost tooth, are
so close together that this tooth resembles
that of an elephant, while in those nearer the

yellow, or brown spots: — these are the only front of the mouth these plates are arranged

points of distinction, and these are, unques-
tionably, the result of domestication, such as
have been brought about in many other
animals by the same means.

The Capybara (Hydrochcerus capybara}, fig.
235, is the rodent which, among all those
belonging to South America, shows the most
complete adaptation to an aquatic life. It is
of the same size and general appearance as a
one-year-old pig, for it attains a weight of
about i cwt., a length of 4 feet, and a height
of about 20 inches. It is the largest of all

like a V lying on its side with the point
directed inwards.

The capybara lives in families on the marshy-
banks of the rivers of South America. It
runs little, seldom goes far from the banks,
but springs well, and swims and dives with
wonderful dexterity. It would lead a quiet
life, like the peace-loving and ease-loving,
not very intelligent animal that it is, were
it not that the large beasts of prey, the huge
serpents of South America, large fish, and
above all, man, stand constantly on a war-

THE RABBIT FAMILY.

'73

footing with regard to it on account ol its
excellent flesh. The animal leads in other
respects much the same kind of life as a pig,
is fond of wallowing in the mud, and could
easily be domesticated among us if it were
of sufficient value to make it worth while to
do so.

THE RABBIT FAMILY

(LEPORIDA).

This family is distinguished from all other
families of rodents by the possession of a
small pair of incisors in the upper jaw, not,

Fig. 235. — The Capybara (HydrocHarus capytara}.

however, placed beside, but close behind the
large gnawing teeth. They are rather small
and narrow, and form, so to speak, a heel
which prevents the lower incisors from pene-
trating the flesh of the palate when the
mouth is closed. They have, however, their
own sockets and are rootless like the large
incisors. The cheek-teeth are present in
considerable number; in the lower jaw there
are always five on each side, in the upper
the number may rise to six. These rootless
cheek-teeth, which are furnished with double
rings of enamel, get worn away by long use
in such a manner that they assume, especially
in the lower jaw, the zygodont character.
The skull also exhibits a remarkable pecu-
liarity. The branch of the jaw forming the

cheek is incomplete, and exhibits either a
single gap or a series of holes like a lattice.
The palate, too, is only slightly ossified.
The rabbit family is composed of only two
genera, and is distributed everywhere except
in Australia.

The Asiatic genus of the Piping or Calling
Hares or Pikas (Lagomys), of which the most
wide-spread species, the Alpine Pika (L.
a/pinus], is shown in fig. 236, will be best
characterized if we compare it as regards size
and general appearance to a guinea-pig, and
as regards its mode of life to a marmot.
The members of the genus in general are
unequivocally shown to be hares by the
above-described double incisors. But their
body is thickset; the legs are almost of

174

THE GNAWERS OR RODENTS.

equal length, and in each half of each jaw
there are only five cheek-teeth with a single
fold of enamel. Moreover, the ascending
part of the lower jaw has only a simple hole
instead of being perforated by several holes.
The large incisors are deeply grooved. The
piping hares are further distinguished from
the ordinary hares by the short oval ears,
which are almost naked on the upper surface,
and by the entire ab-
sence of the tail, the
place of which is taken
by a small lump of fat.
The species selected
for illustration inhabits
the stony plateaux of
the Altai Mountains
and other lofty ranges
of Central Asia. It is
found even at a height
of 13,000 or 14,000
feet. Another species
prefers the naked
steppes of the low
grounds. In Quater-
nary times the piping
hares were distributed
over all Central Eu-

rope.

These small agile ro-
dents live in holes and

Fig. 236. — The Alpine Pika \Lagomys at'finus). page 173.

their small erect tail. An enormous number
of species difficult to distinguish inhabit almost
the whole earth. Only those which have a
special interest for us are here illustrated and
described.

The Common Hare (Lcpus timidus (euro-
p&us)}, fig. 237, has a rather long body and
long legs; its ears are at least as long as its
head. It attains a length of about 26 inches,

and is of an earthy gray
on the back and whitish
on the under parts. It
inhabits the plains, hills,
and mountains to the
height of about 3500
feet, and by day pre-
fers to confine itself to
woods and thickets,
which it quits in the
evening in order to
seek its food in the
fields. It is particu-
larly fond of juicy
plants, cabbages, tur-
nips and other sweet
root crops, parsley and
clover. The common
hare makes no hole for
itself: during the winter
it buries itself under
the snow. It is the

have no winter sleep. They accumulate i principal object of chase for the ordinary

regular stacks of hay and herbs, which they
protect from the rain with broad leaves.
They never retire far from their holes, and
like the marmots give warning to each other
of the approach of danger by a shrill whistling
sound.

The other genus composing this family
(Lepus) comprises the ordinary hares and
rabbits. These are distinguished by their
long hind-legs, which are four-toed, while the
short fore-legs have five toes, and also by
their large spoon-shaped ears, by the six
cheek-teeth of the upper jaw, the last of
which, however, is poorly developed, and by

huntsman. It is a good runner, full of a
timid curiosity, but rather stupid. In many
districts it multiplies with extraordinary ra-
pidity. When it has been able to feed on
plenty of aromatic herbs its flesh is all the
more tasty.

The Alpine, Mountain, or Northern Hare
(Lepus alpinus (variabilis)), fig. 238, takes the
place of the common hare in the Alps and the
Arctic regions. Its winter coat is perfectly
white, except the tips of the ears which are
black. This animal confines itself principally
to the zone between the trees and the limit of
perpetual snow ; but in winter it betakes itself

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND DESCENT.

175

to the woods. Its mode of life resembles that
of the common hare. The males, during the
pairing season, are remarkably ardent, like
those of the common hare, and like them,
too, are very savage towards their young.

The Rabbit (L. cuniculns], fig. 239, has a
thickset body, and is in every way smaller

than the hare; its hind-legs are relatively
considerably shorter than those of the latter
animal. The ears, when laid against the
side of the head, do not reach to the end of
the mouth. The creature is fond of stony
and sandy places where it can make burrows,
in which it breeds with considerable rapidity.

Fig. 237. — The Common Hare (Lfpus timidus).

The rabbit is a destroyer without a rival,
doing much damage in forest plantations and
fields. Of tame rabbits there is an enormous
number of varieties, all due to artificial selec-
tion. The flesh of the rabbit is white; that
of the hare, on the contrary, rather dark.
Fertile hybrids between these two species
have been reared.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND
DESCENT OF THE RODENTS.

This order, the richest of all the mam-
malian orders in genera and species, and at

the same time one of the oldest, might be
expected to show rather complicated and
remarkable phenomena with respect to its
geographical distribution, and the phenomena
which it does present under this head may
be looked at from various points of view.

We are first of all struck by the fact that
two large islands, Australia and Madagascar,
are almost entirely destitute of these animals.
In these two regions we find only a few re-
presentatives of the great family of the mice,
and while the three genera represented on
Madagascar are absolutely confined to this
island, two out of the six Australian genera
are found also on the neighbouring continent

I76

THE GNAWERS OR RODENTS.

of Asia, the other four being restricted to
Australia. Since the latter island is other-
wise inhabited only by non-placental mam-
mals, the presence of a few rodents cannot
but be regarded as a phenomenon all the
more striking. The island of Madagascar,
on the other hand, occupies an altogether
exceptional position from another point of
view, inasmuch as it is peculiarly rich in
other placental mammals, and contrasts with

other regions also in the peculiarity of its
rodents.

The other regions of distribution exhibit
very unusual relations. South America is
the richest of all the continents in rodents
and that which has the most specialized
forms. Of the thirty-seven genera repre-
sented there, thirty-two belong to it exclu-
sively, three it shares with North America,
and the other two genera, those of the hares

Fig. 238. — The Alpine or Mountain Hare (Lepits alpinus). page 174.

and rabbits and the squirrels, are genera
which are found all the world over. It is
manifest, accordingly, that South America
formed an independent centre of evolution,
whose primitive stocks were different from
those of the other parts of the earth.

Such also is the case with the true continent
of Africa, which, considered from a zoological,
botanical, and geological point of view, com-
prises only the region to the south of the
Sahara. Yet, though this region is almost
as rich in forms as South America (there are
in it thirty-one genera), it is far from present-
ing the same degree of specialization ; for it
has four genera besides the hares and squirrels
in common with the Mediterranean region,

other four in common with the East Indies,
so that only twenty-one belong to it ex-
clusively.

The Palaearctic Region, notwithstanding
its enormous extent, including as it does all
the area to the north of the Atlas Mountains
and the Himalayas, is more sparingly supplied
with rodents than either of the two previously
mentioned regions. India being left out of
account, Europe and Asia together have only-
nine, out of twenty-five genera represented
in them, peculiar; the other sixteen are
shared either with Africa, India, or North
America. As in so many other cases, we
can in the case of the rodents also verify the
fact that the polar regions have a large

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND DESCENT.

177

:

number of types in common, a fact most
probably to be explained by the supposition
that the types in question have radiated in
different directions from the extreme north,
that portion of the earth having had, even in
the Miocene period, a mild climate' similar to
that of Southern Europe at the present day.

North America is
only slightly differ-
ent from the region
just spoken of. Out
of its twenty-four
genera only eleven
belong to it alone;
the others are shared
by it with South
America, or with the
Eurasian continent.
The types peculiar
to it, however, are
so sharply special-
ized that we may
rrgard them as de-
scendants of separ-
ate stocks.

It may justly ex-
cite surprise that
India and the Sunda
Islands are so poor
in rodents. This
region, which is so rich in the other mam-
mals, is so sparingly supplied with rodents
that we may well suppose that all the forms
represented there are due to immigration. Of
sixteen genera known to exist in India and
the Sunda Islands only four are peculiar to
these regions, three of the four belonging to
the mouse family, and one to that of the
porcupines; and there is even something
arbitrary in the assigning of generic charac-
ters to the four genera in question. If the
East Indies have in the case of the other
orders of mammals contributed many of the
primitive stocks, in the case of the rodents it
has furnished not one characteristic form ; the
few types represented there are derived from

Fig. 239. — The Rabbit (Lepus cuniculus}. page 175.

VOL. II.

other regions. Now this remarkable result
can be due neither to the influence of climate
nor to deficiency of food, for South America
and some parts of Africa, which have the
same conditions of existence, are richly sup-
plied with rodents.

We are met with similar peculiar phe-
nomena in studying
the distribution of
the families. We
have already on
several occasions di-
rected attention to
the fact that the sub-
division of the ro-
dents into families
and genera is pecu-
liarly difficult, and
that investigators
still hold contrary
opinions as regards
this matter. But
whatever view one
may adopt, one is
bound to admit that
certain types are re-
markably widely dis-
tributed, while others
are limited to more
or less restricted
areas. As regards the latter, South America
exhibits the greatest amount of peculiarity,
for, apart from the northern regions, the two
hemispheres are sharply separated from one
another, and illustrate that contrast that has
often been dwelt on.

There is in fact oniy a single family dis-
tributed over the whole earth, including
Australia and Madagascar. This is the re-
markably numerous family of the mice, which
has adapted itself to all climates. And then
there are two others, the hares and squirrels,
which are excluded only from the regions
mentioned. To the Old World exclusively
belong only the mole-rats, the dormice, and
the typical porcupines; the beavers, the

65

1/8

THE GNAWERS OR RODENTS.

jerboas, and the pikas are represented in the
Old World and in the colder parts of North
America ; the warmer zones of the Old World
and South America have the octodons and
the spiny rats, which are chiefly developed
in America. On the other hand, all the Sub-
ungulata, as well as the genus Lagidium, are
purely of South American origin, while the
pouched rats and the tree porcupines are
natives of North and South America. The
New World thus excels the Old in the num-
ber, richness, and diversity of its types, and
manifestly South America is the most favoured
region of all.

This remarkable distribution of the rodents
cannot be explained by any peculiarities of
climate, food, and so forth, such as are usually
erroneously regarded as the dominant factors
in determining the distribution of faunas.
The poverty of the East Indies in rodents
has sometimes been attributed to the large
number of small beasts of prey there met
with, and to the uniformity of the conditions
of existence, which is held to have been un-
favourable to the development of varieties.
It is not easy to understand how such a con-
clusion can ever have been arrived at in face
of the facts observed in South America, where
the rodents are at once most numerous and
most varied, notwithstanding the uniformity
of the climatic conditions, and notwithstand-
ing the abundance of terrestrial and winged
enemies which are found there also.

These differences in distribution, on which
we have so often laid special stress, must ac-
cordingly be due to another cause, and this
can only lie in the origin or descent of the
different types. The geographical distribu-
tion points us first of all to various centres
from which the rodents must have spread;
and these centres are unquestionably the two
Americas, South Africa, and the Eurasian
continent. During the process of distribution
over the earth the rodents have naturally
undergone greater or less modifications. We
must accordingly seek the key to explain the

phenomena observed at the present day in
the facts of palaeontology.

The Upper Eocene has yielded in Europe
the remains of two genera still living, Myoxus
and Sciurus, both of which have continued
without interruption to the present day. It
is a rather notable fact that of these two
earliest known genera one has tubercled teeth
and the other enamel ridges on the crown,
while in both the teeth have roots. It is
also worthy of note that the dormice, notwith-
standing their occurrence in very remote
epochs, have remained confined to the Old
World, while the squirrels, which at the pre-
sent day are remarkably abundant in the New
World, have hitherto yielded no remains in
America older than the Quaternary strata.
On the other hand, we find in the Eocene of
Wyoming two extinct genera, Paramys and
Sciuravus, the latter of which, as the name
itself indicates, is closely allied to the true
squirrels ; and we find, moreover, that there is
in the Upper Eocene a genus allied to the
marmots, Plesiarctomys. The mice are re-
presented in the Eocene of America by the
extinct genus Myops, and a genus called
Megamys, belonging to the family of the
Octodontida, is mentioned as belonging to the
South American Eocene, together with doubt-
ful remains referred to the genus Arvicola
(the voles). The European genus Theridomys,
found in the Upper Eocene of Auvergne, would
be regarded as the ancestor of the spiny rats.

Mice, dormice, squirrels, octodons, and
spiny rats would thus all have their ancestors
in the Upper Eocene.

In the Miocene we find a greater wealth of
families and genera; only the mice make an
exception in this respect, they remaining
almost stationary. The jerboas first appear
in Europe, represented by the extinct genus
Issyodrimys; the beaver family makes its
appearance with the genera Castor (the true
beavers), Chalicomys, and Steneofiber in Eu-
rope (the two latter now extinct), and with
the extinct Palaeocastor in America. In India

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND DESCENT.

179

the porcupines make their first appearance,
and the piping hares have been found associ-
ated with an extinct genus, Titanomys, which,
during the Miocene period, inhabited Central
Germany and France.

To these families, which are continued
right on without interruption, the Pliocene
strata add the families of the chinchillas and
the Subungulata in South America. The
other genera and families are confined in that
period to the regions now inhabited by them,
and though a great number of still surviving
or extinct genera have been found in brec-
ciated Quaternary strata or in caves, it must
nevertheless be admitted that the geographi-
cal limits were then precisely the same as they
are now.

From this series of facts it results that the
rodents have mainly been developed in the
Miocene period, but that their roots reach
as far back as the Eocene. Some American,
and indeed, perhaps, even some South
American types appeared in Europe at that
time. I do not know whether the characters
are clearly enough marked to establish this
identity satisfactorily.

Is it possible to fix with any degree of con-
fidence on any old type which might be re-
garded as related to the rodents? The answer
to this question must for the present be given
in the negative. We can only admit the
possibility that the characteristic dentition of
the rodents has developed from that of very
ancient insectivores or marsupials, possibly
connected with Plagiaulax, the remains of

which have been found in the Purbeck Beds
(Wealden Series — Cretaceous), and recently
in the neighbourhood of Reims in France.
The occurrence in the Eocene of rodents with
tubercled teeth having distinct roots, and an
insectivorous type of structure, is in favour of
the first supposition, as well as the fact that
the aye-aye has in the milk dentition canines
which are afterwards shed in order to give
place to a dentition of a rodent type. The
same thing might indeed have occurred in
former geological epochs, and since it often
happens in the case of certain insectivores
that the canines are replaced by larger incisors,
the inference might be drawn that the denti-
tion of the primitive rodents had been modi-
fied through the loss of the canines. On the
other hand, I confess that the jaws of Plagi-
aulax are, in my opinion, much more similar
to those of the rodents than to those of any
other type, and that in them I cannot discern
the marks of a carnivorous dentition such as
Owen professes to have found. The large
incisors of this genus of the Purbeck Beds
have certainly no resemblance in form to
those of a rodent, inasmuch as they are cylin-
drical and pointed; but these teeth are fol-
lowed by a wide interval or diastema, and the
premolars themselves have a great resem-
blance to the cheek-teeth of certain rodents,
not only in virtue of their position, but also
on account of the fact of their being composed
of series of transversely placed enamel plates,
which get worn away in much the same way
as the cheek-teeth of rodents.

THE EDENTATES

(EDENTATA).

Placental mammals with incomplete dentition and rootless teeth without enamel. The free digits carry hoofs

transformed into sickle-shaped claws.

It is difficult to find a suitable name and
satisfactory distinguishing characters for this
order, which is manifestly made up of diverse
elements. Linnaeus designated them Bruta,
embracing under this term, however, also the
rhinoceroses and other animals without in-
cisors. The name edentate, invented by
Cuvier and now in general use, does not
correspond at all to the actual facts. There
are indeed in this group certain animals, such
as the ant-bear or tamanoir, in which the
teeth are altogether absent, but, on the other
hand, there are other animals belonging to this
order — for example, the giant armadillo — hav-
ing more teeth than any terrestrial mammal
of any other order. The incisors are almost
always wanting, but we know one species,
the six-banded armadillo, in which the first
pair of teeth in the upper jaw, though exactly
like the cheek-teeth in form and structure,
are set in the premaxillary bone, and must
accordingly be regarded as incisors. As a
rule there are no canines, but we find in the
unau, a sloth, beautiful strong canines both
above and below. These are pointed and
sharp, and thus considerably different from
the ordinary cheek-teeth. It is true that
these teeth fit into one another in a different
manner from the canines of other mammals,
so that when the mouth is shut the upper

comes in front of the lower, yet this circum-
stance should not lead to any difference in
the naming of the teeth, any more than the
fact of a tooth placed in the premaxillary
bone agreeing in form and structure with the
cheek-teeth would deprive such tooth of the
character of an incisor.

But even apart from these details we must
acknowledge that all these teeth are con-
structed on a quite peculiar plan. They
show no trace of enamel, and consist solely
of dentine overlaid by a layer of cement,
which sometimes rises from the part set in
the socket a considerable way up towards
the crown with considerable thickness. The
teeth never have roots; in one genus, Oryc-
teropus, they even consist of a number of
small prisms united by cement, each of the
prisms having a vertical canal filled with
pulp. This kind of dentition calls to mind
that of certain fishes.

The claws also deserve special attention.
In some genera, as in the sloths, they are
enormous sickle-shaped sharp implements,
flattened at the sides; in others, again, they
are broad and well adapted for burrowing in
the earth. Their form, however, is a matter
of no moment. As regards their structure
they are in every case hoofs, that is, they do
not merely cover the last phalanx of the toes,

THE SLOTHS.

181

like the claws and nails of other mammals,
but envelop them all round. This important
distinction clearly separates the edentates
from the true clawed mammals, with which
they have often been associated.

It is difficult to point out any other general
characters. The skeleton, the nature of the
skin and its appendages, the arrangement of
the limbs, and the structure of the internal
organs are all very different in the sloth, for
instance, on the one hand, and in the arma-
dillos and the ant-bears on the other hand.
The brain is always without convolutions,
and relatively to the size of the body and its
members must be called small ; the fore-limbs
are endowed with an extraordinary power of
rotation, especially in the sloths; the collar-
bone is always well developed; the pelvis
likewise peculiar in structure, containing alto-
gether a much greater number of vertebra
than in any other mammals. The move-
ments of these creatures are remarkably slow,
and this slowness may probably be attributed
to the great subdivision of the arteries, which
form the so-called " retia mirabilia" The
arteries, that is to say, are broken up at the
joints into a large number of ramifying or
anastomosing branches, which ultimately unite
again to form single vessels. The structure
of the placenta is so varied that nothing of a
general nature can be said about it.

We subdivide this order into three fami-
lies: the Sloths, the Armadillos, and the
Ant-eaters.

THE SLOTHS

(BRADYPODA).

The members of this family have a spherical
head and very long fore-limbs. The zygo-
matic arch is incomplete, and the jugal or
cheek bone has a downward process. The
tail is either altogether wanting or is a mere
stump. The body is covered with strong
bristles. The sloths are exclusively a South
American arboreal type.

The upper part of the head has a swollen
or bulging appearance on account of the ex-
ceptionally large development of the frontal
sinuses, which extend back even to the oc-
cipital region, forming considerable cavities
between the plates of the bones of the upper
part of the skull. The jaws are rather short,
and the two halves of the high and strong
lower jaw are completely fused. The zygomatic
arch, only the front portion of which is de-
veloped, sends a long flat process downwards
so as to extend over the outer surface of the
lower jaw. The articulations between the head
and the neck vertebrae are so free that the
creatures are capable of turning the head
completely round to the back. As already
observed, the fore-limbs are extremely long;
thus, in the ai or three-toed sloth, which has
a total length of about 20 inches, the humerus
or bone of the upper arm measures about 6
inches, the two bones of the fore-arm each
about 4^4 inches, the hand or fore-foot from
the wrist to the end of the claws somewhat
more than 4 inches. The humerus is cylin-
drical and without any ridges for the attach-
ment of the muscles; the two bones of the
fore-arm are capable of executing much
greater movements of rotation than in man.
On account of this great freedom of rota-
tion and on account of the shape of the
head some naturalists have proposed to
associate the sloths with the monkeys. The
hind-limbs are thicker and shorter that those
in front; the thigh is cylindrical; there is
no third trochanter. In the ordinary attitude
of the animal the extremities show the em-
bryonic bend of the soles of the feet inwards ;
in walking the outer edge of the feet cor-
responding to the fifth digit touches the
ground. The two or three digits which are
present carry enormous claws flattened at
the sides and shaped like a sabre or sickle.
Frequently the metacarpal or metatarsal bones
of the other digits are also present. The
pelvis is very broad and flat, and the hip-bones
unite behind with the sacral vertebrae. The

1 82

THE EDENTATES.

number of the neck vertebrae, which is so
constant in almost all other mammals, varies
in the sloths. Instead of seven a species
closely allied to the unau or two-toed sloth
has only six; the ai or three-toed sloth has
nine. In general the skeleton of the sloths
is distinguished by great power of move-
ment in the joints; many of the vertebrae
resemble those of serpents, and this structure
enables the animals to take up the most sin-
gular attitudes with the greatest ease, and to
perform gyrations and dislocations which
would be impossible for other mammals.
The tail, which is composed of broad vertebrae,
is either short or even quite imperceptible.
The body is covered with a coat of long,
coarse, stiff hair, so that the animal when
crouched up appears like a bundle of hay or
dried moss. The direction of the hair is from
the ventral towards the dorsal surface, in ac-
cordance with the inverted position which
these animals so frequently assume. The
teeth are simple, without roots, and in both
jaws are set so far apart from one another
that those of the one jaw fit into the gaps left
between those of the other. They usually
get worn away by use into obliquely placed
transverse ridges. All the teeth are set in
the maxilloe or mandibles; the premaxillae are
quite rudimentary. The stomach has three
parts like those of the peccaries; there is a
paunch and a reticulum with large cells. The
oesophagus is continued in the form of a
groove to the pyloric region of the stomach.
With respect to the sexual organs the sloths
stand very near the monotremes and marsu-
pials, but there are teats on the breast.

The sloths are peaceable, sluggish animais,
and lead an essentially nocturnal, arboreal
life in the primeval forests of South America.
They are usually seen singly or in pairs, with
head and back downwards, hanging from the
branches of trees, to which they cling with
two feet, or frequently with only one. Not
uncommonly these animals will remain by the
hour in the most curious positions without

moving. They move along slowly from
branch to branch, and never leave a tree
till they have entirely stripped it of its leaves
and fruit. By night they become, indeed,
a little more active, but even then their
movements are slow and deliberate. They
get from one tree to another by hooking on
to an adjacent branch, without descending
to the ground, where their mode of progres-
sion is extremely toilsome; in walking they
seem as if mowing with their legs. Sloths
can endure hunger and thirst for a long time,
but not cold. They bring forth only one
young one at a birth. Immediately after birth,
the young sloth hangs on to the neck of the
mother, who carries it about with her. Indo-
lent and stupid, the sloths cling with unparal-
leled strength to their branches, and defend
themselves by their apathy. Nevertheless it
has been found possible to domesticate sloths
so far that they could recognize the voice of
| their keepers who brought them their food.
But this is all that can be attained. The
food is conveyed to the mouth by means of
the fore-paw.

The AV or Three-toed Sloth (Bradypus tri-
dactylus), which is represented in a full-page
illustration (PI. XXXVIII.), has three claws
on all the feet ; its neck is cylindrical and
rather long, the head spherical and of uniform
thickness. The nose is a little turned up.
The nearly black face with white rings round
the eyes is quite naked. The coarse dry
brittle hair begins on the brow, is parted on
the back, and forms a ring or collar round
the face, to which the small eyes, without
apparent pupils, impart a stupid and at the
same time rather childish look. The tail is
short, measuring in an animal of about 20
inches in length only 2 inches or less. There
are five teeth in each half of each jaw, the
first being a little smaller than the others;
the chewing surface is round and concave.
The colour is usually a fallow gray with two
light brown but not very conspicuous stripes
along the back. The ai lives in Brazil.

To face page i $

PI.ATK XXXVIII. - THE AI OR THREF.-TOED SLOTH (/?/™>;»/« tridactyh^.

THE ARMADILLOS.

183

Other species, recognizable by a black patch
on the back, have been combined into a
separate genus under the name of Arctopi-
thecus.

The Unau or Two-toed Sloth (C/iolirpits
didactylus), fig. 240, is a native of Guiana and
Surinam, and at-
tains a greater
size than the
former species, its
total length a-
mounting to about
28 inches. Its
head is thicker
than that of the ai,
the broad muzzle
projects, the neck
is short, the body
slender, and the
tail is altogether
absent. The olive-
brown hair with
a shimmer of gray
is only a little
lighter in colour
on the ventral sur-
face than on the
other parts. The
hair-covering be-
gins at the root of
the nose. In both f^

jaws there are
strong canines,
which are pointed
and sharp, and
like the cheek-teeth are covered with a layer
of black cement. In section they are tri-
angular. The upper canines are sharpened
to a point by friction against the hinder sur-
face, while in the lower ones it is the front
that is ground away. The four round cheek-
teeth acquire a tranverse ridge by use. The
fore-feet have two, the hind ones three claws.
The number of the neck vertebra in the unau
is seven (the normal number); in an allied
species (Cholcepits Hofmannt) it is only six.

Fig. 240.-T1

Dr Two-

THE ARMADILLOS

(DASYPODA).

This family inhabits the steppes and bushy
parts of South America. The skeleton of

these animals is
remarkable for its
solidity. The
head has the form
of a more or less
elongated cone,
and carries large

| funnel-shaped
pointed ears. Cy-
lindrical simple
teeth are always
present, often
even in consi-
derable number.
Only in the six-
banded armadillo
does the first of
these teeth stand,

1 as already men-
tioned, in the pre-
maxilla; in all the
others there are
only round cheek-
teeth, which are
sometimes flatten-
ed at the sides.
They stand at a
greater or less
toed sioth (Choirs didactyiu*. distance from one

another, and get worn away so as to form a
transverse median keel. The short tongue
is covered with firm horny warts. The zygo-
matic arch is complete and semicircular in
form, and there is no such downward process
as is so characteristic in the sloths. The
lower jaw is weak and slim. The neck
vertebra, always seven in number, are often
fused together, and the second, the axis
vertebra, carries a large and high vertical pro-
cess inclined backwards, so that it resembles

1 84

THE EDENTATES.

in form the second neck vertebra of many
marsupials. The dorsal vertebrae have high
vertical processes, and the lumbar vertebrae
have in addition to these very high oblique
processes. On the expanded ends of these
vertebral processes rests the dorsal shield.
The hinder portion of the pelvis is remark-
ably large, and often comprises nine sacral
vertebrae; it also has strong processes serving

as supports for the dorsal shield. The tail is
long and thick; the vertebra? of the tail like-
wise carry strong vertical, oblique, or trans-
verse processes as supports for the separate
parts of the tail-sheath. The limbs of the
armadillos are short, and their bones are pro-
vided with well-marked ridges for the attach-
ment of the muscles. The humerus is twisted,
the ulna has a prolongation reaching far

fcis^^%fe

C' r : ^-^^—>
' - y*ZL^ --

Fig. 241. — The Giant Armadillo (Prioiiodoii giga

beyond the elbow, and the thigh has a third
trochanter. While the bones of the fore-legs
enjoy a great degree of mobility, the tibia
and fibula are fused at the ends and separate
only in the middle. The toes are armed
with stout burrowing claws. The ribs are
often so broad that their edges touch or even
overlap one another.

The most remarkable character of the
armadillos arises from the development of a
dermal skeleton composed of small plates,
mostly hexagonal, laid edge to edge, and
adorned with peculiar markings on the sur-
face. These thin plates, which in the living
animal are flexible, are composed of true
bone tissue overlaid with a horny covering.
In most cases they form a series of three
shields, one for the head, a second for the
shoulders, and the third for the hinder part
of the back. The two latter are separated

by transverse bands varying in number.
These transverse bands are connected to-
gether by a flexible integument, so that the
animal can easily enough bend the head and
back, and can even roll itself up into a ball.
The tail is usually complete and surrounded
by plates arranged in rings. The sides of
the head, the neck, and the limbs are covered
with isolated plates or horny scales belonging
to the epidermis. On the belly there is only
a firm, tough skin, almost naked. Between
the plates and on the edges of the dorsal
shields are to be seen strong bristles fre-
quently grooved in rings.

All armadillos live in holes in the ground,
which they excavate with remarkable rapidity,
and which they never leave voluntarily except
at night. They then go out in search of
their food, which consists of all kinds of
things. They devour everything that they

Till: ARMADILLOS.

185

can find upon or under the earth, and it is
even asserted that they attack the dead
bodies in the cemeteries. Their llesh is
highly esteemed, and the animals are caught
by surprising them with well-trained dogs
after they have left their holes. They an;
remarkably strong, and as soon as one of them
has got half its body under the earth it is
impossible for a man to pull it out by the tail.
In general they run slowly; only the young
animals trot like guinea-pigs. From the

'£~

large number of species distributed through-
out South America we select two of the most
characteristic.

The Giant Armadillo (Prio)iodon (Priodonta)
g'tgets), fig. 241, is not only the largest but
also the rarest of the armadillos'. It inhabits
the forests north of Paraguay, attains a length
of more than 3 feet, and is remarkable for
the enormous number of its teeth, which may
reach a hundred. They are all simple. Its
armour consists of quadrangular plates ar-

Fig. 242.— The Six-banded Armadillo or Poyou (Dasyptis sexcinctus).

ranged in bands. The thirteen middle bands
are movable. The middle claw of the fore-
tret is of enormous size. The thin tail grows
to the length of about 20 inches.

The Six-banded Armadillo or Poyou (Dasy-
pns sexcinctus), fig. 242, has, as its name
indicates, six broad movable bands of quad-
rangular plates, while the dorsal shields are
composed of hexagonal plates. The body of
this animal attains a length of 16 inches, the
tail about 8 inches. In the upper jaw there
are nine teeth on each side, the first of which
is set in the premaxilla; in the lower jaw
there are ten on each side. This animal is
extremely abundant in the Pampas.

One of the most remarkable types of this
family is the Pichiciago (Chlamydophoriis
truncatus), fig. 243, which inhabits the stony
desert plains of the provinces of Mendoza
and San Luis (Argentine Confederation).

This little animal attains a length of about
5 inches, and has a tail rather more than
i inch long, which expands at the end. The
whole of the upper surface of the body from
the forehead to the hinder quarters is covered
with a coat of armour composed of rectan-
gular plates, movable on one another and
arranged in transverse rows. Immediately
behind this dorsal armour comes a firm bony
plate or shield covering the hinder quarters
and very elegantly decorated. This hind-
shield is fused to processes of the pelvis, and
has the form of the segment of a round con-
cave shield, the segment being about two-
thirds of a circle. The tail projects from a
slit beneath this shield. The head is exceed-
ingly short, and is conical in form, pointed at
the muzzle, and arched behind. On the fore-
head of the bony skeleton stand two wart-like
elevations of considerable size. Notwith-

VOL. II.

66

1 86

THE EDENTATES.

standing the small size of the animal the bony
skeleton is of remarkable solidity, and espe-
cially in the fore-limbs, which are armed with
five enormous sickle-shaped claws. The
hind-feet are likewise five-toed but less strong;
the pelvis is of considerable size. The flat
and twisted humerus and femur, both bearing
well-marked ridges for the attachment of the
muscles, as well as ether
peculiarities of the skele-
ton, give this dwarf more
resemblance to the ex-
tinct giant forms Mega-
therium, Scelidotherium,
and Glyptodon than to
any other living animal.
The pichiciago lives in.
underground holes.

THE

WORM-TONGUED
EDENTATES

(VERMILINGUIA).

The principal feature
in this family is a tongue
of extraordinary length.
This tongue is always
covered with very viscous

.. 1*1 11 « Fig. 243. — Tile Pichiciaijo (Chlainydophorus tnincatus}. p

saliva, which enables it
to serve as an organ of prehension. The
long weak jaws are in most cases without
teeth, and when, closed form a sort of tube
in which the tongue plays. The opening of
the mouth is usually very small.

The Earth-hogs (Orycteropus) are natives
of Africa, and having shorter and stronger
jaws than the other members of the family,
having these jaws occupied by teeth, and
having besides a wide mouth and a strongly
built skeleton, form in a manner a transition
from the armadillos to the ant-eaters.
Naturalists are not yet agreed as to whether
the forms belonging to this genus, forms ex-
tending to Abyssinia on the one hand and to
the Senegal on the other hand, are to be

regarded as different species or merely geo-
graphical varieties. The form represented,
fig. 244, the Aard-vark or Cape Ant-bear
(Oryctcropus capensis}, is found, as the name
implies, at the Cape of Good Hope. This
creature, with its arched back, its long and
sturdy hind-legs, and its powerful tail, on
which it is in the habit of sitting erect, has a
slight resemblance in
form to the kangaroo, but
its remarkably strong
fore-limbs and its head
drawn out into a long
snout like that of a pig
have no resemblance
whatever to the corres-
ponding parts of the mar-
supial just mentioned.
The nostrils are sur-
rounded by a fringe of
bristles; the very large
naked pointed ears are
narrow and funnel-
shaped. The feet have
four toes in front and five
behind, and all the toes
have strong flat claws
surrounding the last pha-
lanx like hoofs, and pro-
vided with sharp cutting
edges. In the upper jaw there are eight, in
the lower six cheek-teeth on each side, but
some of these drop out as the animal increases
in age. The peculiar structure of these teeth
we have already described (p. 180). The
grinding surface is tubular in section. The
thick skin is sparsely covered with stiff hairs,
which are rather longer on the belly and legs
than on the other parts.

The aard-vark preys on ants and termites.
Like the other ant-eaters it burrows in the
mounds of these insects and shoots out its
tongue among the ants swarming in the
galleries. It pays no heed to bites or stings,
and when it has got its sticky tongue suffi-
ciently loaded with insects it withdraws it to

THE TRUE ANT-EATERS.

187

swallow its prey. But though ants and ter-
mites arc its favourite food, it by no means
despises other larger insects or even eggs
and small vertebrates. On the approach of
danger it burrows with remarkable strength
in the ground in order to escape. Its dwell-
ing consists of a roomy chamber, which it

leaves only at night. The aard-vark attains
the length of 6^ feet. Its name, meaning
carth-hog, it owes to the Dutch settlers at
the Cape, who thought that its flesh resembled
that of a young pig. For the sake of this
llcsh, as well as its hide, which yields an ex-
cellent leather, it is much hunted.

Fig. 244. — The Aard-vark or Cape Ant-bear (Oryctcropus capensis).

All the other worm-tongued edentates have
no teeth at all. The mouth is in general
very small, the lower jaw long but weak.

The True Ant-eaters (Myrmecophagida).

The members of this group are characterized by their very
thick hair covering. Several genera are distinguished.

The Great Ant-eater or Ant-bear, the
Yurumi of the inhabitants of Paraguay
(Myrmecophaga jnbata), which is represented
in a full-page illustration (Plate XXXIX.),
is the largest species. Its body measures
about 4 feet 3 inches, the tail with the hair
nearly a metre (3 feet 3 inches). The crea-
ture has a very peculiar form, but is by
no means ugly, as many naturalists assert.

The long thin head is cylindrical in shape
and has a scarcely observable curvature ; the
mouth is so narrow that a finger just fits into
it; eyes and ears are both very small. The
short legs have four toes in front and five
behind, all the toes armed with large sharp
sickle-shaped claws. The fore-paws are so
twisted and curved that in walking or running
they touch the ground only with the outer
edge. The animal is specially distinguished
by its splendid bushy tail with long hair like
that of a horse. The tail is carried erect
over the back. The rest of the body has a
luxuriant growth of coarse shaggy hair; a
mane hangs down from the back on both
sides. The whole animal is in fact little more

1 88

THE EDENTATES.

than a mane. The general colour is very dark,
almost black ; a jet black horizontal stripe ex-
tends from the neck across the shoulders and
along the back, terminating in a point at the
hips. It is fringed by white hairs of consider-
able length, especially on the fore-legs. There
is further a white line on each side of the
brow parallel to the edge of the black stripe.

By day the yurumi
roams about in the
steppes in search of ant-
hills, while by night,
since it makes no bur-
row, it creeps among the
bushes to sleep. Its
sense of smell is very
keen, but the other
senses are only slightly
developed. It some-
times defends itself by
embracing its antagon-
ist like a bear, and in-
flicting wounds with its
sharp claws. The great
ant-eater is now to be
seen pretty frequently
in zoological gardens;
it ultimately learns to
know the voice of its

Fig. 245. — The Little Ant-eater (Myrmidon didacty/ns).

which is reddish-yellow on the back, and
more of a gray colour on the under parts.

The little ant-eater is a nocturnal animal.
It climbs about on the trees like sloths, with
this difference, however, that it is aided in so
doing by its powerful tail, which it twines
round the branches. Like the sloths it sleeps
either clinging to a branch or crouching on

its hind-legs. It is a
native of the primeval
forests on the banks of
the Amazon and the
Orinoco. I have re-
ceived a specimen from
the island of Trinidad,
but it was not certain
whether it had not been
brought over from the
mainland.

The Pangolins or Scaly
Ant-eaters.

keeper. An allied spe-
cies, the Tamandua ( Tamandua tetradactyla],
is a good climber, and has a prehensile tail
scaly at the end.

The Little Ant-eater (Myrmidon (Cyclo-
thurus) didactylus), fig. 245, is a small crea-
ture, arboreal in its habits, measuring only
8 inches, and having a prehensile tail of
the same length. The moderately long head
is spherical in shape, and has a short but
pointed snout; the tongue is likewise rather
short, the whole body is thick and rather long.
The short but strong paws carry two large
sickle-shaped claws in front and four of the
same kind behind. The ribs are very broad
so as to overlap at the edges. The cylindrical
body is clothed with thick soft woolly hair,

This group, forming
the genus Manis, are
ant-eaters which have
their body covered with
scales overlapping one
another like tiles on a
roof (imbricated scales).
And this is the chief
distinguishing character of these animals, for
as regards their bodily structure they entirely
resemble the true ant-eaters; their skeleton,
their toothless mouth, their worm-like tongue,
and their in-turned fore-paws are all exactly
like what we find in the latter animals. The
pangolins are natives of Africa and the East
Indies. The scales, which are formed of a
firm horny mass, are round or rhomboidal in
form at the free part, which, as in fishes,
covers the front portion of the next scale.
The markings on the surface of the scales
appear to indicate that these are composed of
fused horny fibres. They cover the whole of
the body and tail with the exception of the
abdominal surface and the inner sides of the

rum: XXXIX. - THE ANT-BEAR OR GREAT ANT-EATER (Myrmccophaga ju

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND DESCENT.

189

legs. The pangolins are nocturnal in their
habits. They have a singular habit of fre-
quently running only on their hind-legs,
balancing their body with their tail while so
doing. They also climb very well. Their

food is the same as that of the true ant-
eaters.

An illustration is given of the Long-tailed
Pangolin (Manis longicaudata), fig. 246,
which is a native of Guinea. Its tail is

Fig. 246.— The Long-tailed Pangolin (Manis longicaudata).

even longer than the body, and the paws
are only slightly hairy. The Short -tailed
Pangolin (Manis peritadactyla\ fig. 247, has

very broad scales, a shorter tail, and short
legs completely covered with scales. With
respect to the form of the body this creature

\ ,

S^n-. '

Fig. 247.— The Short-tailed Pangolin (Manis pcntadactyla).

is exactly like a squat lizard with short legs,
for instance the skink. This pangolin
inhabits India and Ceylon.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND
DESCENT OF THE EDENTATES.

The geographical distribution of this order
is extremely simple. At the present day

we find only two groups of them in the hotter
parts of the Old World. One of these, the
Pangolins, spread over the whole of Africa
south of the Sahara, as well as over the East
Indies, including the Sunda Islands, as far as
China, while the other, that of the Earth-hogs,
is confined to Africa. All the other families,
the True Ant-eaters, the Armadillos, and the

190

THE EDENTATES.

Sloths are found solely in South America,
with the exception of a very few species
which extend into Central America.

Nevertheless this simple geographical dis-
tribution has something unusual in it. The
pangolins of the East, notwithstanding their
armour of scales, resemble the true ant-eaters
of America, which are only clothed with hair,
but like them are entirely without teeth; the
earth-hogs of Africa, on the other hand, have
a certain though no doubt rather distant
resemblance in their teeth and the form of the
head to the armadillos. Manifestly, however,
these Old World forms stand in no direct
relation to those of South America.

The oldest types of the edentates that we
know do not reach further back than the
Upper Miocene. In that period Greece was
inhabited by a giant genus, Ancylotherium,
France and Germany by one scarcely less
gigantic, Macrotherium, the latter with rather
long and slender limbs. The structure of
the teeth in the latter is somewhat similar to
that of the earth-hogs; and the giant of
Pikermi, the Ancylotherium, is also placed
beside this genus, which since the Miocene
period must have moved southwards till at
last it came to concentrate itself entirely in
Africa.

Subsequent to the Miocene period the Old
World has no edentate remains to show so
far as is yet known. It is probable, indeed,
that Africa will yet yield such remains when
that continent has been as thoroughly explored
as Europe has been already. On the other
hand, the most curious types have been
brought to light from the Pliocene and
Quaternary strata of America.

The Pliocene of California incloses the
remains of a gigantic genus, Morotherium;
the Quaternary caves of the eastern parts of
the United States contain another, Megalonyx;
but most types have been yielded by the
Pleistocene and Quaternary strata of the
Pampas and the caves of Brazil. The forms
derived from these regions are extremely

numerous, and many of their skeletons have
been preserved in their smallest details.

It is incontestable that these fossil forms,
now entirely extinct, fall into two groups,
that of the armoured Glyptodons on the one
hand, and that of the Megatheriums (Gravi-
grada] on the other hand, the latter of which
had a naked skin, or a skin covered only
with hair. The former have been ranked
with the armadillos, the latter with the sloths,
and a single genus, of which very little is
known, called Glossotherium, has been re-
garded as allied to the ant-eaters. No direct
ancestor of the sloths has yet been found,
however, and the armour-clad glyptodons
cannot be brought into any direct relation
with the armadillos, for true armadillos have
been found in the same strata with them. I
have myself had under my eyes a proof of
this fact, for the museum at Geneva possesses
the skeleton of a true fossil armadillo, which
unfortunately is too completely incorporated
with the rock in which it is embedded to be
capable of being entirely restored.

Certain it is, however, that these fossil
types exhibit singular combinations of char-
acters. All of them, whether armour-clad or
not, show in the structure of the skull and of
a number of other parts of the skeleton the
essential characters of the sloths ; to give
only one instance, all of them have the typical
downward process from the cheek-bone.
Further, they are all provided with teeth,
which are in some cases sharply distinguished
from those of the sloths and armadillos. On
the other hand, not a single fossil genus pos-
sesses the slender elongated limbs of the
sloths; the limbs of the unarmoured, as well
as the armoured forms, have most resemblance
to those of the pichiciago. The resemblance
between the skeleton of the megatheriums
and that of the sloths is so great, that even
Cuvier called the megatherium, in spite of its
clumsy massive legs, a gigantic sloth. On
the other hand, the shield of the glyptodons
differs considerably from that of the armadillos.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND DKSC1A I.

191

The bands of the latter are always movable,
whereas the armour of the glyptodons is
rigid like that of the turtles, and is entirely
composed of pieces joined together im-
movably by sutures. The only genus which
had a longish head somewhat similar to that
of the armadillos, the genus Scelidotherium,
hail no armour.

\Ve can thus trace neither the present
armadillos back to the glyptodons nor the

megatheriums back to the sloths; but it is no
doubt with justice that the edentates have
been reckoned as a degenerate branch of the
ungulates. Moreover, a certain affinity to
the monotremes may be admitted, since they
approach these in the structure of the brain
and limbs. On the whole, however, we must
confess that we are so far confined, from the
want of an adequate basis of facts, to more
or less bold hypotheses.

THE MARSUPIALS

OR POUCH-BEARING MAMMALS

(MARSUPIALIA).

Non-placental mammals, with free digits bearing nails or claws. The young are born in a very imperfect condition,
and complete their development attached to teats situated in an external abdominal pouch (marsupium)
supported by two special bones (marsupial bones] attached to the pelvis. The dentition is usually complete
but permanent, except in the case of a single premolar, which is shed and renewed. The lower angle of the
lower jaw behind is turned inwards.

The marsupials form along with the next
order, the monotremes, a separate group of
mammals, distinguished by characteristic fea-
tures in the mode of reproduction. All other
mammals produce in the ovary eggs of mi-
croscopic size, which, after leaving the ovary,
get lodged in the uterus or womb, with the
aid of a separate organ called the placenta,
formed partly from the egg itself and partly
from the walls of the uterus. By the rapid
circulation of the blood in this organ the
necessary materials for the growth of the
embryo are supplied to the egg, and it is
only by the constant exchange between the
blood of the mother and that of the embryo
that the development of the latter is rendered
possible. Now nothing of this kind takes
place in the two orders mentioned, which
have no placenta and are hence called non-
placental mammals. As in the Amphibia,
the eggs in these orders contain in them-
selves all the materials requisite for the de-
velopment of the embryo, and the latter does
not enter into relations with the organs of
the mother, but receives further supplies of
the materials required for the growth of the
embryo only from the fluids contained in the

maternal organs. Among the marsupials
this embryo, which always lies completely
free in the uterus, is extruded in a very
undeveloped condition, but yet in a condition
so far advanced that it is able to obtain
further nutriment for itself by sucking the
teats of its mother, which secretes a very
abundant supply of milk. The small size of
these embryos at birth is something extra-
ordinary. The young of the great kangaroo,
which when full-grown is as large as a man,
is even less than an inch in size at the time
of its birth. In the case of the monotremes
a perfect egg with a thin shell is extruded.

While, on the one hand, the relations
between the young and the mother are not
the same in the marsupials and monotremes,
there are also considerable differences in the
further development of the embryo. The
monotremes possess, indeed, separate marsu-
pial bones, but there is formed for the egg
and the embryo which proceeds from it only
a temporary brood-pouch, into which the
milk-glands open directly without teats; in
the marsupials, on the other hand, we find
for the most part numerous and often very
long teats, these teats being situated on the

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

'93

abdomen, and cither surrounded by simple
folds of the skin, or contained in an actual
pouch. This pouch has only a single open-
ing, usually in front, but sometimes, as in
tin: pouched badgers ( IVramelida), behind.
It is nothing but a fold of the skin, and has
no connection whatever with the abdominal
cavity. In the ordinary position of these
animals, on their four feet, the marsupial
bones protect the pouch from the pressure
of the abdominal viscera, imparting as they
do greater solidity to the walls of the ab-
domen. According to the observations made
in zoological gardens the mother takes the
\<>ung one by the mouth immediately after
birth, and attaches it to one of the teats in
the pouch; the young one then remains hang-
ing there for a longer or a shorter period;
and even afterwards, when it is able to move
about freely, it frequently seeks refuge in the
pouch, which, however, it ultimately leaves
tor ever.

This peculiar mode of reproduction natu-
rally involves a considerable number of modi-
fications in the structure of the sexual organs ;
but on these we do not enter at present.
They are associated with other characteristic
features in the general organization, with the
aid of which it is always easy to distinguish
a marsupial, notwithstanding the considerable
divergences existing among themselves.

We must lay great stress on the fact that
the marsupials do not form an order in the
sense in which the word is used with re-
ference to the other (the placental) mammals,
but rather a large group, composed of a
number of divergent types, each of which
forms an order by itself. In this group we
find carnivores, rodents, insect-eaters, and
herbivores, all well characterized, and this
diversity of types can be understood only
when we regard the marsupials of the present
day as the relics of an old order of things,
in which the entire class of the mammals was
represented solely by marsupials over the
whole earth. As we are taught by the facts

VOL. II.

of palaeontology, the former marsupials were
the stocks from which, on the one hand, the
placental mammals were evolved; while, on
the other hand, their less modified descen-
dants form the marsupials of the present day.
\Ve need not be astonished, therefore, when
we observe that these descendants have pre-
served a number of primitive characters, and
that they occupy a very subordinate position
with respect to the other orders of mammals.

The brain and the part of the skull inclos-
ing it are unusually small in relation to the
bones of the face and the jaws. The brain,
which is itself small, exhibits positive marks
inferring a low stage of development. The
hemispheres are smooth and never cover the
cerebellum. In most cases the corpora quad-
rigemina also remain uncovered; only in the
large species are there to be seen a few
faintly-marked convolutions on the hemi-
spheres. The corpus callosum, which is so
highly developed in the placental mammals,
consists in this group only of a few unim-
portant fibres. The bones of the skull are
not fused. The lower jaw always shows an
inflection of the posterior angle inwards.
This last characteristic feature does not be-
long exclusively to the marsupials, for I have
also observed it in certain American rodents
—in the ursons of North America (Erethizon)
and the Mexican souslik (Spcrmophilus mexi-
canus). As a peculiarity of the skeleton we
may mention the marsupial bones. These
are two bones, mostly cylindrical in shape,
united to form a sort of fork, which is at-
tached to the pubic symphysis.

The dentition exhibits considerable modi-
fications. I-n comparison to the placental
mammals the number of the teeth is in
general very high. In the carnivorous and
insectivorous marsupials we often find an
extraordinary number of incisors and cheek-
teeth; in the former the canines are always
developed, and the number of carnassial teeth
may be as many as three. But although in
the groups mentioned we find three or four

67

194

THE MARSUPIALS.

sorts of teeth represented, incisors, canines,
premolars, and molars, it ought to be borne
in mind at the same time, that in the herbi-
vorous marsupials we meet with the same in-
stances of reduction in the number of teeth
and specialization of their structure, which
have been shown to take place in the pla-
cental mammals. These modifications affect
especially the incisors, canines, and premolars,
and may lead in the end to the formation of
a rodent dentition. With very few exceptions
the marsupials have four cheek-teeth both in
the upper and lower jaw on each side of the
mouth, while the number of premolars may
be reduced from three, the original number,
to two, or even one. The forms of the teeth
vary in a remarkable degree, but with a few
rare exceptions the cheek-teeth have double
or treble roots, and in this respect are in no
way different from the best characterized
teeth of the placental mammals.

There is, however, a fundamental distinc-
tion as regards the origin and development
of the teeth. According to the discovery of
Flower the distinction between the milk and
the permanent dentition consists in this, that
only a single premolar is exchanged — shed
and replaced. It does indeed happen, for
example, in the case of some kangaroos,
that, as in the elephants, the front molars are
extruded by a rotatory motion of the hinder
ones as they grow, but a regular exchange
of the front cheek-teeth belonging to the
milk dentition for others belonging to the
permanent dentition, such as takes place in
the placental mammals, does not occur except
as regards the single tooth referred to. This
is an important character, which, as we have
already had occasion to mention in treating
of the Carnivora, has served as a means of
distinguishing the extinct hysenodons from
the marsupials.

The feet also undergo various modifications.
It cannot be repeated too often that the
original form of the foot is that with five dis-
tinct toes provided with nails. All forms

with a smaller number of toes and with hoofs
are departures from the primitive type clue to
a one-sided development. The divergence
of the thumb or great toe, which may proceed
so far that this digit may become capable of
being opposed to the others, is likewise a
primitive formation represented from the first
in a very pronounced manner in all mammalian
embryos. The result is that most of the
marsupials still retain the original form of foot,
that is, five toes with nails, and some groups,
such as the phalangers and the opossums,
possess an opposable great toe on the hind-
feet. Reduced feet are found especially in
the kangaroos and kangaroo-rats; but in these
animals the process of reduction follows
another rule than in the placental mammals.
In the latter it is the first digit that first dis-
appears, then the fifth, then the second, and
lastly the fourth, so that at last only the middle
digit remains as in the horses, or the middle
and fourth as in the ruminants. In the
marsupials, on the other hand, the toes get
degraded in regular sequence from the interior
outwards, from the thumb or great toe to the
middle digit, so that the kangaroos come to
rest in leaping on the abnormally developed
fourth and fifth digits. This is an important
distinction with reference to the morphology
of the feet.

The body of the marsupials is always
covered with thick, mostly soft, seldom coarse
hair.

All the other characters belonging to the
bodily structure vary considerably according
to the kind of life to which the animals are
adapted. With a single exception the marsu-
pials are all terrestrial. An American opossum,
the yapock (Cheironectes variegatus), has feet
adapted for swimming, and lives like the otter
or rather like the water-shrews. All the other
marsupials are climbers, runners, jumpers, or
burrowers.

The mental qualities, beyond doubt, stand
on a very low level, and do not suffice for the
struggle for existence where placental mam-

THE OPOSSUMS.

195

mals enter seriously into competition with the
members of this group. In captivity marsu-
pials generally appear dull-minded creatures,
without curiosity and without interest regard-
ing their surroundings. Neither towards man
nor towards the companions of their cage do
they show the slightest attachment. Most of
them are characterized by an astonishing ten-
acity of life. Among the Americans the opos-
sums have become proverbial on that account.

From the Old World, which was formerly
peopled by marsupials, this group has dis-
appeared since Miocene times; at the present
day this old and singular group survives only
in Australia and America. In the latter area
the group is represented only by two peculiar
genera. All the other marsupials belong to
the Australian region, most of them to the
vast island itself, the others to the neighbour-
ing islands of New Guinea, the Moluccas, and
the Philippines. With the exception of the
dingo, a few rodents, a few bats, and the
monotremes, the whole Australian fauna con-
sisted at the time of its discovery of marsu-
pials, which, as we shall afterwards see, form
the oldest stock of the entire class of the
Mammalia.

We arrange the marsupials according to
their mode of life as indicated by the structure
of their teeth and feet, and begin with the
American genera.

THE OPOSSUMS

(DIDELPHYIDA).

The numerous species of this exclusively
American family are found from Patagonia to
Canada. In the New World they play in a
measure the part of the insect-eaters, which
are poorly represented in North America and
in South America not at all. They form
only two genera, the True Terrestrial Opos-
sums (Didelphys), and the Aquatic Opossums
or Yapocks (Cheironectes), which are confined
to South America, and resemble the otters in
their mode of life.

The opossums are small nocturnal animals,
which attain at most the size of a cat, but are
frequently no bigger than a rat or a mouse,
which latter they resemble moreover in their
general habit. The longish head is pointed,
the muzzle set with strong whisker-hairs, the
eyes rather small, the ears, on the other hand,
pretty large and almost naked. The body is
pretty long and rests on short legs. It ends
in a long almost naked tail, capable of being
rolled up, and mostly scaly like that of the
shrews. Almost all the species make use of
this tail, like the American monkeys, to attach
themselves to branches of trees whenever they
wish to do so. The feet are five-toed, the
toes themselves free and provided with strong
hooked claws. The animals lay the whole
sole of the foot on the ground in walking.
The great toe of the hind-foot is very strong,
very long, and, as in the monkeys, completely
opposable. On account of the structure of
this hind-hand, so to speak, these animals
have sometimes been designated by the name
of the " hand-footed " (Pedimana).

The dentition answers to the general char-
acter of that of the marsupials, inasmuch as it
comprises a large number of teeth, and more-
over exhibits a remarkable commingling of
teeth of a carnivorous with those of an insec-
tivorous type. In each half of the premaxilla
there are five recurved pointed incisors, the
middle one of which is usually the largest.
In the lower jaw we find only four such teeth.
The large recurved sharp-pointed canines re-
semble those of the fox. In each half of each
jaw there are, in addition, both above and
below, three compressed cutting premolars,
each with a double root and triangular crown.
So far this kind of dentition might pass for
that of a typical carnivore, but in each half of
each jaw there are, over and above all these
teeth, four true molars, which all exhibit the
characters of insectivorous teeth, and especially
so in the upper jaw, where the grinding surface
presents the characteristic appearance of a V,
the angle of which is somewhat obliquely

THE MARSUPIALS.

directed inwards. In the lower jaw the molars
have each a sharp cusp in the middle with
two sharp-pointed side-lobes.

The dental formula is =5°

4 • • .3 • 4
teeth.

The Yapock (Chcironectes variegatus], fig.

Fig. 248. — The Yapock (C.helronectes variegatus).

248, is the sole representative of its genus, a
genus which, as we have already mentioned,
is characterized by its aquatic habits and the
structure of its hind-feet, in which the long
toes are connected by a web reaching to the
claws. The first digit is opposable and carries
no claw. The claws of the fore-feet are
pretty large and sharp.

The head of this pretty creature, which
attains the size of a large rat, is tolerably
round ; the ears are of moderate size, and the
long round tail is haired only at the root,
elsewhere scaly and only sparsely set with
bristles. The hair is very soft, silky, and
fine ; on the back, round the eyes, and on the
muzzle of a chestnut-brown colour, on the
sides silver-gray, and on the belly white.
The throat also is white, and a light stripe

extends thence to above the eyes, and taper-
ing stripes of brown run from the back to
mingle with the gray of the flanks.

The animal is a native of the whole of
South America, living on the banks of forest
rivers. It is nocturnal in its mode of life;
conceals itself by day in holes, feeds on fish,
and sometimes gets caught in the nets of
fishermen. The female has a complete pouch,
which, it may be observed in passing, refutes
the theory advanced by some naturalists that
the pouch is due to the adaptation of the
members of this order to life in arid regions.
How could an animal which leads a thoroughly
aquatic life possess a pouch if this feature
owed its origin to a mode of life directly
opposite?

As a representative of the terrestrial mem-
bers of this family forming the genus Didelphys
an illustration is given of the Common Opos-
sum {Didelphys virginiana), fig. 249, the
animal so much detested by the Americans.
This is the largest species of its genus, which
has been divided into several sub-genera.
These sub-genera are distinguished either by
having an imperfect pouch, by having, for
example, instead of the pouch merely two
folds of skin, as in the sub-genus Philander,
or by having a short, naked, and scaly tail,
this appendage being in most forms, as in the
species now under consideration, capable of
being coiled up. This animal is distributed
over the whole of North America from Mexico
to Canada. Its body attains a length of about
20 inches and its tail is about equally long.

This hateful stinkard has a very sharp-
pointed head and uncommonly large ears.
The body and neck are strongly built; the
hair is thin and soft, the usual colour a fallow-
gray, rather darker on the back than on the
under parts.

Like all the members of the genus to which
it belongs the opossum leads a nocturnal
solitary life. It is a very good climber, em-
ploying in climbing principally its fore-paws
and its long tail, by the latter of which it often

THE POUCHED BADGERS.

'97

remains hanging for a long period at once.
Birds and birds' eggs form its favourite food.
In inhabited districts it often intrudes into the
farmyards in order to plunder the poultry-
pens, and thereby it calls down upon itself the
wrath of the farmers, who pursue it with fury.
Its flesh is bad and diffuses a disgusting
odour. When the opossum is attacked and
wounded it pretends to be dead and rolls
itself up, and then the greatest tortures will
not suffice to induce it to stir in the slightest
degree. The young of this animal, as has
been well established, come into the world
after a period of gestation lasting only a fort-
night, and at birth are blind and without ears.
The new-born opossum is only of about the
size of a pea, and its mouth forms a sort of
tube into which the teat to which it is attached
fits. It remains for about two months in the
pouch, which the mother keeps constantly
closed. When it has grown to about the size
of a rat it leaves the pouch for ever. As
man}- as sixteen young ones have been counted
in a single pouch.

The distinction between a carnivorous and
an insectivorous dentition, which is so well
marked in the placental mammals, is much
less pronounced in the marsupials, as we have
seen above in the case of the opossums. In
the Australian marsupials, which are now
about to engage our attention, this comming-

ling of dental characters likewise occurs, yet
we cannot but recognize the fact that a
divergence of type begins to appear, leading,
on the one hand, to a perfect carnivorous
dentition, and, on the other hand, to one of
a purely insectivorous character. All these

v

ana).

different types we unite in one group, on
which we bestow the name of the Preclaceous
Marsupials.

THE PREDACEOUS MARSUPIALS

THE POUCHED BADGERS

(PERAMELIDA).

The family of the Peramelida or pouched
badgers is that in which the dentition most
closely resembles that of the Didelphyida; but
the members of this family are distinguished
from the latter by their general habit and the

(RAPACES).

structure of the feet. The dental formula
would be exactly the same as that of the
previous family, if a pair of incisors were not
wanting in the lower jaw; instead of four
incisors on each side there are only three.
The premolars and molars have the same
form and are present in the same number, yet
the carnivorous type of dentition is less marked

1 98

THE PREDACEOUS MARSUPIALS.

in the front of the mouth. The canines are
indeed recurved, but are altogether less highly
developed; the lower incisors are inclined
forwards. In the upper jaw the fifth incisor
is separated from the others by an interval,
while the inner ones are all very close-set.

The Bandicoots, as the members of the
genus Perameles are called by the Australian

Fig. 250. — The Long-nosed Bandicoot (Perameles nasuta).

colonists, take in Australia the place of the
African Macroscelida or elephant -shrews,
which they resemble in the possession of a
tapering head running out into a movable
proboscis, large ears (mostly naked), short
fore-legs, long but strong hind-legs, and long
tail, which is seldom thickly haired. Con-
siderable differences, however, are at once
recognizable. The great toe of the fore-feet
(the pollex) is replaced by a wart or tubercle,
which is usually without a nail. The fifth
digit scarcely projects at all, but usually carries
a flat nail. Only the three middle digits are
free and armed with strong claws. The fore-
legs are remarkably short, and are pressed
close to the breast when the animals are in

the act of leaping. In the hind-legs the great
toe (the hallux) is entirely absent; the second
and third digits are very thin and united to-
gether as far as the claws; the fourth and fifth
digits, on the contrary, are well developed, and
their claws are powerful. As in all jumpers
the ankle (tarsus) is very long. The opening
of the pouch in the bandicoots is behind.

Fig. 251. — The Pig-footed Perameles (Charopas castanoitis).

The species represented in fig. 250, the
Long-nosed Bandicoot (Perameles nastitd), is
distinguished from its allies by its long pro-
boscis-like nose, its large ears, and the fallow-
gray colour of its coarse hair, a colour darker
on the back than on the under parts. It lives,
like the other bandicoots, in the mountainous
and cool districts of Australia, is social in its
habits, and digs holes in the ground, into
which it darts for refuge when the slightest
noise is heard. It catches insects in the act
of jumping, and though these form its principal
food it does not despise juicy roots, fruits, and
seeds. The long-nosed bandicoot is 14 inches
long from the tip of the snout to the root of
the tail, and the tail measures about 6 inches.

THE POUCHED BADGERS.

199

The degradation of the feet has advanced
still further in the genus Chcuropus. The only
species represented in this work, the Pig-
footed Perameles (Cliicropiis castanotus), fig.
251, was formerly erroneously denied to have
a tail, because the example first found hap-
pened to be maimed - ^
in this respect. As
regards the structure
of the body this ani-
mal is a bandicoot,
but the fore-limbs are
longer and thinner,
and have only two
long toes with rather
short claws. A third
toe with a short claw
placed very far back
is properly only the
degraded metacarpal
bone. The long and
slender hind-foot has
only a single strong
toe with a solid well-
formed claw. Two
other greatly reduced
toes with extremely
minute claws are situ-
ated on the outer
side, another of simi-
lar form on the inside.
The middle toe is ac-
cordingly the only
one that is perfectly developed. The tail is
ot moderate length.

The pig-footed perameles has long soft hair
of a dark brownish-gray colour on the back,
rather lighter on the belly; the back of the
tail is black. The animal inhabits the steppes
on the banks of the Murray River in New
South Wales, builds a nest of twigs, and
appears to feed chiefly on insects. It attains
a length of only about 1 2 inches in the body,
with a tail of rather less than 5 inches.

Between the bandicoots and the following
families stands the Banded Ant-eater (Afyrmc-

rofa'ies/dsffii/its), tig. 252, of which an illustra-
tion is furnished. It is an inhabitant of the
south and west of Australia, and attains
about the same size as the stoat. The
dentition of this pretty little creature is very
remarkable; it is closely allied to that of

certain marsupials of
the Jurassic period.
In each half of each
jaw there are six
molars with several
cusps on the crown,
three premolars with
triangular cusps, and
a not very prominent
canine. Then there
are in the upper jaw
four incisors, but in
the lower only three,
so that the entire
number of teeth
amounts to fifty-four,
a number which is not
exceeded by any liv-
ing marsupial. The
dental formula is

Fig. 252. — The Banded Ant-eater (Mynnecobiusfascialus}.

_- .-
3.1.3-6

The banded ant-
eater is a very ele-
gant creature, with a
tapering- head and
pointed paper-cornet-
shaped ears. Its fore- feet are five-toed, and
the hind-feet carry four free toes armed with
sharp claws. In running the animal carries
its long bushy tail as squirrels do. The
female has no pouch, but has eight teats
arranged in a circle. The long thick hair is
dark-coloured on the back, and passes behind
from a fallow-gray into black. The throat
has an ochre-yellow and the belly a whitish
colour; on the sides the general dark colour
is varied by light transverse stripes. The
animal lives chiefly on ants, which it snaps
up with its long adhesive tongue.

2OO

THE PREDACEOUS MARSUPIALS.

THE DASYURE FAMILY

(DASYURIDA).

In this family the carnivorous dentition
becomes more and more pronounced. For the
most part these animals have four incisors in
the upper jaw, three in the lower, all close-set,
conical, and provided with a cutting edge.
The large recurved
canines are very
prominent, and the
four molars have
several broad and
sharp cusps. Only
the number of the
premolars sometimes
varies ; some forms,
for example the Tas-
manian wolf, have
three premolars with
sharp triangular
cusps ; others, like
the dasyures proper,
have only two of
these. The dental
formula is

4.1. 2-T. . 4

± ^ — 2 = 42 to

3-1-2-3.4

46 teeth.

As a representa-
tive of the genus Phascogale with forty-six
teeth, a figure is supplied of the largest
species, the Brush-tailed Phascogale, the Tafa
of the natives (Ph. penicillata), fig. 253. It
attains about the size of a squirrel, which it
likewise resembles in the possession of a Tong
bushy tail. The smaller species have been
united in a separate sub-genus, on which has
been bestowed the name of Antechinus. The
members of this sub-genus are characterized
by having a shorter tail less thickly covered
with hair. Their habits are similar to those
of our rats and mice, to which they are about
equal in size.

All these animals are agile climbers and

Fig. 253. — The Brush-tailed Phascogale or Tafa (Phascogale penicillata).

surprisingly quick in their movements; in
ferocity of disposition they can be compared
only to our polecats and shrews. The smaller
species must indeed content themselves with
insects and eggs, but the large species, like
the tafa, are dreaded enemies of the poultry-
yard; they kill for the sake of killing, and
intoxicate themselves with blood. They are
therefore pursued with fury by the settlers,

who have great
trouble in protecting
their poultry against
these adroit noctur-
nal robbers.

The middle in-
cisors in the upper
jaw of the members
of this genus are
large and recurved ;
the canines are slen-
der, and the many-
pointed molars have
in the upper jaw a
triangular form like a
V. The short, thick
legs have five free
toes with curved
claws ; only the great
toe of the hind-foot
has no nail. The
pouch is sometimes
well-formed, sometimes rudimentary. The
tafa is gray on the back, white underneath,
and there are black rings round the eyes.
The animal defends itself when attacked with
wild fury, and inflicts dangerous bites. Like
the opossum it is endowed with a remarkable
tenacity of life.

The True Dasyures (Dasyurus) have only
two premolars in each half of each jaw, and
consequently forty-two teeth in all. The
first three many-pointed molars still retain
the insectivorous type, especially in the upper
jaw, but the last molar is thin, greatly com-
pressed, and transversely placed.

The long bodies, tapering heads, small,

THE DASYURE FAMILY.

201

stout legs, pointed tails, soft, thick, and
frequently spotted fur, and the whole bearing
give to these marsupials a striking resem-

blance to the Viverrida, and more particularly
to the genets. The fore-feet have five, the
hind ones four toes with strong curved claws.

A ' -N

Fig. 254.— Tin.- Yi\LTrmu Dasyure (Dasyurus viverriaus).

These animals creep like Viverrida, roam
about by night, and commit great havoc
among the weaker animals. Mentally, how-
ever, they are not highly endowed, and they

are easily caught in traps. The species
shown in fig. 254, the Viverrine Dasyure
(Dasyurus viverrinus), has round white spots
irregularly distributed over its fur, which is

r ig. 255. — I ne I asmanian Devil (Uasyurus urstnus}.

brown above and rather lighter beneath. The
animal is fond of roaming about near the sea-
shore, and hunts principally after poultry.

The Tasmanian Devil (Dasyurus ursinus],
fig- 255- was formerly the terror of the settlers
on account of the devastation which it wrought

VOL. II.

not only in the poultry-yards but even among
flocks of sheep, on account of the stupid
ferocity with which it would defend itself
against men and dogs-, and on account of
its remarkable tenacity of life. Its name
sufficiently indicates the hatred and terror

58

THE PREDACEOUS MARSUPIALS

which the animal inspired, even though it is
by no means a large species, measuring only
about 28 inches from the tip of its snout to
the root of its tail, which is about 12 inches
in length.

The Tasmanian devil is an ugly animal,
with a thick head, blunt snout, compact body,
short, stoutly-built legs, and moderately long

tail Its coarse hide is quite black except
for a white stripe on the breast. Its formid-
able dentition comprises forty-two teeth, all
of which are distinguished by their mas-
form. They are emphatically the teeth of
a beast of prey. The strong canines are
sharp-pointed, the two premolars conical
Behind the first three molars, which are

fig. 25fiL-The T;

genuine carnassials, there follows in the upper
jaw a smaller tubercled tooth, while in the
lower jaw the four molars are three-lobed
and have a cutting edge. No bone can
withstand these terrible shears.

The jaws of the Tasmanian Wolf ( Tkyla-
cinus cynocephalus), fig. 256, are armed in the
same manner; but there is an additional pre-
molar, and consequently the total number of
the teeth is brought up to forty-six. The gen-
eral habit of this largest beast of prey among
the still surviving marsupials resembles that
of a dog with a long body and rather short
legs. The head has the profile of a grey-
hound's, with erect ears and very wide mouth.

The length of the animal is rather more dian
3 feet, exclusive of the tail, which is about
half that length. The tafl is round and
tapers to a point. The hair is short and far
from thick, the colour a brownish-gray on
the back, rather lighter underneath. From
twelve to fourteen black transverse stripes
extend from the back down the sides.

The animal inhabits Tasmania, and leads
a nocturnal life. It is very sensitive to light
Formerly it was spread over the whole island
and devastated the sheep-flocks of the settlers,
who called it "the striped wolf."1 At the

'This name. I un afcraed, is no lugcr «cd. Ac only BUMS
grac* to thenon! ia TxauMn briar Ike "•iliu tiger" oc

THE PIIALANGER FAMILY.

203

present day it is restricted to the mountainous
districts of the interior, and is, in fact, nearly
extinct. It is fierce, but stupid, and its pur-
suit and destruction are accordingly easy.

All other marsupials are to a greater or
extent vegetable-feeders; and the modi-
fications of their cheek-teeth, the reduction

of their canines, and the form of their incisors
bear witness to this kind of diet. The in-
cisors are present in large number only in the
upper jaw; in the lower jaw there are no
more than two in each half, and these are
mostly directed horizontally forwards. In
this section we distinguish several groups
and families.

THE FRUIT-EATING MARSUPIALS

(CARPOPHAGA).

In this group there are in all six vertical
incisors in the upper jaw, three in each pre-
maxilla. In the same jaw canines are always
present, but these are sometimes absent in
the lower. The number of the molars is
four, that of the premolars varies. The
great toe of the hind-foot (the hallux) is
opposable. The second and third digits on
these feet are weak and united in a kind of
sinewy sheath as in the dasyures. The fore-
feet are five-toed. Looking to their nocturnal
and arboreal mode of life and their general
habit we may say that the Carpophaga hold the
same position among the marsupials as the
Prosimii among the placental mammals.

THE PHALANGER FAMILY

(PHALANGISTIDA).

This is a family very rich in species. The
genera and sub-genera have been distin-
guished according to the presence or absence
of a flying membrane, and in accordance
with slight modifications in the dentition.
All the members of this family1 have canines
in both jaws, but in some, as in cuscus, these
are, at least in the upper jaw, sharp and
prominent, while in others they may be
scarcely distinguishable from the premolars.

1 The opossums of the Australian colonists. — TR.

The upper molars are quadrangular, the
lower ones oblong; they are all composed
of transverse ridges which project in the form
of a half-moon both to the exterior and the
interior. Premolars and canines are often
difficult to distinguish. From this family we
select only a few representatives.

The Squirrel Flying-phalanger (BelidtUS
or Petaiirus sciureiis], fig. 257, belongs to the
genus Petaurus, of which Belideus is a sub-
genus, distinguished by having a third pre-
molar in both jaws, while the other sub-genera
have only two. The shape of the head, which
is round, short, and much expanded behind
the snout, the large round eyes, the short
erect ears, the soft fur, the long bushy tail, and
the patagium, or flying-membrane stretched
out between the limbs, give to these creatures
a marvellously close resemblance to the flying-
squirrels, so that the two might from their
external appearance be confounded with each
other. An examination of the dentition, or
a glance at the pouch, or at the feet, would
at once enable us to distinguish the former
from the latter. The slightly developed great
toe of the fore-feet (the pollex) is opposable,
and so also is the great toe of the hind-feet
(the hallux), which, however, is very powerful
and is provided with a flat nail. The second
and third digits are short, weak, and united

2O4

THE FRUIT-EATING MARSUPIALS.

together, the fourth and fifth, on the other
hand, free. The animals sleep by day and
go out at night in search of their food, which
is of a rather mixed nature, consisting of
plants, insects, eggs, and even small birds.
The creatures climb and leap with wonderful
dexterity, and at night are just as agile and
active as they are
sluggish and
sleepy by day.
The species
shown in the il-
lustration is of an
ashy-gray on the
back, white on the
underparts and
the edges of the
patagium. It is
a native of New
South Wales,
lives socially, and
is fond of a sugary
diet. The body
and tail each mea-
sure about 10
inches in length.

[A smaller mem-
ber of this group is
the Opossum or Fly-
ing Mouse (Aero-
bates pygmceiis),
which is about the size of our common mouse.
"The little Opossum Mouse," says Gould, "is a
general favourite with the colonists; and well may
it be so, for in its disposition it is as amiable as its
form is elegant and its fur soft and beautiful; what
the dormouse is to the English boy this little animal
is to the juveniles of Australia. I have seen it kept
as a pet, and its usual retreat in the day, while it
sleeps, was a pill-box ; as night approaches it be-
comes active, and then displays much elegance in
its motions." — Introduction to the Mammals of
Australia^

The True Phalangers (Phalangista) have
the same dentition and structure of the feet,
but are distinguished by having a tail capable
of being rolled up, mostly naked on the under-

Kig. 257.— The Squirrel Flying-phalanger (Bclidcus sciureus). p. 203.

side, and by the absence of the patagium.
Like the members of the previous genus they
lead a nocturnal life. This genus also has
been subdivided into several sub-genera.

The Vulpine Phalanger (Phalangista vul-
pina], of which an illustration is given (fig.
258), is a very common species in the forests

of Australia and
Tasmania. It
attains the size of
a cat. Its long
bushy tail is naked
on the under side
only at the tip.
The soft thick fur
is of a general
brownish -gray
colour, but on the
back assumes a
reddish tinge,
while on the
underparts it even
inclines to yel-
low ; the throat is
rusty -red. The
natives make
mantles out of the
skins.

Other phalan-
gers, like the
cuscus with its

strong canines, extend even to the Moluccas.
The Koala or Native (Australian) Bear,
sometimes called also the Pouched-bear (P/ias-
colarctos cinereus), fig. 259, is a form that
diverges a good deal from this family. Like
the other phalangers it is a good climber, but
it has no tail. The body is thickset, the head
thick and rather blunt. In its gait and in the
appearance of its fur it resembles a small
thick-coated bear. Its large ears are hidden
by large thick tufts of hair; the short thick legs
have toes armed with strong claws, and the
feet have a peculiar structure which reminds
one of that of the feet of the chameleons.
On the fore-feet the two inner toes, the

THE PHAL ANGER FAMILY.

205

thumb and forefinger, are opposable to the
other three, so that
the paw forms, as it
were, a pair of pincers.
The great toe of the
hind-feet has no nail,
but is very large and
strong, and can be
opposed to the other
toes either alone or
along with the two
adjoining toes. The
dentition is a transi-
tion to that of the
rodents. The two
middle incisors of the
upper jaw are remark-
ably strong and get
worn by use so as to
form a keel. With
respect to the corres-
ponding teeth of the
lower jaw they assume
the same, position as

as well as the canines arc very small ; in the

lower jaw the latter are
wanting altogether.
The prcmolars have
blunt edges and stand
in close-set rows sep-
arated by a tolerably
wide interval from the
molars. The latter
have a number of
tubercles arranged in
the form of a cross.
The animal is gentle,
peaceable, and in-
dolent. Its colour is
a dark -gray on the
back, rather lighter
on the underparts.
By night it clambers
slowly about; men-
tally it appears to be
not very highly de-
veloped. The female
carries its young one

srer </'/

in the rodents. The remaining upper incisors | about with it for a long time on its back.

Fig. 259.— The Koala or Native (Australian) Bear (Phascolarctos cinenus).

2O6

THE HERBIVOROUS MARSUPIALS.

THE HERBIVOROUS MARSUPIALS

(POEPHAGA).

The members of this group are above all
remarkable for their powers of climbing.
The fore-legs are very much shortened, but
capable of a great variety of movement, en-
abling them to serve as hands. They are
always five-toed and provided with strong
claws. The hind-legs, on the other hand, are
very long and stoutly built; they carry the
whole weight of the body, have no hallux
(great toe), and have the second and third
digits so slim and so closely united that they
might be taken to be one; the fourth digit is
long and strong, and like the fifth carries a
sharp claw. Of the six upper incisors, which
are set far forwards in the mouth, the middle
pair are always the strongest and sometimes
resemble canines in form. The two lower
incisors are directed horizontally forwards.
The canines when present are always weak,
but usually there are none at all ; in the lower
jaw they are always wanting. A wide inter-
val separates the front from the cheek teeth.
The single premolar is very variable; the
four molars exhibit transverse ridges.

Dental formula:—3

T '

teeth.

i . o .1.4

The Kangaroos.

= 28 to

When mention is made of marsupials every
one is sure to think first of all of the singular
forms of the kangaroos, so frequently seen in
our zoological gardens. People stare with
astonishment at these animals with their
small heads and large hinder parts, sitting on
their two strong hind-legs and powerful tail
as on a tripod, looking about them with erect
ears, and perhaps scratching their back with

their fore-paws. They are astonished to see
them when eating resting on their small fore-
paws, and sticking their long hind-legs be-
tween the former in order to glide onwards;
and probably still more astonished to see the
flying leaps which they are able to take, first
resting with their body inclined on their long
hind-legs and outstretched tail, and then dart-
ing through the air to a great distance, and
scurrying through the bushes in a very few
leaps. And they are no less astonished when
they see the elegant little head of a young
one peeping forth from out of the pouch in
front, and then, after a few glances round,
springing out on the grass, dancing for
a little round the mother, and afterwards
leaping back head foremost with the greatest
dexterity into the pouch, whenever any move-
ment is made to alarm it.

The kangaroos are in fact wonderfully
adapted to the arid withered savannahs and
prairies of Australia. They formerly inhabited
these regions in great herds. Excessively
timid, and, at the same time, rather stupid,
and not very adroit in resisting their enemies,
they nevertheless multiplied rapidly notwith-
standing the incessant pursuit to which they
were exposed on the part of the natives ; but
the advance of the Europeans has materially
altered the conditions of existence for these
creatures, and at the present day the kan-
garoos have been forced back into remote
regions, into which the bush-settlers with
their sheep-dogs and fire-arms have not yet
penetrated.1 Besides birds they form the sole

1 Nevertheless, in some of the pastoral districts of Queensland
they are still so numerous and destructive that the Queensland
government offers a reward of &/. for each kangaroo and qd. for each
wallaby scalp. Wallaby is the popular name for the members of

THE KANGAROOS.

207

game of these regions, and although their
tlesh and skin are of. comparatively little value
they are nevertheless highly esteemed for the
want of anything better.

The kangaroos graxe by day and sleep
by night — the larger species in the bush and
in woods, the smaller ones in holes dug
by themselves, which
they line with grasses
and dry herbs.
Their food is essen-
tially vegetable.
They graze after the
manner of our cattle,
and a certain herb,
of which the kanga-
roos are particularly
fond, has received
from the settlers the
name of " kangaroo
grass." When they
have torn up the
grasses or leaves of
the herbs they sit
down on their tripod
to eat them, in doing
which they make use
of their fore- paws
as hands.

The numerous
species have been
distributed among
several genera dis-
tinguished by differences in the dentition and
the relative length of the fore and hind legs.

The least abnormal type is that of the
Tree-kangaroos (Dendrolagus) of New Guinea,
the commonest species of which, the Ursine
Tree-kangaroo {Dendrolagus itrsinus], is shown
in fig. 260. Although its legs and feet are
constructed on the general type of those of
the kangaroos, the disproportion between the
fore and hind legs is not so striking as in

the genus Halmaturus, which closely resemble the true kangaroos,
but are distinguished by having a naked muzzle. The commonest
species, the black wallaby, is about 2% feet in length, exclusive of
the tail.— TK.

Fig. 260. — The Ursine Ti

other forms, the fore-legs being almost equal
in length to the hind ones. All the toes have
flattened somewhat curved cutting claws.
The upper incisors are almost equal in size,
the canines are very prominent, and the pre-
molar is of considerable length. The body
and the cylindrical tail are each about 2 feet

long. The coat is
dark-brown on the
back, light-brown
underneath. The
members of this
genus have become
completely adapted
to a tree life. They
climb well and feed
on everything that
they can obtain on
their airy abodes.

The Rat-kangaroos
or Potoroos (Hypsi-
prymnus) may attain,
as in the species
shown in fig. 261,
the Tufted-tailed
Rat-kangaroo (//.
penicillatus), the size
of a rabbit or a hare;
but usually, as the
name indicates, arc:
not so large. They
live on the arid hilly
savannahs, sleep by

day in a warm well-lined hole, are social in
their habits, and burrow in the ground in
search of roots and tubers. They make use
of their long prehensile tail to carry herbs
to their nests. The fore-paws are shorter
than in the tree-kangaroos, and the dentition
also is considerably different. The middle
incisors are decidedly larger than the canines,
and are sharp and recurved. The surface
of the long premolar is notched with deep
folds running down from the crown, which is
compressed from side to side. The species
shown in the illustration is brownish-gray on

208

THE HERBIVOROUS MARSUPIALS.

the back and sprinkled with white on the
belly, and is distinguished by the long tuft of
hair on the end of the tail.

The Rock-kangaroos (Petrogale) have no
canines and only slight folds in the premolar.
They have become adapted to life in rocky
districts, and are remarkably adroit climbers,
all the more since their hind-legs are not

Fig. 261. — The Tufted-tailed Rat-kangaroo (Hrfsiprjmiiits fe*itill<iliu\.
pageaoj.

excessively long. The species shown in the
illustration, the Yellow-footed Rock-kangaroo
(Pctrogale xantliopus), fig. 262, inhabits New
South Wales, and attains a length of about
2 feet. Like its allies it leaves its retreat
only at night. The tail, including its large
terminal tuft, is as long as the body. The
long coarse hair is brownish-gray on the back,
whitish beneath; on the rump there is a white,
on the brow a black stripe.

The Great Kangaroo {Macropus giganteus)
has been selected as the representative of the
kangaroos proper, in which the disproportion
between the fore and hind legs reaches its
climax. It is shown in a full-page illustra-
tion (PL XL.). These animals have no

canines, and of the upper incisors the second
is considerably smaller than the other two.
The premolar is small and flat. The molars
show the transverse ridges very beautifully.

The males of the species figured, which is
a native of New South Wales, attain in a
sitting attitude a height of 6^ feet and are
accordingly taller than man. They are a third
larger than the females, and their weight
may amount to 330 pounds. The coat has a
dark brown-gray colour on the back, a lighter
shade of the same colour underneath. As in
all true kangaroos the fourth digit of the hind-
foot is the largest: the sharp claw with which
it is armed may become a dangerous weapon,
and it is used with effect for this purpose both
against men and dogs. The observations
made on the reproduction of marsupials
mostly relate to this species, so frequently to
be seen in our zoological gardens.

[" In Van Diemen's Land * the Jfacrepus major
forms an object of chase, and, like the deer and fox
in England, is hunted with hounds. . . . The
following particulars of the hunt have been obliging-
ly forwarded to me by the Honourable Henry Elliot,
late aide-de-camp to His Excellency Sir John
Franklin, and one of its chief patrons. . . .

'The 'Boomer'1 is the only kangaroo which
shows good sport, for the strongest Brush Kan-
garoo* cannot live above twenty minutes before the
hounds; but as the two kinds are always found in
perfectly different situations, we never were at a loss
to find a Boomer, and I must say that they seldom
failed to show us good sport. \Ve generally 'found'
in a high cover of young wattles; but sometimes
we 'found' in the open forest, and then it was really
pretty to see the style in which a good kangaroo
would go away. I recollect one day in particular,
when a very fine Boomer jumped up in the very
middle of the hounds, in the open ; he at first took
a few high jumps with his head up, looking about
him to see on which side the coast was clearest, and

1 It may be well to explain nowadays that Van Diemen's Land is
an old name for Tasmania, the latter name having been adopted by
the colonists when they were allowed to set up for themselves with
an independent legislature. — T*.

1 A roll-grown male, often of enormous sue. " Like the 'rogue
elephants' of Ceylon, these patriarchs are often solitary, and are
generally very savage." — Ctmlf.

* Bennett's Wallaby (f/ffmatitrms SatmtOi}.

PLATE XL. - THE GREAT KANGAROO (Afacrofits gigantms).

THE KANGAROOS.

209

then, without a moment's hesitation, he stooped for-
ward and shot away from the hounds, apparently
without an effort, and gave us the longest run I ever
saw after a kangaroo. He ran fourteen miles by
the map from point to point, and if he had had fair
play I have very little doubt but that he would then
have beat us; but he had taken along a tongue of
land which ran into the
sea, so that, on being
pressed, he was forced
to swim across the arm
of the sea, which, at the
place where he took the
water, cannot have been

less than two miles
broad ; in spite of a fresh
breeze and a head sea
against him he got fully
half-way over, but he
could not make head
against the waves any
further, and was obliged
to turn back, when, be-
ing quite exhausted, he
was soon killed.

"The distance he ran,
taking in the different
bends in the line, cannot
have been less than
eighteen miles, and he
certainly swam more
than two. I can give
no idea of the length of
time it took him to run

this distance, but it took us something more than
two hours, and it was evident, from the way in
which the hounds were running, that he was a
long way before us; and it was also plain that he
was still fresh, as, quite at the end of the run, he
went over the top of a very high hill, which a tired
kangaroo never will attempt to do, as dogs gain so
much on them in going up-hill. His hind quarters
weighed within a pound or two of seventy pounds,
which is large for the Van Diemen's Land kangaroo,
though I have seen larger.

Boomer had taken along the beach and left his
prints in the sand, the length of each jump was
found to be just fifteen feet, and as regular as if they
had been stepped by a sergeant. When a Boomer
is pressed he is very apt to take to the water, and
then it requires several good dogs to kill him ; for
he stands waiting for them, and as soon as they

swim up to the attack
he takes hold of them
with his fore- feet and
holds them under water.
The buck is altogether
very bold, and will gen-
erally make a stout re-
sistance, for if he cannot
get to the water he will
place his back against a
tree, so that he cannot
be attacked from behind,
and then the best dog
will find in him a for-
midable antagonist.

"'The doe, on the
contrary, is a very timid
creature, and I have
even seen one die of fear.
It was in a place where
we wished to preserve
them, and as soon as we
found that we were run-
ning a doe we stopped
the hounds just at the

moment they were run-
Fig. 262.— The Yellow-footed Rock-kangaroo (Petrogaie xanthopus). . . . ^.^ ^ac}

O *

not received the slightest injury, but she lay down
and died in about ten minutes. When a doe is
beat she generally makes several sharp doubles, and
then gets among the branches, or close to the trunk
of a fallen tree, and remains so perfectly still that
she will allow you almost to ride over her without
moving, and in this way she often escapes. A
tolerably good kangaroo will generally give a run
of from six to ten miles, but in general they do
not run that distance in a straight line, but make
one large ring back to the place where they were

" ' We did not measure the length of the hop of
this kangaroo, but on another occasion, when the

found, though the larger ones often go straight
away.'" — Gould, Mammals of Australia^

VOL. II.

2IO

THE ROOT-EATING MARSUPIALS.

THE ROOT-EATING MARSUPIALS

(RHIZOPHAGA).

This group is represented solely by the
genus of the Wombats (Phascolomys). Fig.
263 represents the Broad-fronted Wombat

(Ph. Iatifr0*s), which is pretty common in
South Australia and is likewise often kept in
our zoological gardens. It is a large thick

;-. ---

plump creature with short legs, a mere stump
for a tail, and a thick rounded head. The
broad paws have five toes with large daws
adapted for burrowing. The dentition is ex-
actly like that of a rodent: two strong, sharp.
chisel-shaped incisors form the equipment of
the front part of the jaws both above and
below. A wide interval (diastema) is then
followed by a series of rootless cylindrical
teedi with a flat grinding surface. The pre-
molar consists of a single cylinder, while the
true molars are made up of two cylindrical
parts fused together. There are no canines.

' -°

= 2± teeth.

The dental formula is

1.0.1.4

The wombats are the very embodiment of
stupidity, or rather of apathy. With their

broad burrowing paws they dig out holes in
the earth, in which they remain by day; by
night they walk out at a leisurely pace in
search of their food. They offer no resistance
to Hi-treatment: they are obstinate in their
indifference, yet they sometimes become furi-
ous without any apparent cause. They are
content with any sort of food, and endure
captivity very welL In Australia their flesh
is esteemed as highly palatable. The coarse
hair is of a bright yellowish-gray colour.

[* The following notes arc from the peas of rariovs
authors who hare written on the wombat, theearfi-
estofwhom was Mr. Bass, i» Coffins s

•"The Wombat.' says Mr. Bass. ' b a :
short-legged, and rather inactive quadruped- Its
" _ - ' , .-.:. . . . .".". - " > r-t " ." _ •..""'_:...-" --. . ?-

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND DESCENT.

21 I

of a bear; its pace, too, is hobbling or shuffling, and
not unlike the awkward gait of that animal. In
disposition it is mild and gentle, but it bites hard
and becomes furious when provoked, and then utters
a low cry between a hissing and a whizzing sound,
which cannot be heard at a greater distance than
thirty or forty yards.' Mr. Bass chased one of these
animals, lifted it off the ground and laid it along
his arm, as if carrying a child. It made no noise,
nor any effort to escape, not even a struggle. Its
countenance was placid and undisturbed, and it ex-
hibited no discomposure, although in the course of
a mile walk it was frequently shifted from arm to
arm, and sometimes laid over the shoulder; when,
however, he proceeded to secure it by tying its legs,
while he left it to cut a specimen of a new wood, it
became irritated, whizzed, kicked, and scratched
most furiously, and snapped off a piece from the
elbow of Mr. Bass's jacket with its powerful incisors.

Its temper being now ruffled it remained implacable
all the way to the boat, ceasing to kick and struggle
only when quite exhausted.

"Mr. G. Bennett in his Wanderings, speaking of
one of these animals kept in a state of domestication
at Been in the Sumat country, states that 'it would
remain in its habitation till dark, it would then come
out and seek for the milk-vessels, and should none
be uncovered it would contrive to get off the covers
and bathe itself in the milk, drinking at the same
time. It would also enter the little vegetable gar-
den attached to the station in search of lettuces, for
which it evinced much partiality. If none could
be found, it would gnaw the cabbage stalks without
touching the leaves. Although this animal is very
numerous in the most distant parts of the colony,
it is difficult to procure, from the great depth to
which it burrows.'" — Gould, Mammals of Austra-
lia^

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND DESCENT OF THE

MARSUPIALS.

The geographical distribution of this group
is very simple. The wombats and the mem-
bers of the genus Myrmecobius are entirely
confined to Australia and Tasmania; the
dasyures, the pouched badgers, the kangaroos,
and the phalangers, on the other hand, extend
beyond this centre both to the north and west
into the islands of the Eastern Archipelago,
of which Celebes and New Guinea form the
nuclei. The non-placental mammals might
thus be regarded as an Australasian peculiarity,
were it not for the existence of the opossum
family in America from the Hudson and the
Missouri through the whole of the United
States and Mexico to the southernmost point
of the South American continent. Only the
Old World at the present day has no marsu-
pials to show.

Yet the Old World has known marsupial
forms, and that in very early geological epochs.
In order to follow the chain of the marsupials
back to the oldest representative of the group,

we must first consider the Quaternary forms,
which, like their allies of the present epoch,
were confined to the Australian and American
regions.

The bone caves of Brazil and the United
States have yielded a number of species of
opossums closely allied to the true opossums
of the present day, if not identical with these.

The Myrmecobii, Peramelida, and Phalan-
gistida have not yet furnished any Quaternary
or older remains.

The genera Thylacinus and Dasyurus are
represented in the Quaternary strata of Aus-
tralia. There has been found, moreover,
a genus, Thylacoleo, of the size of a lion,
which is regarded by Owen as the largest
of the carnivorous marsupials, but by Flower
and Krafft, on the contrary, as a vegetable
feeder standing between the kangaroos and
the phalangers. In any case we must await
further investigations concerning this extinct
type.

212

THE MARSUPIALS.

Further, the wombats are represented by
a species which attained the size of a tapir,
while the still surviving species are only about
equal to a peccary in size.

But the most remarkable types yielded by
the Quaternary strata belong to the family
of the kangaroos. Both the kangaroos proper
and the rat-kangaroos have left remains in
these strata. The genera Protemnodon and
Sthenurus, which have been found on the
island of Australia, have great similarity to
the tree-kangaroos, which at the present day
are confined to New Guinea. But the most
curious forms are unquestionably Diprotodon
and Nototherium. The latter genus has teeth
with elevated transverse ridges, like the kan-
garoos, the tapirs, and the Dinotherium, but
these ridges were very high and sharp. The
skull of this animal preserved in the British
Museum is upwards of 3 feet in length, and
the bones of the limbs give evidence of their
having belonged to a long-legged animal with
a lower fore-leg capable of being to some
extent twisted round like that of the majority
of the marsupials of the present day. The
lower jaw has a well-marked inflection of the
posterior angle. This animal must have been
at least as large as an elephant.

The no less colossal genus Nototherium
appears to have had no incisors, and its
cheek-teeth perhaps resembled those of Dip-
rotodon. In the remains that have come
down to us they are unfortunately worn away
to such a degree that no conclusion can be
drawn as to the form of the crowns.

We thus see that the Quaternary strata of
America and Australia stand in exactly the
same relation to the fauna found in the same
regions at the present day as the extinct and
living placental faunas do to one another in
other lands. The extinct genera and species
are in general considerably larger than the
surviving species. The geographical limits
have remained the same, for in America also
the Quaternary opossums advanced farther
to the north than do those of the present day.

In the exclusively Australian Quaternary
strata only marsupial forms have been found
among mammalian remains. If, now, we
take into account the fact that at the time of
the discovery of Australia, that great island
contained in addition to marsupials only a
few rare bats and rodents, which were per-
haps accidentally introduced by man, and that,
moreover, in the Australasian region we meet
with some other monodelphian or placental
forms only in the districts of Celebes and
New Guinea, which are inhabited by a mixed
fauna, we are necessarily driven to the con-
clusion that the underlying strata can contain
nothing but marsupial remains, and that per-
haps we shall some day discover in Australia
evidences of an evolution such as we find
traces of in other regions in the case of pla-
cental mammals in Tertiary times. The
marsupials of the present day would thus
be only the remains of those old faunas which
have preserved the marsupial character in
Australia through the Cretaceous period,
while in other regions of the earth the trans-
formation of non-placental into placental forms
was accomplished during that geological epoch.

We may, indeed, be led to such a conclu-
sion in another way when we consider that
the placental mammals are already repre-
sented in the earliest Eocene strata by a
certain number of types, which cannot be
derived from one another, when we bear in
mind further that the Tertiary strata in Europe
have hitherto yielded but few remains of
marsupials, and that the Cretaceous strata
have up to the present day revealed no traces
of mammals whatever, and when we remem-
ber finally that the oldest known mammalian
remains belong mostly, if not exclusively, to
the marsupials.

The genus Peratherium, which is repre-
sented by several species in the Upper Eocene
of France and England, as well as in the
Lower Miocene of Auvergne, is not very
different from the opossums of the present
day, and may without hesitation be referred

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND DESCENT.

213

to that group. Very probably other ancestors
of the opossums will yet be found in America,
still it remains a noteworthy fact that the
family is restricted to America, and is not
represented in Europe subsequently to the
Middle Miocene.

But we must not lay too great stress on
the resemblance between the Tertiary Euro-
pean marsupials and those of America. Re-
cent investigations of Lemoine have shown
that the genus Plagiaulax still lived in Tertiary
times in the neighbourhood of Reims. This
genus has incontestable affinities to the Aus-
tralian rat-kangaroos of the present day, and
we shall return to them again when speaking
of the Jurassic marsupials.

The earliest mammalian remains of any
kind are small teeth, which are found in the
transitional breccias of the New Red Marl
(Keuper) belonging to the Triassic strata of
Degerloch near Stuttgart, and in a bone
breccia near Frome in England manifestly be-
longing to the same period. To these remains
the name of Microlestes has been given.
These isolated small teeth resemble most
closely those of the genus Myrmecobius among
still living forms, and those of Plagiaulax
among extinct genera, and on account of
this resemblance these remains have been
regarded as belonging to a small insectiv-
orous marsupial. A lower jaw found in
North Carolina and referred to a marsupial
called Dromatherium sylvestre is much more
complete; it shows seven three-cusped molars,
three sharp-pointed ' premolars, a slender
canine, and three incisors placed at some little
distance from each other.

These teeth thus seem to indicate an insec-
tivorous marsupial resembling the still sur-
viving genus Myrmecobius and the fossil
Spalacotherium of Purbeck.

We thus see that without doubt it is the
insectivorous type of dentition that is most
clearly developed in the oldest mammalian
teeth. We may well lay special stress on
this point, which seems to us to be of peculiar

importance, for with regard to the form of the
crown with several sharp peaks, and the dis-
tinction between the different sorts of teeth,
molars, premolars, canines, and incisors, the
insectivorous is not inferior in richness to any
other. The dentition in all the other orders
of mammals appears rather to be a modifi-
cation or degradation of some kind or other
of the original insectivorous dentition, and at
the most we can point to the more complex
internal structure of certain dentitions as in-
stances of a higher development. The con-
siderable number of the teeth would rather
appear to connect these primitive dentitions
of the old marsupials with those of the reptiles.
If we assume that the Dromatherium had the
same number of teeth in both jaws, then the
total number of teeth belonging to it would
amount to fifty-six, and even this number is
exceeded by that found in the Thylacotherium
(Amphitherium) of the Jurassic period, in
which the like assumption would give a total
of sixty-four teeth.

The Stonesfield Slates, belonging to the
Lower Oolitic strata of the Jurassic period,
have yielded many highly interesting lower
jaws, some of which (Amphitherium, Amphi-
lestes, Phascolotherium) still show the insec-
tivorous typeof dentition along with thecharac-
teristic inflexed angle of the lower jaw of the
marsupials, while the genus Stereognathus
again presents a quite different character.
The fragment of the latter that has been pre-
served has three molars with crowns which
seem to indicate rather a herbivorous or an
omnivorous animal. According to Owen these
teeth differ considerably from those of all other
living or extinct mammals known to us.
The form most closely resembling them is
found in the second lower molar of Pliolophus
vulpiceps, a small hoofed animal of the London
Clay(Lower Eocene), which again is connected
through the genus Hyracotherium, belonging
to the same strata, with the Palaeotherida of
the Upper Eocene. Other naturalists profess
to discover a certain resemblance between

214

THE MARSUPIALS.

the teeth of Stereognathus and those of the
still living koala.

It is important to observe further that the
hoofed mammals, at least as regards their
dentition, are descended from an animal be-
longing to the Jurassic period whose marsu-
pial character is not indeed perfectly demon-
strated, but is nevertheless highly probable.

A wide gap separates the marsupials of the
Stonesfield Slates from those of the "dirt-
bed " of the Purbeck strata. Geologists still
dispute, not indeed about the relative position,
but about the classification of these strata; if
they are referred to the Jurassic system then
they form its uppermost story; if, on the
other hand, they are referred to the Creta-
ceous system, then they form its base. But
whichever of these two systems they be as-
signed to, the fact remains, that between those
Purbeck strata and the lower members of the
Tertiary series there lies the whole extent of
the Cretaceous system, which has hitherto
appeared to be altogether devoid of mam-
malian remains.

In the case of most of the jaws found in
the Purbeck region the marsupial character
is unequivocally demonstrated by the occur-
rence of the inflexed angle of the lower jaw;
in the case of the others it appears to be
placed beyond doubt by the great similarity
of the teeth to those of actual marsupials of
the present day. In general the insectivorous
type still prevails: Spalacotherium, Amblo-
therium, Peralestes, Stylodon, Balodon, are
characteristic insectivores ; Triconodon, Tria-
canthodon, already present more resemblance
to the carnivorous Tasmanian wolf, a living
marsupial form, as the reader will remember.
Only the genus Plagiaulax presents a quite
exceptional type. While Owen refers it to
the carnivorous mammals and ranks it with
the genus Thylacoleo of the Quaternary
strata of Australia, other investigators regard
Thylacoleo and Plagiaulax as herbivorous and
allied to the rat-kangaroos. In the strata of
the Upper Jura of Wyoming in America,

corresponding to the Purbeck Beds of Eng-
land, still other remains have been found,
some of which (Ctenacodon) are allied to
Plagiaulax, and others again (Dryolestes,
Tinodon) appear, on the contrary, rather to
be insectivorous in their relations.

At the end of the wide interval of the
Cretaceous Period there at last appear in the
Upper Eocene and Lower Miocene of Europe,
besides Plagiaulax, the genus Peratherium,
allied to the opossums, and the genus Gale-
thylax, both of which may be regarded as
sub-genera of the present Didelphyida. The
smaller species of the latter still retain a per-
fect insectivorous dentition, while in the larger
species the shortening of the inner cusps or
peaks in the molars indicates a relationship to
the carnivorous teeth provided with a heel
such as is seen in the martens and Viverrida.

With respect to the dentition we should
thus be able to establish the existence of an
almost unbroken chain of insectivorous mar-
supials stretching down from the earliest period
in which there are any mammalian remains
whatever to the present day, though in doing
so it would certainly be necessary to note the
tendency to a bunodont dentition manifested
in the genus Stereognathus of the Stonesfield
Slates, and the tendency to a carnivorous
dentition that appears still later in the remains
found in the Purbeck strata. The dentition
of Plagiaulax might even be regarded as
representing a peculiar type, which would
lead up either to the rodents or to elephants.

The different views that have been put
forward regarding the transitional forms of
dentition such as are represented by the
genera Stereognathus, Plagiaulax, and Thy-
lacoleo, show that these are indeterminate
equivocal types, from which different forms of
dentition with well-marked characters might
be developed; that, in other words, they are
collective types exhibiting a union of char-
acters which afterwards come to be separated.

Another trait in the organization also
deserves to be noted.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND DESCENT.

215

A large number of the present-day marsu-
pials are hand-footed, that is, have the great
toe of the hind-foot (the hallux) capable of
being opposed to the other toes, whereby a true
hand is formed, at least as regards function.
The phalangers, the koala, and above all, the
members of the opossum family are distin-
guished by such a structure of the hind-feet; in
general, accordingly, those genera and families
which have retained the insectivorous type of
dentition. It must, of course, be admitted that
it is very far from being the case that all insect-
eaters exhibit this character; the genus Myr-
mecobius with its very pronounced insectivor-
ous dentition has only four toes on the hind-
feet, but except for the peculiar modification
seen in the kangaroos, most marsupials have
five free toes on the hind-feet, these toes being
provided with curved nails or claws. There
are, however, some genera in which the
thumb or great toe carries a flat nail. On
account of these characters the marsupials
were formerly even placed among the Ungui-
culata (nailed mammals) beside the rodents
or the edentates, and this error is still clung
to by some naturalists, who concern them-
selves more with toes and nails than with all
the other parts of the structure.

So far, I believe, no fossil remains have
been found which could give any exact know-
ledge of the structure of the foot of the old
marsupials; but from the close relationship
existing between the genera Peratherium and
Galethylax on the one hand, and the opos-
sums on the other hand, we may probably
conclude that these Eocene genera were
likewise hand-footed, and the insectivorous
character of still older genera leads to the
presumption that they were at least clawed
mammals if not likewise hand-footed.

In consideration of these facts we come
therefore to the conclusion that five-toed feet,
and indeed feet with free nailed toes, may,
with the highest probability, be regarded as
the primitive type of mammalian limbs, and
that all other forms of limb have been
developed out of this form. If this conclusion
is correct, it follows further that five-toed feet
constructed on this type indicate no advance,
but are an inheritance from long- extinct
ancestors. The very probable existence of
hands in .the Eocene opossums likewise
proves to us that the hand is an original
structure and not the last result of a continu-
ous process of development leading to a
higher and higher degree of perfection. The
only thing that can be urged with any force
against this supposition is the fact that in the
marsupials the hand is restricted to the hind-
limbs. But we meet with a similar pheno-
menon in the prosimians and monkeys, which
are pre-eminently the climbers among the
placental mammals, these having the hands
of the hind-limbs much better developed than
those of the fore-limbs.

Our examination of the limbs thus leads us
to the same conclusions as the consideration
of the dentition: the seemingly more highly
developed forms are the original and inherited
ones, the simpler forms, on the contrary, the
result of a later adaptation.

We can thus sum up our investigations
regarding the marsupials by the statement
that they are the oldest known mammals, and
that their present geographical distribution,
in connection with that of the oldest represen-
tatives known to us, does not show their
derivation from a single primitive type, but
rather proves that they have sprung from
many roots.

THE MONOTREMES

(MOXOTREMATA).

Non-placental mammals without true teeth, with the genital and urinary ducts opening along with the rectum into
a common chamber (cloaca). They have neither marsupial pouch nor teats, but have milk-glands and marsupial
bones.

This order, consisting only of two Austra-
lian genera, the duck-mole and the echidnas,
represents beyond doubt the lowest stage of
degradation that can be reached by the mam-
malian type. The structure of these remark-
able animals exhibits its many points of
resemblance to the marsupials, but there are
other characters peculiar to them which seem
to have been derived from reptiles, amphibians,
or fishes.

The smooth brain of these animals is even
less developed than that of the marsupials,
and has, like that of the latter, an imperfect
corpus callosum and simple corpora quadri-
gemina with scarcely observable furrows.
The eyes are small, and the external ears
altogether wanting. The slit-like external
openings of the ears can be opened and
closed by the animal at pleasure. The bones
of the skull become fused, as in the birds, very
early. The teeth are either altogether want-
ing, or are represented, as in the duck-mole,
only by horny plates. The lower jaw is very
weak and has no inflexed angle. Through the
development of coracoid bones the shoulder-
girdle of the monotremes comes to resemble
that of the above-mentioned lower vertebrates.
The mouth has the form of a beak, in the
duck-mole flat and blunt, in the echidnas
rather long and pointed, and is not, as in

almost all other mammals, clothed with fleshy
lips, but with a horny covering. The struc-
ture of the sexual organs is quite peculiar.
The ovaries produce large eggs, but that of
the right side is, as in the birds, degraded.
There is no true uterus. The egg remains
a long time in an enlargement of the oviducts,
which open separately along with the urinary
ducts into a common canal, the urino-genital
canal, which in its lower part receives also
the rectum, and thus forms a cloaca with a
single opening to the exterior. Such a struc-
ture, which exists also in the amphibians,
reptiles, and birds, is found also in the em-
bryos of the other mammals, in which, how-
ever, it disappears in the course of develop-
ment.

The monotremes have five toes on all
four limbs. On the ankle of the hind-foot
(the tarsus) there is a sharp, horny spur sup-
ported by a few tiny bones, and this spur
might be regarded as a sixth toe. In the
females this spur is only rudimentary. In
the males it is traversed by a canal leading
into a gland lying beneath the skin of the
foot. The true function of this spur, which
has been erroneously regarded as a venomous
weapon, is not yet known.

Quite recently it has been definitely shown,
especially by Haast and Caldwell, that the

THE WATER-MOLE.

217

monotremes lay eggs similar to those of rep-
tiles and birds. These eggs have a thin but
yet calcareous shell and arc carried about for
a time in a depression of the skin. Into this
depression open several canals belonging to
glands which secrete milk and which accor-
dingly are true milk-glands, but which form
no projecting teats. In the duck-mole the
egg-pouch forms a longish fold of the skin,

which, after the escape of the young one
from the egg, becomes so reduced as to be
scarcely recognizable, and is seized hold of
by the young one with its broad beak in
sucking. The young of the echidna, on the
other hand, is lodged in a round brood-pouch,
in which it buries its head with its still short
beak, seizing hold of the bottom of the pouch
along with the gland openings which are

Fig. 264. — The Water-mole or Duck-mole (Ornithorhynchus p,,

found there. Here, accordingly, we see a
transition to the formation of a complete
marsupial pouch.

Concerning the development of the young
in the egg we possess so far no observations.
In any case they escape from the egg while
still in a very imperfect state of development.
The youngest specimens which have been
found were still without hair, the eyes were
closed and concealed by the skin; on the
short limbs the five toes are, however, already
recognizable, and in the males also the spur.
The beak of these young ones is very short,
in the duck-mole roundish, in the echidnas
more elongated. The large thick tongue
reaches to the point of the beak and ap-
parently plays in sucking the part of a
piston.

The two genera forming this order are so
different in their bodily structure that they

VOL. 11.

must be regarded as representatives of dif-
ferent families.

The Water-Mole, Duck-mole, or Duck-billed
Platypus.

This, the sole known species (Ornithorhyn-
chus paradoxes], fig. 264, is a native of
Southern Australia and Tasmania. It may
attain a length of about 20 inches, and pre-
sents a very singular appearance. The body
is rather long, compact, and almost every-
where of the same thickness. It rests on
short massive legs, and carries a flat broad
tail, which is only slightly covered with hair,
and that only on the under side. The body,
which resembles that of the sea-otter, is
covered with a short, thick, gray down inter-
spersed with numerous coarse hairs of a
brown colour, these hairs being pretty long
on the back, where they almost form a sort

60

218

THE MOXOTREMES.

of spines. On the under parts they are finer
and somewhat silky, and the down hair in
those parts is rather lighter in colour. The
mixture of these two hues produces a varied
play of colour. The legs are so short that
the animal in walking or running actually
drags its body along the ground. They
have five toes with strong burrowing claws.
A broad web unites the toes of the fore-feet,
and projects so far beyond them that the nails
appear to rest on the web itself, the free edge
of which folds back when the animal burrows
in the ground. The spur on the hind-feet of
the males is large and curved backwards.

On the body thus adapted for an aquatic
mammal there is set a head which might
rather be compared with that of a duck than
that of a mammal if it had not hair, or rather
a soft down on its hinder part. Here are
seated the very tiny eyes, on the upper sur-
face of the skull but directed forwards, while
a little further back may be observed the
openings of the ears, which, as already men-
tioned, the creature has the power of closing
at pleasure. Half the length of the head is
occupied by the flat, horny, broad-ended beak,
the form of which reminds us of that of certain
ducks. It is separated from the hairy part
of the head by a horny protuberance, capable
of being laid back and expanded. The nos-
trils are placed at the end of the beak, which
is surrounded by a horny but very sensitive
lip. The lower jaw is much narrower than
the upper, but has a form adapting it to fit
into the latter. Far back in the mouth may
be seen the thick horny and warty tongue;
two of the warts resemble sharp-pointed teeth.
In each half of the lower jaw, and on each
side of the base of the skull, in a position
corresponding to the more retired position of
the lower jaw, there is a depression with a
reticulated bottom, in which there is a warty
eminence formed of horny fibres, so that,
if this wart were actually a tooth, the animal
would have four long, horny, flattened teeth
at the back of the mouth.

The singular creature leads an aquatic life.
It excavates for itself burrows of from 20 to
25 feet in length1 on the banks of quiet
streams and creeks where there is a muddy
bottom. The entrance to these burrows lies
under the water. Many side galleries are
given off in the course of the main burrow,
which ultimately leads to a chamber, some-
times found to contain the female with her
unshapely young. The latter are proved by
the contents of their stomachs actually to feed
on milk. As a rule, the duck-mole leaves
its burrow on the approach of night, yet it
sometimes tumbles about in the water even
by day. It swims and dives admirably, and
gropes about in the mud with its beak. On
the whole the duck-moles appear to be of
a lively and peaceable disposition ; the young
ones especially appear to be fond of playing
together, and their behaviour shows them
to be possessed of a keen scent and acute
hearing. They dive at the slightest sound.
Specimens of these animals have been kept
in captivity for a certain length of time, but
since their habits were not known, they have
ultimately either escaped, or been drowned,
or have died of hunger.

[Dr. Bennett, a naturalist, who visited Australia
in the earlier part of the present century, having
procured two young specimens of the duck-mole, or
mallangong, as it is called by the natives, by digging
them out of a burrow 35 feet in length, was able to
make some interesting observations on their be-
haviour. " The little animals appeared often to
dream of swimming," he says ; " for I have frequent-
ly seen their fore-paws in movement as if in the act
If I placed them on the ground during the day,
they ran about seeking some dark corner for repose ;
and when put in a dark place, or in a box, they
huddled themselves up as soon as they became a
little reconciled to the locality, and went to sleep.
. . . They usually reposed side by side, looking
like a pair of furred balls, and surly little growls
issued from them when disturbed; nevertheless,
when very sound asleep, they might be handled and

1 Bennett, author of the WamJmiigs of a A'atxra&a in Australasia,
mentions that the burrows of the duck-mole are sometimes 50 feet
in length. — TK.

THE ECHIDNAS.

219

examined without evincing any si-jus of annoyance.
One evening both the little pets came out about
dusk, went as usual and ate food from a saucer, and
then commenced playing like two puppies, attacking
each other with their mandibles, raising their fore-
paws, and tumbling one over the other. . . .
In the struggle one would get thrust down ; and at
the moment when the spectator would expect it to
rise again and renew the combat, it would com-
mence scratching itself, its antagonist looking on
and waiting for
the sport to
be renewed.
\Vhcn running
they were ex-
ceedingly ani-
mated, their
little eyes glis-
tened, and the
orifices of their
ears contracted
and dilated
with rapidity.
. . . Their
eyes being
placed so high
on the head,
they do not see
objects well in
a straight line,

and consequently run against everything in the
room during their perambulations, spreading con-
fusion among all the light and easily overturnable
articles. . . .

"At first I was inclined to consider them as noc-
turnal animals, but I afterwards found that their
time of leaving their resting-place was exceedingly
irregular, both during the day and night. They
seemed, however, more lively and more disposed to
ramble about the room after dark, generally com-
mencing about dusk; but all their movements in
this respect were so very capricious that no just
conclusion could be drawn, further than that they
were both night and day animals, preferring the cool
and dusky evening to the heat and glare of noon.
. . . I have often found one asleep and the
other running about at the same period of the day,
the male alone first leaving the nest, and the female
remaining asleep: he would, after feeding and run-
ning about for a short time, return, curl himself up
and sleep, and then the female would leave in her
turn. Although, however, they thus frequently left

g. 265.— The Long-spined Echidna or Porcupine Ant-eater (Echidna hystrix}.

the nest alternately, at other times they would sud-
denly go out together. . . .

" It was very curious to sec the uncouth little
creatures open their mandible-like lips and yawn,
stretching out the fore-paws and extending the webs
of the fore-feet to their utmost expansion. Although
this was natural, yet, not being in the habit of see-
ing a duck yawn, it had the semblance of being
perfectly ridiculous. It often surprised me how
they contrived to reach the summit of a book-case,

or any other
elevated piece
of furniture.
This was at last
discovered to
be effected by
the animal sup-
porting its back
against the
wall, placing its
feet against the
book-case, and
thus, by means
of the strong
cutaneous mus-
cles of the back
and the claws
of the feet con-
triving to reach
the top very ex-
peditiously. They often performed this mode of
climbing, so that I had frequent opportunities of
witnessing the manner in which it was done. The
food I gave them was bread soaked in water,
chopped egg, and meat minced very small. Although,
at first I presented them with milk, they did not
seem to prefer it to water."— Bennett, Wanderings
of a Naturalist in Australasia]

The Echidnas.

Of the genus Echidna several species are
known. That shown in fig. 265, the Long-
spined Echidna or Porcupine Ant-eater {Echid-
na hystrix (aculcata)}, inhabits the mountains
of South Australia, and is distinguished from
the Short-spined Echidna (E. setosa) of Tas-
mania by the possession of black-pointed
spines which taper uniformly to their extrem-
ities, while those of the latter species are
thickened in the middle and have white

220

THE MONOTREMES.

points. Perhaps even these species are merely
local varieties. In recent years, however,
Gervais has described a third species belong-
ing to New Guinea with a relatively longer
beak which is curved downwards, and this
species he has erected into a new genus, giving
to it the name of Acanthoglossus Bruynii.
From these discoveries it would appear that
the family of the porcupine ant-eaters has a
much wider geographical distribution than that
of the duck-moles. In its external appearance
the long-spined echidna resembles a large
hedgehog with a long beak and a rudimen-
tary tail. The head, with the exception of
the beak, the neck, belly, and feet, are set
with thick silky bristles which are in general
short, but are specially well developed round
the slits forming the external openings of the
ears. The beak may be compared to that
of a snipe. It is as long as the rest of the
head and a little arched. In its front part
are situated the nostrils, and its under side j
is grooved so as to allow free play for the
long worm-like tongue, which is flattened and
covered with a horny layer. The lower jaw
is remarkably thin, and so surrounded by the
horny envelope of the beak that only a very
small opening remains for the mouth, an
opening only just sufficient to allow of the
protrusion of the tongue. Above the open- ;
ing of the mouth is a narrow horny upper-lip.
Of teeth there is not the slightest trace.
The animal feeds chiefly on ants. These it
procures by means of its tongue, which is
always kept covered with a viscous secretion
derived from the large salivary glands situated j
beside the throat.

The back and sides of the body are covered
with short, solid, sharp-pointed spines, be-
tween which are set numerous bristles. The
animal can roll itself up into a ball like
our hedgehog, but prefers to burrow under
the ground to escape from its enemies. The
feet are essentially burrowing feet. In the
whole class of the Mammalia there is perhaps
no other species with so strong a shoulder- \

girdle, a humerus so much flattened or pro-
vided with such prominent ridges for the
attachment of the muscles. The fore-feet
form a broad spade-like implement; the five
toes are armed with very long flat claws; the
hind-feet are narrower and longer, and in
them the second toe is the strongest. The
spur of the male attains a considerable size,
and the marsupial bones are likewise well
developed. The short tail is hidden under
two bunches of spines.

The porcupine ant-eaters prefer the dry
woods of mountainous regions up to a height
of about 3000 feet or more, so long as they find
plenty of ant-hills. They lead a nocturnal
life, sleeping by day in holes. In attacking
an ant-hill they first dig a hole in it and then
insert their viscous tongue, to draw it out
again covered with ants. Like the arma-
dillos they dig their way under the ground
with remarkable rapidity, and hold on with
such firmness to a hole that they have once
begun that it is only with the greatest diffi-
culty that they can be torn away from it.
They are indolent and in captivity generally
gentle creatures. Young specimens have
been brought to England and fed at first
with milk, afterwards with hard-boiled eggs
rubbed down. Their flesh is said to be pretty
good. They are very tenacious of life. In
the museum at Geneva there is a skeleton of
a porcupine ant-eater showing the marks of
a blow with a sharp instrument which divided
eight ribs in a line parallel to the line of the
back. This enormous wound afterwards be-
came perfectly healed, for one can see that
the broken ribs are re-united by means of
new bone substance.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND
ORIGIN OF THE MONOTREMES.

The geographical distribution of the mem-
bers of this group is remarkably simple.
They are essentially an Australian type.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND DKSCKX T.

221

The duck-mole is entirely confined to Aus-
tralia and Tasmania; the porcupine ant-eaters,
on the other hand, as recent discoveries have
shown, extend to New Guinea.

In contrast to this the origin of these crea-
tures is very obscure. The palitontological
data hearing on the question are limited to a
few remains of an echidna which have been
found in the Quaternary strata of Australia.
This poverty of fossil remains combined with
the low organization of the creatures has
called forth the most singular speculations, to
which we must devote a few words.

First of all we cannot fail to be struck by
the insufficiency of the dental system. The
echidna, like the manis, has no teeth at all,
and it is noteworthy that it approaches the
latter animal also in the structure of the jaws,
tongue, and nails, besides resembling it in the
nature of its food. The duck-mole possesses
a few horny plates which in respect of their
structure may perhaps be compared with the
teeth of certain fishes. This reduction of the
dentition must certainly be pronounced an
acquired character due to a long process of
modification, for all old mammals possess a
very complete dentition and also in general
more teeth than their descendants.

Now the skeleton exhibits the closest af-
finity not only to that of reptiles and birds
but also to that of amphibians, in addition to
which it has certain marsupial characters.

We cannot here enter into the details of
these relationships, the exposition of which
would lead us beyond the scope of this work.
It is enough to mention the fact that all
investigators are agreed upon these points,
and recognize the characters which these
creatures possess in common with the lower
vertebrates on the one hand, and the marsu-
pials on the other hand.

What conclusion shall we draw then from
this singular commingling of characters?
May we from the facts just mentioned deduce
the inference which has recently been put for-
ward and forced into publicity by some natu-

j ralists of mark, that the monotremes are an

1 older form than the marsupials, and that the
latter are direct descendants of the former?

There are two facts which stand in opposi-
tion to this view: first, the rudimentary den-
tition; and second, the present geographical
distribution of the monotremes.

With respect to the first point the difficulty
has sometimes been got over by a wholly
groundless assertion. According to those
who get over the difficulty in this way "the
now extinct monotremes, which comprised all
the forms of the then existing mammalian
fauna, had certainly a more highly developed
dentition, which had been transmitted to them
by the fishes," and Microlestes and Droma-
therium of the Jurassic Period "are probably
descended from these primitive mammals."
This hypothesis is in fact altogether without
foundation. Wherever we have discovered
the inner side of the lower jaw of those pri-
mitive mammals, there we have been able to
observe the characteristic indexed angle of the
marsupials, nothing of which is seen in the
monotremes. Yet that is of no consequence!
The descendants may have acquired or lost
this character, may also have gained or lost
any number of teeth.

Further, the present geographical distribu-
tion does not give the slightest indication of
any great antiquity belonging to this type.
Wherever we meet with old groups, which
have reproduced themselves with ceaseless
modifications through the geological epochs,
while retaining their general characters, like
the Insectivora, Ungulata, and so forth, we
find them spread over wide areas, taking
possession of almost entire continents; and

; when we have to do with old types, which
are near their point of extinction, we find the
few survivors in the most widely different
geographical regions. The tapirs afford a

' striking example of geographical discontinuity
of this kind in types which are undoubtedly
very old, but which are gradually disappear-
ing. We must, therefore, look with con-

222

THE MONOTREMES.

fidence for monotremes on one or other
hemisphere, if these actually represent a very
ancient group reduced at the present day to
a small number of descendants. But instead
of that we find the members of the group
restricted to a remarkably narrow area, an
area that could hardly be smaller — the east
and south of Australia, Tasmania, and New
Guinea; and nowhere else has the slightest
trace of them been discovered either in the
fauna of the present day or in the deposits of
past geological epochs. Such a limited dis-
tribution belongs rather to types which have
had only a very brief past.

In the present state of our knowledge we
can accordingly assert nothing positive con-
cerning the origin of this abnormal and highly
aberrant type. We can only say that the
facts, which must in any case be admitted to

be very indeterminate, speak rather in favour
of a somewhat recent origination of this
group by degeneration from the marsupials.
But it is possible to defend all kinds of sur-
mises and hypotheses; and while some regard
the monotremes as direct descendants of the
fishes or reptiles, in favour of which view, it
must be admitted, the laying of eggs by
monotremes gives considerable weight; while
others again hold them to be degraded mar-
supials, which have degenerated through an
adaptation to a lower stage of development,
we must modestly confess that comparative
anatomy cannot decide in whose favour the
balance inclines. This science is, however,
so far, the only one that would have a word
to say on the subject, for neither the palaeon-
tology nor the embryology of these animals
is known.

GLOSSARY.1

ABDOMEN (Lat.). The posterior cavity of the body,
separated from the chest by the diaphragm, and con-
taining the intestines, liver, kidneys, and other viscera.

ABOMASUM (Lat. al>, from, and omasum, bullock's
tripe). The fourth or true digestive stomach in the
compound stomach of the ruminants. Also called Rcniu-t
Stomach. See fig. 37.

ACCESSORY HOOP'S. See HOOKS.

ACETABULUM (Lat., a cup-shaped vessel). The
socket in which the upper end of the thigh-bone is
inserted. In the Echidna or spiny ant-eater this socket
is not ossified in the middle, so that the part of the pelvis
where it is situated appears perforated in the dry skeleton,
as in birds, &c.

ALLANTOIS (Gr. alias, allantos, a sausage). A pear-
shaped sac developed from the posterior end of the primi-
tive alimentary canal in the young of mammals and some
other vertebrates before birth. In the higher mammals
it elongates, and while the terminal portion expands and
enters into intimate connection with the wall of the
uterus in the parent, and thus helps to form the placenta,
the other portion forms part of the umbilical cord, con-
taining the great blood-vessels by means of which the
vascular system of the young is brought into communica-
tion with that of the parent. After birth the portion of
the allantois within the body of the young remains through
life as the urinary bladder.

ALLUVIAL. Belonging or pertaining to alluvium.

ALLUVIUM (Lat. alluvia, an inundation). • A deposit
of soil collected by the action of water; a term sometimes
specifically applied in geology to the more recent of the
Post-tertiary or Quaternary deposits, those in which the
mammals are all of still living species. In this sense, in
which it is distinguished from Diluvium, the word is
more frequently used by continental than by English
writers.

AMNION (Gr.). A membrane investing the young
of mammals and some other vertebrates before birth.

AMPHIBIA (Gr. amphi, both, and bios, life). A
class of vertebrates adapted in the young condition to
live in the water and breathe by gills, but in a more
advanced stage to live on land and breathe by lungs.

ANAL (Lat. anus, the posterior or inferior opening
of the alimentary canal). Pertaining to, or situated in
the neighbourhood of the anus; as, anal glands.

ANALOGOUS (Gr. ana, according to, and logos,
ratio). A term applied in natural history to mean similar

'The author is indebted to Prof. W. A. Herdman of University
College, Liverpool, for kindly reading the proofs of this Glossary.

in function though different in structure, as the wing of a
bird and the wing of a bat. See HOMOLOGOUS.

ANASTOMOSE (Gr. ana, again, anew, and stoma, a
mouth). To inosculate with or run into each other; to
communicate with each other, as the arteries and veins.

ANCESTOR (Old Fr. anctstre, from Lat. antecesscr,
a predecessor). In the language of the evolutionary
theory a form from which a later form is believed to have
developed by natural descent.

ANCESTRAL. Pertaining to an ancestor; having
the character or characters of an ancestor in the evolu-
tionary sense of that term.

ANKYLOSED, or ANCHYLOSED (Gr. angkylos, crooked,
angkyle, a joint). A term applied to bones immovably
fixed together in places where joints have at one time
existed or usually do exist.

ANTHROPOID (Gr. anthropos, man, eidos, form).
Resembling man.

ANTHROPOMORPH^ (Gr. anthropos, a man, and
morphc, form). The name of the group of apes which
has most resemblance to man ; the group including the
gorilla and chimpanzee, the orang-utang, and the gibbons.

ANTHROPOMORPHOID. Belonging to or resem-
bling the Anthropomoiphse.

ANTLERS. The branching horns of a stag. See
fig. i.

Fig. i.— Antlers of Red Deer. br. Brow-tine; tcz. Bez tine ; a.r. Antler-royal;
s.r. Sur-royal.

APOPHYSIS (Gr. apo, from, and physis, growth).
A protuberance growing out from a bone; a knob or
prominent part of a bone, whatever shape it may happen
to possess.

ARBOREAL (Lat. arbor, a tree). Living on or fre-
quenting trees.

ARCHAIC (Gr. archc, beginning). Primitive; as
applied to structures in an evolutionary sense, belonging
to a primitive type.

224

GLOSSARY.

ARTIODACTYLA (Gr.
finger). The name of
an order of hoofed ani-
mals in which the num-
ber of toes is even (two
or four), and there are
two main axes in the
lower part of the leg.
See the body of the
book, vol. ii. pp. 38-9
and 61, and under
CANNON-BONE in this

artiffs, even, and dakfY/os, a

Fig. 3. —Atlas Vertebra, seen from above.
ri. Ring-shaped opening in the centrum or
body of the vertebra to receive the odontoid
process (o.p.} of axis vertebra (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4.— Side view of Axis
Vertebra, o.p. Odontoid pro-
cess.

to support the earth on his shoulders). The first vertebra
of the neck, articulating with and supporting the skull.
In the mammals it is ring-shaped, and in the higher
forms its centrum or body is replaced by a process from
the second vertebra or axis fitting into the ring. See
figs. 3 and 4.

AXIS. The name of the second vertebra. See ATLAS.

BALEEN (Lat. balana, a whale). The horny plates
on the palate of the true
or whale-bone whales.
See fig. 5.

BEAM. In a special
sense, the main stem of
a deer's antler above the
burr.

BICORNUATE (Lat.
bis, twice, and cor/ui, a
horn). Two-horned; speci-
fically applied to a uterus
which forks and terminates
in two cavities.

BRAIN, LARGE, and
SMALL or HIND. See
respectively CEREBRUM

Fig. 5. — Baleen in the
Upper Jaw of Whale.

a. Section of a portion of the palate
of a whalebone whale showing three
baleen plates, b. The arrangement
of the baleen plates on opposite sides
of the jaw.

and CEREBELLUM.

BRECCIA (Ital). In geology, an aggregate com-
posed wholly or mainly of angular fragments of the same
rock or different rocks united by a matrix or cement.

Fig. 2. — Skull of Sheep, a typical Arlio-
dactyle, belonging to the group of the Rumi-
nants. Showing the close-set cheek-teeth
adapted for grinding, the wide interval be-

Glossary. See also fig. 2. !wee" . them and ,lhc !™M .leetl; of 'he ll"vcr

' j;uv, the incisor-shaped canine placed in a line

ARTIODACTYLE. with the latter, and the absence of front teeth

One of the Artiodactyla. in llle upper ja"'

ARYTENOID (Gr. arytaina, a ladle or cup). A term
applied in anatomy to two small cartilages at the top of
the larynx, and also to the muscles, glands, &c., connected
with these cartilages.

ASTRAGALUS (Gr., the ankle-bone). The bone of
the ankle supporting the inner of the two bones of the
lower leg, namely, the tibia or shin-bone. See fig. 7.

ATLAS (in Gr. mythology the god who was believed

BUNODONT (Gr. boiuios, a mound, and odons, otloutos,
a tooth). Having tubercled teeth;
specifically applied to a group of
the Artiodactyla. See fig. 6.

BURR. A ring-shaped bony
ridge at the base of a deer's antler,
a little above the skull.

C-fECUM (Lat. aecns, blind).
A blind process or more or less
elongated sac in the alimentary
canal of various animals.

CALCANEUM (Lat.. the heel).
The largest bone of the ankle, very
prominent in the horse. See figs.
7, 34-

CAMPANULATE (Lat. cam-
panula, a bell). Bell-shaped; speci-
fically applied to a certain form of
placenta.

CANINE (Lat. canis, a dog).
The eye-tooth, the tooth coming
immediately after the incisors; very prominent in the
Carnivore, and hence named from one of the most
familiar members of this order. See figs. 6 and 9.

CANNON-BONE (Gr. kanon, a ruler). The single
bone extending from the toes to Fig. ^.

the ankle-bones in ruminants and
some other quadrupeds. In the
horse it is from the first a single
bone and is without any longi-
tudinal groove; in the cow or

Fig. 8.

Fig. 6. - Lower Jaw of Hip-
popotamus, c/t. The Cheek-
teeth, originally tubercled,
but worn down by use so as

bands of enamel ; ;. Incisor> ;
c. Canines. See the body of
the book, vol. ii. pp. 62 and 65.

Fig. 7. — Lower portion of the Hind-limb of
a Horse, t. Tibia ; ca. Calcaneum ; a. Astra-
galus ; se. Sesamoid bone. III. IV. Meta-
tarsal bones of digits III. and IV. III. is the
cannon-bone, and IV. one of the splint-bones.

Fig. 8.— i. The Cannon-bone of a Horse, formed of a single metacarpal bone
carrying the third digit. The digits are numbered in the cut according to the
usual practice. See Digit.

2. Cannon-bone of a Sheep, formed of the fused metacarpal bones carrying the
third and fourth digits. II. V., Splint-bones representing the second and fifth
metacarpals. //. I'., Nodules representing the second and fifth digits. On the
outside these are indicated by the false or accessory hoofs.

3. Cannon-bone of a Camel, formed in the same way as that of the sheep.
Observe the complete fusion in the middle and distinct separation at the lower
extremity.

4. Lower part of Fore-limb of Tragulus, showing the metacarpals of the func-
tional digits either not fused at all or only very partially so, and the two complete
but small and functionless lateral digits.

sheep it is formed by the fusion or union of two bones,
and the place of fusion is indicated by a longitudinal

GLOSSARY.

225

groove down the middle; in the camel, these two bones
are separate at the lower end; and in the Tragulina they
remain separate throughout life or fuse only at a late
period. See figs. 7 and 8.

CARAPACE (Fr.). A protective shield, like that of
the armadillos, or the hard covering of certain insects, ot
crustaceans, &c.

CARDIAC (Gr. kardia, the heart). Pertaining to the
heart, nearer the heart ; applied to the part of the stom-
ach situated nearest to the entrance of the oesophagus.

CARNASSIAL (Lat caro, (amis, flesh). The name
applied to a tooth found in the Carnivora, and adapted
for tearing ilesh. It has lateral cusps or prominences

Fig. 9. — i. Skull of Dog. /«. Molars; pm, Premolars; cl. Carnassial ; can.
Canines ; /. Incisurs. 2. Skull of Thylaanus. Note in fig. 3 (representing the
front-teeth of Thylucimis the fuur incisors in the upper, and three in the lower jaw.

for dividing the flesh, and a tubercled internal heel or
process. It is either a molar or premolar. Also called
Rectorial. See the description of the carnivorous denti-
tion in the general account of the Carnivora in the body
of the book. See fig. 9.

CARNIVORA (Lat. caro, carnis, flesh, and voro, to
devour). An order of mammals mostly adapted for a
flesh diet. See fig. 9.

CARNIVORE. A member of the Carnivora.

CARPAL. Pertaining to the carpus.

CARPUS (Lat.). The wrist or the part of a limb cor-
responding to the wrist,
as, for example, the so-
called "knee" in the
fore-limb of a horse.

CARTILAGE (Lat
cartilago). The name
of a tough elastic tissue
in the body; gristle.

CARTILAGI-
NOUS. Composed of

Fig. 10— One of the Digits of a Cat, (A) with
the claw in its ordinary position, (B) with the
claw pulled down. _/?. Tendon of the flexor

muscle or muscle that pulls down the claw;
el. Elastic ligament, which retracts the claw.

cartilage.

CATARRHINE
(Gr. kata, down, and
r/iis, rhinos, the nose).
Adj. belonging to the Catarrhinae, or the group of Quad-
rumana, which includes the ape, gorilla, chimpanzee, &c.,
and in which the openings of the nostrils are directed
downwards. Noun, a member of the Catarrhinae.

CAT-TRIBE. Used in the text as equivalent to
Felida, or the family comprising the genus Felis and
allied genera. See fig. 10.

CEMENT. The bony tissue enveloping the fang of
a tooth, and sometimes found filling up spaces between
enamel ridges on the crown.

CENTRUM. See VERTEBRA.

VOL. II.

CEREBELLUM (Lat). The small or hind brain.
See figs. 11-13.

cl

Fig. 13. — Brain of Baboon — vertical section.

ol. Olfactory lobes ; c. Cerebrum, large brain or brain proper ; cl. Cerebellum,
small or hind brain ; cc. Corpus caltositm.

CEREBRAL. Pertaining to the cerebrum. — Cerebral
hemispheres, the two halves of the large brain.

CEREBRUM (Lat). The fore- or large brain. See
figs. 11-13.

CERVICAL (Lat. cervix, the neck). Pertaining to
the neck.

CETACEA (Gr. ketos, a whale). An order of mammals
comprising the whales, dolphins, and their allies. See
figs. 20 and 21.

CHEEK-TOOTH. One of the teeth behind the
canines, whether a molar or a premolar.

CHEVRON BONES (from the name of a zigzag
ornament in heraldry). A name given to V-shaped bones
placed between the bodies or centra of adjacent vertebra?
on the under side of the tail. See figs. 14 and 27.

ch'

Fig. 14.— Skeleton of the Tail of a Dolphin, ch. Chevron bones.

CHIROPTERA (Gr. cheir, the hand, and pteron, a
wing). The order of mammals comprising the bats.
See fig. 1 5.

CLAVICLE (Lat. davicula, a little key). The collar-
bone, the bone extending from the shoulder-blade to the
breast-bone.

CLOACA (Lat, a sewer). A common chamber or
cavity into which the alimentary canal and the ducts of
the generative and urinary organs open, as in the mono-
tremes.

226

GLOSSARY.

COCCYX (Gr. Itokkyx, a cuckoo). The terminal
portion of the vertebral column in man, so called from
its resemblance to a cuckoo's beak. See fig. 32.

Fig. 15. — Skeleton of Bat's Wing, with outline
of extended membrane. I.-V. The digits as num-
bered, cl. Clavicle; r. Radius.

COLON (Gr.). The middle section of the large
intestine, forming the largest portion of the whole in-
testine.

CONDYLE (Gr. kondylos, a knuckle). A rounded
knob at the end of a bone serving to form a joint with
another bone.

CORACOID (Gr. korax, a crow, and eidos, form). A
bone present in the monotremes (as well as in birds and
some other vertebrates) passing
from the shoulder-joint to the
breast-bone; so called because
it corresponds to a process of
the shoulder-blade in man re-
sembling a crow's beak. See
fig. 1 6.

CORONO1D (Gr. korone, a
crow, and eidos, form). A term
applied to the upper anterior
process near the hinder end of
the lower jaw; so called on ac-
count of its curved shape resembling a crow's beak,
figs- 33. 36, and 39.

CORPORA QUADRIGEMINA (Lat., fourfold
bodies). A portion of the brain lying between the cere-
brum and the cerebellum.

CORPUS CALLOSUM (Lat, hard or callous body).
In anatomy, the great band of brain tissue which unites
the two hemispheres of the cerebrum in mammals. See
fig- '3-

CRANIAL REGION. See under SKULL.

CRANIUM (Lat.). The part of the skull inclosing
the brain.

CRUMEN GLANDS. Scent-glands in the deer
family, situated in depressions in the lachrymal bone in
the neighbourhood of the eye.

CRUPPER. The rump or buttocks of a horse.

CUSP (of a tooth). One of the prominences of the
molar or cheek-teeth.

DECI DUATF. (I,at decide, to fall off). A term applied

Fig. 16.— Part of the Skeleton
of the Duck-mole, cr. Coracoid.

See

to a placenta, the whole of which, including the part
formed from the wall of the uterus of the mother, is cast
off at the birth of the young animal

DECIDUOUS (Lat. dccido, to fall off). Liable to be
shed; as the milk-teeth. — Deciduous Placenta: same as
Dedduate Placenta.

DEGRADED. In evolutionary language, applied to
a structure which is believed to have lost certain special
characters possessed by ancestral types. The degraded
carnassial of the bears, for example, is a tooth which
does not possess the marked characters found in the
carnassial teeth of most Carnivora.

DENTITION (Lat. dens, a tooth), i. The arrange-
ment and structure of the teeth. 2. A set of teeth of a
particular character. — Complete dentition, a set of teeth in
which all the three kinds, incisors, canines, and cheek-teeth
(molars and premolars) are represented. See fig. 9.

DEVELOPMENT. A term used in botany and
zoology in a special sense to signify the organic changes
which take place in animal and vegetable bodies from
their embryo state to the state of maturity.

DIASTEMA (Gr., an interval). Specifically, a gap or
interval between teeth.

DIFFERENTIATE. To render different ; specifically,
in evolutionary language, to become differentiated is to
be made different from a previous type through the
acquisition of special characters.

DIFFERENTIATION, i. The process of differ-
entiating. 2. A character or set of characters by which
one form is distinguished from another of more primitive
type.

DIFFUSE. As applied to the placenta, having tufts
or lobes containing blood-vessels distributed all over the
surface of the embryo.

DIGIT (Lat digitus, a finger). A general term useil
by naturalists to denote either fingers or toes in man or
the members corresponding to these in
the lower animals. The digits are always
numbered from the innermost outwards,
supposing the palm of the hand or sole
of the foot to be laid down flat. Thus
the thumb or great-toe is always the first
digit; and when certain digits are
wanting, as in the horse or cow,
the absent digits are always taken
into account in naming those which
are present. See figs. 17,
20-23, 27, 34, and 35.

DIGITIGRADE (Lat.
digitus, a finger, and gra-
dior, to step or walk).
Applied to animals which
in walking touch the
ground only with the digits
or toes, and not with the
parts corresponding to the
sole of the foot or palm of the hand in man; in a more
special sense, applied to a group of the Carnivora dis-
tinguished by that mode of standing and walking. See
fig. 17.

DILUVIUM (Lat, a deluge). Specifically, in geology,
the earlier deposits of Post-tertiary or Quaternary times,

Vig. 17. — Lower part of the Fore-limb
of a Lion, to illustrate the diguigratie
structure, r. Radius; ». Ulna; c. Carpal
bones ; ;«. Metacarpal bones ; d. Digits.

GLOSSARY.

227

those deposits in which many of the mammals belong to
species now extinct; in this country usually called Pleis-
tocene or Post-pliocene. See ALLUVIUM.

KIL:. 18 Skull of Great Ant-cater, na. Nasal; ma. .Maxilla : f.m. Pre-maxilla.
ihc entire absence of teeth, and the incomplete ryenmitic arch (2.0.).

Fig. ig. — Skull of Sloth. //. Jugal or malar process ; a downward process
fmm the ju^al or cl.eek bone. s.a. Incomplete zygomatic arch.

D1PHYODONT (Gr. ifis, twice, phyo, to become, and
odous, odontos, a. tooth). Furnished with two sets of teeth
in succession, as man.

DISCO 1 DAT, (Gr. diskos, a disc, and eidos, form).
Having the form of a disc; more or less round and flat.

DISTAL (Lat. disto, to stand apart or away from).
Farthest away from the trunk or centre; as, the wrist-
hones are at the distal ends of the radius and ulna.

DIURNAL (Lat. diurnus, belonging to the day).
Active by day, not by night.

DORSAL (Lat. dorsuin, the back). Pertaining to the
back. — Dorsal region, the back part of the body from the
neck to the last of the false ribs.

EDKNTATA (Lat. t, without, dens, a tooth). An
order of mammals in which the middle incisors are always
wanting, and in some members of
which there are no teeth at all. See
figs. 1 8 and 19.

EDENTATE. A member of the
Edentata.

EMBRYO (Gr. en, in, and bryo,
to swell). A young animal before
birth.

EMBRYO7,OGY (embryo, and Gr.
logos, discourse). The science which
deals with the development of em-
bryos.

EMBRYONIC. Pertaining to an
embryo.

EOCENE (Gr. eos, dawn, and
kainos, new). Belonging to the oldest
division of the Tertiary rocks. See
GEOLOGICAL TABLE, vol. i. p. 23.

EPIGLOTTIS (Gr. eft, upon, and glotta, the tongue).
A cartilaginous plate behind the tongue, which during the
act of swallowing covers the glottis or slit-like opening
into the larynx at the top of the windpipe, and thus pre-
vents foreign bodies from entering the latter.

EPITHELIUM (Gr. rfi, upon, and thelc, the nipple).
A thin and delicate kind of cuticle like that which covers
the nipple; specifically, a tissue composed of one or
more layers of cells covering any free surface of the
body, including the walls of internal cavities, such as
the mouth, and such passages as have an internal free
surface, like the nasal passages, respiratory organs, &c.
The epidermis or scarf-skin is only a slightly modified
epithelium.

EURASIAN. Belonging to the combined continent
of Europe and Asia.

EVOLUTION. The process by which one species is
believed to be developed by natural descent from pre-
existing species.

EVOLUTIONARY. Pertaining to evolution, or per-
taining to the theory that new species arise by natural
descent from pre-existing ones.

FACIAL REGION. See under SKULL.

FAUNA (Lat, the goddess of fields, cattle, &c.). A
collective name for the animals belonging to a region or
epoch; as, \\\e fauna of Great Britain; the Triassic/rf wiii.

FELINE (Lat. felis, a cat). Used in the text in the
sense of a member of the genus Felis, or (as an adjective)
belonging to the genus Felis.

FEMUR (Lat). The thigh-bone; the bone of the
upper part of the hind-leg.

FETLOCK. A tuft of hair growing behind the pastern
joint of horses, and also the joint itself.

FIBULA (Lat, a brooch). The outer of the two
bones of the lower hind-leg, corresponding to the ulna of
the fore-leg or fore-arm. See figs. 20-23.

FLIPPER. The fore-limb modified so as to serve
for a paddle in swimming, as in seals, whales, and sea-
cows.

FLORA (Lat., the goddess of flowers). A collective
name for the plants belonging to a region or epoch. See
FAUNA.

FORM. Used in botany and zoology as a general
term for a species or variety.

ri-

ng. 20.— Skeleton of the
Fore-limb or Flipper of
the Whalebone Whale.

Fig. 2i.-Same of the Fig. 22. -Same of the Fig. 23.-Same of the Seal.
Caaing Whale. Dugong.

r, Radius ; ». Ulna: h. Humerus. I.-V. Digits.

FOSSA (Lat, a ditch). A depression.— Temporal fossa,
the depression in the skull in the region of the temple.
See fig. 24.

FRfENUM LINGUA (Lat, bridle of the tongue).
The ligament or fold of the mucous membrane which is

228

GLOSSARY.

situated underneath the tongue, and limits the motions
of that member.

FRONTAL (Lat. frons, frontis, the forehead). One
of the bones of the fore-
head in man, or one of
the corresponding bones
in one of the lower ani-
mals. See fig. 39.

FUNCTIONAL.
Acting ; performing a
function.

FUNCTIONLESS.
Having no function; as
the splint-bones in the
leg of a horse.

FUSED. Specifically
applied to bones united though originally distinct; that
is, either distinct in the embryo, in the young animal, or
in some allied form.

GLAND (Lat. glans, glandis, an acorn). A part of
an organism yielding some special secretion.

GLOTTIS (Gr.). The slit-like opening into the
trachea or windpipe.

HALLUX (Lat. hallex, or allex, the thumb or great-
toe). The first digit of the hind-foot. See DIGIT.

Fig. 24. — Skull of Black Indris. _/! Tem-
poral fossa ; o. Orbit. In this case the
orbit is open behind and thus communicates
with the temporal fossa.

Fig. 25.— Skull of Kangaroo. Observe the horizontal incisor of the lower jaw.
/. Incisors, z.a. Zygomatic arch.

Fig. 26.— a. Upper, b. Lower Jaw of the Colugo or Flying-cat (Caleopithccus
volans} ; c. Front portion of the lower jaw, showing the pectinate incisors ;
d. Section of one of the pectinate incisors (magnified).

HEEL (of a tooth). A portion of the tooth extending
horizontally from the base.

HOLOTHURIAN. A member of the sea-cucumber
order of echinoderms, or the class which includes the
sea-urchins.

HOMOLOGOUS (Gr. homos, same, and logos, ratio
or proportion). Corresponding in structure though not

in function, as the arm of a man and the wing of a
bat.

HONEY-COMB BAG. Same as Reticnlum.

HOOFS. Horny coverings encasing the toes all round.
— Accessory hoofs, the small hoofs present in sheep, goats,
and other members of the cow family at some distance
above the ground, representing the absent second and
fifth digits. See DIGIT.

HUMERUS (Lat). The bone of the upper arm or
corresponding bone in the lower animals.

HYOID (Gr. Y, and cidos, form). The Y-shaped
bone at the root of the tongue, which it serves to support
in vertebrates.

INCISOR (Lat. incido, to cut into). One of the teeth
situated in the premaxilte (in the front of the mouth) in
the upper jaw, or the corresponding teeth in the lower
jaw; so called because generally adapted for cutting or
dividing. Their form is exceptional in rodents, hippo-
potamuses, many marsupials, the flying cat (Galeopi-
thecus), and some other animals. See figs. 2, 6, 9, 25,
26, and 36.

INDECIDUATE (Lat. in, not, and decide, to fall off).
Applied to a placenta which is not wholly extruded from
the body of the parent at the time of the birth of the
young animal. See DECIDUATE.

INDEX (Lat., a pointer). The fore-finger, or second
digit of the extremity of the fore-foot.

INGUINAL (Lat. inguen, the groin). Pertaining to
or situated in the region of the groin.

INSECTIVORA (Lat. inscctum, an insect, and voro,
to devour). An order of mammals mostly adapted for
feeding on insects. See fig. 35.

INSECTIVORE. A member of the Insectivora.

INSECTIVOROUS. Pertaining to the Insectivora;
insect-eating.— Insectivorous dentition, a dentition of a
simple kind, in which the teeth are exceptionally uniform
in character, generally more or less conical in shape.

INTERDIG1TAL (Lat inter, between, and digitits,
a finger). Situated between the fingers or digits. —
Inter-digital glands, glands situated on the hoof-bearing
joints of many ruminants. See body of the book, vol. ii.

P- 73-

INTERMAXILLARY (Lat. inter, between, and
maxilla, the bone at the side of the upper jaw). Same
as premaxilla; so called because the two premaxillx are
contiguous and lie in the middle of the mouth between
the two maxillae.

ISCHIAL CALLOSITIES. Naked warty patches
on the hips of many monkeys.

ISCHIUM (Lat.). The lowermost or hindmost part
of the hip-bone, a separate bone in the embryo.

JUGAL BONE. The cheek-bone; the bone external
to the eye and giving prominence to the cheek. In a
group of the sloths this bone is characterized by a well-
marked descending process. See fig. 19.

KAINOZOIC (Gr. kainos, new, and zoe, life). In
geology, same as Tertiary. See GEOLOGICAL TABLE,
vol. i. p. 23.

LACHRYMAL (Lat. lachryma, a tear). Pertaining
to tears, or to the place where tears are formed. — Lachry-
mal bone, one of the bones which compose the lower
part of the orbit. — Lachrymal sinus, a depression in the

GLOSSARY.

229

lachrymal bone in the fleer family; the depression con-
taining the crumen gland.

LAMBDOIDAL
SUTURE (Gr. lambda,
the letter A, and cidos,
form). The suture at
the back of the crown
of the head connecting
the upper part of the
occiput with the two
parietal bones. See
SUTURE and fig. 39.
— Lambdoidal crest,
a bony ridge situated
at this suture.

LAMELLA
(Lat.). A thin
plate.

LARYNX (Gr.
and Lat.). The
voice-box; the
upper part of the
windpipe, the part
in which sounds
are produced.

LIBER (Lat, a
book). The third
compartment in
the complex sto-
mach of a rumi-

upwards from the front of the pelvis; characteristic of
the marsupials and monotremes. See figs. 27 and 28.

MARSUPIALIA (Lat. marsupium, a pouch). An
order of mammals in which the females usually have a
pouch in front in which they carry about their young for
some time after birth. See figs. 27 and 28.

MAXILLA (I-at). One of the bones forming the
side of the upper jaw; the bone in which all the teeth
behind the upper canines are set.

MEDIAN (Lat. meditts, middle). Placed in the
middle; running along the middle line.

MESOZOIC (Gr. mesos, middle, and zoe, life). In
geology, same as Secondary.

METACARPAL (Gr. meta, after, and carpus). Be-
longing to the palm of the hand, or the corresponding
part in the fore-limb of the lower animals. See fig. 17.

METATARSAL (Gr. meta, after, and tarsus). Be-
longing to the sole of the foot, or the corresponding part
in the hind-limb of the lower animals. See fig. 34.

MILK DENTITION, MILK TEETH. The teeth
which first appear, and which are afterwards shed in those
animals which have two sets of teeth.

MIOCENE (Gr. meios, less, and kainos, new). In
geology, belonging to the middle division of the Tertiary
rocks. See GEOLOGICAL TABLE, vol. i. p. 23.

MOLAR (Lat. molo, to grind). Sometimes used as
a general term for one of the cheek-teeth, but more

IV.

Fig. 27. — Skeleton of Kangaroo, m.nt. Marsupial bones: II. -V. Digits as
numbered. Observe the small second and third digits which in the living
animal are united under the same fold of skin as far as the claws. Observe also
the strong tail with chevron bones (ck.).

nant; so called because it contains layers of mucous
membrane arranged like the leaves of a book; also called
Omasum, Psalterinm, and Manyplies, or (Scotch) Motiy-
plics. See fig. 37.

LIGAMENT (Lat. ligamcnitim, from ligo, to bind).
A strong tissue serving to bind one bone to another.

LUMBAR (Lat. lumbus, the loin). Pertaining to the
loin. — Lumbar region, the
posterior portion of the body
between the false ribs and
the upper edge of the haunch-
bone.

MAMM^ (Lat). The fe-
male breasts. See vol. i. p. 3.

MANUBRIUM STERNI
(Lat, handle of the breast-
bone). Same as Prtsternum.

MANYPLIES = many folds. Same as LIBER.

MARSUPIAL. Noun, a member of the Marsupialia.
Adj. pertaining or belonging to the Marsupialia. — Mar-
supial bones, two spur-like bones running forwards and

Fig. 28. — Lower Jaw of Wombat,
showing the inflexion behind, char-
acteristic of the Marsupials.

Fig. 29.— Last Lower Tooth (Molar) of
Indian Elephant.

Fig. 30. — Last Lower Tooth
(Molar) of African Elephant.

specifically applied to those cheek-teeth which appear
only in the permanent dentition. See figs. 6, 29, and 30.

MOLLUSK (Lat. mottuscus, soft). A member of the
Mollusca, the group of soft-bodied animals to which the
snails, mussels, sea-slugs, &c. belong.

MONOPHYODONT (Gr. monos, alone, phyS, to be-
come, and odoiis, odontos, a tooth). Furnished with only
one set of teeth in the course of life, like most of the
Edentata. Distinguished from Diphyodont.

MONOTREMATA (Gr. monos, single, and trenia, an
aperture). The name of an order of mammals in which
there is only one opening to the exterior for the chamber
which receives the terminations of the intestinal canal,
and the ducts of the urinary and generative organs.

MONOTREME. A member of the Monotremata.

NARES (Lat). The nostrils.— Posterior nares, the
passages leading from the nostrils to the back of the
mouth.

NASAL (Lat nasus, the nose). Belonging to the
nose; specifically, applied to the bones inclosing the
nostrils and situated immediately in front of the frontals.
See figs. 31, 33, and 39.

NICTITATING MEMBRANE (Lat. nicto, to wink).
A membrane placed within the eyelids, and capable of
being rapidly passed over the front of the eye to remove
foreign matters; also called the third eyelid. It is present
in reptiles and birds, and in the monotremes among
mammals.

230

GLOSSARY.

Fig. 31. — Skull of Rhinoceros. Observe the prominent
nasal ^fta.] to support the horn or horns. z.a. Zygomatic
aich.

NOCTURNAL (Lat tuvhinnis, belonging to the
night). Active by night, and resting by day; opposed to
Diurnal.

NUCHAL (Low Lat micha, the nape of the neck).
Pertaining to the nape of the neck.

OCCIPITAL. Pertaining to the occiput or back part
of the head. — Occifital fawe, the bone at the back of the
head. See fig. 39.

OCCIPUT (Lat.). The back part of the head.

(ESOPHAGUS (Gr. oisophagos}. The gullet; the
tube leading from the mouth to the stomach.

OLFAC-
TORY (Lat.
olfario, olfac-
tum, to smell).
Pertaining to
the sense of
smell. — Olfac-
tory lobes, t\vo
lobes or seg
ments of the
brain in which
the nerves of
smell have
their origin.
See fig. ii.

OMASUM (Lat., bullock's tripe). Same as LIBER.

ONTOGKNETIC (Gr. en fa, beings, snA genesis, genera-
tion). Pertaining to the development of the individual :
distinguished from Phylogenetic. See DEVELOPMENT.

OPPOSABLE. As applied to the first digit of the
fore- or hind-foot, capable of having the fleshy part on the
fore or under surface placed in contact with the corres-
ponding part of the other digits of the same extremity.

ORBIT (Lat. orbita, a circuit). The bony ring or
socket in which the eye is set It is said to be closed
when cup-shaped as in man; complete when consisting
of an entire ring though open behind, as in the lemurs;
and incomplete when there is not an entire ring of bone,
as in the Carnivora. See fig. 24.

ORBITAL. Pertaining to the orbit.

ORIGINAL. In evolutionary language, first in the
course of development; also, present in or pertaining to
a primitive type.

OSTEO LOGICAL (Gr. as f eon, a bone, and logos, dis-
course). Pertaining to osteology or the science which
treats of the bones ; pertaining to the bones of the body
and their arrangement.

OVARY (Lat. m-arium). The organ in the female
producing ova or eggs.

OVIDUCT (Lat ovum, an egg, and ductiis, a duct).
A passage for the ovum or egg from the ovary.

OVUM, plur. OVA (Lat). An egg; a cell capable
when impregnated of developing into a young animal.

PACHYDERM (Gr. fachys, thick, and derma, skin).
A thick-skinned animal; a member of the Pachydermata,
an order of mammals constituted by Cuvier to include
the elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, &c., the members
of which are now divided among several orders.

PAL/EONTOLOGY (Gr. palaios, old, onto, beings,
and logos, discourse). The science that treats of fossils
or relics of extinct forms of life.

PALAEOZOIC (Gr. palaios, old, and zde, life). In
geology, same as Primary.

PARIETAL (Lat. paries, a wall). Belonging to the
side. — Parietal bones, the bones forming most of the side
of the skull in man, and the corresponding bones in the
lower animals. See fig. 39.

PATAGIUM (Lat., the border of a dress). The term
applied to the flying membrane in bats, flying squirrels,
the flying cat, and other quadrupeds capable of flying,
or, at least, maintaining themselves in the air so as to
make great leaps.

PAUNCH. The first compartment in the complete
stomach of the ruminants. Also called Rumen. See

fig- 37-

PECTINATE (Lat. feet en, a comb). Comb-like. See
fig. 26.

PECTORAL (Lat. pcctus, the chest). Pertaining to
the chest. — Pectoral arch, same as Shoulder-girdle.

PELVIS (Lit., a basin). The bony arch connecting
the lower or hind limbs,
which are articulated to
it. See fig. 32.

PERISSODAC-
TYLA (Gr. perissos,
odd, and daktylos, a
finger). The name of
an order of hoofed
mammals in which
there is always an odd
number of toes on the
hind-feet, and the toes
on the fore-feet, if even
in number, are unsymmetrical. See figure 33.

PERISSODACTYLE. A member of the Perisso-
dactyla. See fig. 33.

PETROUS PORTION OF TEMPORAL BONE.
See under TEMPORAL.

PHALANX, plur. PHALANGES (Gr., a row). One of
the small bones of a finger or toe.

Fig. 32.— The Pelvic Bones and lower part
of Vertebral Column in Man. //. Ilium ; is.
Ischium : /.* Pubic symphysis ; c. <_'

Fig. 33- — Skull of Horse, a typical Perissodactyle, showing dentition. /. In-
cisors; c. Canines; c.t. Cheek-teeth (molars and premolars similar); c.f. Coronoid
process ; z.a. Zygomatic arch : fra. Xasal.

PHYLOGENETIC (Gr. phyle, a class or tribe, and
genesis, generation). Pertaining to the evolution of a
form or group of forms; pertaining to development from
ancestral types.

PINNIPEDIA (Lat pinna, a wing or fin, and pes,
pedis, the foot). An order of mammals including the
seals and walruses: sometimes considered as a sub-order
of Carnivora. See FLIPPER and fig. 23.

GLOSSARY.

23'

Tig. 34— Skeleton of Hind-limb of
Bear, to illustrate the Plantigrade struc-
ture, r. Radius: «. Ulna: t. Tarsal
bones : or. Metalarsal bones : d. Digits;
ca. Calcancum.

PLACENTA (l.at.. .1 cake). The organ by which in
the higher mammals the blood vascular system of the
embryo is brought into in-
timate connection with that
of the mother.

PLANTIGRADE (Lat
//<////.;, the sole of the foot,
and gradior, to step or walk).
Applied to animals which
in standing and walking
touch the ground with the
entire sole of the foot,
man. or with the pans cor-
responding to the sole of
the foot or palm of the hand.
See fig. 34.

PLATYKKHINK (Gr.
platy-i. broad, and rAis,
r/iitws, the nose). Adj., be-
longing to the PlatyrrhinK.
or the group of the (juad-
rumana in which the nose
has a broad middle partition and the nostrils directed more
or less sidewards. Xoun, a member of the Platyrrhinae.

PI.IOCEN'K (Gr. pleios, more, and kainos, new). In
geology, the term applied to the most recent division of
the Tertiary rocks. See GEOLOGICAL TABLE, vol. i. p. 23.

PLOUGHSHARE BONE. The name of a highly
modified sesamoid bone present in
the moles. See fig. 35.

POLLEX (Lat, the thumb). The
thumb; the first digit of the hand
or fore-foot See DIGIT.

PREMAXILLA ( Lat prte, before,
and maxilla). The bone situated in
front of the maxilla; the bone in
which the upper incisors are set
Also called Intermaxillary or Inter-
maxillary Bone.

PREMOLAR (Lat. pra, before,
and molar). One of the front cheek-teeth; more pre-
cisely, one of the cheek-teeth which appear in the milk
dentition and are replaced by others in the permanent
dentition.

PRESTERNUM (Lat fra, before, and sternum, the
breast-bone). The anterior portion of the breast-bone;
the tnanubrium sterni.

PRIMARY. In geology, the term applied to the
older rocks from the Cambrian to the Permian inclusive.
Also called Palaozoic. See GEOLOGICAL TABLE, vol. i. p 23.

PROBOSCIDEA (Gr. proboskis, Lat proboscis, and
Gr. eidos, form). An order of mammals, the members of
which are furnished with a proboscis which serves as an
instrument for grasping and as an organ of touch; the
elephant order.

PROBOSCIDEAN. A member of the Proboscidea.

PROCESS. Specifically, in comparative anatomy, an
outgrowth, especially one of considerable length relative
to its breadth; a prolongation, not a mere swelling, knob,
or excrescence.

PRONATION (Lat promts, having the face down-
wards). The act of rotating the lower arm in such a

Fig. 35. — Lower part of
the Fore-limb of a Mole.
st. Sesamoid plough-
share bone. I.-V. Digits.

manner as to turn the palm of the hand downwards:
opposed to Supination.

PROXIMAL ( Lat prcximus, next). A term applied
to the part of anything nearest to the trunk or point of
origin; as the bone of the upper arm is articulated at its
proximal end to the shoulder-blade: opposite to Diftai.

PSALTERU'M (\jn. form olGr.psallfrwii, the name
of a stringed instrument). Same as Liber.

PYLORIC (Gr. pylons, a gate-keeper). A term
applied to that part of the stomach where the pylorus or
opening into the intestine is situated: opposite to Cardiac.

QUADRUMANA (Lat. quatuor, four, and maaus, the
hand). The order of mammals comprising the apes and
monkeys: so called because very generally provided with
an opposable first digit both on the fore- and hind-feet.

QUATERNARY (Lat qualuor, four). In geology, a
term applied to all the rocks after the Pliocene. Also
called Post-tertiary. See GEOLOGICAL TABLE, vol. i. p. ^3.

RADIUS (Lat, a ray or spoke of a wheel). The bone
of the forearm which lies innermost when the palm of
the hand is laid flat, and the corresponding bone in the
fore-limb of a quadruped. It corresponds to the tibia in
the leg or hind-limb of a quadruped. See figs. 1 7 and 34.

RECTUM (Lat n\tus, straight). The terminal portion
of the intestinal canal

RENNET STOMACH. The abomasum, the fourth
or true digestive stomach in the complex stomach of
ruminants: so called from containing the juice which
enables it to coagulate milk. See fig. 37.

RETE MIRAB1LE, plur. RETIA MIRABILIA (Lat, a
wonderful net). A branching net-work of small blood-
vessels in the course of a large blood-vessel.

RETICULUM (Lat, a net). The second division of
the complex stomach of ruminants : so called from being
divided into small compartments or cells by means of
partitions crossing each other netwise. Also called
Honey-tomb Bag. See fig. 37.

RETRACTILE. Capable of being retracted.

RETROGRADE DEVELOPMENT. In evolution-
ary language, a modification or process of modification
by which has been brought about a structure less highly
specialized than one believed to have existed in an
ancestral form.

Fig. 36.— Skull of Hare. Observe the small upper incisors I behind the large
functional ones i : <•->. Coronoid process : =.a Zygomatk arch.

RODENT (Lat. rodo, to gnaw, rodens, rodentis, gnaw-
ing). A member of the Rodentia.

RODENTIA. An order of mammals with incisor
teeth specially adapted for gnawing. See fig. 36.

RUMEN (Lat, the throat). The paunch. See fig. 37.

232

GLOSSARY.

RUMINANT (Lat. ruminor, to chew the cud). An
animal that chews the cud. See fig. 37.

SACRUM (Lat, sacred). The vertebrae (usually an-
chylosed) to which the haunch-bones are articulated.

SAGITTAL (Lat. sagitta, an arrow). A term applied
to the suture connecting the two parietal bones. See
under SKULL. — Sagittal crest, a bony ridge in the position
of the sagittal suture.

SCAPHOID (Gr. skaphl, a boat, and ados, form).
The bone in the wrist at the end of the radius; the
corresponding bone in the carpus of the lower animals.

Fig. 37. — Stomach of Ruminant .external;. Internal Structure of Stomach of Ruminant.

/.i. Paunch or rumen ; /*. Psaherium, liber, omasum, or manyplies ; ret. Reticulum
or honey-comb bag. r. st. Rennet -stomach or aoomasum ; the true digestive stomach.

SCAPULA (Lat). The shoulder-blade.

SEA-COW. The popular name for one of the Sirenia.

SEBACEOUS (Lat. sebaceus). Fatty; secreting fat—
Sebaceous glands, skin glands secreting an oily or fatty
matter.

SECTORIAL (Lat seco, to cut, sector, a cutter). Same
as Carnassial.

SELENODONT (Gr. selene, the moon, and odous,
odontos, a tooth.) A term applied to
teeth the surface of which exhibits
crescent-shaped bands of enamel. See

fig- 38-

SEPTUM (Lat). A partition.

SESAMOID BONES. The name
of certain bones formed at the joints
of the toes and elsewhere in many
mammals; so called from the supposed
resemblance of manyof them to the seeds
of the Indian plant called Sesame. See figs. 7 and 35.

SHIN-BONE. Same as Tibia.

SHOULDER-GIRDLE. The circle of bones formed
by the two shoulder-blades and the two collar-bones.
Also called Pectoral Arch.

SINUS (Lat, a bay). A cavity. — Frontal sinuses, the
cavities between the plates of the frontal bones or bones
of the forehead, the cavities which in man produce the
prominent ridges above the eyes.

SIRENIA (Gr. sdren, a mermaid). An order of
mammals. See fig. 22.

SKULL The skeleton of the head. It is divided
into a cranial region, constituting the brain-case, and a
facial region, comprising the bones of the face. See fig. 39.

SNAG. A prong or spike; specifically applied to the
single spike which is the earliest form of a deer's antler.

SPECIALIZE. To make special; to adapt to the
performance of special functions. The teeth, for example,
are said to be specialized when they are so formed as to

Fig. 38. — Upper
Surface of Molar of
Cfma megnceros, to
illustrate selenodont
dentition.

be adapted for performing the special acts of gnawing, as
in rodents, grinding, as in horses and cows, and so on.

SPECULUM (Lat, a mirror). In zoology, a bright
spot in animals, such as the light-coloured patch on the
hind-quarters of the roe-deer.

SPHINCTER (Gr. sp/iiiigktcr, from sphingo, to con-
strain). A name applied generally to a kind of circular
muscles, or muscles in rings, which serve to close the
external orifices of organs, and more particularly to those
among them which have the peculiarity of being in a
state of permanent contraction, independently of the will,
and of relaxing only when it is required
that the contents of the organs which they
close should be evacuated.

SPLINT-BONES. The functionless
bones on each side of the cannon-bone
of a horse, representing the metacarpal
bones of the second and fourth digits.
See fig. 7.

SUPINATION (lat. supinm, on the
back). The act of rotating the lower arm
in such a way as to turn the palm of the
hand upwards: opposed to Pronation.

SUPRA-OCCIPITAL CREST. Same
as Lambdoidal Crest or Ridge.

SUTURE (Lat. sutura, from suo, to sew). The line
along which any two bones of the skull are dove-tailed
into one another. See LAMBDOIDAL and SAGITTAL, and

%• 39-

SYMPHVSIS (Gr., a growing together). The union
of bones by means of cartilage; the place where bones
are so united.- — Pubic symphysis, the union of the bones
in the inferior and front portion of the pelvis.

TARSUS (Gr. tarsos, the flat of the foot). The as-
semblage of small bones belonging to the ankle, and the
corresponding bones in the hind-limbs of the lower ani-
mals.— Tarsal region, the region of the tarsus.

TEAR-PIT. Same as Lachrymal Sinus. See LACHRY-
MAL.

TEMPORAL (Lat tempera, the temple). Belonging
to the temple. — Temporal fossa. See under FOSSA. —
Petrous portion of the temporal bone, that part of the tem-
poral bone which contains the internal organs of the
answering to the pro-otif, or bone in front of the ear in
the lower vertebrates.

TENDINOUS. Pertaining to a tendon; composed
of tissue like that of a tendon.

TENDON (Fr. from Latin tendo, to stretch). In
anatomy, a cord composed of a bundle of fibres forming
a tough tissue which serves as the means of attaching a
muscle to a bone.

TERRESTRIAL. Belonging to the earth; frequent-
ing or inhabiting the surface of the ground : opposed to
Aquatic and Arboreal.

TERTIARY (Lat tertius, third). In geology, the
term applied to the more recent rocks above the Cre-
taceous and ending with the Pliocene. See GEOLOGICAL
TABLE, voL i. p. 23.

THIRD EYELID. See NICTITATING MEMBRANE.

THORACIC. Belonging to the thorax.

THORAX (Gr.). The chest; the part of the body
extending from the neck to the last of the ribs.

GLOSSARY.

233

TIBIA (Lat., a flute). The shin-bone; the inner of
the two bones of the lower leg, or lower part of the hind-
limb in quadrupeds. It corresponds to the radius in the
arm or fore-limb. See fig. 7.

TINE. A spike or prong; specially applied to a
spiked branch of the antlers of a deer.

TRAGUS (Gr. tragos, a goat). The cartilaginous
valve-like flap which extends from the front backward?,
over the entrance to the ear-passage : so called probably
from the fact of its being
provided in some persons
with a tuft of hairs like a
goat's beard.

TROCHANTER (Gr.
trcfho, to turn). A knob
or process at or near the
upper end of the thigh
bone for the attachment
of muscles concerned in
rotating the limb. — T/iini
trochanter, a. lateral tro-
chanter near the upper
end of the thigh-bonechar-
acteristic of the Perisso-
dactyla.

TUBERCLED
TOOTH. A tooth the surface of which is provided
with small blunt knobs or tubercles; especially, one of
the molars in the Carnivora behind the carnassials.

IT.NA (Lat, the elbow). The outer of the two bones
of the forearm when the palm of the hand is laid flat, or
the corresponding bone in the fore-limb of one of the
lower animals. It answers to the fibula in the hind-limb.
See figs. 17 and 34.

UNDIFFERENTIATED. Not characterized by a
special structure; for example, the simple and uniform
teeth of the dolphin.

UNGUICULATE (Lat. uuguis, a nail). Furnished
with nails or claws.

F 'S- 39- — The Cranium, mi. Nasal ;
fr. Frontal ; pa. Parietal ; o. Occipital ;
t. Temporal ; j. Jugal, malar, or check
bone ; c.p. Coronoid process ; z.a. Zygo-
tnatic arch ; s.s. Line of sagittal suture;
l.s. Lambdoidal suture.

'P.

UNGULATE (I.at. ungitla, a hoof). Furnished with
hoofs.

UTERUS (Lat.). The womb.

VASCULAR (Lat. ras, a vessel). Connected with or
belonging to the system of blood-vessels, or the circula-
tory system.

VELVET. In a special sense, the delicate hairy
covering of a deer's antlers while growing.

VERTEBRA (I-at. verto, to turn). One of the bones
of the column inclosing the
spinal cord. See fig. 40.

VISCERA (Lat. pi. of
riscus). The contents of the
great cavities of the body,
especially of the chest and
abdomen. Thus the heart,
liver, stomach, &c., are all
viscera, and one of them
separately is a viscits.

WITHERS. The eleva-
tion at the junction of the
shoulder-bones of a horse.

WRIST. The part of the
arm where the hand is jointed
to the forearm; sometimes
used in the body of the book in a wider sense to designate
also the corresponding part in the fore-limb of one of the
lower animals ; the carpus.

ZONARY (Gr. zoi f, Lat. zona, a belt). Having the
form of a belt or ring.

ZYGODONT (Gr. zygon, a yoke, and odous, odontos, a
tooth). A term applied to teeth divided into transverse
ridges by means of deep grooves, as in the tapir.

ZYGOMATIC ARCH (Gr. zygoma, from zygon, a
yoke). The arch of bone in the skull formed by the
meeting of a backward process from the jugal or cheek
bone and a forward process from the temporal bone.
In some forms this arch is incomplete. See figs, 31, 33,
36, and 39, and comp. figs. 18 and 19.

Fig. 40. — Dorsal Vertebra seen from
above, f. Centrum or body of the
vertebra ; s.c. Spinal or neural canal :
us. Neural spine, the whole series of
which in the vertebral column forms
the uneven ridge on the back; /./.
Transverse processes articulating with
the ribs.

VOL. II.

INDEX.

An asterisk * after number of page indicates an engraving; the contraction gen. chars. = general characters.

Aard-vark, ii. 186, 187.*

Aardwolf, i. 157,* 234.

Abbu Addas, ii. 100.*

Acanthoglossus Bruynii, ii. 220.

Aceratherium, ii. 46, 59.

Achi, ii. 89.

Acrobates pygma?us, ii. 204.

Addax nasomaculatus, ii. 100,* 101.

Agouta, i. 120.*

Agouti, Golden, ii. 169.*

— family, general chars., ii. 169.
Aguarachay, i. 145, 146.*

Ai, ii. 182.*
Ailuropoda, i. 188.
Ailuropus, i. 234.

— melanoleucus. i. 204.*
Ailurus fulgens, i. 203.*
Alactaga jaculus, ii. 160, * 162.
Alcelaphus Caama, ii. 101.*
Alces Machlis, ii. 86.*

— palmatus, ii. 86.*
Alluvium, ii. 223.
Alpaca, ii. 134, 135.*
Amblotherium, ii. 214.
Amphicyon, i. 236.
Amphilestes, ii. 213.
Amphitherium, ii. 213.
Amycodon, ii. 59.
Anchitherium, ii. 60.
Ancylotherium, ii. 190.
Aneturas, general characters, i. 66.
Angwantibo, i. 87, 88.*

Anoa, ii. 114,* 115.

— depressicomis, ii. 114,* 115.
Anoplotherium, ii. 62, 139.
Anta, ii. 42,* 43.

Ant-bear, ii. 187.*

— Cape, ii. 186, 187.*
Ant-eater, Banded, ii. 199.*

— Great, ii. 187.*

— Little, ii. 188.*

— Porcupine, ii. 219.*
Ant-eaters, Scaly, gen.chars., ii. 188.

— True, ii. 187.

Antelope, American Prong-horned,

»• 75-

— Four-horned, ii. 93,* 94.

— Harnessed, ii. 95.*

— Indian, ii. 102.*

— Mendes, ii. 100.*

— Pronghorn, ii. 87,* 88.

— Sable, ii. 98.*

— Sabre, ii. 99.*

Antelopes, general characters, ii.

88; 137, 139.
Anthropomorphae, i. 32.
Antilocapra americana, ii. 75, 87,*

88.

Antilope cervicapra, ii. 102.*
Antilopida, general characters, ii.88.
Aperea, ii. 171, 172.*
Apes, Anthropoid, i. 32.

— Black Anthropoid, i. 32.

Apes, Red Anthropoid, i. 36.

— and Monkeys, gen. chars., i. 25.
— Geographical Distribution and
Descent of the, i. 73.

Arcticlis binturong, i. 202.*
Arctocebus calabarensis, i. 87, 88.*
Arctocyon, i. 236.
Arctocyonida, i. 236.
Arctomys Bobac, ii. 147.

— marmota, ii. 147.*

— monax, ii. 147.
Arctonyx, i. 235.
Arctopitheci, i. 28, 30, 70.
Argali, ii. 112.

Armadillo, Giant, ii. 184,* 185.

— Six-banded, ii. 185.*
Armadillos, general chars., ii. 183.
Ami, ii. no.*

Artiodactyla, general chars., ii. 61.

— Hollow-horned, ii. 74.

— Non-Ruminant or Many-toed,
ii. 64.

— or Ruminants, Two-toed, ii. 73.
Arvicola, ii. 178.

— agrestis, ii. 157.*

— amphibius, ii. 158.*

— arvalis, ii. 157.*
Ashkok, ii. 41.*
Ass, ii. 55.

— African Wild, ii. 53,* 54.

— Tibetan Wild, ii, 54, 55.*
Asses, Wild, ii. 59.
Assapan, ii. 145.

Ateles, i. 30, 64.

— eriodes, i. 64, 65.*
Atherura africana, ii. 163,* 164.
Auchenia, general chars., ii. 134.

— Lama, ii. 134,* 135.

— Paco, ii. 135.*

— vicufia, ii. 136.
Auerochs, ii. 120, 126.
Axis maculata, ii. 80, 81.*
Aye-aye, i. 85,* 86.

Babakoto, i. 84,* 85.
Babirussa, ii. 71,* 136.

— alfurus, ii. 71.*
Baboon, Arabian, i. 51, 55.

— Common, i. 53, 57, 58.*

— Guinea, i. 57.

— Pig-faced, i. 57.

Baboons, general characters, i. 53.
Badger, Common, i. 213, 214.*

— Stinking, i. 215,* 216.

— family, i. 235.

— and Weasel family, general
characters, i. 211.

Badgers, general characters, i. 213.

— American, general chars., i. 216.

— Honey, i. 217.

— Indian, general chars., i. 216.

— Pouched, general chars., ii. 197.

— True, i. 235.

Balaena australis, ii. 16.

— mysticetus, ii. 16.*
Balasnoptera boops, ii. 15,* 16.
Balasnopterida, ii. 16.
Baiodon, ii. 214.

Bandicoot, Long-nosed, ii. 198."
Banteng, ii. 125,* 126.
Banxrings, general chars., i. 114.
Barbary Ape, i. 52.*
Barbastelle, i. 104,* 105.
Baribal, Black, i. 208,* 209.
Barrigudo, i. 64.*
Bassaris astuta, i. 198.*
Bat.CommonMouse coloured, i. 105.

— Dwarf, i. 106, 107.*

— Flap-nosed, i. 107, 108.*

— Greater Horse-shoe, i. no.*

— Lesser Horse-shoe, i. no.

— Long-eared, i. 97, 104.*

— Pug-nose, i. 104,* 105.

— Water, i. 105.*

Bats, general characters, i. 96.

— Fruit-eating, i. 101.

— Horse-shoe, i.gSigen. chars., 109.

— Insect-eating, i. 103.

— Leaf-nosed, i. 107.

— True, i. 103.

— Water, i. 98.

— Geographical Distribution and
Descent of the, i. no.

Bear, Black, i. 208, * 209.

— Brown, i. 207.*

— Coco-nut Palm, i. 209,* 210.

— Common Indian Black, i. 210.'*

— Gray or Grizzly, i. 206.

— Malayan, i. 209,* 210.

— Native (Australian), ii. 204, 205.*

— Pouched, ii. 204, 205. *

— Sloth-, i. 210.*

Bears, general characters, i. 196.

— Large, gen. chars., i. 204; 234.

— Small, gen. chars., i. 198; 234.
Beaver, ii. 149.*

— family, general chars., ii. 149.
Beech-marten, i. 222.*
Beef-eaters, African, ii. 29.
Behemoth, ii. 65.

Belideus sciureus, ii. 203, 204. *
Beluga, ii. 10.*

— leucas, ii. 10.*

Bibos frontalis, ii. 124,* 125.
Big-horn, ii. in.*
Binturong, i. 202,* 234.
Bison, American, ii. 120.*

— European, ii. 119.*
— bonasus, ii. 119.

Bisons, general characters, ii. 119.

Black Ape, i. 26, 53, 55.*

Blastoceros campestris, ii. 79. 80.*

Blauw-bok. ii. 99.

Bleekbok, ii. 91,* 93.

Boars, Wild, general chars., ii. 67.*

Bobac, ii. 147.

Bonnet-monkey, i. 49.

Bonlo, ii. 4, 5.*

Boomer, ii. 208.

Boonder, i. 49, 51.

Bos, general characters, ii. 123.

— brachyurus, ii. 127.

— frontalis, ii. 124,* 125.

— frontosus, ii. 127.

— gaums, ii. 124.*

— grunniens, ii. 123.*

— indicus, ii. 126, 127.*
-sondaicus, ii. 125, 126.*

— taurus, ii. 128.

Boselaphustragocamelus, ii. 96, '97.
Bouquetins, general chars., ii. 108.
Bovida, general characters, ii. 115.
Brachyurus, general chars., i. 67.

— calvus, i. 67.*

— ouakari, i. 67.*
Bradypoda, general chars., ii. 181.
Bradypus tridactylus, ii. 182.*
Bramatherium, ii. 140.

Brocket, Red, ii. 79.*

Bruan, i. 209,* 210.

Bruta, ii. 180.

Bubalus, general chars. , ii. 1 16.

— Caama, ii. 101.*

— caffer, ii. 116, 117."
- Kcrabau, ii. 119.*

— vulgaris, ii. 117.
Buffalo, Cape, ii. 116, 117.*

— Common, ii. 117.
Buffaloes, general chars., ii. 116.
Bunodontia, ii. (a.

Buphaga africana, ii. 29.
Burrowers (Insectivora), i. 122.
Burunduk, ii. 146.*
Buselaphus oreas, ii. 100. *
Bush-dog, i. 219.*

Caama, ii. 101.*
Cacamizli, i. 198,* 234.
Cachalot, ii. 13.*
Callithrix, Masked, i. 68.*

— personata, i. 68.*
Calotragus scoparius, ii. 91," 93.
Camel family, gen. chars., ii. 129.

— Bactrian, ii. 131.*
Camelida, ii. 129.
Camelopardalis giraffa, ii. 128.*
Camels, ii. 130, 137, 140.
Camelus, ii. 130.

— bactrianus, ii. 131.*

— dromedarius, ii. 131.*
Cumpagnol, ii. 157.*
Canida, i. 234.

Canis, i. 136; general chars., i. 137.

— anthus, i. 141.*

— Azarre, i. 145, 146.*

— corsac, i. 148.*

— dingo, i. 143,* 144.

— jubatus, i. 139.*

— lagopus, i. 149.*

236

INDEX.

Canis latrans, i. 140.*

— lupaster, i. 139.*

— lupus, i. 137.*

— mesomelas, i. 145.*

— vulpes, i. 146, 147.*

— zerda, i. 150.*
Canna, ii. 100.*
Cannon-bone, ii. 224.*
Cape Daman, ii. 41.

— Ratel, i. 216,* 217.
Capella rupicapra, ii. 89.*
Capra cegagrus, ii. 106.*

— angorensis, ii. 107,* 108.

— falconeri, ii. 105,* 106.

— ibex, ii. 108,* 109.

— hircus, ii. 107,* 108.

— megaceros, ii. 105,* 106.
Capreolus caprosa, ii. 79.*

— vulgaris, ii. 79.*

Caprida, general characters, ii. 103.

Capybara, ii. 172, 173.*

Caracal, i. 182.*

Cariacou, ii. 83.

Cariacus campestris, ii. 79, 80.*

— rufus, ii. 79.*

Carnivora, general chars., i. 129.
Carpophaga, i. 101.
Casoryx, ii. 140.
Castor, ii. 178.

— fiber, ii. 149.*

Castorida, general chars., ii. 149.
Cat, Coffee, i. 191.*

— Gloved, i. 171, 172.*

— Palm, i. 191.*

— Pampas, i. 179,* 180.

— Wild, i. 172, 173.*

— tribe, general chars., i. 158: ii.
225.

Catarrhinoe, i. 32.
Catoblepas, ii. 102.

— gnu, ii. 103.*

Caudatx, general characters, i. 42.
Cave-hyaena, i. 237.
Cavia aperea, ii. 171, 172.*

— cobaya, ii. 171.

— porcellus, ii. 171, 172.*
Cavicornia, general chars., ii. 87.
Cavy, Patagonian, ii. 171.*

— Restless, ii. 171, 172.*
Cebidae, general characters, i. 65.
Cebus, i. 65.

— capucinus, i. 66.*
Centetes ecaudatus, i. 121.*
Centetida, i. 120.
Cephalophus mergens, ii. 92,* 94.
Cercolabes villosus, ii. 164.*
Cercoleptes caudivolvulus, i. 201,*

202.

Cercopitheci, i. 74.
Cercopithecus, i. 48.

— diana, i. 49.*

— pyrrhonotus, i. 49.

— sabseus, i. 49.*
Cerebellum, ii. 225.*
Cerebrum, ii. 225.*

Cervida, general characters, ii. 77.
Cervulus muntjac, ii. 78.*
Cervus, general characters, ii. 82.

— Aristotelis, ii. 80.

— axis, ii. 80, 81.*

— elaphus, ii. 82.*

— Sedgwickii, ii. 139.

— virginianus, ii. 83.
Chacma, i. 57.

Chasropus castanotus, ii. 198,* 199.
Chalicomys, ii. 178.
Chamois, ii. 89.*
Cheetahs, i. 161, 162.
Chego, i. 35.

Cheironectes variegatus, ii. 194,
196.*

Chevrotain family, general charac-
ters, ii. 76; 136.
Chevrotain, Water, ii. 76.
Chikara, ii. 93,* 94.
Chimpanzee, i. 31, 33,* 74.
Chinchillafamily, gen. chars., ii.i66.

— Larger, ii. 166,* 167.
— Smaller, ii. 167.*

— brevicaudata, ii. 166, * 167.

— lanigera, ii. 167.*
O'hinchillida, general chars., ii. 166.
Chipmunk, ii. 146.*
Chirogaleus, i. 79, 81-83.

— furcifer, i. 83,* 84.
Chiromys madagascariensis, i. 85,*

86.

Chiroptera, general chars., i. 96.
Chlamydophorus truncatus, ii. 185,

186.*

Chceropotamus, ii. 138.
Choerotherium, ii. 138.
Cholcepus didactylus, ii. 183.*

— Hofmanni, ii. 183.
Chrysochlorida, gen. chars., i. 125.
Chrysochloris capensis, i. 126.*
Chrysothrix sciurea, i. 69.*
Civet, African, i. 189.

— Asiatic or Indian, i. 189.*
Civet-cats, i. 189.

Civets, general characters, i. 188.

Cladobates, i. 114.

• — Tana, i. 114, 115.*

Clawed Monkeys, i. 8; general
characters, i. 70.

Clidastes, ii. 19.

Climbers, i. 114.

Coati, Social, i. 200,* 201.

Coatis, general chars., i. 199; 234.

Ccelogenys paca, ii. 170.*

Colobi, i . 30, 61, 74 ; general char-
acters, i. 48.

Colobus guereza, i. 47, * 48.

Colonoceras, ii. 59.

Colugo, i. 93,* 94.

Colus tartaricus, ii. 95,* 96.

Condylura, i. 127.

— cristata, i. 125.*
Connochaetes, ii. 102.
Cony, ii. 41.

— family, ii. 38, 39.
Corsac, i. 148.*
Cougar, i. 176, 177.*
Couxio, i. 67.*
Coyote, i. 140.*
Coypu, ii. 165.*

Crawlers (Insectivora), i. 120.
Cricetus frumentarius, ii. 154.*
Crocidura aranea, i. 118.*

— etrusca, i. 118.
Crossopus fodiens, i. 118, 119.*
Cryptoprocta, i. 234.

— ferox, i. 184, 185.*
Ctenacodon, ii. 214.
Ctenomys, ii. 166.
Cuscus, ii. 204.
Cuy, ii. 164.*

Cyclothurus didactylus, ii. 188.
Cynailurus, gen. chars., i. 161, 162.

— guttatus, i. 161.*
— jubatus, i. 162.
Cynocephali, i. 73.
Cynocephalus, general chars., i. 53.

— Babuin, i. 57.*
gelada, i. 53, 55, 56.*

— hamadryas, i. 55.

— leucophseus, i. 59.

— Maimon, i. 59.*

— Mormon, i. 53.

— niger, i. 26, 53, 55.*

— porcarius, i. 57.

— sphinx, i. 57.

Cynodon, i. 236, 237.
Cynogale Bennettii, i. 191, 192.*
Cynomorphae, i. 26, 43.
Cynomys ludovicianus, ii. 148.*
Cynopithecus, i. 53.

— nigcr, i. 26.

Cynopoda, general chars. , i. 192.

Cyon, i. 136.

Cystophora cristata, i. 248.*

— proboscidea, i. 246, 247.*

Dama vulgaris, ii. 84.*
Dasypoda, general chars., ii. 183.
Dasyprocta Aguti, ii. 169.*
Dasypus sexcinctus, ii. 185.*
Dasyure family, gen. chars., ii. 200.
Dasyurus, i. 237.

— ursinus, ii. 201.*

— viverrinus, ii. 201.*
Dasyurida, general chars., ii. 200.
Dauw, ii. 53.*

Deer, ii. 139, 140.

— family, general chars., ii. 77; 136.

— Antlers of, ii. 74, 223.*

— Pampas, ii. 79, 80.*

— Persian, ii. 82.

— Red, ii. 82.*

— Spotted, ii. 80, 81.*

— True, general characters, ii. 82.
Degu, ii. 166.*

— family, general chars., ii. 166.
Delphinapterus, ii. 10.
Delphinida, general chars., ii. 4.
Delphinus, ii. 5.

— delphis, ii. 5, 6.*

— tursio, ii. 6, 7.*
Delundung, i. 190.*
Dendrohyrax, ii. 41.
Dendrolagus ursinus, ii. 207.*
Dental Characters, i. 16.

— Formulae, i. 9.
Denticete, ii. 4.

Desmans, general chars., i. 116.
Devexa, general chars., ii. 128.
Diana Monkey, i. 48, 49.*
Diceratherium, ii. 59.
Dichobune, ii. 139.
Dicotyles labiatus, ii. 72.

— torquatus, ii. 72.*
Didactyla or Ruminantia, ii. 73.
Didelphyida, general chars., ii. 195.
Didelphys virginiana, ii. 196, 197.*
Digit, in Glossary.
Digitigrada and Plantigrada, i. 6.
Diluvium, ii. 226.

Dingo, i. 143,* 144.

Dinoceras, ii. 37.

Dinotheria, ii. 35.

Diphyodonts, i. 8.

Dipodida, general chars., ii. 160.

Dipodomys Phillipsii, ii. 162.*

Diprotodon, ii. 212.

Dipus aegyptius, ii. 160,* 161.

— mauritanicus, ii. 160,* 161.
Distribution in Space, i. 12.
Dititherium, i. 236.

Divers (Insectivora), general char-
acters, i. 116.
Dog, Australian, i. 143.* 144.

— Cape Hunting, i. 136, 152, 153.*

— Domestic, i. 142.

— tribe, general characters, i. 134.
Dogs, Proper, i. 136 ; general char-
acters, 137.

Dolichotis patagonica, ii. 171.*
Dolphin, Amazon, ii. 4, 5.*

— Bottle-nosed, ii. 6, 7.*

— Common, ii. 5, 6.*

— Fresh-water, ii. 4, 5.*
Dolphins, Marine, ii. 5.

— True, general characters, ii. 4.

Dormouse family, gen. chars. ,11.148.

— Common, ii. 149, 150.*
Douroucouli, Three-banded, i. 70.*
Drill, i. 59.

Dromatherium, ii. 221.

— sylvestre, ii. 213.
Dromedary, ii. 131.*
Dromotherium, i. 127.
Dryolestes, ii. 214.
Dryopithecus, i. 73, 76.
Duck-mole, ii. 217.*
Dugong, ii. 21,* 24.
Duplicidentata, i. 4; ii. 142.
Duyker-bok, ii. 92, * 94.

Earth-hogs, ii. 186.
Earth-wolf, i. 157.*
Echidna aculeata, ii. 219.*

— hystrix, ii. 219.*

— setosa, ii. 219.

— Long-spined, ii. 219.*

— Short-spined, ii. 219.
Echimyida, general chars., ii. 156.
Edentates, general chars., ii. 180.

— Wormed-tongued, general char-
acters, ii. 186.

— Geographical Distribution and
Descent of the, ii. 189.

Kland, ii. 100.*
Elasmognathus, ii. 58.

— Bairdii, ii. 44.
Elen, ii. ico.*
Elephant, African, ii. 30.*

— Indian, ii. 31.*
Elephants, general chars., ii. 26.
Elephas africanus, ii. 30.*

— Cliftii, ii. 35.

— Columbi, ii. 35.

— insignis, ii. 35.

— meridionalis, ii. 35.

— primigenius, ii. 31, 35.

— priscus, ii. 35.
Elephant-shrew, i. 115,* 116.
Elk, ii. 86.*

— Canadian, ii. 86.

— Ceylon, ii. 80.
Emgalo, ii. 69.
Enaliosaurii, ii. 18, 19.
Enhydris marina, i. 231, 232.*
Entellus Monkeys, i. 45.*
Entelodon, ii. 138.
Entomophaga, i. 103.
Eocene, i. 235 ; ii. 24, 138.
Eohippus Phenacodus, ii. 59.
Eohyus, ii. 138.

Eomeryx, ii. 139.

Epiglottis, ii. 227.

Epithelium, ii. 227.

Equida, general characters, ii. 49.

Equus asinus, ii. 55.

— Burchellii, ii. 53.*

— caballus, ii. 55.

— curvidens, ii. 56, 59.

— hemionus, ii. 54, 55.*

— onager, ii. 54.*

— Przevalskii, ii. 57.

— quagga, ii. 53.

— taeniopus, ii. 53,* 54.

— Tarpan, ii. 56,* 57.

— Zebra, ii. 52,* 53.
Erethizon dorsatum, ii. 165.
Ericulus, i. 120.
Erinacei, i. 121.

Erinaceus europasus, i. 122, 123.*
Eriomys chinchilla, ii. 166,* 167.

— laniger, ii. 167.*
Ermine, i. 226.*
Eupleres, i. 126.

Evolution, bearing on dental sys-
tems, i. 10.
Eyra, Brazilian, i. 180.*

INDEX.

237

Fahhad, i. 161,* 162.
Fallow-cat, i. 171, 172.*
Fallow-deer, ii. 84.*
Felida, general chars., i. 158; 234.
Kelincs of the New World, i. 175.

— of the Old World, i. 163.

— True, general chars., i. 161, 163.
Kelis, i. 163.

— catus, i. 172, 173.*

— concolor, i. 176, 177.*

— eyra, i. 180.*

— leo, i. 163.*

— Leopardus, i. 168, 169.*

— macroscelis, i. 169,* 170.

— nuiniculata, i. 171, 172.*

— marmorata, i. 170, 171.*

— onca, i. 175.*

— pajeros, i. 179,* 180.

— I'amhera, i. 168.

— pardalis, i. 178,* 179.

— pardinus, i. 183, 184.*

— Serval, i. 174, 175.*

— tigris, i. 165.*

- viverrina, i. 174.*
Felsinotherium, ii. 24.
Fennecus, i. 235.
Fennek, i. 150.*
FVrret, i. 225.*
Fiber zibethicus, ii. 139.*
FL-ld-mouse, ii. 156.

— Long-tailed, ii. 156.
Field-vole, Common, ii. 157.*
Flesh-eaters, general chars., i. 129.

— Geographical Distribution and
Descent of the, i. 234.

Flipper, ii. 247.*

Flipper-footed Animals or Seals,

i. 239.

Flying-cat, i. 93,* 94.
Flying-phalanger, Squirrel, ii. 203,

204.*

Flying-squirrels, ii. 145.
Fore- and Hind-limbs, i. 5.
Fossa, i. 184, 185,* 234.
Fox, i. 146, 147.*

— Long-eared, i. 152.*

— Sahara, i. 150.*

— White or Arctic, i. 149.*
Foxes, general characters, i. 144.

— Flying, i. lor.

Galago, Common, i. 89.*

— Grand or Thick-tailed, i. 88.

— crassicaudatus, i. 88.
Galagonida, i. 88.
Galagos, i. 88.
Galeopithecida, i. 93.
Galeopithecus, i. 78.

— volitans, i. 93,* 94.
Galethylax, ii. 214, 215.
Galictis, general characters, i. 219.

— barbara, i. 220.*

— vittata, i. 220.
Galidia, i. 234.
Galidictis, i. 234.
Garden-shrew, i. 118.*
Gaur, ii. 124.*
Gavasus gaurus, ii. 124.*

— sondaicus, ii. 125, 126.*
Gayal, ii. 124, 125.*
Gazella dorcas, ii. 90, * 93.
Gazelle, ii. 90,* 93.
Gelada, i, 43, 53, 55, 56.*
Gelocus, ii. 139.

Genet, Common, i. 187,* 188.
Genetta vulgaris, i. 187,* 188.
Geomys bursaria, ii. 162.*
Gerbillus, ii. 160.

Gibbon, White-handed, i. 42, 43.*
Gibbons, general characters, i. 39.
Giraffe, general characters, ii. 128.*

Giraffes, ii. 137, 140.

Gliraria, ii. 149.

Globicephalus melas, ii. 8, 9.*

Glossotherium, ii. 190.

Glutton, i. 218.*

Glyptodons, ii. 190.

Gnawers, general characters, it. 141.

Gnu, White-tailed, ii. 103.*

Gnus, ii. 102.

Goat, Angora, ii. 107,* 108.

— Bezoar, ii. 106. *

— Domestic, ii. 107.

— Rocky Mountain, ii. 104.*
Goats, gen. chars., ii. 103; 137.
Gopher, ii. 167.*

Gorilla, i. 31, 32, 35,* 74.

Gravigrada, ii. 190.

Grind, ii. 8, 9.*

Grisons, general characters, i. 219.

Ground Squirrels, ii. 146.

Guanaco, ii. 134.

Guazui, ii. 79, 80.*

Guenons, gen. chars., i. 48, 49.*

Guereza, i. 47,* 48.

Guib, ii. 95.*

Guinea-pig, fi. 171.

Gulo borealis, i. 218.*

Gurkur, ii. 54.*

Gymnorhina, i. 103.

Gymnura, i. 126.

— Rafflesii, i. 121.

Gymnuroe, general characters, i. 62.

Hair, i. 3.

Halianassa, ii. 24.

Halicore Dugong, ii. 21,* 24.

Halmaturus, ii. 207, 208.

Hamster, Proper, ii. 154.*

Hand, i. 6.

Hapale, i. 71.

— Jacchus, i. 72,* 73.

— midas, i. 72.

— rosalia, i. 71,* 72.
Hapalemur, i. 79.

— griseus, i. 82,* 83.
Haploceros americanus, ii. 104.*
Hare, Alpine, ii. 174, 176.*

— Common, ii. 174, 175.*

— Mountain, ii. 174, 176.*

— Northern, ii. 174, 176.*
Hares, Piping or Calling, ii. 173.
Hartebeest, ii. 101."
Harvest-mouse, ii. 156.
Hedgehogs, gen. chars., i. 121, 123.*
Helaletes, ii. 58.

Helictis, i. 235.
Helladotherium, ii. 140.
Helohyus, ii. 138.
Herpestes, i. 192.

— griseus, i. 194.*

— Ichneumon, i. 193.*

— Widdringtoni, i. 193.
Hipparion, ii. 60.
Hippopotamus, ii. 64,* 136-138.

— amphibius, ii. 64.*

— liberiensis, ii. 64.

— major, ii. 137.

— minor, ii. 64, 137.
Hippotigris, ii. 52.

— Burchellii, ii. 53.*

— quagga, ii. 53.

— Zebra, ii. 52,* 53.
Hippotragus leucophasa, ii. 99.

— niger, ii. 98.*

Hog family, ii. 136, 137.
Hogs, African, ii. 68.

— Pigmy, ii. 72.
Honey-bear, i. 201,* 202.
Hoolock, i. 41.*

Horse, Domesticated, ii. 55.

— family, general chars., ii. 49.

Horses, ii. 38.

— African, general chars., ii. 52.

— Asiatic, gem-Mi charx , ii. 54.

— Wild, general character*, ii. 5.,.
Howlers, general characters, i. 62.
Howling Monkey, Red, i. 63.*
Hununian, i. 45,* 46.

Huron, i. 224.
Hussar Monkey, i. 48.
Hya-moschus, ii. 62, 136, 139.

— aquaticus, ii. 76.
II\;i-na, Brown, i. 157, 237.

— Spotted, i. 156,* 157, 237.

— Striped, i. 156,* 237.

— arvernensis, i. 237.

— brunnea, i. 157.

— crocuta, i. 156,* 157, 237.

— eximia, i. 237.

— Perrieri, i. 237.

— spela,'a, i. 237.

— striata, i. 156.*

Hyaanas, gen. chars., i. 154:234,237.
Hyaenida, general characters, i. 154.
Hyasnarctos, i. 236.
Hyaenictis, i. 236.
Hycenodontida, i. 235.
Hydrochceruscapybara, 11.172, 173.*
Hydromys, ii. 159.
Hylobates, general characters, i. 39.

— lar, i. 42, 43.*

— leuciscus, i. 41.*

— syndactylus, i. 40.
Hylomys, i. 114.
Hyomoschus aquaticus, ii. 76.
Hyopotamus, ii. 138, 139.
Hyperoodon, ii. 3.

— rostratus, ii. 12.*
Hypsiprymnus penicillatus, ii. 207,

208.*

Hyrachyus, ii. 58.
Hyracida, ii. 38; general characters,

39; 58.

Hyracodon, ii. 58.
Hyracotherium, ii. 213.
Hyrare, i. 220.*

Hyrares, general characters, i. 219.
Hyrax, Abyssinian, ii. 41.*

— Syrian, ii. 41.

— capensis, ii. 41.

— habessinicus, ii. 41.*
Hystricida, general chars., ii. 163.
Hystrix cristata, ii. 163.*

Ibex, general characters, ii. 108.

— Alpine, ii. 108,* 109.

— Grecian, ii. 106. *
Ichneumon, Egyptian, i. 193.*

— Gray, i. 194.*
Ichthyopsida, i. 2.
Ichthyosaurus, ii. 19.
Icticyon venaticus, i. 219.*
Ictonyx, i. 235.

Indris, general characters, i. 77.

— family, i. 84.

— or Babakoto, i. 84.*
Indrisida, general chars., i. 84.
Inia amazonica, ii. 4, 5.*
Insect-eaters, gen. chars., i. 112.

— Geographical Distribution and
Descent of the, i. 126.

Insectivora, general chars., i. 112.
Inuus, ecaudatus, i. 49, 52.*
Isard, ii. 89.
Issyodrimys, ii. 178.

Jackal, i. 141.*

— Black-backed, i. 145.*

— Slender, i. 141.*
Jackal-gna, i. 152.*
Jaculus, ii. 160.
Jaguar, i. 175.*

Jaguarondi, i. 180.
Java Monkey, i. 49,* 51.
Jrmmcl, ii. 132.

I i:\ptian, ii. 160,* 161.

— family, general chars., ii. 160.

»• 55-

jiimping-harv, Cape, ii. 161,* 162.
Jumping-hares, ii. 160.
Jumping-rabbit of Siberia, ii. 160,*

162.

Jumping-shrew, Algerian, i. 116.
Jumping-shrews, i. 115. 127.

Kahau, i. 46,* 47.

Kalong, i. 102.*

Kanchil, ii. 75,* 76.

Kangaroo, Great, ii. 208.*

Kangaroos, general chars., ii. 206.

Kashkar, ii. in, 112.*

Kerabau Buffalo, ii. 119.*

Kiang, ii. 55.

Kidang, ii. 78.*

Killer-whale, ii. 3, 8.*

Kinkajou, i. 201,* 202.

Kinkajous, i. 234.

Klippdass, ii. 41.

Koala, ii. 204, 205,* 215.

Kobus ellipsiprymnus, ii. 97,* 98.

Komba, i. 89.

Koodoo, ii. 101.*

Kulan, ii. 55.

Lagidium, Cuvier's, ii. 167,* 168.
Lagomys alpinus, ii. 173. 174.*
Lagostomus trichodactylus, ii. 168.*
Lagothrix Humboldti, i. 64.*
Lagotis Cuvieri, ii. 167,* 168.
Lama, general characters, ii. 134.

— peruana, ii. 134.* 135.
Laopithecus, i. 76.
Larynx, ii. 229.
lemming, ii. 158.*
Lemur, i. 77.

— Cat, i. 8j,*03.

— Dwarf, i. 81,* 83.

— Fox, i. 8i,*83.

— Gray or Broad-nosed, i. 82," 83.

— Mouse, i. 8 1, 83,* 84.

— Ring-tailed, i. 81, 83,* 84.

— Slow-paced, i. 90.*

— varius, i. 82.
Lemuravida, i. 95.
Lemurida, i. 80.
Lemurs, i. 80.

— African Slow, i. 87.

— Flying, i. 93.

— Veiled, i. 85.

— Weasel, i. 81.

leopards, Hunting, i. i6r, 162.
Lepidilemur, i. 79, 81.
Leporida, general chars., ii. 173.
I^eptonyx leopardinus, i. 249.*

— monachus, i. 249.
Lepus alpinus, ii. 174, 176.*

— cuniculus, ii. 175, 177.*

— europreus, ii. 174, 175.*

— timidus, ii. 174, 175-*

— variabilis, ii. 174, 176-*
Leucoryx, ii. 99.*
Lichanotus Indris, i. 84.*
Limbs, i. 4.
Limnofelis, i. 236.
Limnotherida, i. 95.
Linsang, i. 190.*

Lion, i. 163.*

Llama, ii. 134,* 135.

Llamas, general chars., ii. 134; 137.

Loir, ii. 149.*

Lophiodon, ii. 58.

Lophiotherium, ii. 58.

Loris, i. 77, 89.

INDEX.

Loris, Plump, i. 89, 90.

— Slender, i. 90.*
Lorisida, i. 89.

Lutra vulgaris, i. 229, 231.*

Lutreola, i. 227.

Lutrictis, i. 236.

Lutrida, general characters, i. 229.

Lycaon, i. 136, 235.

— pictus, i. 152, 153.*
Lyncodon patagonicus, i. 229.*
Lynx, Booted, i. 181.

— Polar, i. 182, 183.*

— Spanish, i. 183, 184.*

— caligatus, i. 181.

— Caracal, i. 182.*

— pardinus, i. 183, 184.*

— vulgaris, i. 182, 183.*
Lynx-tooth, i. 229.*

Lynxes, general chars., i. 161, 180.

Macacus, general characters, i. 49.

— cynomolgus, i. 49, 51.*

— ecaudatus, i. 49, 52.*

— erythroeus, i. 51.

— Inuus, i. 49, 52.*

— nemestrinus, i. 74.

— rhesus, i. 49, 50,* 51.

— silenus, i. 49, 51.*
Macaques, gen. chars. , i. 49 ; 74.
Machairodi, i. 236.
Macropus giganteus, ii. 208.*

— major, ii. 208.
Macroscelida, general characters,

i. 115; 127.
Macroscelides Rozeti, i. 116.

— typicus, i. 115,* 116.
Macrotherium, ii. 190.
Madocqua, ii. 92,* 94.
Magot, i. 49, 52.*
Maiba, ii. 44.*
Malbruk, i. 49.
Mammalia, general chars., i. 2.

— orders, families, and tribes of,
i. 18-22.

Mammals, i. 2.

— Xon-placental, ii. 192.

— Pouch-bearing, ii. 192.
Mammoth, ii. 31.
Mampalon, i. 191, 192.*
Manatees, general chars., ii. 22.
Manatus australis, ii. 22, 23.*

— senegalensis, ii. 22.
Mandrill, i. 53, 59.*
Mangabey, i. 48.
Mangoustis, gen. chars., i. 192.

— True, i. 192.

Manis longicaudata, ii. 189.*

— pentadactyla, ii. 189.*
Mara, ii. 171.*
Marbled Cat, i. 170, 171.*
Markhor, ii. 105,* 106.
Marmoset, Silky, i. 71,* 72.
Marmosets, Common, i. 72,* 73.
Marmot, Alpine, ii. 147.*

— Quebec, ii. 147.
Marmots, True, ii. 147.
Marsupial, Skeleton of a, ii. 229.*
Marsupials, general chars. , ii. 192.

— Fruit-eating, gen. chars., ii. 203.

— Herbivorous, gen. chars. , ii. 206.

— Predaceous, gen. chars., ii. 197.
--Root-eating, gen. chars., ii. 210.

— Geographical Distribution and
Descent of the, ii. 211.

Marten, i. 221.

— American, i. 224.

— Canadian, i. 224.

Martens, general chars., i. 218, 220.

— True, general characters, i. 221.
Martida, general characters, i. 218.
Mastodon, ii. 35, 36.

Mastodon, giganteum, ii. 36.
Megalonyx, ii. 190.
Megalotis, i. 235.
Megamys, ii. 178.
Megatheriums, ii. 190.
Mehari, ii. 132.
Meles, i. 235.
---taxus, i. 213, 214.*
Mellivora, i. 217.

— capensis, i. 216,* 217.
Mephitis, i. 217, 235.

— suffocans, i. 217,* 218.
Meriones, ii. 160.
Merycopotamus, ii. 137.
Mesohippus, ii. 60.
Metaxytherium, ii. 24.
Mias, i. 36.*
Microcebus, i. 77, 82.

— myoxinus, i. 81,* 83.
Microlestes, i. 127; ii. 213, 221.
Micromys minutus, ii. 156.
Midas leoninus, i. 72.

— ursulus, i. 72.
Milk-glands, i. 3.
Miniopterus Schreiberi, i. 97.
Mink, i. 228.

Miohippus, ii. 60.
Miriki, i. 64, 65.*
Mirikina, i. 70.*
Mole, Star-nosed, i. 125.*
Moles, i. 123, 124.

— Golden, i. 125, 126.*
Mole-rat, Common European, ii.

'S3-*

Mona, i. 48.

Monachus albiventer, i. 249.
Mongoose, i. 194.*
Monk-seal, i. 249.
Monkeys, Bushy-eared, general

characters, i. 73.

— Naked-tailed, gen. chars., i. 62.

— Short-tailed, gen. chars., i. 67.

— of New World, i. 60.

— of Old World, i. 32.
Monodelphia, i. 236.
Monodon monoceros, ii. 10, ii.*
Monophyodonts, i. 8.
Monotremes, gen. chars., ii. 216.

— Geographical Distribution and
Origin of the, ii. 220.

Moorish Monkey, i. 48.
Moose-deer, ii. 86.
Mormon leucophceus, i. 59.

— Maimon, i. 59.*
Morotherium, ii. 190.
Morse, i. 250.
Mosasaurs, ii. 19.
Moschus moschiferus, ii. 76.*
Mouflon, ii. in.

— European, ii. 112, 113.*
Mouse, Common Domestic, ii. 156.*

— Opossum or Flying, ii. 204.

— Striped or Barbary, ii. 156, 157.*
Mouse family, gen. chars., ii. 153.
Muntjac, ii. 78.*

Murida, general characters, ii. 153.
Mus agrarius, ii. 156.

— barbarus, ii. 156, 157.*

— decumanus, ii. 155,* 156.

— leucogaster, ii. 155.

— minutus, ii. 156.

-- musculus, ii. 156.*

— rattus, ii. 155.*

— striatus, ii. 156, 157.*

— sylvaticus, ii. 156.

— tectorum, ii. 155.
Musangs, i. 190.
Muscardinus avellanarius, ii. 149,

150.*

Musimon, ii. 112, 113.*
Musk-deer, ii. 76,* 136.

Musk-ox, ii. 115,* 116, 139.
Musk-rat, ii. 159.*
Musk-shrews, i. 116.
Musquash, ii. 159.*
Mustela, gen. chars., i. 220, 221.

— americana, i. 224.

— erminea, i. 226.*

— foina, i. 222.*

— furo, i. 225.*

— martes, i. 221.*

— putorius, i. 224,* 225.

— vulgaris, i. 227. *

— zobellina, i. 223.*
Mustelida, gen. chars., i. 211; 234.
Mycetes, general characters, i. 62.

— seniculus, i. 63.*
Mydaus, i. 235.

— Telagon, i. 215,* 216.
Myiopithecus, i. 48.
Myodes lemmus, ii. 158.*
Myogale, i. 116.

— moschata, i. 116.*

— pyrenaica, i. 116.
Myogalida, i. 116.
Myopotamus coypu, ii. 165.*
Myops, ii. 178.

Myoxida, general chars., ii. 148.
Myoxus, ii. 178.

— avellanarius, ii. 149, 150.*

— glis, ii. 149.*
Myrmecobius, ii. 213.

— fasciatus, ii. 199.*
Myrmecophaga jubata, ii. 187.*
Myrmidon didactylus, ii. 188.*
Mysticete, general chars., ii. 14.

Nails, i. 3.
Narwhal, ii. 10, ii.*
Nasicornia, general chars., ii. 44.
Nasua socialis, i. 200,* 201.
Necrolemur, i. 94 ; ii. 139.
Nisnas Monkey, i. 48.
Noctule, i. 106.*
Nototherium, ii. 212.
Nyctereutes, i. 235.

— viverrinus, i. 151.*
Nycticebus tardigradus, i. 89.
Nyctipithecus, i. 69.

— trivirgatus, i. 70.*
Nylgau, ii. 96,* 97.

Obesa, general characters, ii. 64.

Ocelot, i. 178,* 179.

Octodon Cummingii, ii. 166.*

Octodontida, gen. chars., ii. 166.

Onager, ii. 54.*

Ondatra, ii. 159.*

Opomeryx, ii. 139.

Opossum, Common, ii. 196, 197.*

Opossums, gen. chars., ii. 195; 215.

Oral, ii. 144,* 145.

Orang-utang, i. 36.*

Orca gladiator, ii. 3, 8.*

Oreodon, ii. 139.

Oreotragus saltator, ii. 91,* 93.

Orignal, ii. 86.

Ornithorhynchus paradoxus, ii.

217.*

Orohippus, ii. 60.
Orycteropus, ii. 180.

— capensis, ii. 186, 187.*
Oryx, ii. 99.

— leucoryx, ii. 99.*
Otaria jubata, i. 243.

— Stelleri, i. 243.*

— ursina, i. 244, 245.*
Otarida, general chars. , i. 241.
Otocyon, i. 136.

— caffer, i. 152.*

— megalotis, i. 152.*
Otolicnus agisymbanus, i. 89.

Otolicnus crassicaudatus, i. 88.

— galago, i. 89.*

Otter, European, i. 229, 231.*

SIM-, i. 231, 232.*
Otters, general characters, i. 229.
Ouakari, i. 67.*
Ouistiti, i. 72,* 73.
Ovibos moschatus, ii. 115,* 116.
Ovis Argali, ii. 112.

— aries, ii. 114.

— montana, ii. in.*

— musimon, ii. 112, 113.*

— nivalis, ii. in.

— Polii, ii. in, 112.*

— tragelaphus, ii. no.*

Ox, Burmese Wild, ii. 125, 126.*

— Humped, ii. 126, 127.*

— group, general chars., ii. 115.
Oxen, ii. 137, 139.

— True, general chars., ii. 123.

Paca, ii. 170.*
Pachyderms, ii. 38.
Pad-footed family, ii. 129.
Pajou, ii. 185.*
Pal;rocastor, ii. 178.
Palosotherida, ii. 213.
Pala-'otherium, ii. 60.
Pale-buck, ii. 91,* 93.
Panda, i. 203,* 234.
Pangolin, Long-tailed, ii. 189.*

— Short-tailed, ii. 189.*
Pangolins, general chars., ii, 188.
Panther, African, i. 168.

— Asiatic, i. 168.
Paradoxure, Common, i. 191.*
Paradoxures, i. 190.
Paradoxurus typus, i. 191.*
Paramys, ii. 178.

Paseng, ii. 106.*
Peccaries, ii. 136.

— American, general chars., ii. 72.
Peccary, Collared, ii. 72.*

— White-lipped, ii. 72.
Pedetes caffer, ii. 161,* 162.
Pedimana, ii. 195.

Pekan, i. 224.
Pelvic Bones, ii. 230.*
Peralestes, ii. 214.
Perameles nasuta, ii. 198.*

— Pig-footed, ii. 198,* 199.
Peramelida, general chars., ii. 197.
Peratherium, ii. 212, 214, 215.
Perchoerus, ii. 138.
Perissodactyla, ii. 58.

— general characters, ii. 38.
Petaurus sciureus, ii. 203, 204.*
Petrodromus, i. 116, 127.
Petrogale xanthopus, ii. 208, 209.*
Phacochcerus, ii. 138.

— aethiopicus, ii. 69.*

— africanus, ii. 69.
Phalanger, Vulpine, ii. 204, 205.*

— family, general chars., ii. 203.
Phalangista vulpina, ii. 204, 205.*
Phalangistida, gen. chars., ii. 203.
Pharaoh's Rat, i. 193.*
Phascogale, Brush-tailed, ii. 200.*

— penicillata, ii. 200.*
Phascolarctoscinereus, ii. 204, 205.*
Phascolomys latifrons, ii. 210.*
Phascolotherium, ii. 213.
Phillips's Pocket-mouse, ii. 162.*
Phoca grcenlandica, i. 249, 250.*

— vitulina, i. 249.
Phocasna communis, ii. 7.*
Phocida, general chars., i. 246.
Phyllostoma spectrum, i. 108, 109.*
Phyllostomata, i. 107.

Physalus antiquorum, ii. 15,* 16.
Physeter macrocephalus, ii. 13.*

INDKX.

239

Physeterida, general chars., ii. 12.
Pichiciago, ii. 185, 186.*
I'ig family, general chars., ii. 66.
Pigs, Ruminant, ii. 138.
• True, ii. 67, 136, 137.
Pika, Alpine, ii. 173, 174.*
Pine-marten, i. 221.*
Pinnipc-dia, general chars. , i. 239.
1'ipistrelle, i. 106, 107.*
Pithecia Satanas, i. 67.*
Pithesciurtis sciureus, i. 69.*
I'lagiaulax, ii. 179, 213.
Plantigrade Hind-limb, ii. 231.*
Platanista gangctica, ii. 4, 5.*
Plate Heaver, ii. 165.
Platygonus, ii. 138.
Platypus, Duck-billed, ii. 217.*
Platyrrhina1, i. 60.
Platyrrhines, American, i. 73.
Plecotus auritus, i. 97, 104.*
Pleistocene, ii. 35.
PK'siarctiimys, ii. 178.
Plrsiosaurus, ii. 19.
Pliocene, i. 135; ii. 137.
Pliohippus, ii. 60.
Pliolophus vulpiceps, ii. 213.
Pocket-mice, ii. 162.
Poephaga, general chars. , ii. 206.
I'oeptmgus grunniens, ii. 123.*
Polar Bear, i. 205.*
Polecat, i. 224,* 225.

— Tiger, i. 226.
Polecats, i. 220, 224.
Polydactyla, ii. 61, 64.
Porcula, ii. 72.

Porcupine, African Hrush-tailed, ii.
163,* 164.
•Common European, ii. 163.*

— family, general chars., ii. 163.
Porcus, ii. 138.

— babirussa, ii. 71.*
Porpoise, ii. 7.*
Portax pictus, ii. 96,* 97.
Potamochcems penicillatus, ii. 69.*

— porcus, ii. 69.*
Potamogale, i. 126.
Potoroos, ii. 207.
Potto, i. 87.*

— family, i. 87.
Poyou, ii. 185.*
Prairie-dog, ii. 148.*
Priodonta gigas, ii. 184, 185.*
Prionodon gigas, ii. 184,* 185.

— gracilis, i. 190.*
Proboscidea, gen. chars., ii. 26.
Proboscideans, Geographical Dis-
tribution and Descent of, ii. 35.

Proboscis-bears, general chars., i.

199.

Proboscis Monkey, i. 46," 47.
Probubalus depressicornis, ii. 114,*

"5-

Procyon cancrivorus, i. 198.

— Hernandez!, i. 198.

— lotor, i. 198, 199.*
Propithccus, i. 79, 85.
Prorastomus, ii. 24.
Prosimians, general chars., i. 77.

— African, i. 87.

— East Indian, i. 89.

— of Madagascar, i. 80.

— Geographical Distribution and
Descent of the, i. 94.

Prosimii, general chars., i. 77.
Proteles, i. 234.

— Lalandii, i. 157.*
Protemnodon, ii. 212.
Protohippus, ii. 60.
Pseudcelurus, i. 236.
Pterodicticus Potto, i. 87.*
Pterodictida, i. 87.

Pterodon, i. 237.

Pteromys petaurista, ii. 144.* 145.

— volucella, ii. 145.

Pteropida, i. 101.

Pteropus edulis, i. 102.*

Ptilocercus, i. 1 14.

Puma, i. 176, 177.*

Putorius, i. 220. 224.

— crminea, i. 226.*

— feetidus, i. 224,* 225.

— furo, i. 225.*

— lutreola, i. 228.*

— sarmaticus, i. 226.
sihiricus, i. 228.

— vulgaris, i. 227.

— vison, i. 228.
Pygarg, ii. 100.

Quagga, ii. 53.
Quaternary Period, ii. 137.

Rabbit, ii. 175, 177.*

family, general chars., ii. 173.
Raccoon, Common, i. 198, 199.*

— Crab-eating, i. 198.

- Mexican or Black-footed, i. 198.
Raccoons, general characters, i.

198; 234.

Rangifer tarandus, ii. 84, 85.*
Rapaces, ii. 197.
Rat, Black, ii. 155.*

— Brown, ii. 155,* 156.
Rats and Mice, ii. 153.
Rat-kangaroo, Tufted- tailed, ii.

207, 208.*
Ratelus, i. 217.

— capensis, i. 216,* 217.
Reduncus eleotragus, ii. 94.*
Reed-buck, ii. 94.*
Reindeer, ii. 84, 85.*
Reproduction, i. it.

Retia mirabilia, ii. 181.
Rhesus Monkeys, i. 50.*
Rhinoceros, ii. 38.

— family, general chars., ii. 44.

— African, ii. 47.

— Two-horned, ii. 47.*

— bicornis, ii. 47.*

— indicus, ii. 47.*

— javanicus, ii. 47.

— simus, ii. 46, 47.

— sumatrensis, ii. 47.

— tichorhinus, ii. 45, 59.
Rhinoceroses, ii. 59.
Rhinolophus, i. 98, 109.

— ferrum-equinum, i. no.*

— hipposideros, i. no.
Rhinopoma microphyllum, i. 107,

108.*

Rhizophaga, general chars., ii. 210.

Rhytina, ii. 21, 24.

Rhyzaena tetradactyla, i. 195.*

Rietbok, ii. 94.*

River-hog, Red, ii. 69.*

River-hogs, ii. 68, 136.

River-horses, general chars., ii. 64.

Rock-badger family, general char-
acters, ii. 39; 58.

Rock-kangaroo, Yellow-footed, ii.

208, 209.*

Rock-systems of the earth, i. 23.
Rodents, general characters, ii. 141.

— Geographical Distribution and
Descent of the, ii. 175.

Roe, Common, ii. 79.*
Rorqual, ii. 15,* 16.
Ruminants, Hollow-horned, general
characters, ii. 87; 137.

— Stomach of, ii. 232.*
Runners (Insectivora), i. 117.
Rupicapra tragus, ii. 89.*

Sable, i. 233.*
S:ii. i. 66.*

Saiga, ii. 95,* 96.

irica, ii. 95,* 96.
Saimiri, i. 69.*

Sajous, i. 61; general chars., i. 65.
Saki, Black, i. 67.*
Sakis, general characters, i. 66.

— proper, i. 67.
Saphan, ii. 41.
Sasnassu, i. 68.*
Sassa, ii. 91,* 93.
Sassi, ii. 102.*
Sauropsida, i. 2.
Scalops, i. 127.

— canadensis, i. 125.
Scelidotherium, ii. 191.
Scherrmaus, ii. 158.
Scirtetes, ii. 162.
Sciuravus, ii. 178.

Sciurida, general characters, ii. 144.
Sciurus, ii. 178.

— vulgaris, ii. 145, 146.
Sea-l«ar, i. 244, 245.*
Sea-calf, i. 249.

Sea-cows, general characters, ii. 20.

— Geographical Distribution and
Descent of the, ii. 24.

Sea-elephant, i. 246, 247.*
Sea-leopard, i. 249.*
Sea-lion, Steller's, i. 243.*
Sea-reptiles, ii. 18.
Seal, Bladder-nosed, i. 248.*

— Common, i. 249.

— Greenland, i. 249, 250.*
Seals, general characters, i. 239.

— Eared, i, 241.

— True, general characters, i. 246.

— Geographical Distribution and
Descent of the, i. 253.

Selenodontia, ii. 62.
Semnopitheci, gen. chars., i. 46; 73.
Semnopithecus entellus, i. 45,* 46.

— nasica, i. 46,* 47.
Serval, i. 174, 175.*

Sheep, general chars., ii. 109; 137.

— Barbary Wild, ii. no.*

— Domesticated, ii. 114.

— Rocky Mountain, ii. in.*
Shoulder-girdle, i. 5.
Shrew of Tuscany, i. 118.
Shrews (Insectivora), i. 117.
Siamang, i. 40.

Simia, general characters, i. 36.

— satyrus, i. 36.*

Simiae, general characters, i. 25.

— American, i. 74.
Sing-Sing, ii. 97,* 98.

Sirenia, general characters, ii. 20.

Sivatherium, ii. 140.
I Skeleton, i. 4.
j Skin, i. 3.

Skull, i. 4, and Glossary.

Skunk, Brazilian, i. 217,* 218.

Skunks, i. 217.

Sloth, Three-toed, ii. 182.*

— Two-toed, ii. 183.*

Sloths, general characters, ii. 181.

Solenodon paradoxum, i. 120.*

Sorex etruscus, i. 118.

Soricida, i. 117.

Souslik, ii. 147.*

Spalacotherium, i. 127; ii. 213, 214.

Spalax typhlus, ii. 153-*

Spectre-tarsier, i. 91,* 92.

Spermophiles, gen. chars., ii. 146.

— citillus, ii. 147.*
Sperm-whale, ii. 13.*

— family, general characters, ii. 12.
Spider-monkeys, i. 30, 61, 64.
Spietboks, ii. 99.

Spiny Rat family, general char-
acters, ii. 165.
Squirrel. Knmii M\inj^, n. 144, "145.

uion, ii. 145.* 146.
-('hipping, ii. 146.*

family, general chars., ii. 144.
Squirrels, True, ii. 145.
Squirrel-monkey, i. 69.*
Slag, Canadian, ii. 82.

— Common, ii. 82.*
Steinbocks, general chars., ii. 108.
Steneofiber, ii. 178.

Stenodon, ii. 35.
Stenops gracilis, i. 90. *

— tardigradus, i. 89.
Stereognathus, ii. 213, 214.
Sthenurus, ii. 212.

Stoat. Common, i. 226.*
Stomach of Ruminant, ii. 232.*
Stone-marten, i. 222.*
StrcpMceros kudu, ii. 101.*
Stylodon, ii. 214.

Subdivision of Mammals based on
presumed orderof Evolution, i. 14.
Subulo rufus, ii. 79.*
Subungulata, general chars. , ii. 169.
Subursida, general chars., i. 198.
Suida, general characters, ii. 66.
Superficial Glands, i. 3.
Suricata tetradactyla, i. 195.*
Sus, ii. 138.

— palustris, ii. 68.

— scrofa, ii. 67.*
Swarte-bok, ii. 98.*

Synotus barbastellus, i. 104,* 105.

Tafa, ii. 200.*

Taguan, ii. 144,* 145.

Tailed Monkeys, gen. chars., i. 42.

Talapoin, i. 48.

Talpa europasa, i. 123, 124.*

Talpida, i. 123.

Tamandua tetradactyla, ii. 188.

Tamias striatus, ii. 146.*

Tana, i. 114, 115.*

Tanrecs, i. 120, 121.*

Tapir, Andes or Hairy, ii. 44.

— Baird's, ii. 44.

— Brazilian, ii. 42,* 43.

— Malayan, ii. 44.*

— Shabrack, ii. 44.*

— family, general chars., ii. 41.
Tapirs, ii. 38, 58.
Tapirulus, ii. 58.

Tapirus americanus, ii. 42,* 43.

— Bairdii, ii. 44.

— indicus, ii. 44.*

— malayanus, ii. 44.*

— Roulinii, ii. 44.

— villosus, ii. 44.
Tarandus rangifer, ii. 84, 85."
Tarpan, ii. 56,* 57.
Tarsius, i. 77.

— spectrum, i. 91,* 92.
Tasmanian Devil, i. 237; ii. 201.*

— Wolf, ii. 202,* 214.
Taxidea, i. 235.
Tayra, i. 220.*
Tee-tees, i. 68.

Teeth, i. 6, and Glossary.
Milk and Permanent, i. 8.

— Structure of the, i. 7.
Telagon, i. 215.* 216.
Tendracs, i. 120.

Tetraceros quadricornis, ii. 93,* 94.
Theridomys, ii. 178.
\ Theropithecus, i. 53.
Thinohyus, ii. 138.
Thylacinus cynocephalus, ii. 202.*
Thylacoleo, ii. 211. 214.
Thylacotherium, ii. 213.

240

INDEX.

Tiger, i. 165.*

— Clouded, i. 169,* 170.
Tiger-horses, ii. 52, 59.
Tinodon, ii. 214.
Titanomys, ii. 179.
Tragelaphus scriptus, ii. 95.*
Tragulida, general characters, ii.

76; 136, 139.

Tragulus pygmseus, ii. 75,* 76.
Tree-kangaroo, Ursine, ii. 207.*
Tree-porcupine, Tri-coloured, ii.

164.*

Triacanthodon, ii. 214.
Trichecus rosmarus, i. 250.*
Triconodon, i. 127; ii. 214.
Troglodytes, i. 31, 32, 74.

— gorilla, i. 35.*

— niger, i. 33.

— Tchego, i. 35.
Tupaiae, i. 114.
Tupaias, Climbing, i. 126.
Tur, ii. 127.
Tylopoda, ii. 129.

Umseke, ii. 94.*
Unau, ii. 180, 183.*
Ungulates, Even-toed, ii. 36.
— general characters, ii. 61.

Geographical Distribution and

Descent of the, ii. 136.

— Odd-toed, gen. chars., ii. 38.

Ungulates, Odd-toed, Geographical
Distribution and Descent of the,
ii. 58.

Ur, Urus, ii. 120, 126.

Urebi, ii. 91,* 93.

Ursida, general chars. , i. 196, 204.

Ursons, ii. 165.

Ursus americanus, i. 208,* 209.

— arctos, i. 207.*

— ferox, i. 206.

— horribilis, i. 206.

— labiatus, i. 210.*

— malayanus, i. 209,* 210.

— maritimus, i. 205.*

Vampire, True, i. 108, 109.*
Vermilinguia, gen. chars. , ii. 186.
Vertebra, ii. 233.*
Vertebrata, general characters and

different types of, i. i.
Vespertilio Daubentoni, i. 105.*

— murinus, i. 105.
Vespertilionidae, i. 103.
Vesperugo Nilsoni, i. 107.

— noctula, i. 97, 106.

— pipistrellus, i. 106, 107.*
Vicufla, ii. 134, 136.
Vison, American, i. 228.

— European, i. 228.*

— Siberian, i. 228.

Visons, general chars. , i. 225, 227.

Viverra Civetta, i. 189.

— Dog, i. 151.*

— Zibetha, i. 189.*

Viverrida, gen. chars., i. 186; 234.
Viverrine Cat, i. 174.*

— Dasyure, ii. 201.*
Vivcrrines, general chars. , i. 186.
Vizcacha, ii. 168.*

Voles, general characters, ii. 157.
Vulpes, i. 144.

Wallaby, ii. 206.
Walrus, i. 250.
Waluvi, i. 83,* 84.
Wanderoo, i. 49, 51.*
Wapiti, ii. 82.

Wart-hogs, general chars., ii. 69.
Waterbok, ii. 97,* 98.
Water-hogs, ii. 136.
Water-mole, ii. 217.*
Water-rat, ii. 158.*
Water-shrew, i. 118, 119.*
Water-vole, ii. 158.*
Weasel, Proper, i. 227.*
Weasels, general chars., i. 225.
Weeper Capuchin, i. 66.*
Whale, Bottlehead or Common
Beaked, ii. 12.*

— Caaing, ii. 8.*

— Cape, ii. 16.

— Greenland, ii. 16.*

Whale, Pilot, ii: 8.*

— Right, 4i. 16.

— White, ii. 10. *
Whales, Bottle-nosed, ii. 3.

— Fin-backed, ii. 16.

— Toothed, general chars. , ii. 4.
Whales and Dolphins, general

characters, ii. i.

— Geographical Distribution and
Descent of the, ii. 17.
Whalebone Whales, general char-
acters, ii. 14.
Wildebeest, ii. 103.*
Wolf, African, i. 138,* 139.

— Common, i. 137.*

— Maned, i. 139.*

— Prairie, i. 140.*

Wolves, general characters, i. 137.
Wombat, Broad-fronted, ii. 210.*
Woolly Monkeys, i. 64.
Wuychuchol, i. 116.*

Xiphodon, ii. 139.

Yak, ii. 123.*
Yapock, ii. 194, 196.*
Yurumi, ii. 187.

Zebra, ii. 52,* 53.
Zebu, ii. 126, 127.*
Zeuglodonts, ii. 19.

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