Mostly mammals, zoological essays

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MOSTLY MAMMALS

Frotn a drmving by J. H olj J

Head and Fore-Limbs of the Aye-Aye of Madagascar.
Showing the attenuated middle finger.

\Frontispiece.

Mostly Mammals

t
Zoological Essays

i^

R. . LYDEKKER

WITH SIXTEEN
FULLPA GE ILL USTRA TIONS

BY

THE DUCHESS OF BEDFORD, LORD DELAMERE

THE HON. WALTER ROTHSCHILD

J. WOLF, AND OTHERS

NEW YORK

DODD MEAD & COMPANY

LONDON

HUTCHINSON & CO.
1903

O.J^ ^^^i^. c^isS.. .J«?

PREFACE

THE whole of the articles collected in this
volume have previously appeared in period-
ical literature ; the great majority in Knowledge y
but others in Nature, the Field, and the Asian.
To the editors of these journals the Author herewith
returns his best thanks for the kind permission
to reproduce the articles in their present form ;
special thanks being due to Messrs. Witherby,
the publishers of Knowledge, for the loan of some
of the original illustrations.

The importance of "nature study," now coming
so much to the fore, is strongly insisted upon in
several of the articles.

In a few instances two or more articles have
been combined, but for the most part they are re-
produced as much as possible in their original form,
with such alterations as have been found necessary
in order to bring them up to date, and with a

VI

PREFACE

few omissions to avoid unnecessary repetition. A
certain amount of repetition will, indeed, still be
found to exist, as somewhat similar ground is, in
certain instances, traversed in the course of two
separate articles. To have avoided this, would
have entailed practically re-writing some, or the
total omission of others ; and it was consequendy
decided to print the entire series almost as it
stood.

Harpenden Lodge, Herts,
April ^ih, 1903.

CONTENTS

PART I

PAGE

ANIMALS EXTERMINATED DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY I

THE COLORATION OF LARGE ANIMALS 8-

SPOTS AND STRIPES IN MAMMALS ^^

THE DOMESTICATION OF WILD ANIMALS 39

THE ORIGIN OF SOME DOMESTICATED ANIMALS . . .48

HOW ARCTIC ANIMALS TURN WHITE . .... 58

A LAND OF SKELETONS 69

SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS 80

CELEBES : A PROBLEM IN DISTRIBUTION I08

A DROWNED CONTINENT II 7

DESERTS AND THEIR INHABITANTS 1 25

AFRICA AND ITS ANIMALS , ■ 135

MONKEY HAND-PRINTS 145

LIVING MILLSTONES I55.

PART II

AN INVISIBLE MONKEY
SOME QUEER-NOSED MONKEYS
A REMARKABLE MAMMAL .
THE PEDIGREE OF THE CAT
THE PEDIGREE OF THE DOG

167
171
179
188
197

vm

CONTENTS

TWO FASHIONABLE FURS ....

THE SEA-OTTER AND ITS EXTERMINATION

A GIANT AMONG SEALS ....

THE FLYING-SQUIRRELS OF ASIA AND AFRICA

THE BEAVER IN NORWAY ....

THE EXTINCT QUAGGA ....

ANCIENT AND MODERN HIPPOPOTAMUSES .

THE DEER OF THE PEKING PARKS

FOUR-HORNED SHEEP .

MUSK-OXEN IN ENGLAND .

THE WILD OX OF EUROPE .

THE SMALLEST WILD CATTLE

ARMOUR-CLAD WHALES

SLOTHS AND THEIR HAIR .

BLIND CAVE-ANIMALS .

GIANT LAND-TORTOISES

SOME STRANGE NURSING HABITS

THE COLOURS OF COWRIES .

BREEDING HABITS OF FROGS AND TOADS

SCORPIONS AND THEIR ANTIQUITY .

INDEX

PAGE
207
217
225

244
252
261
271
280
287

303
308

314
322

331
341
351
361
368
376

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Head and Fore-L;mbs of the Aye-Aye of Madagascar. Frontispiue

From a Drawing by J. Wolf.

East African Giraffes in Covert . ... To face page

From a Photograph by Lord Dclanitrt.

Arctic Foxes „

Frotn Photographs by the SchoUtstic Photographic Agency.

African Elephants ,,

From a Photograph by Lord Ddamere.

Monkey Hand-Prints „

White-tailed Guereza ,

Male Proboscis Monkey ,,

Orange Snub-nosed Monkey ,,

An African Scale-Tail in Flight . . . ,,
The Woolly Flying-Squirrel of Astor and Gilgit ,,

A Colony of Beavers ,,

A Peking Stag with the Antlers in Velvet . ,,

From a Photograph by the Duchess of Bedford.

PiRE David's Mi-lou Deer ,,

From a Photograph by the Duchess of Bedford.

Young Bull Musk-Ox with the Horns about

half grown ,,

Frotn a Photograph by the Duchess of Bedford.

Male and Female Anoa, or Dwarf Buffalo . ,,

From a Photograph by the Duchess of Bedford.

The Giant Tortoise of South Aldabra Island . ,,

Fro>n a Photograph by S. G. Payne, by permission of
the Hon. VVaher Rothschild.

l6

66

140

146
168
172

174
236

238
248

272

274

290
304
338

PART I

MOSTLY MAMMALS

ANIMALS EXTERMINATED DURING THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY

While the century which has lately closed may fairly lay
claim to the gratitude of posterity on account of the mag-
nificent tale of zoological work accomplished during its
course, it is, on the other hand, undoubtedly open to the
charge of having permitted the total extermination of not
a few animals, and of having allowed the numbers of
others to be so reduced that their disappearance, at least
as truly wild creatures, can scarcely be delayed very many
years longer. Possibly, if not probably, the sweeping away
of the enormous herds of many species, like those of the
American bison, may have been an inevitable accompani-
ment of the march of civilisation and progress ; but there
is no sort of excuse to be made for the fact that in
certain instances naturalists failed to realise that species
were on the very verge of extermination, and that they
were actually allowed to disappear from the world without
being adequately represented in our museums. Nor is it
by any means certain that even the present generation is
altogether free from reproach in this matter, for although
it cannot be said that any species hovering on the verge
of extermination are absolutely unrepresented in collections,

2 MOSTLY MAMMALS

yet whether, sufficient specimens of such species are
being preserved for our successors may be an open
question.

It is not my intention in this article to allude to the
hosts of animals whose numbers have been reduced in
such a wholesale manner during the century as to render
them in more or less immediate danger of impending
extermination, but to confine our attention in the main to
those on whom this fate has already fallen. And here it
may be mentioned with satisfaction that India enjoys a
remarkably good record in this respect, for, so far as we
are aware, it has not lost a single species of mammal,
bird, or reptile, either during the nineteenth century or
within the period of definite history. It is true that the
numbers and range of the Indian lion have been sadly
curtailed during the last fifty years, and that if steps are
not promptly taken for its protection that animal may ere
long disappear from the Indian fauna. But, at any rate,
it has not done so at present ; and even were it ex-
terminated in that country, this would not mean the
extinction of a species, and possibly not even of a local
race, since it is not improbable that the Persian represen-
tative of the lion (which is still abundant) may not be
distinguishable from the Indian animal. Of large animals
peculiar to India, perhaps the great Indian rhinoceros is the
one that requires most careful watching in order that its
numbers and its range may not be unduly reduced before
it is too late to take adequate measures for its protection.

We have said that the century is responsible for the
extinction of no inconsiderable number of the world's
animals. But it must not for one moment be supposed
that, within the historic period, no such exterminations by
human agency had taken place in previous centuries. We

EXTERMINATED ANIMALS 3

have to go back so far as the year 161 5 for the last evidence
of the existence, in a living state, of the great flightless
rail {Aphanapteryx) of Mauritius and Rodriguez ; while the
journal of the mate of the Berkeley Castle, in 168 1, is the
last record of the dodo being seen alive. Again, the tall
and flightless solitaire of Rodriguez is not definitely known
to have been met with by Europeans after 1691, although
there is some evidence to indicate that it may have lingered
on in the more unfrequented portions of the island till as
late as 1761. Of the extinct geant, or Mauritian coot
{Leguatid), we have no evidence of its existence subse-
quent to 1695 ; while our last record of the crested parrot
{Lophopsittacus) is as far back as 1601. The great northern
sea-cow {Rhytina gigas), which was only discovered on the
islands of the Bering Sea in the year 1741, had entirely
ceased to exist by about 1767. Moreover, the giant tortoise
of Reunion appears to have become extinct in its native
island previous to the dawn of the nineteenth century,
as was probably the case with some of the other species
formerly inhabiting the islands of the Indian Ocean.*

Neither can the nineteenth century be held responsible
for the extermination of the South African blaauwbok
{Hippotragus leucophaeiis)^ a smaller relative of the roan
antelope, since the last known example is believed to have
been killed in or about the year 1799. It had always a
curiously restricted habitat, being confined to a small area
in the Swellendam district.

On the other hand, the great auk is a bird whose loss
we owe to the carelessness of the naturalists of the middle
of the nineteenth century, for there is little doubt that if
protective measures had been taken in time, it might have
been alive at the present day. From the American side
* See the article in the sequel on " Giant Land-Tortoises.

4 MOSTLY MAMMALS

of the Atlantic it probably disappeared somewhere about
the year 1840; while the summer of 1844 witnessed the
destruction of the last European pair of this remarkable
bird, the last British representative of the species having
been hunted to death in the neighbourhood of Waterford
Harbour ten years previously.

One of the most sad storiesof extermination, and that,
too, at a comparatively recent date, is revealed in the case
of the South African quagga. Since a full account of the
species is given in a later article, it will suffice to state here
that in Cape Colony the extermination apparently took
place about the year 1865, although the species may have
survived a few years longer in the Orange River Colony,
which was the last stronghold of the species.

Mention has already been made of the extermination of
the giant land-tortoise of Reunion during the eighteenth
century ; and in the early part of its successor four other
species became extinct in the neighbouring islands of the
Mascarene group — namely, Testiido indica, T. triserrata, and
T. inepta in Mauritius, and T. vosmaeri in Rodriguez. It
has hkewise been considered probable that the thin-shelled
tortoise (T. abingdoni) of Abingdon Island, in the Galapagos
group, is also no longer existing, although it was certainly
alive as recently as 1875-

Of birds that have disappeared during the century, in
addition to the great auk, reference may first be made to
the black emeu {Dromaeus ater) of Kangaroo Island, South
Australia. When this island was explored in 1803 by a
French expedition, these birds were abundant, and three
were sent home to Paris, where a pair lived till 1822. On
their death, the skin of one and the skeleton of the other
were mounted for exhibition in the Paris Museum, where
they still remain. Of the third specimen no record was

EXTERMINATED ANIMALS 5

obtainable till 1900, when its skeleton was discovered by
Prof. Giglioli in the museum at Florence. These three
priceless specimens are the only examples of a species
which became extinct in the native state previous to the
death of the Paris pair, and before it was even known to
be different from the larger emeu of the mainland. For
it appears that some years after the visit of the French
expedition (to which Peron was naturalist) to Kangaroo
Island, a settler squatted there and forthwith set to work
to make a clean sweep of the emeus and kangaroos — a
task in which he was only too successful.

Before the middle of the century another large bird
appears to have made its final exit from this world. When
Steller discovered the northern sea-cow in the islands of
Bering Sea, he also brought to the notice of science a
new species of cormorant {Phalacrocorax perspicillatus),
which was especially interesting on account of being the
largest representative of its kind, and likewise by the bare
white rings round its eyes and the brilliant lustre of its
green and purple plumage. Stupid and sluggish in dis-
position, Pallas's cormorant, as the species is commonly
called, appears to have been last seen alive about the year
1839, when Captain Belcher, of H.M.S. Sulphur, was pre-
sented with a specimen by the Governor of Sitka, who also
forwarded other examples to St, Petersburg. Captain
Belcher's specimen is preserved in the British Museum,
and three other skins are known to be in existence
elsewhere.

The great white water-hen (Notorm's albus), formerly
inhabiting Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands, must be added
to the defunct list. And the same is the case with the
Tahiti white-winged sandpiper, or rail {Hypotoenidia pacified),
which in Captain Cook's time was abundant in the island

6 MOSTLY MAMMALS

from which it takes its name, as well as in the neighbouring
Eimeo, The New Zealand quail {Coturnix novae-zealandiae)
is likewise entered in the British Museum as extinct. The
beautiful " Pigeon hollondais,^^ so called from its plumage
presenting the Dutch colours, and technically known as
Alectoroenas nitidissima, is a Mauritian species whose ex-
termination probably took place during the century. It
is known solely by three examples, one of which is pre-
served at Port Louis, the- second in Paris, and the third
in Edinburgh.

Nor must we omit from our list two species of Kaka
parrot, one of which {Nestor productus) was a native of
Philip Island, while the home of the second (A^. norfolcensis)
was the neighbouring Norfolk Island. A species of para-
quet {Palaeornis exsul), peculiar to the island of Rodriguez,
is also believed to be exterminated.

Neither has the duck family escaped, for the well-known
pied duck {Camptolaemus labradorius), an ally of the eider
from the North Atlantic coast of America, appears in the
defaulters' list, the last known example having been killed
in 1852.

Passing on to Passerine birds, a notable loss is the hand-
some crested pied starling {Fregilupus varius), of Reunion,
believed to have become extinct about the middle of the
century. Of the few remaining examples of this striking
species, one is preserved in the British Museum. Another
species, exterminated within approximately the same period,
is the gorgeous black and gold mamo, or sicklebill {Drepanis
pacified) of Hawaii, whence it was first brought to Europe
by Captain Cook. As narrated in the " Birds of the Sand-
wich Islands," by Messrs. Scott Wilson and Evans, the
extermination of this beautiful species is to be attributed
to persecution for the sake of its yellow feathers, which

EXTERMINATED ANIMALS 7

were used for the cloaks of the native chiefs. About four
specimens are known to be preserved in museums.

Of birds that have been locally exterminated, such as
the burrowing petrel {Oestrelata haesitata), known in the
Antilles as the diablotin, it is not our intention to speak
on this occasion. This article may accordingly be fitly
brought to a close by an extract from Prof. A. Newton's
" Dictionary of Birds," referring to two instances where
species may have perished within the century without
having ever come definitely under the notice of ornitho-
logists. After stating that one Ledru accompanied an
expedition dispatched by the French Government in 1796 to
the West Indies, the Professor proceeds to observe that
this explorer " gives a list of the birds he found in the
islands of St. Thomas and St. Croix. He enumerates
fourteen kinds of birds as having occurred to him then.
Of these there is now no trace of eight of the number ;
and, if he is to be believed, it must be supposed that
within fifty or sixty years of his having been assured
of their existence they have become extinct. ... If this
be not enough, we may cite the case of the French islands
of Guadeloupe and Martinique, in which, according to
M. Guyon, there were once found six species of Psittaci,
all now exterminated ; and it may possibly be that the
macaws, stated by Messrs. Gosse and March to have
formerly frequented certain parts of Jamaica, but not
apparently noticed there for many years, have fallen victims
to colonisation and its consequences."

THE COLORATION OF LARGE ANIMALS

To the more observant class of sportsmen the stay-at-home
naturalist is, of necessity, indebted for most of his infor-
mation with regard to the habits of large animals and
their adaptation to their inanimate environment. And it
must be acknowledged that, in the main, he has but little
cause of complaint as to the accuracy, fulness, and abund-
ance of the information thus supplied. One subject, and
that a very interesting and important one, in connection
with large animals in the field, seems, however, to have
attracted but a small share of attention on the part of
sportsmen and travellers, although it is obvious that what-
ever theories and conclusions the naturalist may draw
from the study of museum specimens must be put to the
test by observations in the field before they can be regarded
as of any definite and established value. I refer to the
connection between the different types of coloration of the
larger animals and their natural surroundings. Apart
from casual remarks with regard to the harmony existing
between the dappled coloration of a South African giraffe
and the splashes of light and shade in the mimosa groves
it inhabits, the resemblance presented by a tiger's stripes
to the dead grass of the surrounding jungle, and such-like,
I can recall scarcely a single observation recorded by
sportsmen or travellers which is of any real scientific value
in connection with the subject in question. One important

8

THE COLORATION OF LARGE ANIMALS 9

exception — namely, the observation made several years ago
that zebras standing on the open veldt in bright moonlight
are practically invisible at a short distance — must, however,
be made to this sweeping assertion. And it is scarcely
too much to say that this important observation — which
applies also, I believe, to a considerable extent to the
same animals in daylight — has formed the starting-point
of modern ideas with regard to the purport and meaning
of many types of mammalian coloration.

Before alluding in detail to these ideas and theories, in
order to show what has been done and what remains to
be done in this line of research, it may be well to point
out that, with the aforesaid exception of the zebras, practi-
cally all our conclusions with regard to the purport of the
coloration of most of the larger mammals have been drawn
from the examination of stuffed specimens or skins, sup-
plemented by observations upon domesticated animals, or
species living in a semi-domesticated state in parks or
zoological gardens. With regard to foreign species kept
in parks or menageries, the observations are not, in most
cases, of any real value, on account of the circumstances
that the animals are living under changed conditions, and
not amid their natural surroundings. When skins are once
deposited in a museum the naturalist has no means what-
ever of ascertaining by actual experiment how their
coloration harmonises, or otherwise, with their natural
environment, all that he can do being to glean as much
as possible with regard to the latter from the accounts of
eye-witnesses, and to draw his conclusions accordingly.
Something might doubtless be done if it were permissible
to take the skins into the woods and open country and
test their conspicuousness or invisibility by experiment ;
but even such experiments cannot, in most cases at any

lo MOSTLY MAMMALS

rate, be conducted with museum specimens ; and, if practi-
cable, they would, at the best, give us but a poor inkling
of the real truth. What we want are precise and accurate
observations made on living animals with regard to the
harmony between their colours and their surroundings ;
and such observations can only be made by sportsmen and
travellers, and more especially by the former. And to be
of any real value such observations must be made under
all conditions : in the case of a forest animal, for instance,
both when the creature is in the woods and when out
feeding in the open. Nor is this all, for it is necessary
to ascertain what portions of an animal's coloration are
adapted to render the body inconspicuous under all
circumstances — such as the white of the under-parts to
counteract the effect of shadow — and what portions have
been developed in correlation with the particular natural
surroundmgs of a species or group. Then, again, we have
to distinguish between protective coloration and what are
known as " recognition marks," such as. the white under-
surface of the tail of a rabbit. Furthermore, there is the
distinction between both these types and the so-called
" warning colours," like the black and white of the skunks,
which are apparently intended to render their owners con-
spicuous, and thus protect them from attack, either on
account of some noxious emanation they possess or from
their fighting power. These warning colours are, however,
comparatively rare among mammals ; and observation is
mainly required in regard to protective coloration, especially
when some species of a group are brilliantly spotted or
striped, while others are uniformly clad in a less gorgeous
livery.

Speaking generally, and excepting certain unusually
bulky kinds, such as elephants, rhinoceroses, and hippo-

THE COLORATION OF LARGE ANIMALS ii

potamuses, it is fairly safe to assert that among the
medium-sized and larger mammals the primitive type of
coloration took the form of either striping or spotting.
This is demonstrated by the many known instances there
are of the young being striped or spotted, while the adults
are more or less uniformly coloured. As well-known
examples of this kind we may cite tapirs, wild swine, many
kinds of deer, lions, and pumas. In many cases the sub-
stitution of a uniform dull livery for a spotted or striped
coat has evidently been in adaptation to an existence in
open or desert country. Instances of this kind are afforded
by the lion and the Cape eland, the latter of which has lost
the stripes characteristic of its more northern representa-
tive and of the kindred antelopes such as the kudus and
bushbucks.

The fact that the young of certain animals haunting
more or less arid districts, such as the lion, still retain
their spots, while others, like the eland, differ from their
relatives inhabiting more wooded country only by the loss
of their stripes, indicates that in these cases, at any rate,
the acquisition of a uniformly coloured tawny coat is a
comparatively recent event. Possibly an explanation of
this may be afforded by the history of deserts and semi-
deserts themselves. In contradistinction to the old idea
that they are ancient upraised sea-beds, it is now well
known that all desert areas have been formed very slowly
by the gradual decomposition of the rocks in countries
where there is no rain to wash away the debris. And it
seems by no means improbable — owing to the enormous
lapse of time necessary for their formation, coupled, perhaps,
with a greater rainfall over most parts of the world in
earlier epochs — that such tracts never existed until late
in the earth's history.

12 MOSTLY MAMMALS

Be this as it may, we have no sort of difficulty in
realising why many desert-haunting animals have ex-
changed a striped or spotted coat for one of which the
colour is manifestly in harmony with the natural surround-
ings. Our real difficulties occur in the cases where animals
have a very similar kind of habitat, but display a total
difference in their type of coloration. Why, for instance,
have many kinds of deer — notably the Indian sambar and
its kindred— discarded their original spotted dress for one
of a sombre brown or red, while others, like the chital
(at all seasons) and the fallow-deer (in summer), have
retained the primitive dress ? Or why, again, are the
African bushbucks and kudus, which are as much forest
animals as the sambar, some of the most brilliantly
coloured of all hoofed animals ? If a variegated and
brilliantly coloured coat is essential to the well-being of
these animals, why is it not equally essential to the
sambar, or vice versa ? It is in regard to questions like
these that naturalists want help and assistance from
sportsmen and travellers, for at present they are working
to a great extent in the dark owing to lack of definite
and accurate observations in regard to the relation of
the colouring of these and other mammals to their
surroundings.

In spite, however, of our ignorance of the reason why
some forest animals should be uniformly dark-coloured
while others are more or less brilliantly striped, the con-
clusion is being gradually forced upon us that in both cases
protection is the object. Apparently, as pointed out in the
sequel, the true explanation is that the spotted and striped
species inhabit bush, or the more open parts of the forest,
while dusky species like the sambar frequent dense thickets,
as, indeed. Sir Samuel Baker states, is the habit of the

THE COLORATION OF LARGE ANIMALS 13

latter animal in Ceylon. Moreover, spotted species seem to
be more essentially diurnal than sombre-coloured forms.

When the meaning and purport of the coloration of
mammals first began to receive careful attention on the
part of naturalists, there was a tendency to classify brilliant
markings hke those of the African bushbucks, bongo, and
kudus as " recognition markings " — that is to say, markings
designed to enable all members of a species to recognise
with facility their own kind. Animals have, however,
other modes of mutual recognition in addition to colour;
besides which different species, whether they go about in
pairs, in small family parties, or in herds, keep, as a rule,
more or less to themselves, and are in no danger of mis-
taking other species for their own kind. Probably among
the great majority of mammals the only " recognition
marks " are the white or light-coloured areas on the tail
or hindquarters, which are displayed to their fullest extent
in many cases when the members of a party or herd have
to " bolt " suddenly to covert. In some species, like the
rabbit and the white-tailed American deer, the white area
is restricted to the under-side of the tail and the adjacent
portions of the buttocks, and in such cases the tail is
always raised when in flight, so as to expose a large and
conspicuous blaze of white. In other species, such as the
Japanese deer and its relatives of the Asiatic mainland, or
the roe, the white area takes the form of a patch of long
hairs on the rump, which are erected and expanded when
the animals are alarmed. Probably the straw-coloured
rump-patch of the wapiti and red-deer is of the same
nature, but as these animals are less likely to miss their
leader when in flight than is the case with smaller species,
the "recognition mark" is less conspicuous.

In regard to spotted deer and striped antelopes, it

14 MOSTLY MAMMALS

seems probable, as has been suggested by Mr. R. I.
Pocock in an article published a couple of years ago in
Nature^ that the white markings belong to two different
categories so far as their purpose is concerned. In many
of such animals not only is the under-surface of the body
white, but there are several white gorgets on the throat
and white spots on the side of the face and chin. Now
there can be little doubt that such white areas are for the
purpose of counteracting the dark shade thrown by the
body, and thus rendering the animal much less conspicuous
when seen at a distance than would otherwise be the case.
That this is the true explanation is rendered practically
certain by the circumstance that such white markings,
especially the gorgets on the throat, persist in species
which, like the Indian nilgai and the American prongbuck,
have lost the ancestral stripes and spots. In neither of
the two species referred to, it may be well to observe, are
the young spotted or striped, and it is therefore only
from analogy that we speak of their ancestors being thus
coloured; but the nilgai is so closely related to the bush-
bucks and kudus that there can be little doubt that the
assertion is justifiable. Even, however, if it were not so,
the case as regards the purport of the white gorgets and
under-parts remains unaltered. It may be added that such
white patches can only be effectual where there is plenty
of light to throw the shadow ; and this is in accordance
with the fact that kudu and chital inhabit less dense
forest than sambar.

Having indicated, then, the special purpose of the white
under-parts and throat-markings of deer and antelopes,
we may consider the object of the stripes and spots char-
acteristic of certain species and groups. All the bushbucks,
save the males of one or two species, together with their

THE COLORATION OF LARGE ANIMALS 15

near relatives the bongo, the kudu, and the elands, are
characterised, as a rule, by having the whole body marked by
narrow white stripes, which are, for the most part, vertical
(although in some cases they form a kind of network)
upon a fawn or rufous ground. And these animals, as is
attested by the large size of their ears, are chiefly dwellers
in forest. Directly, however, any member of the group has
left the forest for more open country, as in the case of the
Cape eland and the Cape bushbuck, the stripes more or
less gradually disappear. Further, those species which
inhabit the densest forest have their colours the most
brilliantly developed, as is well exemplified in the case of
the lesser and the greater kudu, the former of which is
more of a forest animal than the latter. One of the
most brilliantly coloured of all is the bongo of the
equatorial forests.

Clearly, then, narrow vertical white stripes on a fawn
or chestnut ground, which we have reason to regard as a
very primitive type of animal coloration, are connected
with a forest life, and the presumption is that they are
of a protective nature. Confirmation of this view — if con-
firmation be needed — is afforded by two animals belonging
to widely different groups — namely, Grevy's zebra and the
Somali giraffe. The former of these animals differs from
all its kindred by its enormous and heavily fringed ears,
and these proclaim it to be a dweller in brushwood or
forest rather than in open plains, a supposition which
receives definite confirmation by the photographs taken
during Lord Delamere's East African journey. But
Grevy's zebra likewise differs from all its kindred by the
extreme narrowness of its stripes, white stripes alternating
with black ones of the same width. Here, then, narrow
white stripes are clearly an adaptation to a forest life. And

i6 MOSTLY MAMMALS

we further learn, from contrast with the bushbucks, that
when the ground-colour is fawn or rufous the intervals
between the white stripes must be large, while in the case
of a black ground such intervals are no greater than the
width of the stripes. Whether such modifications of the
pattern according to the shade of the ground-colour produce
the same effect in forest or brushwood, can be learnt only
by actual observation, and here again we must look to the
sportsman.

As regards the Somali giraffe, those who have had the
opportunity of seeing Lord Delamere's photographs can
scarcely fail to notice that the type of coloration differs
markedly from that of the common species, while the
animal itself appears to be found in much more jungly
country than is the case with the former. In place of
having a buff ground-colour blotched with large irregular
chocolate patches, the Somali giraffe is a liver-coloured
animal marked with a coarse network of fine white lines,
the type of coloration coming very close to that of some
of the smaller bushbucks. Clearly this colouring is an
adaptation for a mode of life not very different from that
of the bushbucks, whereas the coloration of the ordinary
giraffe is suited to an animal dwelling in open plains
dotted here and there with tall scattered trees. The two
types of coloration are, in fact, precisely analogous to
those of Grevy's zebra as compared with Burchell's zebra,
the one being a dweller in brushwood and the other in
open country. The Somali giraffe has not, however, ac-
quired the broad ears of essentially forest animals like its
cousin the okapi, and for a very sufficient reason. The
brushwood amid which this giraffe is commonly found
does not reach more than half-way up its neck, as is
clearly shown in the photographs already alluded to, so

From a photograj'h by Lord Dclaniere.^

East African Giraffes in Covert.

[To face p. i6

THE COLORATION OF LARGE ANIMALS 17

that ears of ordinary size suffice for the creature's
hearing.

The mention of the okapi recalls the fact that the colora-
tion of the upper part of the legs and hindquarters takes
the form of narrow black and white stripes, running, how-
ever, more horizontally than vertically, but evidently
conforming to the characteristic forest type. To attempt
to discuss why the coloration of the rest of this remarkable
animal is uniform would be premature in the absence of
any definite information with regard to its mode of life.

From the foregoing observations it seems evident that
in Africa, and in that country alone (for there are no
vertically striped ungulates in Asia), there are two distinct
types of protective coloration, the one generally associated
with large ears, for animals frequenting forest or brush-
wood, and the other for those living in more open country.
The forest type takes the form of white stripes, either upon
a fawn or chestnut or upon a black ground (the dark
intervals being broad in the former case and narrow in
the latter), or of a white network upon a liver-coloured
ground. On the other hand, in the plain type we have
either an alternation of broad dark and light vertical
stripes or dark blotches upon a buff ground. Both forms
of the latter type have been definitely stated to render the
animals in which they occur more or less inconspicuous
at comparatively short distances. But, so far as I am
aware, there are absolutely no observations to indicate the
degree of invisibility in the wild state of the two modi-
fications of the forest type. Probably, however, the
alternations of dark and light vertical stripes harmonise
with the vertical lines formed by stems of underwood and
the spaces between them.

We also want to know whether either or both of these

1 8 MOSTLY MAMMALS

types of apparently protective coloration are for their special
purpose as good as (or better than) a uniform colora-
tion, or under what circumstances, if any, the latter is
superior to the former. For, curiously enough, both the
forest and the plain type of coloration appear to have
been transformed, in some instances, into a uniformly
coloured coat. As regards the plain type, the now extinct
quagga shows the partial loss of the stripes, which have
completely disappeared from the wild asses of Northern
Africa. Very remarkable is the circumstance that from a
fully striped animal like the so-called Grant's zebra of
Abyssinia there is a complete graduation to the typical
Burchell's zebra of the Transvaal, in which the stripes have
disappeared from the legs, and the dark stripes are inter-
calated with paler " shadow stripes." One step from this
animal and we reach the quagga, which, be it noted, in-
habited the same country as the uniformly coloured Cape
eland. Evidently in the Cape district both the forest and
the plain types of striping were unsuitable and tended to
disappear. In the North African wild asses the disappear-
ance of the striping is complete. Before we can attempt
to explain this it is necessary to know whether a Grant's
zebra and a wild ass are equally inconspicuous in their
own particular habitats, and whether any difference in this
respect would be noticeable if the one were transported to
the habitat of the other.

An instance of the replacement of the forest type of
striping by a uniform coat (otherwise than in the case of
a desert-dwelling species) is afforded among the bushbucks
by the males of the nyala, which have long, shaggy brown
coats with but very indistinct traces of striping. Is this
dark coat a better protection than the brilliantly striped
one of the female, or is it assumed because the males

THE COLORATION OF LARGE ANIMALS 19

have (on account of their horns) no longer any need of
protection ? On the other hand, is it due to the fact that the
bucks keep more to the heart of the forest, and are more
nocturnal than their partners ?

Another phase of coloration for the development of
which no satisfactory reason can be assigned is presented
by the males of certain ruminants, such as the Indian
blackbuck, the white-eared kob, and Mrs. Gray's kob of
the White Nile, and the banting, or wild ox, of Java. In
all these four species (the first three of which are antelopes)
the adult males exchange the foxy red coat of the younger
members of their own sex and of the females at all ages
for a sable livery relieved by larger or smaller white
areas. Clearly this coloration, in place of being protec-
tive, renders the animals in which it occurs conspicuous.
The only suggestion which seems at all reasonable is that
it must either be a " warning colour " or one adapted to
attract females towards the leader of the herd. If it come
under the former category, it has apparently been developed
in order to deter other animals from attacking the leaders
of the herd, on account of their prowess in fight. That
such an immunity would be an advantage to the individuals
in question cannot be doubted ; and possibly it receives
support from the circumstance referred to in the next
paragraph.

Although both sexes of the banting carry horns, the
females of the aforesaid three species of antelope are
hornless. In certain species, such as the sable antelope
of Africa and the gaur (the miscalled bison) of India, in
which both sexes are horned, the adult females as well
as the males have assumed a blackish coat ; and, so far
as it goes, this phase is in favour of the view that the
acquisition of a sable livery by certain species is for the

20 MOSTLY MAMMALS

purpose of warning off foes, both sexes in the above
instances having formidable weapons of offence and defence,
and being thus perfectly capable of taking care of themselves.

Probably the black hue of the Asiatic buffaloes and of
the typical race of their African relatives was originally
developed in the same manner and for the same purpose
as in the case of the sable antelope. It may, however,
now have acquired a higher significance, and be connected
with the general prevalence of blackness among large hoofed
mammals, such as elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses,
buffaloes, and, to a great extent, tapirs. Among such
animals it will not fail to be noticed that in many instances
both sexes are armed with either horns or tusks ; and
that where such weapons have been discarded the animals
are sufficiently protected either b}^ their huge bodily bulk
or by the nature of their haunts. Although we have the
testimony of many sportsmen as to the difficulty of seeing
an Indian elephant, even at close quarters, when in thick
covert, we have yet to learn whether the prevalence of a
black or dark grey skin among so many of the larger
mammals is or is not for the purpose of protection. But
since large herds of animals thus coloured are frequently
to be met with in open country, it has probably been
developed for some other purpose, although what this may
be it is difficult even to conjecture.

Returning once more to deer, and taking first the case
of the fallow-deer, which (with the exception of the dark
race) is spotted in summer and uniformly coloured in winter,
there seems no doubt that the dappled summer coat is
for the purpose of harmonising with the chequered shade
cast by the leafy boughs of the trees under which the
animals are wont to repose. This harmony has doubtless
been noticed by many of my readers, and is well expressed

THE COLORATION OF LARGE ANIMALS 21

in the following passage from Dr. L. Robinson's "Wild
Traits in Tame Animals," which refers to a scene in
Greenwich Park : —

" The dappled fallow-deer were grazing among the
chestnut-trees or lying down upon the soft grass. I sat
down on a seat to watch them, determined, if possible,
to learn something fresh from them before I moved from
the spot. One could not help noticing how remarkably
their mottled skins, angular outlines, and branching horns
fitted them for concealment in the glades of the forest.
Even here, where the surroundings were to a large extent
artificial, every now and then the eye would suddenly
chance upon a deer resting among the chequered shadows,
which was so inconspicuous that it had previously escaped
notice." "*

Assuming, then, that the object of the dappled coat is to
harmonise with the splashes of sunlight and shade beneath
forest trees in summer, it is perfectly obvious that in tem-
perate latitudes such a type of coloration would be quite out
of place in winter, when the forest trees have shed their
leaves. Accordingly the fallow-deer exchanges its dappled
summer livery for a uniform coat of fawn more in harmony
with the sombre colour prevalent in nature generally during
the northern winter. A precisely similar change takes place
in the Japanese deer and its relative, the Peking deer of
Manchuria, both of which have bright chestnut coats dappled
with large white spots in summer, while in winter they
are clothed in sombre brown. It is, moreover, noticeable
that in the Peking deer the summer coat is exchanged
for the winter dress comparatively early in the season —
doubtless in correlation with the early advent of winter
in its native habitat.

The Japanese and Peking deer have, however, a repre-

22 MOSTLY MAMMALS

sentative in the island of Formosa, which Hes just on the
northern tropic. Now, this Formosan deer — or Formosan
sika, as it is properly called — differs from its northern
relatives by retaining its spots more or less distinctly
throughout the winter — obviously in correlation with its
southern domicile, where perpetual summer reigns.

But, as being probably descended from northern repre-
sentatives of the group, the Formosan sika has not been
able to get entirely rid of the change from a spotted to
a uniformly coloured coat. On the other hand, the chital,
or spotted deer of India, which is essentially a tropical
or subtropical form, is just as brilHantly coloured and as
fully spotted in winter as in summer.

Regarding the haunts of the chital. Dr. Blanford, in " The
Fauna of British India — Mammals," writes as follows : —

" The especial habitat of this deer, perhaps the most
beautiful in form and coloration of the whole family, is
amongst bushes and trees near water and in bamboo jungle.
. . . Many of its favourite haunts are in some of the most
beautiful wild scenery of the Indian plains and lower hills,
on the margins of rippling streams with their banks over-
grown by lofty trees, or in the grassy glades that open
out amidst the exquisite foliage of bamboo clumps. Spotted
deer are thoroughly gregarious, and associate at all times
of the year in herds, sometimes of several hundreds. They
are less nocturnal than sambar, and may be found feeding
for three or four hours after sunrise, and again in the
afternoon for an hour or two before sunset. They generally
drink between eight and ten o'clock in the morning, the
time varying with the season of the year, and repose during
the day in deep shade."

From this account it is clear that the habits and haunts
(allowing for the difference between Indian and English

THE COLORATION OF LARGE ANIMALS 23

foliage and scenery) of the chital are practically the same
as those of the fallow-deer in summer. Both species fre-
quent forest glades in large herds during the daytime, and
seek repose under the shade of spreading trees. It may
be added that another species of spotted deer inhabiting
the tropics — namely, the Philippine spotted deer — resembles
the chital in retaining its dappled livery at all seasons.

From these facts it is safe to conclude that among the
members of the deer tribe a white-spotted coat is a pro-
tective adaptation to a diurnal life among the glades of
leafy woods. When such woods, as in the tropics, retain
their foliage throughout the year, the deer likewise retain
their spots. On the other hand, when, as in the northern
temperate zone, the trees become bare and leafless in winter,
the deer assume a dull-coloured uniform livery in harmony
with the sombre conditions of their inanimate surroundings.

One other point in connection with the above-mentioned
species of spotted deer deserves brief mention. All of
them, whether spotted in summer only or throughout the
year, have " recognition marks " on their hindquarters. In
the fallow-deer and chital these take the form of a white
under-surface to the tail and white on the portion of the
buttocks against which it rests, while in the sikas there is
a patch of extensile white hairs on the buttocks. When
the tail is raised in flight, as is always the case, a large
white '' blaze " is displayed, which serves not only to
indicate the direction in which to fly, but likewise as a
danger signal to the entire herd. Evidently these strongly
pronounced " recognition marks," which are not developed
in nocturnal and thicket-haunting deer of the sambar type,
are correlated with the habit of frequenting the outskirts
or glades of forests during daylight in large herds.

The various races of the sambar which have exchanged

24 MOSTLY MAMMALS

the primitive spotted coloration of the chital for a dull
brown and shaggy coat are proclaimed to be essentially
animals of the thick forest by the large size of their ears,
although this characteristic is more strongly marked in the
larger than in the smaller races of the group. Dr. Blanford's
account of the habits of the Indian sambar runs as follows: —

"This is the woodland deer of South-Eastern Asia
generally, and is more widely and generally distributed
than any other species. ... It comes out on the grass
slopes when such exist, as in the Nilgiris and other hill-
ranges, to graze, but always takes refuge in the woods.
It is but rarely found associating in any numbers ; both
stags and hinds are often found singly, but small herds
of four or five to a dozen in number are commonly met
with. Its habits are nocturnal ; it may be seen feeding
in the morning and evening, but it grazes chiefly at night,
and at that time often visits small patches of cultivation
in the half-cleared tracts, returning for the day to wilder
parts, and often ascending hills to make a lair in grass
amongst trees, where it generally selects a spot well shaded
from the sun's rays."

Contrasting this with the account given above of the
mode of life of the chital, the reason of the colour of
the sambar will be apparent. It is essentially a deer of
the thickets, nocturnal and more or less solitary in habits,
and shunning the sunlit glades. Hence not only is the
coat uniformly dusky brown, but the white " recognition
marks " on the rump, so useful in the case of the fallow-
deer and the sikas, are entirely wanting.

As regards the change from a grey fawn-colour in summer
to a foxy red in winter exhibited by many kinds of deer
— most markedly by the American white-tail and the
European roe, and, in a somewhat less degree, by the

THE COLORATION OF LARGE ANIMALS 25

red-deer — it seems to be certainly analogous to the change
from a spotted to a uniform coat in the Japanese and fallow-
deer, and must therefore be for the purpose of protection.
Prima facie, it might have been thought that the winter
dress would be red, since this tint would apparently har-
monise well with the russet hue of fallen leaves and dead
bracken^ The tone of the summer dress is, however, very
similar to the ground-colour of the coat of the Peking and
Japanese deer at the same season, although we have yet
to learn why a uniformly red tint is more advantageous
in the case of the roe and the white-tail than a spotted
dress. Possibly it may be owing to the more open nature
of the country frequented by these and other species in
which this type of coloration prevails.

That the change in the roe, the red-deer, and the white-
tailed deer from red in summer to grey in winter is
analogous to the change from a spotted to a uniform coat
in the Peking deer and the fallow-deer, is demonstrated
not only by the nature of the colour itself, but more
emphatically by the circumstance that in tropical and
subtropical countries red-coated deer, such as the Indian
muntjac and swamp-deer, or barasingha, retain their colour
throughout the year. A similar condition is noticeable
in the case of the small tropical representatives of the
Virginian white-tailed deer, most or all of which do not
change their colour with the season. In the last-men-
tioned instance it appears, indeed, that the coat is brownish
or greyish, instead of red ; but this may be connected with
the tendency to melanism, so often noticeable in the case
of animals inhabiting moist tropical forests. Be this as
it may, it is quite clear that the change from a red
summer coat to a grey winter dress in species like the
while-tail and the roe is for the purpose of protection,

26 MOSTLY MAMMALS

and is correlated with the presence of foliage on the trees
at the one season and its absence at the other. It may
be added that the white-tail and the muntjac have the
under-side of the tail and the inner surfaces of the buttocks
white, and thus display a conspicuous patch when running
to covert with the tail elevated. Somewhat curiously, the
roe generally develops a white rump-patch only when in
the grey winter dress.

Although the reason for many details remains to be
worked out — and for this naturalists must rely on the good
offices of sportsmen — I venture to think that the foregoing
theory affords a satisfactory explanation of most of the
different types of coloration prevailing among the deer.
Probably the coloration of the chital — spotted at all seasons
— was the primitive type. From this was evolved the
seasonal change characteristic of the fallow and Peking
deer, and from this, again, the absence of spots at all
seasons distinctive of the white-tail and roe. A further
specialisation is displayed in the tropics by the sambar
in one direction and the muntjac and barasingha in the
other. If these conclusions be well founded, it is evident
that deer were originally a tropical group. It should be
mentioned that the Indian hog-deer, which develops spots
in summer, is an exception to the rule that tropical deer,
if spotted at all, retain their markings all the year.

The foregoing summary of the extent of our knowledge
— or, rather, of the depth of our ignorance — with regard
to the meaning and object of the different types of colora-
tion prevalent among the larger mammals may, it is to be
hoped, direct the attention of travellers and sportsmen to
an extremely interesting, but much neglected, subject, and
thus lead to a real advance being made in the interpreta-
tion of the facts.

' SPOTS AND STRIPES IN MAMMALS

Such of my readers as have considered the subject at
all may be aware that in those animals whose fur is
ornamented with dark or light markings, these markings
generally take the form either of longitudinal or transverse
bands, or of spots ; the latter being frequently arranged in
more or less distinctly defined longitudinal lines, but never
in transverse bands. Moreover, these markings, especially
in the case of stripes and bands, are generally most de-
veloped on the upper surface of the body, although spots
may be equally present on both the upper and the lower
surfaces of the body. Many mammals, again, whether they
be spotted or whether they be striped, have their tails
marked by dark rings on a light ground ; but this feature
is also present in others in which the colour of the body
is of a uniform tint. It must not, however, be supposed
that there is any sharply defined distinction between spotted
and striped mammals, many of the civets, as well as some
of the cats, having markings intermediate between true
spots and stripes. Spots, again, are somewhat variable in
configuration, some animals, like the hunting-leopard, having
solid circular dark spots, while in others, such as the
leopard and jaguar, they assume the form of dark rings
enclosing a light centre. In other cases, as in the giraffe,
the spots are enlarged so as to form large and more or
less quadrangular blotches.

27

28 MOSTLY MAMMALS

A survey of a museum or a menagerie will likewise
show that spots and stripes are by no means equally
prevalent in all groups of mammals. In the apes, monkeys,
marmosets, and lemurs, for instance, they never occur ; and
when these animals are diversely coloured, the coloration
takes the form of patches symmetrically disposed on the
two sides of the body, but otherwise not following any
very clearly defined mode of arrangement. Then, again,
in the hoofed mammals, or ungulates, many species are
more or less uniformly coloured, although the zebras are
notable instances of transversely striped animals, while the
giraffe is an equally notable instance of the blotched type
of coloration. Among the even-toed {Artiodactyle) sub-
division of this order it may be also noticed that while in
the more specialised forms, such as wild cattle and sheep,
the coloration is more or less uniform, many of the
antelopes show white transverse stripes on a dark ground.
Dark transverse stripes are, however, known only in the
case of the little zebra-antelope {Cephalophns doriae) of
Western Africa, and the gnus ; while, although a lateral
dark flank-stripe is present in some antelopes, and in the
gazelles, none of these animals have the whole body marked
by longitudinal dark stripes. In the case of the deer it
has been mentioned in the preceding article that certain
species, hke the fallow-deer and the Indian spotted deer,
are marked with longitudinal rows of white spots at all
ages ; while in the case of other species it will be found
that the young are similarly marked, whereas the adults
are uniformly coloured. A similar state of things occurs
among wild pigs, and also in the tapirs, from which we
are naturally led to infer that in this group of mammals,
at least, a spotted or striped type of coloration is the
original or generalised condition, while a uniformly coloured

SPOTS AND STRIPES IN MAMMALS 29

coat is an acquired or specialised feature. And the same
holds good for other groups.

Turning to the carnivorous mammals, we find that in
many families, more especially the cats, hyaenas, and civets,
stripes and spots are far more generally present than
a uniform coloration ; although some groups, such as the
bears, form a marked exception to this rule, the majority of
the species being uniformly coloured, while none are striped
or spotted. In some species of the weasel family — notably
the badgers — it may be also noticed that while the sides
of the head are marked by longitudinal dark and light
stripes, the remainder of the body is uniformly coloured.
And it may be mentioned here that many animals, such as
donkeys and dun-coloured horses, retain a longitudinal dark
stripe down the back, frequently accompanied by dark trans-
verse bars on the limbs, while a uniform coloration prevails
elsewhere.

In the gnawing mammals, or rodents, although many
species are uniformly coloured, stripes and spots are pre-
valent ; and a survey of the collection of these animals in a
good museum will show that, whether the pattern take the
form of stripes or of spots, the arrangement is invariably
longitudinal and never transverse. Indeed, it may be
observed that when spots are present, these are invariably
light-coloured on a darker ground. Although in many
cases the longitudinal stripes occupy the whole or a con-
siderable portion of the upper surface, in some of the
squirrels they are reduced to a dark and light stripe, or
even a single light stripe on each flank, this remarkable
type of coloration recalling the " speculum " on the wing
of a duck.

I might extend this survey to other orders of mammals,
but sufficient has been said to indicate the variability of

30 MOSTLY MAMMALS

the prevalent type of coloration in different groups, and
I accordingly proceed to give a list of some more or less
well-known mammals arranged according to the plan of
their markings.

1 . Mammals with dark longitudinal stripes. — Striped mon-
gooses {Galidictts) of Madagascar, in one of which the
stripes are very narrow and close, while in the other they
are broader and more widely separated ; these animals
belonging to the civet family. The three-striped palm-
civet {Arctogale) ; the genet, the markings here tending to
break up into spots ; the three-striped opossum ; the palm-
squirrel, and chipmunks (Tamias).

In all the above the stripes are dark upon a greyish
ground, but in the following they take the form of black
and white stripes, the white area being generally the
larger ; and it may be noted that all belong to the weasel
family. They include the skunks, the South African weasel
(Poecilogale), and the Cape polecat (Ictonyx) ; while similar
markings obtain on the head of the badger.

2. Mammals with dark spots. — These may be divided
into several sub-groups, according to the form of the
spots. Those in which the spots are small, more or less
nearly circular, and solid, include the hunting-leopard, the
tiger-cat, serval, lynx, spotted hyaena, large-spotted civet
(Viverra megaspila), the African linsang (Poiana), and the
young of the puma. The blotched genet {Genetta tigrind)
forms a transition to blotches. Some of the civets are
more or less distinctly spotted, in others the coloration is
intermediate between spots and longitudinal stripes.

As species in which the spots are enlarged to form more
or less quadrangular blotches, we may cite the common
giraffe and those Oriental civets known as linsangs.

By a splitting-up of a certain spot into a more or less

SPOTS AND STRIPES IN MAMMALS 31

complete ring of smaller ones, we have the rosette-like type
of ornamentation, as exemplified in the leopard, the snow-
leopard, and the jaguar. In the two former the ring
encloses a uniform light area ; but in the latter the central
area generally carries two or more dark spots. A further
development of the ring leads to the so-called clouded type,
as displayed by the Oriental clouded leopard and marbled
cat, and the American ocelot. Here the ring becomes en-
larged into a large squarish or oblong area, enclosing an
area of darker hue than the general ground-colour of the
fur, and bordered by a narrow black line ; the black line
in the two former species being, however, confined to the
hinder half of the cloudings.

3. Mammals with dark transverse stripes. — Tiger, young
lions, wild cat, striped hyaena, aard-wolf (Proieles), banded
civets {Hemigale), banded mongoose (^Crossarchus), zebra-
antelope, gnus, zebras, thylacine, and the water-opossum
{Chironedes). Among these it may be noted that in the
zebras the stripes on the hindquarters have a more or
less marked longitudinal direction ; and whereas in the
mountain zebra and Grevy's zebra they consist of simple
dark bands on a light ground, in some forms of Burchell's
zebra the light areas between the dark stripes are traversed
by an intermediate stripe of somewhat darker hue than the
ground-colour.

4. Mammals with white spots arranged in longitudinal
lines. — Fallow-deer and Indian spotted deer, young tapirs ;
the paca (Coelogenys) among the rodents ; and the dasyures
among the marsupials. Both in young tapirs and the paca
the spots tend to coalesce into more or less complete
longitudinal stripes.

5. Mammals with white transverse bands. — The kudu,
eland, bongo {Boocercus euryceros), and harnessed antelope

32 MOSTLY MAMMALS

{Tragelaphus scriptus) among the antelopes, and Gunn's
bandicoot {Perameles gunni) and the banded ant-eater
{Myrmecobius) among the marsupials. In the harnessed
antelope spots occur as well as stripes.

Many other species might be incorporated in these lists,
but the foregoing instances are sufficient to show that no
one type of coloration is confined to any particular group,
although it may be much more common in one assemblage
of animals than in another.

Several attempts have been made to reduce the colora-
tion of animals to some general law, and among these one
of the most notable was published some years ago by
Prof, Eimer, of Tubingen, who based his conclusions on a
comprehensive study of vertebrates in general. As the
result of his investigations, this observer declared that the
following laws might be laid down in regard to colour-
markings of animals in general. Firstly, the primitive
type of coloration took the form of longitudinal stripes.
Secondly, these stripes broke up into spots, retaining in
many cases a more or less distinct longitudinal arrange-
ment. Thirdly, the spots again coalesced, but this time
into transverse stripes. And fourthly, all markings dis-
appeared, so as to produce a uniform coloration of the
whole coat. As a further development of this theory, it
was added that the more specialised features were assumed
in many cases more completely by the male than the female,
while the primitive coloration often persists in the young.
It was also stated that the primitive longitudinal stripes
frequently persist on the middle of the back, and likewise
on the crown and sides of the face, examples of the latter
survival being shown by the head- and face-stripes of
many spotted cats, and the dark and light streaks on the
sides of the face of the badger.

SPOTS AND STRIPES IN MAMMALS 33

Whether these laws hold good for other groups of ver-
tebrates, it is not within the scope of the present article
to inquire, and attention will accordingly be concentrated
on mammals. If they be true, we should, prima facie,
expect to find a large number of longitudinally striped
forms among the lower members of the class ; while those
of intermediate grades of evolution would be spotted, and
the higher types either transversely striped or uniformly
coloured. This, however, could only be the case, as a
whole, if all mammals formed one regularly ascending
series ; whereas, as a matter of fact, they form a number
of divergent branches, each containing specialised and
generalised forms. The inquiry is thus rendered one of
extreme complexity, although there ought, if the theory
were true in its entirety, to be a considerable number of
longitudinally striped species among the lowest groups of
all. Unfortunately, palaeontology, from the nature of the
case, can afford us no aid, which very materially adds to
the difficulty. It may be added that in Prof Elmer's
scheme no distinction is drawn between light and dark
markings — that is to say, between the total disappearance
of pigment and an ultra-development of the same — and
it is obvious that this may be of such prime import-
ance that these two types of coloration may have nothing
whatever to do with one another. Nevertheless, we
may provisionally consider light and dark stripes and
light and dark spots as respectively equivalent to one
another.

With regard to uniformly coloured animals, there can be
no question as to the truth of the theory, since the young
of so many animals, such as lions, pumas, deer, pigs and
tapirs show more or less distinct striped or spotted mark-
ings, which disappear more or less completely in the adult.

3

34 MOSTLY MAMMALS

The occurrence of bands on the legs and sometimes on
the shoulders of mules and dun-coloured horses, and like-
wise the presence of dark bars on the limbs of otherwise
uniformly coloured species of cats, like the Egyptian cat
and the bay cat, are further proofs of the same law.
Moreover, the fact that in the young of pigs — and, to a
certain extent, those of tapirs — the markings take the form
of longitudinal stripes, whereas in the more specialised
deer, whether young or old, they are in the shape of spots
arranged in more or less well-defined lines, is, so far as it
goes, a confirmation of the theory that spots are newer
than stripes. And the presence of transverse stripes in
the still more highly specialised antelopes tends to support
the derivation of this type of marking from spots, es-
pecially if it be remembered that the harnessed antelopes
are partly spotted. Still, it must be borne in mind that
these instances apply only to light markings, which, as
already stated, may have a totally different origin from
dark ones.

There are, however, apparently insuperable difficulties as
regards longitudinal and transverse striping in mammals.
In the first place, instead of finding a number of the
polyprotodont, or more primitive marsupials, showing longi-
tudinal stripes, we have in this group only the three-
striped and single-striped opossums thus marked, and in
these the stripes are respectively reduced to the numbers
indicated by their names. This, however, is not all, for
the banded ant-eater takes its name from the narrow trans-
verse white stripes with which the back is marked ; while
the thylacine, which cannot in any sense be regarded as a
specialised type, is similarly marked with broader dark
stripes, neither of these animals having any trace of a
longitudinal stripe down the back. The water-opossum.

SPOTS AND STRIPES IN MAMMALS 35

again, may be regarded as a transversely striped marsupial,
although here the stripes are few in number and approxi-
mate in form to blotches. Although in the same order the
dasyures are spotted with white, we have no black-spotted
marsupial ; and if such a type formed the transition
between longitudinal and transverse stripes, surely some
species showing such a type of coloration ought to have
persisted.

Then, again, in the ungulates we have the zebra-
antelopes, the gnus, and the zebras showing most strongly
marked transverse dark stripes ; but we have no dark-
spotted forms in the whole order except the giraffes, while
the only ones with dark longitudinal stripes are young
pigs. And it would thus appear that, although all the
animals above mentioned are highly specialised species,
these tranverse stripes and dark blotches must have
originated de novo quite independently in each of the
groups in question. Indeed, when we remember that the
coloration of zebras, antelopes, and giraffes is generally
of a protective nature — the stripes of the former rendering
the animals invisible on sandy ground in moonlight, and,
to a great extent, also in sunlight, while the blotches of
the latter harmonise exactly with the chequered shade
thrown by the mimosa-trees among which they feed — it
is incredible that both types should have been evolved,
according to a rigid rule, from animals marked by dark
longitudinal stripes.

Another instance of the same nature is afforded by the
cats, in most of which the coloration appears to be
mainly of a protective nature, plain-coloured species, like
the puma and lion, having tawny coats harmonising with
the sandy deserts which these animals often inhabit, while
the vertical stripes of the tiger, although in some degree

36 MOSTLY MAMMALS

resembling the perpendicular lights and shadows of a
grass-jungle, are probably for the purpose of breaking
up the outline of the body. The clouded markings of
the marbled cat and clouded leopard assimilate with the
boughs on which these species repose, and the spotted
coat of the Indian desert-cat renders the creature almost
invisible in stony deserts. To suppose that all such
adaptations have been produced in the regular order re-
quired by the theory is as incredible as in the last case.
There is, moreover, the circumstance that the young of the
uniformly coloured lion and puma are spotted, thus giving
an instance of the direct passage from a spotted to a
plain-coloured form without the intervention of a trans-
versely striped stage, precisely the same thing also
occurring in the case of the deer. It should, however,
be mentioned that lion cubs occasionally have their tails
ringed like that of a tiger, instead of spotted in leopard-
fashion ; so that in this particular instance transverse
stripes are intercalated between the spotted and the uni-
formly coloured stages.

If we look for the most primitive mammals with longi-
tudinal dark stripes over the greater part of the upper
surface, such types being wanting in the marsupials, we
shall find them in the striped mongooses {Galidictis) of
Madagascar, already mentioned. And as the civets and
their allies are certainly the most generalised of existing car-
nivora (although the modern members of that order occupy
a somewhat high position), this case tends, in a certain
degree, to lend some support to the view that longitudinal
dark stripes are an early type. The rarity of animals
exhibiting this pattern over all their bodies, coupled with
the frequent retention of a longitudinal dorsal stripe, are
likewise in some degree confirmatory of the same view.

SPOTS AND STRIPES IN MAMMALS 37

With regard to the conspicuous black and white stripes
on the cheeks of the badger, and throughout the head and
body in the skunks, South African weasel, and Cape polecat,
it may perhaps be argued, with some show of reason,
that we have an old type of coloration. In the badger
this type of coloration is restricted to the face, where it
is evidently retained to render the animal inconspicuous
among the streaks of light and shadow as it peers out of
its burrow. On the other hand, they may have been
acquired for this special purpose. In the other forms,
all of which are more or less evil-smelling creatures, a
conspicuous general coloration is an advantage, as warning
off other animals from attacking them in mistake for
harmless kinds, and the boldly alternating stripes have
accordingly been retained all over the body and rendered
as conspicuous as possible.

I might dilate to almost any extent on the subject of
spots and stripes ; but sufficient has been adduced, in this
and the preceding article, to indicate the interest attaching
to the coloration of mammals, and to show how far we
are from understanding what has brought about the
present state of things. That uniformly coloured mammals
form the climax of colour-evolution in the case of stripes
and spots may be pretty safely admitted. It may further
be considered probable that longitudinal dark stripes are
an old type of coloration in at least some groups, although
it does not follow that this will hold good for all, the
marsupials being possibly an exception. Transverse stripes
cannot, however, be made to accord with Prof Eimer's
theory, since not only do they exist in some of the most
primitive of all mammals, but they reappear in certain
specialised groups where there is no evidence of a pre-
vious spotted stage having been passed through. While,

38 MOSTLY MAMMALS

therefore, it is far from improbable that there may be a
certain substratum of truth in what we may call the
" longitudinal-spotted-transverse-uniform " theory of colora-
tion, I submit that in its present guise it cannot adequately
explain the whole evolution of spots and stripes in
mammals.

THE DOMESTICATION OF WILD ANIMALS

Some time ago the Societe d'Acclimatation de France
published in its Bulletin an address delivered by Dr. E.
Trouessart at the Conference held on January I2th, 1900,
to discuss the question of the animals most suitable for
acclimatisation and domestication. The author commences
his address by stating that the present age is one of
machinery and electricity ; and that eventually the use of
these will result in the total consumption of all the stored
vegetable fuels, such as coal and petroleum, buried in the
crust of the earth. When such a time comes, he argues,
man will be compelled to rely once more exclusively on
the labour of animals, which derive their nutriment and
their power from the consumption of the living vegetable
products of the earth. It is, therefore, urged that it is
important to domesticate and acclimatise as many kinds of
wild animals as possible before they are finally extermi-
nated. And to support his argument for domesticating
animals other than those now commonly held in subjection,
Dr. Trouessart points out that while a certain area of
country is only capable of nourishing a definite limited
number of one kind of animal, such as oxen, it is perfectly
able to sustain in addition some of another description,
such as sheep, which are able to pasture on ground over
which cattle have already gone and eaten all they could
obtain. Pigs, again, have a totally different class of nutrj-

39

40 MOSTLY MAMMALS

ment ; while the goat can obtain a living on ground where
a sheep would starve. Moreover, the ass and the mule
replace the horse in arid and mountainous countries, where
they thrive on a much less luxuriant diet than is necessary
to the well-being of the latter animal.

Then there are climates in which many of the domesti-
cated animals of Europe will not flourish, dying either
from the general effects of the climate itself, or succumbing
to the attacks of insect-pests, as in the familiar instance
of the African tsetse-fly.

As regards the supplementing of the existing domesti-
cated animals of Europe — whether they be used for labour
or for food — by newly domesticated wild species, I venture
to think that, in the main, there is very little chance of
success. In the first place, the species we now possess in
this condition are amply sufficient to serve all needs, and
are capable of indefinite multiplication. And in the second
place, it has to be borne in mind that it would probably
take scores of generations to make a wild animal equal in
point of utility to the old-established domestic breeds —
that is to say, it would take an immensely long period
of time in order to make any wild animal as immune to
the effects of in-and-in breeding as is the case with our
domesticated species ; while it is quite likely that the time
would be still longer before the former would approach
many of the latter in flesh-forming power or in the capacity
for early maturity. And in this connection it is most
important to bear in mind that the great majority of our
domesticated animals are very different in physical characters
from their wild ancestors ; and that, in most instances, it
is these highly modified breeds that are of the greatest
economic importance to mankind. To produce an animal
like the sheep, for instance, which differs from all its wild

THE DOMESTICATION OF WILD ANIMALS 41

kindred by possessing a coat of wool instead of hair,
must have taken hundreds, if not thousands of years.
And it is obvious that no newly domesticated species can
by any possibility assail the established supremacy of the
sheep. Again, it was attempted during the early decades
of the last century to domesticate in England the South
African eland, which it was thought might vie with the
ox as a beef-producer, the experiment being carried out
by a former Earl of Derby at Knowsley Park. But the
experiment was a total failure, as these animals breed
comparatively slowly, are long in coming to maturity, and
bear no sort of comparison with shorthorns in capacity
for rapidly putting on flesh.

Although, as noticed later on, there is a large field for
the advocates of acclimatisation in introducing new species
of animals into European parks and coverts, either for
ornament or for sport, it seems to be tolerably evident
that, in England, at any rate, the introduction and acclima-
tisation of new kinds of domesticated animals is not at
all likely to be attended with successful results. Possibly,
indeed, something of this kind may be accomplished in
France, where the habits of the peasantry are different
from those which obtain in England. But, so far as
economical considerations are concerned, the chances of
success in domestication are probably more hopeful in
Africa than anywhere else. There • the experimentalists
have before them the grand opportunity of taming the
African elephant, which, if its disposition is at all similar
(and the individuals who carry loads of our young friends
along the gravel paths of the London " Zoo " seem to
indicate that it is) to that of its Indian cousin, ought to
be invaluable as a means of transport. And they have a
second scope for their ingenuity in producing a tsetse-proof

42 MOSTLY MAMMALS

breed of zebra-hybrids, whose capacity for work and powers
of endurance should be somewhat on a par with those of
the horse and the mule.

Turning to the list of animals given by Dr. Trouessart
as suitable for domestication or acclimatisation, we find it
headed by the Patagonian cavy {Dolichotis patagonica) of
the open plains of South America ; a creature singularly
like a hare in general appearance, although its affinities
are with the guinea-pig. The mara, as this animal is
called by the natives, has already been introduced into
several English parks, notably those of the Duke of Bedford
and Sir Edmund Loder, where it appears to flourish well,
with a certain amount of protection. It does not burrow,
but merely makes a ** form " among long grass, after the
manner of the hare. Its flesh is of excellent quality ; and
this, together with its interesting habits, is urged as the
chief reason for its introduction. It is not, however, a
rapid breeder, and to a considerable extent is diurnal in
jts habits and slow in its movements (except when tho-
roughly frightened) ; so that its chances of making its way
in European countries, where hares are year by year
diminishing in numbers, would appear to be but small. A
second species {D. salinicold) inhabits the salt-plains of
the Argentine, and it is accordingly urged that it would
be suitable for turning down in the so-called Chotts of
Algeria and Tunisia. But would the game be worth the
candle ? is the natural question.

With regard to the domestication of the African elephant,
so much has been written elsewhere that I may be brief on
the present occasion. It is interesting to notice, however,
that the French missionaries of Fernan-Vaz, in the north
of French Congoland, have succeeded in taming a young
individual of this species, which appears to be the first of

THE DOMESTICATION OF WILD ANIMALS 43

its kind that has been domesticated in modern times in its
native land. This animal was captured out of a herd of
twenty, when apparently five or six years of age ; and
when the account was sent home had already become
perfectly tame and docile. It was trained to draw a
waggon for carrying agricultural produce, and also a brake
for passengers. As Dr. Trouessart observes, this individual
renders the domestication of the African elephant practically
an accomplished fact.

There remains the question of breeding in captivity ; but
British experiences in Burma indicate that this is merely
a matter of expense in the case of the Asiatic species.
And it is worth considering whether domestication is not
the only chance of saving the African elephant from
ultimate extermination.

Perhaps even more has been written of late years with
regard to the possibility of domesticating zebras than has
been devoted to the case of the elephant. The general
opinion seems to be that individuals caught wild and trained
to harness are too " soft " to be of any great permanent
value for draught purposes, and that either the stamina
and staying powers of these animals will have to be im-
proved by judicious breeding in captivity, or that mules
between zebras and ponies will be found more efficacious
for the needs of African transport. In either event it will
be essential to domesticate a large stock of zebras, as other-
wise in the course of a few years these handsome animals
might become so scarce as to be practically unobtainable.
Whether, however, " zebroids," as it is proposed to call the
hybrids, will maintain the immunity against tsetse attack
characteristic of pure-bred zebras, remains to be proved.
There is also the question as to the fertility or otherwise of
these hybrids, and the consideration that if they produced

44 MOSTLY MAMMALS

offspring, these would almost certainly resemble their
grandparents and not their parents. Another factor in the
case must not be overlooked — namely, the absence of wild
zebras from the great forest tracts, like Congoland, of
Africa ; and the consequent uncertainty whether these
animals when domesticated v;ould thrive in such districts.
Possibly the hybrids might be found to do so, but it
is quite likely that the pure-bred animals would require
several generations of domesticity. Probably Grevy's zebra,
on account of its large size and good shape, would be the
species best adapted for domestication.

With regard to the acclimatisation of various species of
foreign deer in European parks and forests, there is little
doubt that many of the larger kinds, such as the American
wapiti, would flourish and multiply. But such deer, es-
pecially after being kept in captivity, are apt to be spiteful
at certain times of the year, on which ground their in-
troduction is not altogether advisable.

The same remark will apply in a degree to the Altai
wapiti, the Manchurian wapiti, and the large red-deer of
the Caucasus and Persia. The pretty little Japanese deer
(Cervus sica), and their somewhat larger cousin the
Manchurian deer (C st'ca manchuricus), both of which are
fully spotted in summer, have, however, already been success-
fully introduced into parks in Ireland, England, and the
Continent, where there is every prospect that they will
continue to thrive. Moreover, the much larger and still
more brilliantly coloured Peking deer (C. hortulorum) may
be seen at liberty in numbers in the Duke of Bedford's park
at Woburn ; and from its comparatively large size, fine
antlers, beautifully spotted summer coat, and generally
handsome appearance, it is a species in every way suited
for acclimatisation in Europe.

THE DOMESTICATION OF WILD ANIMALS 45

In spite, too, of the warm climate of its native home,
the Indian spotted deer, or chital, takes kindly to a semi-
wild life in Europe, where it may be seen in some of the
parks of England, France, and Germany, the acclimatisation
on the Continent dating from more than fifty years ago.
At the time of its first introduction on the Continent
nearly all the fawns perished owing to having been born
in winter; but the females subsequently took to calving in
spring, after which change of habit breeding has gone on
successfully. Still it must be acknowledged that such an
essentially exotic animal as the chital is much less likely
to become permanently acclimatised in northern and central
Europe than is a species like the Peking deer, whose home
is in the steppes of Manchuria.

Hog-deer, which have the advantage that they do no
damage to foliage, seeing that they are grazing animals,
have been introduced into two French parks, and also run
wild in the woods at Woburn. And the same is the case
with the Indian and Chinese species of muntjac. During
the cold winters of 1879-80 muntjacs were seen in a French
park during the winter lying out on the snow and apparently
enjoying themselves. For small parks these little deer are
specially to be commended, as their diminutive size removes
nearly all danger of a serious attack with their antlers.

The hornless Chinese water-deer is, however, absolutely
innocuous in this respect ; and it also has the further re-
commendation that it is much more prolific than any other
member of the Cervidae, producing as many as half a dozen
fawns at a birth. Of antelopes, several kinds have been
more or less acclimatised in Europe. Most notable is the
case of the nilgai in Italy, where in 1862 Signor Comba
introduced a dozen head into his park at Mandria. Ten
years later no less than 172 individuals were running at

46 MOSTLY MAMMALS

liberty in the domain ! A small herd is now in a thriving
condition in the open park at Woburn Abbey. Reference
has already been made to the eland, which may now be
said to be thoroughly acclimatised in several French parks.
There it apparently thrives without any winter shelter ; but
it would seem that this is an absolute necessity in England.
All the above-named species of deer and antelopes have
flesh of excellent quality; but for the most part, at any
rate, their introduction into European parks must be re-
garded as a luxury, or for the sake of the sport they might
afford, rather than as a commercial experiment-

The African sing-sing water-buck is likewise an antelope
which appears to take kindly to wild life in Europe. It
has bred for many successive years in Paris, and likewise
flourishes in the park at Woburn. Other species of ante-
lopes, as well as gazelles, might be mentioned, which there
is good reason to believe would thrive in Europe ; and it
may be added that among the deer the Siberian roe, which
is a much larger and finer animal than its European relative,
is already established in the Bedfordshire woods.

Both the American and the European bison would almost
certainly thrive in the parks of Western Europe, if the number
of individuals introduced at first starting were sufficiently
large ; and herds of the former animal are now flourishing
both in Bedfordshire and Northumberland. But the fierce
disposition of these huge animals will almost certainly be a
bar to their general introduction, in spite of the circumstance
that " buffalo-robes " have a high commercial value.

Finally, as regards kangaroos and wallabies, numerous
experiments have demonstrated that these animals, under
certain conditions, are admirably adapted to thrive in most
parts of Europe. By reason of their strange form and
bizarre postures, they make attractive objects in a park,

THE DOMESTICATION OF WILD ANIMALS 47

especially where the ground is hilly or rocky ; and their
flesh is said to be highly palatable, while their skins are
used both in the manufacture of gloves and as furs, although
neither of these two latter considerations are likely to be
of any importance in England. On an estate in Prussia
a drove of the large kangaroo was kept in a condition of
almost complete liberty in 1890; and at the present time
various species of both kangaroos and wallabies are flourish-
ing on the estates of the Duke of Bedford, Lord
Rothschild, and Sir Edmund Loder. According, however,
to information furnished to the writer by the owner of
some tame wallabies, it is inadvisable to keep these animals
in a small enclosure where there is any considerable extent
of deep water occupying the line of country they are likely
to take when frightened. Otherwise they are prone, when
disturbed, to plunge headlong into the water, where not
only will the adults stand a good chance of being drowned,
but the helpless young in the pouches of the females must
of necessity perish miserably.

As the result of all that has been written on the subject,
it may be gathered that, with the exception of the domesti-
cation of the elephant and zebras in Africa (if this be
found practicable), the acclimatisation of animals is unlikely
to yield profitable results of any importance, at any rate in
England ; but that as a means of largely increasing the
number of species of herbivorous animals kept in a wild
or semi-domesticated state in parks and enclosures, it has
an important future ; and it may also prove to be the
means of saving some of the most beautiful species from
the fate of impending extermination which threatens not a
few. In the case of persons of comparatively small means,
Dr. Trouessart recommends that they confine their efforts
to acclimatising a single species.

THE ORIGIN OF SOME DOMESTICATED
ANIMALS

Few subjects are hidden in greater obscurity than is the
origin of many of our domesticated animals ; and seeing
that man in all probability began to exercise his power of
dominion over the wild creatures by which he was sur-
rounded at a very early date indeed, this is not more
than might be expected. When animals were first domes-
ticated, and which were the species that first came under
the yoke of servitude, we -shall never know. The available
evidence points, however, very clearly to the conclusion that
Asia was the great original centre of the early domestication
of Old World animals ; although North-Eastern Africa
seems also to have participated to a certain extent. So far
as it goes this tends to confirm the conclusion that Asia
has been the cradle of the human race, although it must be
borne in mind that different races exhibit wide differences
in their capacity for domesticating animals ; those of Africa
being far inferior in this respect to many Asiatic tribes.

When any species of animal — provided that it will breed
in this state — had once been domesticated, it is probable
that the descendants of such domesticated stock have formed
the basis of all or most of the later breeds ; for it is
obviously much easier to train such stock than to commence
again de novo with a wild strain. Still, there are many
cases where subsequent crosses have taken place with a

ORIGIN OF SOME DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 49

wild race, or races. From the point of view of their
origin, domesticated animals may be divided into three
classes. In the first class we have those which but seldom
or never breed in captivity, and of which the domesticated
race has constantly to be replenished by the capture and
training of wild individuals. Apparently, the only two
mammals coming under this category are the Indian elephant
and the hunting-leopard. The latter can, however, only by
courtesy be termed a domesticated animal, and may accord-
ingly be dismissed from further notice. With regard to
the elephant, the most curious feature is the readiness with
which wild individuals submit themselves to servitude, and
the aptitude they display for learning their allotted duties.
Fortunately the elephant is an extremely long-lived animal,
and therefore it has time to learn much during its period
of captivity, while the necessity for fresh captures is pro-
portionately diminished. Modern naturalists insist — and
rightly so — on the inferiority of the intelligence of the
elephant as compared with that of many domesticated
creatures — the dog, for instance. But it is generally for-
gotten that, in consequence of its not usually breeding in
captivity, there is no domesticated race which has acquired
the experience and docility of years of servitude. And it
is a subject for reflection to consider what might be the
intellectual capacity of this animal had it been in continuous
domestication for as long a period as the dog.

In the second class come those animals of which the
ancestral wild stock is either still existing, or was so within
the historic or prehistoric period. In this category come
the horse, ass, ox, goat, and probably the cat and dog.
The third class includes those domesticated animals of
which the wild stock is not only extinct, but is likewise
totally unknown.

4

5© MOSTLY MAMMALS

Commencing with the camel, it is probably known to
most of my readers that there are two kinds of this animal —
namely, the two-humped Bactrian camel {Cameliis bactrianus)
of Central Asia, and the one-humped Arabian camel (C.
dromcdarius), now common to Asia and North Africa, It
has been affirmed that wild Bactrian camels occur in the
deserts of Turkestan, but it is almost certain that some at
least of these are descendants of a domestic race which
escaped from captivity about two hundred and fifty years
ago. Others may, however, be truly wild. The only clue
to the original habitat of the genus is afforded by the
remains of fossil camels in North-Eastern India, Eastern
Europe, and Algeria ; and as the former occur in the older
deposits, it seems probable that Central Asia is the cradle
of the race. At what period the camel was first domesti-
cated is lost in the mists of antiquity. From its absence
in the Egyptian frescoes, it has been stated that this
animal was unknown to the early inhabitants of the Delta
of the Nile ; but this is controverted by a papyrus of the
fourteenth century b.c, in which reference is made to
camels.

Considering the very large number of existing wild
species of the genus Ovis, it is a very remarkable fact
that we are unable to point to the ancestral stock of the
sheep. As we know them in this country, domesticated
sheep differ from their wild kindred by their woolly fleece,
the wild species having hair more like that of a deer. But
as some of the native domesticated sheep of Asia and
Africa have a more or less hairy coat, the difficulty does
not lie here. With the single exception of the arui, or
Barbary sheep of Northern Africa, all wild sheep have
short tails ; whereas in the domesticated races this appen-
dage, until docked, is very long. The reader may ask why

ORIGIN OF SOME DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 51

we do not regard the arui as the parent stock. To which
it may be replied that the latter species has smoother horns,
with a curvature quite unlike those of any of the domesti-
cated races, which approximate to the horns of the Corsican
muflon. It seems somewhat difficult to believe that a
long tail can have been developed from a short tail — as
precisely the opposite development is the only one with
which we are acquainted ; but, nevertheless, it has been
suggested that the long tails of the domesticated breeds
are a kind of degenerate development. If this be sub-
stantiated, there is no reason why the muflon — a European
wild sheep, which in former times probably had a wider
distribution — or some allied Asiatic species, should not have
been the original progenitor of the domesticated breeds. A
small breed of long-legged sheep, with somewhat goatlike
horns, was in existence at the long-distant epoch when the
inhabitants of the Swiss pile-villages flourished, and its
descendants still survive in some of the more remote
districts of the Swiss Alps, where the breed is known as
the bilndnerschafe. So far as it goes, this form suggests
that the domesticated breeds are derived from an extinct
species. Although domestic breeds were possessed by the
ancient Egyptians, the sheep represented in the frescoes
seems to be the wild arui.

With domesticated goats the case is very different ; it
being practically certain that most, if not all, of the breeds
of Europe and Western Asia are derived from the Persian
wild goat, or pasang, which ranges from Asia Minor through
Persia to Afghanistan and Sind. This handsome species
has long scimitar-like horns, with the front surface forming
a sharp ridge, instead of being flattened and knobbed, as
in the ibex. Many domesticated breeds have very similar
horns ; but in others, especially from Central Asia, the

52 MOSTLY MAMMALS

horns are more or less corkscrew-like. As the wild markhor
of the Himalaya has horns of a similar type, it has been
suggested that many of the Asiatic breeds are derived
from that species. Against that view is the circumstance
that the direction of the spiral in the domesticated breeds
is generally, although not invariably, just the reverse of
that in the markhor. Although it is possible that some
Asiatic breeds may trace their origin to the latter, it is more
probable that they are derived from the pasang but have
been crossed with the markhor. Most likely the goat was
first domesticated in Western Asia, whence it was imported
into Africa, where it has departed very widely from the
original type. A superstition prevails in countries so wide
apart from one another as Scotland and Kashmir that goats
are deadly foes to snakes (the name " markhor " signifying
snake-eater), and it would be very interesting to discover
whether the legend has any foundation in fact.

The numerous breeds of domesticated cattle of Europe
all trace their ancestry to the great extinct wild ox, or
aurochs, which, as stated in another article, lived on in
England at least as late as the Neolithic period, and sur-
vived to a much later date on the Continent. It has often
been said that the white cattle of Chillingham Park are the
direct descendants of the aurochs, but it is practically
certain that they are derived from a domesticated breed.
Many breeds, such as the so-called Celtic shorthorn, were
established at an early period of human progress, and
these have been incorrectly regarded as distinct species,
although there is no doubt that they have the same ancestry.
The geographical range of the aurochs was very extensive,
and the original domestication may have taken place in
Western Asia. The humped cattle of India seem to trace
their origin to a distinct wild species now extinct, and the

ORIGIN OF SOME DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 53

ancestral form may perhaps be looked for among the extinct
oxen whose remains are found in the gravels of the Narbada
Valley. Some have, indeed, considered that humped cattle
originated in Africa, where they are represented by the
so-called Galla ox ; but it is more probable that they are
really of Oriental extraction and have been introduced into
the Dark Continent.

During the immense period that they have been domesti-
cated, the true oxen have displayed great adaptability to
modification, as is exemplified by the difference between
such breeds as Highland, Polled Angus, Galloway, Kerry,
Devon, Longhorns, Shorthorns, and Jersey. Not so the
buffalo of Asia, which, although long domesticated in India,
and subsequently introduced into Egypt, and thence into
Italy, has in nowise departed from the wild type, save as
regards a somewhat smaller stature and a diminished
length of horn. Certain other species of cattle, such as the
gayal (Bos frontalis) of North-East India and the banting
{B. banting) of the Malay countries, have been more or less
domesticated by various Oriental races, although in the
latter case the domesticated breed seems to be renovated
from time to time with a cross of the wild stock. All these
forms seem to be unadapted for variation, and consequently
breed true. No attempt ever seems to have been made to
domesticate the bison ; while, true to their instincts, the
natives of South Africa have never enthralled the buffalo
of that country.

Till within the last few years the origin of the domesti-
cated ass was a matter of some uncertainty, seeing that
all the Asiatic wild asses differ considerably from the
familiar animal. Recently, however, a wild ass has been
brought from Somaliland which differs in no important
character from the domesticated form, and is its undoubted

54 MOSTLY MAMMALS

ancestor. Some of these Somali asses are, it is true, more
striped on the legs than is commonly the case with the
domesticated breed ; but then some examples of the latter
are nearly or quite as fully marked as the wild race, while
some African specimens have nearly uniformly coloured
limbs. Possibly the Somali wild ass may originally have
ranged into Syria and Arabia ; and, in any case, it is
probable that it was first tamed there, and thence intro-
duced into Europe. Indeed, the Greek name (onos) of the
ass is stated to be derived from a Semitic root ; and since
this name occurs but once in the " Iliad," and not at all
in either the " Odyssey " or in Hesiod, it has been inferred
that the ass was a rare and little-known animal in Greece
during the epic period.

Whether any truly wild horses have survived till
modern times has been disputed. With the exception of
the Mongolian Przewalski's horse, which does not seem
specifically distinct from the domesticated Equus caballus,
the only animals which can lay claim to that title are the
so-called tarpan of the steppes of Central Asia, vi'hich for-
merly ranged as far westward as the Volga, but are now
exterminated. Some authorities are of opinion that these
tarpan are a truly wild race, while by others they are
regarded as feral — that is to say, descended from a domes-
ticated stock. It is certain that the droves of tarpan
at times received an influx of feral animals ; but whether
they were feral or truly wild — and the evidence seems
rather in favour of their wild origin — they undoubtedly
resembled the ancestral type of the horse. This, of course,
will be due in the one case to reversion, and in the other
to direct inheritance. They were rather small, clumsily
built animals, with remarkably ugly heads ; their general
colour being dun. During the Pleistocene period horses

ORIGIN OF SOME DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 55

of apparently similar type to the tarpan wandered over a
great part of Europe and Western Asia, as is attested by
their fossilised remains ; and from other evidence it is
probable that at the epoch in question the physical con-
dition of much of Europe was similar to that of the Asiatic
steppes at the present day. Such conditions would seem,
indeed, to be essential for the existence of wild horses,
which are animals specially adapted for a life on the open
plains, where they find safety in flight. It is true that
wild horses were found in parts of Europe at a much later
epoch, when the country had become forest-clad ; but it is
quite possible that these were really feral races. When we
come to the consideration of the place and time of the first
domestication of the horse, the usual difference of opinion
prevails among those most capable of forming a judgment.
It was at one time considered that the horse was first
domesticated in the East, but later authorities are more
inclined to think that the wild horse was also subjugated
by the stone-implement makers of Western Europe. This
race is considered to have given rise to the ordinary
European breeds ; but thoroughbred horses are probably
of Eastern origin. We naturally look to Arabia as the
ancestral home of the Eastern breed ; but this is a
mistake, as the horse is known to be a comparatively late
introduction into that country, the Arabs even as late as
the time of Strabo having neither horses nor asses, and
going to battle mounted on camels.

In the early days of Egypt — that is to say, during the
period known as the "old kingdom"— the horse was un-
known in the Nile Valley ; the animal not making its appear-
ance in the frescoes till about the year 1800 B.C. Probably
the horse entered Egypt via Mesopotamia and Syria, where,
as we learn from the Nineveh sculptures, it had long been

56 MOSTLY MAMMALS

known. It has been well remarked that even these sculp-
tures afford evidence that the horse was a comparatively
new animal to the Assyrians — that is to say, these warriors
were not such splendid riders as were the Parthians at
a later date, and as are the Turkomans now. If any of
my readers will visit the British Museum and inspect the
Assyrian sculptures, he will scarcely fail to notice that,
whereas those mounted warriors who are armed with the
spear manage their own horses, such as carry a bow have
their horses led by a comrade. Manifestly, the Assyrian
warrior was incapable of managing his steed when both
his hands were occupied with his weapon ; and he was
thus a far less accomplished horseman than the Parthian
or the Turkoman.

Although the evidence is not decisive, the probability is
that the horse was first introduced into Assyria from Persia.
The ancient records of India indicate that horses were by
no means common there, while such as there were excelled
neither in strength, speed, nor beauty. The Indian climate
is, indeed, unsuited to the animal ; and there is no doubt
that it was originally introduced from the north. But the
original horse must have come from somewhere, and the
probability is that the nomad Mongols in the east and
the Turkomans in the west — still some of the most splendid
horsemen the world has ever seen — were the first Asiatic
tribes to subdue the noblest of man's servants. This being
so, and Turkestan and Mongolia being the home of the
tarpan and other wild horses, it follows not only that
the latter are really wild, but that the thoroughbred of
the East has the same ancestry as the underbred animal
of the West, and consequently that " blood " is merely a
matter of careful selection and breeding for countless
centuries, and is not due to inherent superiority of origin.

ORIGIN OF SOME DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 57

From the plains of Turkestan the horse spread in one
direction to the Punjab and the plains of Hindustan, and
in the other through Persia to Mesopotamia and Assyria,
and thence westwards to Egypt and southwards to Arabia.
Among the Arabs it soon became indispensable to its
master ; and, as already said, this intimate union between
man and quadruped renders it difficult to believe that Arabia
is not the original home of the horse. Uncivilised races,
though highly conservative in some matters, in others soon
adapt themselves to new circumstances ; and the case of
the North American Indians affords an example of the
rapidity with which a people among whom the horse was
unknown can develop into a race of horsemen. Had we
not historic evidence to the contrary, there is, indeed, no
saying but that the original subjugation of the horse might
have been attributed to the Indian of the prairies.

'^ HOW ARCTIC ANIMALS TURN WHITE

Although I have not the details of any one particular case
before me, so many instances are chronicled in which the
hair of human beings, under the influence of strong mental
emotion due to terror or grief, has become suddenly
blanched within a single night or some such period of
time, that the occasional occurrence of such a phenomenon
must apparently be accepted as a fact. Such a change is,
of course, due to the bleaching of the pigment with which
the hair is coloured, although we need not stop to inquire
by what particular means this bleaching is accomplished ;
all that concerns us on the present occasion being to know
that the hair in man may turn white in this manner under
abnormal circumstances. And there appears to be evidence
that under equally abnormal conditions a similar change
may take place suddenly in the hair of the lower animals.
This is exemplified by the well-known experiment made
considerably more than half a century ago by Sir John
Richardson on an Arctic lemming — a small mouse-like
rodent, which habitually turns white in winter, although
dark-coloured in summer. In this instance the little
animal was kept in a comparatively warm room till winter
was well advanced, when it was suddenly exposed to a
temperature of 30° below zero ; a continued exposure to
this and a still more intense degree of cold eventually
resulted in its death, which took place within three

S8

HOW ARCTIC ANIMALS TURN WHITE 59

weeks of the commencement of the experiment. In con-
sequence of the conditions under which it had been kept,
this lemming was still brown in midwinter, when it ought
to have been white. As the result of its first night's
exposure, the fur on the cheeks and a patch on each
shoulder became completely white, and by the end of the
first week the whole coat had turned white. On exami-
nation it was found that only the tips of some of the hairs
had become blanched, and that these white-tipped hairs
were longer than the rest of the coat, apparently owing
to a sudden growth on their part in the course of the
experiment. By clipping these long white-tipped hairs the
animal was restored to its original brown condition.

Nothing is said with regard to any change of coat on
the part of this lemming previous to the experiment, but
it is probable that none occurred. It seems, however, to
be clearly demonstrated that the tips of the hairs lost their
colour by bleaching, induced by sudden exposure to the
intense cold, and that the hairs thus blanched increased
considerably in length in a very short period.

In spite of the very obvious fact that these changes
occurred under extremely abnormal circumstances, it has
been argued that Arctic mammals which turn white in
winter do so normally by a similar blanching of the hair
of the summer coat, and that the greater length of the
winter, as compared with the summer dress of such white
animals, is due to a lengthening of the individual hairs of
the former.* Moreover, it has been inferred that the
colour-change is directly under the control of the animals
themselves. Quite apart from many other considerations,
one weak point in this argument is that the hairs in the
subject of the experiment were white only at their tips.

* See E, B. Poulton, " The Colours of Animals," chap. vii. (1900).

6o MOSTLY MAMMALS

It was doubtless assumed that, had the experiment been
extended over a longer period, the white would have
gradually extended downwards till the whole hair became
blanched. But had this been the normal way in which
the change from a black to a white coat is brought about,
it is obvious that animals ought frequently to be captured
in which the coat is in the same condition as that of the
lemming. So far, however, as I am aware, no such con-
dition has ever been described.

Moreover, it is perfectly well known that, apart from
those which turn white in winter, a large number of
animals have a winter coat differing markedly in colour,
as well as in length, from the summer dress. The roebuck,
for instance, is of a brilliant foxy red in summer, while in
winter it is grey-fawn with a large patch of pure white on
the buttocks. And it is quite clear that the change from
red to grey, and the development of the white rump-patch,
is due to the shedding of the short summer coat and its
replacement by the longer winter dress. Obviously, there-
fore, it is natural to expect that a similar change of coat
takes place in the case of mammals which turn white in
winter.

That the change in spring from a white to a dark dress
is due to a shedding of the fur seems to be admitted on
all hands, for it would obviously be quite impossible for
long hairs to become short, or for white ones to turn
brown. And even in animals which do not alter their
colour in any very marked degree according to season, the
spring change of coat is sufficiently obvious. For the
winter coat, owing to the long time it is carried and the
inclemency of the season when it is in use, becomes much
faded and worn by the time spring comes, and the con-
trast between it and the fresh and brilliant summer coat

5 TURN WHITE 6i

other hand, the summer
atively short season, and
t does not become much
;ather. Consequently no
le long winter hairs grow
iingly become a common
:re is a change of colour
roduced by a lengthening

mimals like the roebuck

existence of an autumn

n a difference in colour,

the fur is demonstrated

y species, as, for instance,

I hairs themselves, as seen

iably in calibre at the two

n that species, for example,

of a much finer character

t dress of summer, which

ck. Moreover, in spite of

in blanching on account

ices of turning white in a

evidence to show that even

in human hair the change from dark to white as age

advances is brought about by the replacement of dark

hairs by white ones, and not by the bleaching of the

former. In this case, however, the change, instead of

being seasonal and sudden, is gradual and due to age.

If the change was due to blanching, we should, of course,

find some hairs which were partially white and partially

brown (or black, as the case may be). And here it

may be remarked that if such partially blanched hairs

were met with, we should naturally expect to find that

6o

MOSTLY MAMMALS

It was doubtless assumed that, had the experiment been
extended over a longer period, the white would have
gradually extended downwards till the whole hair became
blanched. But had this
the change from a black
it is obvious that animals
in which the coat is in I
lemming. So far, howeve
dition has ever been desc

Moreover, it is perfect!
those which turn white
animals have a winter cc
as well as in length, from
for instance, is of a brilli;
winter it is grey-fawn wit
the buttocks. And it is
red to grey, and the deve
is due to the shedding of
replacement by the longer
fore, it is natural to expe
takes place in the case oi
winter.

That the change in spr
is due to a shedding of
all hands, for it would o
long hairs to become s
brown. And even in ai
colour in any very markec
spring change of coat i
winter coat, owing to the long time it is carried and the
inclemency of the season when it is in use, becomes much
faded and worn by the time spring comes, and the con-
trast between it and the fresh and brilliant summer coat

^

Si

g

• ■

HOW ARCTIC ANIMALS TURN WHITE 6i

is very striking indeed. On the other hand, the summer
coat is only donned for a comparatively short season, and
that at a time of year when it does not become much
damaged by the effects of the weather. Consequently no
marked change is noticeable as the long winter hairs grow
up through it, and it has accordingly become a common
article of belief that, whether there is a change of colour
or not, the long winter coat is produced by a lengthening
of the summer dress.

Apart from the evidence of animals like the roebuck
and many other deer as to the existence of an autumn
change of coat, as deduced from a difference in colour,
the fact of such a shedding of the fur is demonstrated
by the circumstance that in many species, as, for instance,
the mountain hare, the individual hairs themselves, as seen
under a microscope, differ appreciably in calibre at the two
opposite seasons of the year. In that species, for example,
the hairs of the winter coat are of a much finer character
than are those forming the short dress of summer, which
are comparatively coarse and thick. Moreover, in spite of
the natural tendency to believe in blanching on account
of the aforesaid abnormal instances of turning white in a
single night, there is abundant evidence to show that even
in human hair the change from dark to white as age
advances is brought about by the replacement of dark
hairs by white ones, and not by the bleaching of the
former. In this case, however, the change, instead of
being seasonal and sudden, is gradual and due to age.
If the change was due to blanching, we should, of course,
find some hairs which were partially white and partially
brown (or black, as the case may be). And here it
may be remarked that if such partially blanched hairs
were met with, we should naturally expect to find that

62 MOSTLY MAMMALS

it would be the basal half which was white, and the
terminal half which retained its natural colouring — in other
words, precisely the reverse of the condition obtaining in
Sir John Richardson's lemming, thereby affording further
presumptive evidence as to the abnormal condition of the
change in that animal.

As a matter of fact, however, those of us who have
reached an age when silver hairs have begun to make
their appearance among the brown can easily satisfy them-
selves that such hairs are white throughout their entire
length, and that a hair half white and half brown is quite
unknown. From this we infer that the change from brown
to white takes place in human beings by the gradual
shedding of the dark hairs and their replacement by new
ones from which pigment is entirely absent. So that
normally there is no such thing as bleaching of individual
hairs. The change is, indeed, precisely similar to the one
which takes place at the approach of winter in mammals
that habitually turn white at that season, with the exception
that, as a general rule, it is extremely slow and gradual,
instead of being comparatively rapid, and also that the white
hairs differ from their dark predecessors solely by the
absence of colouring-matter. Unfortunately, there is no
subsequent replacement of the white hairs by dark ones !

The fact that the change from brown to white in the
mountain hare {Lepus timidus) is really due to a change
of coat and not to bleaching was known at a very early
period to the English naturalist Pennant ; and the exist-
ence of this change was likewise recognised by Macgillivray.
It was not, however, till Dr. J. A. Allen, in a paper on
the colour-change in the North American variable hare
published in the Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural
History for 1894, demonstrated by actual experiment the

HOW ARCTIC ANIMALS TURN WHITE 63

truth of Pennant's statement, that the fact of the com-
plete autumnal change of the coat in animals that turn
white in winter was generally recognised by naturalists.
So far as the spring change from the white to the brown
dress is concerned, his conclusions are fully confirmed by
Capt. G. E. H. Barrett-Hamilton, who communicated some
interesting notes on the change in the European mountain
or variable hare to the Proceedings of the Zoological Society
of London fqr 1899. The fact that the vernal colour-change
is due to the shedding of the coat seems, however, as
already mentioned, to have been much more generally
admitted than was the case with regard to the autumnal
transformation.

Dr. Allen arrives at the conclusion that both the autumn
and the spring change take place periodically and quite
independently of the will of the animal, and also that they
are but little affected by phases of the weather, although
they may be somewhat retarded or accelerated by the
prevailing atmospheric temperature.

So far as the fact of the seasonal change being normally
beyond the control of the animal in which it occurs, Capt.
Barrett-Hamilton is in full accord with the American writer ;
but he goes somewhat further, and believes that it is quite
uninfluenced by temperature, or at least by such variations
of the same as may be met with in different parts of the
area of the British Islands ; and, as we all know, these are
considerable !

As in the case of many other animals — deer, for instance
— the change from the winter to the summer coat takes
place very late in the season in the mountain hare in
Scotland, specimens undergoing the change being often
seen early in May. But the date of the spring change
is no earlier in the south of Ireland, where the chmate

64 MOSTLY MAMMALS

is much milder, although the amount of whiteness assumed
in that district is very much less than in the north. This
seems to demonstrate the contention that temperature has
little or no influence on the change, so far as season is
concerned.

That the animal has no control over the change from
brown to white in autumn seems to be proved by instances
referred to by Capt. Barrett-Hamilton, " in which variable
hares transported from Scotland and from Irish mountains
to southern and low-lying regions continued for some
seasons to appear in the northern garb of snowy white-
ness. This persistence of the habit of turning white, even
in unsuitable conditions, together with the lateness of the
moult, resulted frequently in the curious spectacle of a
mountain hare running about in all its conspicuous Arctic
livery under the bright rays of an April or May sun.
After a few years such imported hares, or more probably
their offspring, ceased to turn completely white, and the
breed assumed the appearance of the ordinary hares of
the southern locality to which they had been transported."

It would, of course, be extremely interesting to ascertain
whether such transported individuals ever do give up the
practice of turning white in winter, or whether it is only
their offspring that do so ; but, in any case, it is clearly
demonstrated that the habit is very deep-seated and difficult
to overcome.

Very curious is the circumstance that the mode in which
the coat is changed in the variable hare at the two seasons
of the year differs in toto as regards the parts of the animal
first affected. On this subject, with one verbal change in
the first sentence, I quote from Dr. Allen, who writes as
follows : —

" In the fall the change begins with the feet and ears,

HOW ARCTIC ANIMALS TURN WHITE 65

the sides of the nose and the front of the head, which
often become radically changed before the body is much
affected ; while as regards the body, the change begins
first at the base of the tail and extreme posterior part of
the back, and at the ventral border of the sides of the
body, working thence upward towards the middle line of
the back, and from behind anteriorly, the crown of the
head and a narrow median line over the shoulders and
front part of the back being the parts last changed. In
the spring the order of change is exactly the reverse, the
moult beginning on the head and along the median line
of the anterior half of the dorsal region, extending laterally
and gradually to the ventral border of the sides of the
body and posteriorly to the rump, and then later to the
ears and down the limbs to the feet, which are the parts
last affected, and which often remain but little changed
till the head and body have pretty completely assumed
the summer dress."

It is very hard indeed to conjecture any satisfactory
reason for this remarkable difference.

The American variable hare ranges, at ordinary levels,
about as far south as Massachusetts — that is to say, nearly
to the latitude of Madrid, and throughout the whole of
this extensive tract it turns white in winter. On the other
hand, owing to the much milder climate of Western Europe,
no colour-change takes place in the mountain hares of
Ireland, while it is reported that in those introduced into
Ayrshire and the neighbouring counties of south-western
Scotland the change is much less complete and regular
than in those inhabiting the northern parts of the
country.

An impression appears to be prevalent that in the more
northern portion of their range both the mountain hare and

5

66 MOSTLY MAMMALS

the ermine (or stoat) are white at all seasons, but this does
not seem to be authenticated.

Observations are wanting as to whether the changes of
coat and colour in the mountain hare bear any relation
to the appearance and disappearance of snow, or whether
they occur regularly at the same season of the year. In
the case of the ermine in the Adirondack region of New
York, Dr. C. H. Merriam tells us that in this animal the
white livery is assumed only after the first fall of snow,
while the resumption of the brown coat does not take
place till the snow begins to melt. Unfortunately, he
says nothing in regard to change of coat. The late
Dr. Coues stated, however, that in the case of the ermine
the bi-annual change of coat takes place at the same
season, but that it depends upon the condition of the
temperature at the time whether the new coat differs in
colour from its predecessor. In other words, the change
from brown to white might be due either to shedding the
coat or to bleaching of the hair subsequent to such
shedding. The case of the mountain hare is, however,
strongly suggestive that the colour-change is in all instances
coincident with the shedding of the coat.

It is, of course, quite evident that the assumption of a
white winter livery by mountain hares and ermines living
in regions where the snow lies on the ground for a con-
siderable portion of the year is for the purpose of rendering
such animals as inconspicuous as possible when in their
native haunts. And, so far as we know, such a change
is universal among the species named when dwelling in
high northern latitudes.

There is, however, another animal inhabiting the North
Polar regions of both hemispheres in which the change
to a pure white winter dress is limited to certain indi-

From pliotographs by the Scholastic Photographic Agency.}

Arctic Foxes.

The lower figure shows the white phase in winter coat ; the upper figure is
probably the same phase in summer dress ; the central figure may be the blue
phase.

\To face p. 66

HOW ARCTIC ANIMALS TURN WHITE 67

viduals. The species in question is the Arctic fox, of
which the beautiful fur, in both the white and the blue
phase, is, as mentioned in a later article, now much
affected by ladies. That both the white and the blue
individuals of this species are in the winter dress will
be evident to every one who examines such furs carefully,
the length and thickness of the hair being quite decisive
on this point.

With the single exception of Iceland, where they are
always blue, it appears that the white and the blue phase
are met with throughout the habitat of the species. In
other words, the animal is " dimorphic," if it be permis-
sible to apply this term to a case where the difference
between the two phases of a species is restricted to
coloration.

What makes the matter so puzzling is this : if blue foxes
are able to thrive during winter in a snow-clad country,
what necessity is there for their fellows — and, indeed, for
any species — to turn white at that season of the year ?
An explanation of the case of the blue foxes has been
attempted in the article already referred to.

Since the present article was written important additional
information with regard to the manner in which hair
bleaches has been afforded by a communication from
Mr. E. Metchnikoff, published in the Proceedings of the
Royal Society for 1902. It is there stated that the all-
devouring cells known as phagocytes are the cause of
the mischief. These cells, which frequently have amoeba-
like processes, are developed in the central or medullary
part of the hair, whence they make their way into the
outer or cortical layer, where they absorb, and thus destroy,
the pigment-granules. Numbers of these phagocytes may
be seen in hair which is commencing to turn white.

68 MOSTLY MAMMALS

"The part played by phagocytes," writes the author,
" in the whitening of the hair explains many phenomena
observed long ago, but not as yet sufficiently understood."
Thus the phenomenon of hair turning white in a single
night, or in a few days, may be explained by the increased
activity of the phagocytes, which remove the pigment
within an abnormally short period.

A LAND OF SKELETONS

Next to Australia, which, as regards its fauna, stands quite
apart from the whole of the rest of the world, South America
possesses a greater number of peculiar types of animals than
any other region at the present day. A traveller, for
instance, starting from Europe may wander eastwards across
the northern part of Asia as far as Japan without ceasing to
meet with types of mammals and birds perfectly familiar
to him, while the same is, to a great extent, the case if
his footsteps are directed to India or Africa. It is true,
indeed, that in both the latter countries he will come across
creatures like elephants and rhinoceroses, which are now
unknown in Europe, while in Africa he will be confronted
by hippopotamuses, giraffes, okapis, and ostriches. All
these animals, however, once existed in Europe during the
later portions of geological history, and may accordingly be
counted as pertaining to the European fauna. Still more
striking is this similarity of the fauna with that of Europe
if the traveller's route happen to lie across the northern
half of the New World, where he may meet with many
mammals, such as the bison. Rocky Mountain sheep, grizzly
bear, wapiti, elk, reindeer, wolf, and fox, more or less closely
allied to Old World forms. On the other hand, when South
America is reached, it will be found that not only are all
the mammals and birds specifically different from those of
Europe, but likewise that many of them belong to genera

69

70 MOSTLY MAMMALS

or groups absolutely unknown beyond the confines of that
country, while Old World types are relatively scarce. For
instance, the whole of the typical representatives of that
group of mammals technically termed edentates, such as
armadillos, ant-eaters, and sloths, are exclusively confined
to South and Central America ; while the monkeys of that
continent are quite different from those of the Old World,
and, like the pretty little marmosets, are peculiar to the
former area. The camel-like animals known as guanacos
and vicunas, together with their domestic representatives,
the llamas, are likewise at the present day exclusively
characteristic of South America, although there is reason
to believe that they were originally introduced from the
north. Then, again, opossums (which, by the way, must
not be confounded with the creatures commonly so called
in Australia) are among the most characteristic of South
American mammals, although some range as far north as
the United States. The rodents, or gnawing mammals,
are likewise remarkable, not only for their numerical
abundance, but likewise for the large size of several of
their members which belong to genera peculiar to the
continent. Among these the capivara or carpincho {Hydro-
choerus\ commonly known as the river-hog, is the largest
living member of the order, its skull measuring about a
foot in length. Another characteristic aquatic type is the
coypu {Myocastor), generally termed by Europeans nutria
(properly the Spanish name for an otter), and easily recog-
nised by its red incisor teeth. Of the terrestrial species
the most familiar is the viscacha, which inhabits warrens,
like the prairie marmot of North America, with which,
however, it has no affinity.

But not only is South America remarkable for the number
of peculiar types of mammals it contains, but it is likewise

A LAND OF SKELETONS 71

noteworthy for the absence of a number of Old World
and North American forms, this paucity being specially
noticeable among the ungulates or hoofed mammals, which
are represented solely by the aforesaid guanaco and its
allies, by a group of deer differing considerably from all
Old World species, although represented in North America,
and by several species of tapirs- — the latter animals being at
the present day known elsewhere only by a solitary kind from
the Malay region, although they were formerly abundant
over a large portion of the Old World. Consequently,
such well-known and important groups of ungulates
as oxen, goats, sheep, antelopes, horses, rhinoceroses,
hippopotamuses, and elephants are totally unknown in a wild
state at the present day in South America, although two
of them — viz., horses and elephants — formerly existed there.
Equally characteristic are the birds of South America.
Although it is only possible here to make allusion to
a few among these, I may especially mention the entire
group of humming-birds, together with a peculiar family
of perching birds commonly known as wood-hewers, and
technically as the Dendrocolaptidae, of which the well-known
oven-bird (so called on account of its dome-shaped mud
nest) is a familiar example. The large gallinaceous birds
termed curassows and guans are also very characteristic,
while still more distinctive of the country are the tinamus,
which, although structurally allied to the ostriches, are so
like partridges in form and habits that by English residents
in the country they are universally so termed. Another
characteristic South American bird commonly misnamed
by Europeans is the rhea, this bird, which is almost always
designated an ostrich, differing from its African relative
by having three toes instead of two. Yet another remark-
able avian type is to be found in the large and somewhat

72 MOSTLY MAMMALS

goose-like chaja (pronounced chaha), or horned screamer,
which takes its EngHsh name from the spur on its wing
and its loud cry, the latter being sometimes heard when
the bird is so high in the air as to be almost or quite
invisible. The long-legged seriema, which stalks over the
plains in the manner of the African secretary-bird, is
like-wise a very characteristic type. Among characteristic
South American reptiles may be mentioned iguanas (a
name often applied incorrectly to lizards from other parts
of the world) and caimans ; the latter being a group of
alligators distinguished by having an armour of bony
plates on the under as well as on the upper surface of
the body. The huge horned frogs {Ceratophrys) are like-
wise distinctive of the country among the batrachians.

Such are a few of the leading features of the existing
fauna of South America, which are sufficient to show how
totally different is the animal life of this country from
that of all the rest of the world. If, however, we go back
to the later geological periods of the earth's history, we
shall find that this peculiarity and distinctness of the
South American fauna was even more intensified than at
the present day, this being largely due to the circumstance
that at one time the isthmus of Darien seems not to have
existed, so that the northern and southern portions of the
New World were disconnected. Since the time when a
connection was formed between the two continents, their
faunas have, however, naturally tended to blend together,
and hence at the present day, and during the Pleistocene
period, the animals of South America are less sharply
differentiated from those of the northern half of the con-
tinent than would have been the case had the isthmus
of Darien not been formed. It is further interesting to
note that during the Tertiary period there appears to have

A LAND OF SKELETONS 73

been some kind of connection between the faunas of South
America and Australia.

The country that has afforded the most information with
regard to the extinct fauna of South America is the Argen-
tine Republic, which includes not only Buenos Aires and
the adjacent provinces forming Argentine proper, but like-
wise the whole of Patagonia. Confining our attention, in
the first place, to the province of Buenos Aires and some
of the neighbouring districts, we may note that the greater
part of this vast tract of country is one boundless level
plain formed by an alluvial deposit of rich black mud
brought down from the higher lands of the interior by the
tributaries of the Rio de la Plata, and constituting the most
extensive pasture-land in the world. Near Buenos Aires
and the valley of the Rio de la Plata this alluvial deposit,
which in places alternates with sandy beds, is of immense
thickness ; * but farther to the south it thins out rapidly.
In some places in the neighbourhood of La Colina, about
a hundred miles from Bahia Blanca, for instance, the black
soil is not more than a couple of feet in thickness, and
is underlain by a hard white calcareous deposit, locally
known as " tosca," and much resembling some of the
deposits formed by hot springs.f That the black alluvial
deposit, which, from forming the whole of the Pampas, or
plain country, is known to geologists as the Pampean
formation, is of fresh-water origin is perfectly clear, and it
is probable that it was largely formed in marshes and
swamps, one of its most striking features being the total
absence of pebbles or stones. Indeed, throughout the
country, except in the neighbourhood of the mountains,

* Near Buenos Aires it has been bored into for depths of fifty
and ninety feet.

t At Buenos Aires the alluvial deposit itself is called "tosca."

74 MOSTLY MAMMALS

there is not a vestige of rock or stone to be seen, unless
it be in the few places where the aforesaid " tosca " has
been brought to the surface. In spite of its fresh-water
origin, there is, however, evidence that portions of the
Pampean formation have been submerged beneath the sea.
For instance, in the neighbourhood of the city of La Plata
there occurs a bed of marine shells overlying the alluvial
mud, all the species of molluscs being now found living
in the Bay of Monte Video. I have also observed a
similar bed at Santa Lucia, in the Banda Oriental, at an
elevation of about one hundred feet above the sea, which
was overlain by a considerable thickness of sands ; and
the same deposit occurs far inland, at the town of Parana.
From these data it may be inferred that after the temporary
subsidence of the Pampas, during which the marine beds
were deposited, there has been a considerable elevation
(which is probably still going on) of the whole country ;
and that these movements have taken place at a very recent
epoch indeed.

At the present day the Argentine Pampas, with the
exception of a few willows along the river courses, is
practically destitute of trees (save where they have of late
years been planted around the various settlements), and
forms a boundless sea of grass, relieved here and there by
tussocks of the tall Pampas-grass, or giant thistles, and
adorned in spring with scarlet verbena and other bright-
hued flowers. Till the introduction of the countless herds
of horses, cattle, and sheep, which now roam over its
extent, this vast tract of country was tenanted by the
guanaco, the Pampas-deer, the viscacha, and the rhea,
which, with the exception of certain carnivores, were
almost the only animals of any size to be found throughout
its length and breadth.

A LAND OF SKELETONS 75

The rich black alluvial mud of the Pampas, which, as
we have seen, is entirely of fresh-water origin, is, how-
ever, the tomb of thousands, if not millions, of the
skeletons and bones of a host of extinct animals, which
tell us that the country was once inhabited by a fauna
stranger than that found in any other part of the world at
any epoch of its history. While many of these extinct
creatures were allied to the existing South American
mammals, although of vastly greater bodily size, others, of
equally gigantic dimensions, were quite unlike all known
animals, either living or extinct. As some of these extinct
mammals are noticed in the next article, I make but brief
mention of them here. It may be observed, however, that,
while the gigantic glyptodons were the representatives of
the diminutive armadillos of to-day (although some of the
latter flourished side by side with their huge cousins),
the megalothere, which rivalled an elephant in bulk, together
with its allies the mylodons, were akin both to the sloths
and the ant-eaters of Brazil, and as they were certainly
terrestrial in habits, they are called ground-sloths. From
the structure of these animals, which were evidently adapted
to sit up on their massive haunches and tear down the
branches of trees with their powerful front claws, it may
be inferred that the physical features of this part of
Argentina were once very different from what they
are at present, and that in place of continuous tracts of
unbroken grassy plain there were probably large areas
of forest-land, as in Brazil at the present day. In these
forest tracts probably wandered the two species of mas-
todons which were the contemporaries of the ground-
sloths ; but the existence at the same time of several
species of horses (some closely akin to living species,
while others were markedly distinct) seems to point to

76 MOSTLY MAMMALS

the presence of grassy plains alternating with the forest.
The same is probably indicated by the numerous species
allied to the guanaco, which flourished at the same time,
and some of which attained the dimensions of a camel,
while the various kinds of deer may also have inhabited
the same regions. The gigantic hoofed mammal known
as the Toxodon^ which had ever-growing teeth like those
of a rodent, was, however, probably an inhabitant of swamps
and marshes, while the still more extraordinary Macrau-
chenia, with its slender, camel-like neck and long, three-
toed Hmbs, probably stalked over the plains, cropping here
and there the foliage from some tree or copse. Rodents
nearly related to existing South American types were
likewise common, and there were also certain large carni-
vores, such as a species of sabre-toothed tiger and a huge
bear-like creature. With the exception of these carnivores,
together with the guanacos, horses, deer, and mastodons,
which are unknown in the older formations, and are there-
fore probably late immigrants from the north, all the animals
of the Pampean formation are peculiar to South America.
A further distinctive feature of this fauna is the large bodily
size attained by so many of its representatives, this being
especially the case with the glyptodons, mylodons, megalo-
theres, guanacos, mastodons, macrauchenias, and toxodons,
all of which would come under the designation of giant
animals. In this respect the Pampean fauna corresponds
with that of the Pleistocene period of Europe, with which
it also agrees approximately in age, seeing that there is
evidence of the contemporaneous existence of man with
several of the extinct mammals.

In certain parts of the Pampean formation the remains
of these animals occur in extraordinary profusion, and
generally in a perfect state of preservation. At times they

A LAND OF SKELETONS 77

are found sticking out from the perpendicular cliffs, or
barancas, bordering the river- valleys, while many are met
with in sinking wells or making other excavations. In
well-digging, of course, only a portion of a skeleton is
obtained in the case of a large animal, which is the cause
of the imperfect condition of many specimens in European
museums, and it is only when excavations like those
during the construction of the docks at La Plata or Buenos
Aires are made, that entire skeletons are obtained, unless,
indeed, special works are undertaken for the purpose of
obtaining fossils. It does not, however, appear that the
remains are at all evenly distributed through the mud of
the Pampas, some localities being much richer than others,
among these Lujan (pronounced Luhan), near Buenos Aires,
being especially notable.

Although the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons
contains an entire skeleton of a megalothere, together with
the shell of a glyptodon, while the British Museum is the
fortunate possessor of a complete specimen of a mylodon,
the museums of Europe afford a very poor idea of the
number and beautiful preservation of these marvellous
fossils. To gain any idea of the true state of the case
it is necessary to visit the museums of Buenos Aires and
La Plata, and more especially the latter. There the visitor
will be absolutely lost in astonishment at the long array
of perfect mounted skeletons of numbers of these creatures,
while the unmounted skeletons and isolated bones displayed
in the wall-cases will convince him that I am not
exaggerating when I call Argentina a land of skeletons.

That the animals I have spoken of should have died off
one after another through the long ages during which the
mud of the Pampas was accumulating, is in accordance
with what we should expect to occur, while the perfection

78 MOSTLY MAMMALS

of their preservation is sufficiently accounted for by the
nature of the deposit itself. The marvel, however, is in
regard to the total disappearance of the whole of the larger
forms and the reduction of the fauna of the Pampas to its
present condition, together with the concomitant loss of
the forests. It is not that the country is unsuited at the
present day to the existence of the larger types of animal
life, as witness the countless herds of horses and cattle
with which its plains are now covered, together with the
luxuriance and rapidity with which many kinds of trees
flourish when introduced. Neither, I think, can it be due
to a glacial epoch (although there appears to be evidence
of the prevalence of a cold period in Patagonia), since any
glaciation of the Pampas would have assuredly removed the
greater part of the alluvial formation, besides having left
indisputable evidence of its presence. Man can scarcely
be credited with the extinction of either the fauna or the
flora. It has been suggested that the number of guanaco
with which the country was overrun previous to European
settlement may have caused the destruction of the forests ;
but we must remember that similar animals existed in
greater variety during the Pampean period, while even if
the disappearance of trees were due to their agency, this
would have had no effect on plain-loving forms like horses.
That the disappearance of the latter animals may have been
due to the number of pumas is another suggestion, but it
will be obvious that this could have had nothing to do with
the destruction of gigantic creatures like the glyptodons
and ground-sloths. The problem is further complicated
by the circumstance that the remains of many of these
creatures occur in caverns in the interior of Brazil, where
the climate is still, and probably always has been, tropical.
It would seem, therefore, that we must be content to regard

A LAND OF SKELETONS 79

the depletion of the fauna and flora of Argentina as one
of the unsolved problems of science.

In regard to other formations, it must suffice to say that
at Parana, and also on the coast at Monte Hermoso, near
Bahia Blanca, there occur certain Tertiary deposits which
are evidently somewhat older than the Pampean beds,
although containing a closely allied fauna. The most
interesting feature connected with this formation (which
may probably be correlated with the upper Pliocene of
Europe) is that the mammals are for the most part of
smaller size than their relatives of the Pampean, this being
especially shown by the glyptodons, and by those ground-
sloths known as scelidotheres, which are near allies of the
mylodons. When we reach the still older beds of Santa
Cruz, in Patagonia, which are probably of Miocene age, we
find not only this diminution in the size of the mammals
still more marked, but we likewise notice the disappearance
of all the northern forms, such as deer, horses, guanacos,
and mastodons, thus showing that we have reached the
period when South America was disconnected from the
northern half of the continent, and possessed an absolutely
peculiar fauna. Instead of glyptodons with a shell of eight
or ten feet in length, we meet with species in which the
carapace did not measure more than a yard; while in place
of mylodons bigger than a rhinoceros we are confronted with
a species not so large as a Highland sheep. The camel-like
Macrauchenia was likewise represented by several much
smaller allies, while the various species of Nesodon, which
represented the gigantic Toxodon of the Pampean, were either
small or moderate-sized animals. Somewhat curiously, there
were, however, several kinds of gigantic flightless birds,
which are quite unknown in the higher beds, and appear
to have been allied to the existing seriema of Brazil.

SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS

In the preceding article I brought under the notice of the
reader some of the leading peculiarities of the living and
extinct faunas of South America in general and of Argentina
in particular, while something was said as to the geological
features of the latter country. I now propose to take into
consideration the leading features of a few of the more
remarkable types of certain groups. As most of these animals
are known solely by their bones, it is, of course, impossible
to avoid the introduction of a certain amount of anatomical
details, although I have endeavoured to put these in as
popular a manner as possible.

As mentioned in the last article, among all the fossil
animals of Argentina some of the most remarkable are the
extinct ungulates, or hoofed mammals, which, exclusive of
the horses, deer, guanacos, and mastodons, belong to groups
almost unknown in any other part of the world.* Before
going further, I must, however, remind my readers that
existing ungulates are divided into four groups or sub-
orders, distinguished from one another by the structure
of their feet. Of these the elephants, or proboscideans, are
specially characterised by having five toes to each foot,
and by the two rows of bones in the wrist and ankle
being arranged one above another in a linear manner ;

* During the Pleistocene period a few ground-sloths and glyptodons
entered North America.

80

SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS 8i

while the huckle-bone, or astragalus, of the ankle articulates
with the leg-bone by a flat surface. On the other hand,
in both the odd-toed or perissodactyle ungulates, as repre-
sented by the rhinoceros and horse, and the even-toed or
artiodactyle group of the order, of which we have familiar
examples in the pig and the deer, the toes are never more
than four in number, the bones of the wrist and ankle
interlock or alternate, and the huckle-bone has a pulley-
like surface for articulation with the large bone of the leg.
Whereas, however, in the former of these two groups the
middle toe is larger than either of the others and sym-
metrical in itself, in the second group it is the two toes
corresponding to the second and third of the human foot
which are larger than the others, while they are also
symmetrical to a line drawn between them. There is like-
wise a well-marked difference between the huckle-bones of
the two groups. The fourth group, represented only by
the various species of hyrax — the coney of Scripture — need
not detain us here.

Turning to the proper subject of this article, I com-
mence my notice with one of the largest of the Argentine
mammals, which derives its name of Toxodon from the
peculiarly curved or bow-Hke form of its long molar-teeth.
This gigantic animal, which rivalled the large Indian
rhinoceros in size, is remarkable for the peculiar lowness
of the forequarters, in consequence of which the enormous
head is carried much below the line of the back. Since
the creature has much the general appearance of a rhino-
ceros, as shown by its relatively short and stout neck and
limbs, while the number of toes to each limb is three, of
which the middle one is symmetrical in itself, an observer
might, at first sight, be disposed to place the toxodon
among the odd-toed ungulates. A closer examination

6

82 MOSTLY MAMMALS

would, however, show that while the middle toe is not
markedly larger than either of the others, the bones of the
wrist are arranged on the linear plan, while in the ankle
the upper surface of the huckle-bone is nearly flat, or
intermediate between that of the elephants and the odd-
toed ungulates. Omitting mention of certain other minor
peculiarities in the structure of the limbs, if we now turn
our attention to the teeth, we shall see that these also
present features unknown in any living ungulates. We
find, for instance, in the first place, that the upper jaw is
furnished with two pairs of permanently growing chisel-
like teeth, comparable to the single pair of incisors in the
rodents or gnawing mammals ; these being opposed by
three pairs of nearly similar, although horizontally placed,
lower teeth. Such permanently growing incisor-teeth are
paralleled among existing ungulates in the hyrax, but the
toxodon stands alone in the order from the circumstance
that the cheek-teeth likewise grow throughout life, instead
of forming roots. Here, then, we have another point of
resemblance in the toxodon to the rodent order. When
we examine the form of the grinding surface of these
cheek-teeth, there does not appear any marked resemblance
to those of any existing ungulates. The link is, however,
furnished by certain allied forms from the older Ter-
tiary beds of Patagonia, known by the name of Nesodon,
of which the first fragmentary remains were brought to
Europe by Darwin, in the Beagle ; the toxodon being
confined to the Pampean deposits and the underlying beds
of Monte Hermoso. Now, in the nesodons, the structure
of the cheek-teeth clearly approximates to that character-
ising the odd-toed ungulates, although belonging to what
naturalists term a more specialised type. It is further
noteworthy that in these nesodons, although the cheek-

SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS 83

teeth grow for a considerable portion of life, yet they
eventually form roots in the ordinary manner; the same
being true of the incisors, with the exception of a single
pair, which grow permanently. We see, therefore, that the
permanently growing teeth of the toxodon are a specialised
feature, and the older genus shows that these animals
are clearly allied to the odd-toed ungulates, although
sharply distinguished by the structure of the feet. Indeed,
since their feet are of a more generalised type than those
of the latter (as is especially shown by the almost flat
huckle-bone), while their teeth are more specialised, it is
evident that neither group can be ancestral to the other.
Hence the toxodon and its allies may be regarded as
forming a separate group of equal value with the other
subdivisions of the great ungulate order. When these re-
markable creatures branched off from the primitive ancestral
types of the latter, and how they first obtained an entrance
into South America, where they gradually increased in
size and specialisation till the period of the Pampean, when
they finally disappeared, are still unsolved problems.

The interest of the toxodons does not, however, by any
means end here. Although, as we have seen, the toxodon
itself shows certain resemblances to rodents in the structure
of its teeth, it will be evident that such resemblances indi-
cate no genetic affinity between the two groups, since
rodents are neither the ancestors nor the descendants of
the toxodons. In a much smaller animal, known as the
typotherium, these rodent resemblances are still more
pronounced, as is especially shown by the incisor-teeth,
which are essentially those of a rodent. Moreover, in the
hind-feet the toes have lost the hoofs characterising the
more typical ungulates, and were probably protected by
small nails. A still further step is exhibited by a much

84 MOSTLY MAMMALS

smaller Argentine mammal, of the approximate size of a
hare, named Pachyrucus. If it were not for the intermediate
links, this creature would almost certainly be put down as
a rodent, with which group it agrees in the structure of
its teeth and toes, as well as in many other parts of the
skeleton. Nevertheless, it is clearly a near ally of the
typotherium, and therefore a member of the toxodon group.
Here, then, we have one of the most remarkable instances
of the phenomenon of parallelism in development. We
have, in fact, displayed before us the origin of what we
may call a rodent-imgulate : that is to say, an animal
which, while certainly an ungulate by descent, has acquired
such a marked resemblance to a rodent that, if we had not
the intermediate links, it might be regarded as a member
of the same order. This instance gives us some insight
into the intricacies of evolution, and serves to show the
amount of value attaching to many phylogenies of the
animal kingdom.

In addition to the .slightly grooved huckle-bone, the
toxodon group is characterised by at least one of the upper
incisor-teeth growing throughout life, and by the cheek-
teeth being either rootless or not forming roots till very
late. There is, however a second group of allied extinct
ungulates peculiar to the Argentine in which all the molars
are rooted at the usual period, while the huckle-bone is as
flat as in the elephants, although of somewhat different
form. This group is represented solely by two genera,
both of which are confined to the Patagonian deposits,
where they are represented by animals rivalling rhinoceroses
in size, and furnished with molar-teeth somewhat resembling
those of the latter. One of these creatures, on which the
name of Homalodontotheriuni has been conferred, presents
the rare peculiarity of having the teeth arranged in a

SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS 85

regular even series without gap or interval, and with
their crowns of equal height. Very different in dental
character are the members of the allied genus Astra-
potherium, in which each jaw was furnished with a huge
pair of tusks, those of the lower jaw curving outwards
and upwards after the manner of those of a wild boar,
while both were kept sharp and keen by their points
wearing against one another. In the presence of these
enormous upper tusks, the astrapotheres resembled the
extinct uintatheres of North America, although they differed
in the possession of tusks in the lower jaw, while it is
probable that those of the upper jaw were incisors instead
of canines. One of the most curious features connected
with these animals is the close resemblance of their upper
cheek-teeth to those of rhinoceroses, the similarity being
so marked that .if we were acquainted with the South
American animal only by these teeth, it would probably
be classed with the rhinoceroses. From the structure of
the bones of the ankle it is, however, quite certain that
these two groups of ungulates have no direct connection
with one another, and that their common ancestor had
teeth of a much simpler type of structure. It follows,
therefore, that the form of cheek-teeth characterising both
the astrapotheres and the rhinoceroses has been evolved
independentiy in the two groups, and that we have con-
sequently here another case of parallelism. Although this
type of tooth (which, it must be remembered, is one of
considerable complexity) is admirably adapted for crushing
vegetable substances, it is by no means the only one which
could have been evolved from what we may probably regard
as the primitive type, and it is therefore difficult to see how
it can have been produced by evolution unaccompanied
by design.

86 MOSTLY MAMMALS

Strange as are the foregoing creatures, they are exceeded
in this respect by the long-necked and long-hmbed animal
named Macrauchenia (on account of the elongation of the
vertebrae of the neck), specimens of which were first
brought back by Darwin from the superficial deposits of
Patagonia. In general form the macrauchenia somewhat
recalls a camel ; and it is a curious circumstance that, in
common with that animal and its allies, it differs from all
other ungulates, with the exception of certain kindred
Argentine forms, in that the arteries of the neck pierce
the sides of the vertebrae to take a course within the
spinal canal, instead of passing merely thi-ough a loop of
bone on the exterior. This remarkable resemblance is not,
however, indicative of any affinity between the two animals,
since, if we look at the feet of the macrauchenia, we shall
find that they are of the odd-toed type, and each furnished
with three digits. Moreover, the huckle-bone has the
pulley-like upper surface characterising the odd-toed ungu-
lates ; and as the teeth approximate to those of the latter,
we might be inclined to place the creature in that group.
The wrist- and ankle-joints are, however, formed on the
linear plan, and exhibit certain other departures from the
odd-toed type, and it is therefore evident that the macrau-
chenia and its allies constitute a third group of extinct
ungulates peculiar to South America. Although it is by
foot-structure that the macrauchenia is separated from all
other members of the order, its most remarkable peculiarity
is to be found in the structure of its skull. In an ordinary
mammal the aperture of the nose is situated quite at the
anterior extremity of the skull. In the macrauchenia, on
the other hand, this aperture forms an egg-shaped vacuity
in the forehead, almost between the eyes. Some approxi-
mation to this remarkable arrangement is presented by

SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS 87

the living tapirs, but it is more nearly paralleled by the
elephants, and still more closely by the aquatic dugong, while
among whales the backwardation (if I may coin a word)
of the nostrils is carried to a still greater degree. That
a land mammal with its nostrils situated in this unusual
position could not have managed to exist without a trunk
seems evident, and we may therefore conclude that the
macrauchenia was so furnished ; while, from its long
slender neck and limbs, it may further be inferred that
it was an inhabitant of open plains or thin forest, and
was not a frequenter of marshes and swamps. It may be
added that in its uninterrupted and even series of teeth
the macrauchenia differs from all existing mammals save
man, and agrees with its distant cousin, the homalodonto-
there.

From its large size, the peculiar position of its nostrils,
and the characters of its cheek-teeth, the naturalist is led
to infer that the macrauchenia was a highly specialised
creature ; and it is interesting to find that this inference
is converted into a certainty by the existence of certain
kindred forms in the older formations of the Parana and
Patagonia, which are evidently the ancestral types from
which the Pampean genus has originated. All these crea-
tures were of relatively small size, with cheek-teeth more
closely resembling those of the odd-toed ungulates, and
they show a gradual transition in regard to the position
of the nostrils from the type of the macrauchenia to the
ordinary form. The evolution of such an extraordinary
creature as the one under consideration is therefore fully
explained, although we have yet to learn the special reason
for the peculiar position of its nostrils and the development
of a trunk.

More or less intimately allied to the ancestors of the

88 MOSTLY MAMMALS

macrauchenia were certain contemporaneous ungulates from
Patagonia, of which the largest did not exceed a tapir in
size. With cheek-teeth so like those of the odd-toed
ungulates from the Paris basin described by Cuvier as
Palaeotherium, these Patagonian ungulates differed from
the macrauchenia in having the dental series reduced in
number and interrupted by gaps. Their most remarkable
peculiarity is, however, to be found in the structure of
their feet, which, in some forms at least, resembled those
of the extinct three-toed horses, or hipparions, in which
the middle toe is very large, while the two lateral ones
are small and functionless. In one genus, moreover, the
toes were reduced to a single large one on each foot, as
in the modern horse. And the fact that there existed in
South America a group of ungulates which exactly paralleled
the horses in the evolution and structure of their feet is
one of the most wonderful features in mammalian de-
velopment.

Among all the extinct mammals of the Argentine, none
strike the beholder with more astonishment than those
gigantic cousins of the modern armadillos of South America,
collectively known as glyptodons, their name being derived
from the peculiar sculpture with which the grinding surfaces
of their cheek-teeth are ornamented. Both armadillos and
glyptodons differ from the other members of the group to
which they belong in having their bodies protected by a
bony shell, or carapace, covering all but the under-parts,
the top of the head being covered by a similar bony shield,
while the tail is encased by a series of bony rings, or in
rings at the base and a long tube at the tip. Whereas,
however, the armadillos (exclusive of the aberrant little
pichiciago) have a larger or smaller portion of the middle
region of the carapace formed of movable transverse bands

SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS 89

of plates, in the glyptodons the whole structure is welded
into a single piece. It must not, however, be supposed that
this carapace consists of a single solid dome of bone, as,
if it did, there would, of course, be no possibility of growth.
On the contrary, the carapace is composed of polygonal
or rhomboidal plates articulating at their edges, and thus
allowing of free growth. In very old individuals a consider-
able number of these plates may, however, become com-
pletely fused together. During life these bony plates were
covered with small horny shields, as in the living arma-
dillos, and they frequently show incised lines formed by the
lines of union between such shields. For instance, in the
members of the typical genus of the group, or ring-tailed
glyptodons, each bony plate was smooth and polygonal in
shape, while the lines indicating the borders of the horny
shields take the form of a rosette. Another important
point of difference from the armadillos is to be found in
the contour of the skull, which is short, deep, and rounded,
instead of being long, flattened, and pointed at the muzzle.
Then, again, whereas the armadillos have small cylindrical
teeth, those of the glyptodons are large and fluted at the
sides, with their grinding surfaces marked by the aforesaid
sculpture ; while the whole series is in close contact,
and forms one of the most efficient grinding machines
imaginable.

To support the enormous weight of the carapace, which
in some of the larger kinds is considerably more than an
inch in thickness, special modifications are needed in the
internal skeleton. Here we find that nearly the whole of
the vertebrae are welded together, so that a large portion
of the backbone forms a continuous solid tube. The ver-
tebrae of the neck are also very short, and may be partially
united, so that the movements of the head must have been

90 MOSTLY MAMMALS

somewhat limited. The observer will not fail to notice
also the great strength and upright position of the haunch-
bones and the powerful build of the legs and feet, the
latter terminating in five toes armed with broad, flattened
nails. As an illustration of the various modifications of
the same general plan of structure in use in the animal
kingdom, it may be well to point out how essentially the
arrangement of the armour of a glyptodon differs from
that of an ordinary tortoise or turtle. In the latter the
carapace is completely welded to the ribs, which are situated
externally to the haunch- and shoulder-bones, whereas in
a glyptodon there is no sort of connection between the
carapace and the ribs, while the latter are internal to
the haunch- and shoulder-bones. In these respects the
leathery turtle holds a somewhat intermediate position
between ordinary turtles and the glyptodons, the carapace
being composed of polygonal plates totally unconnected
with the ribs, while the latter are situated externally to
the bones of the shoulder and haunch.

Not less remarkable are the modifications of the vertebrae
of the tail for the support of the rings or tube with which
the latter is encased. In the first place, most of the ver-
tebrae of this region are welded together so as to form
a hollow, tapering rod, while from each segment are given
off radiating processes upon which the bony plates are
borne, and as the whole of the latter are firmly welded
together, the entire structure is of great strength.

When standing with the edges of its impenetrable cara-
pace resting on the ground, its mail-crowned head partially
withdrawn within the front aperture of its shell, and only
the lower portions of the limbs exposed, a glyptodon must
have been safe from all foes save savage man, and even
he must have had a tough job to slaughter the monster,

SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS 91

if, indeed, he ever succeeded in doing so. That man did
exist with the later glyptodons, or those which flourished
during the deposition of the Pampas mud, is, however,
proved by more than one kind of evidence. For instance,
crude drawings of these animals have been found incised
on some of the rock surfaces of Patagonia, while in other
cases human implements have been disinterred side by side
with the bones and shells. Probably the empty carapaces
of the larger members of the group were employed by the
primitive inhabitants of Argentina as huts, and it is said
that they are sometimes even so used at the present day
by the Indians. That these animals were not killed off
by any living foe — either human or otherwise — may be
taken for granted, and we must therefore conclude that this
result was probably due to the same general cause which
brought about the extermination of the larger Argentine
mammals. It may be well to mention that, although some
of the living armadillos are carnivorous, it is perfectly
evident, from the structure of their teeth, that all the
glyptodons subsisted exclusively on a vegetable diet.

The earliest known representatives of the group occur in
the older Tertiary beds of Patagonia, and may be designated
pigmy glyptodons, although known scientifically as Propalaeo-
hoplophorus. These creatures, which lived side by side with
armadillos nearly akin to existing forms, were the dwarfs
of their race, the carapace not being more than a couple
of feet in length. The plates of the carapace were smooth,
and ornamented with a rosette-like sculpture, of which the
central ring in the fore part of the shell was raised into
a prominent boss. In the form of these plates, as well as
in the circumstances that the tail was surrounded from base
to tip with a series of knobbed rings, these pigmy glyptodons
resembled the ring-tailed glyptodons of the Pampas, of which

92 MOSTLY MAMMALS

they may accordingly be regarded as the ancestral type. In
the intermediate deposits of Monte Hermoso we meet with
other glyptodons, which, while much larger than those of
the Patagonian beds, were generally inferior in this respect
to the giants of the Pampean, some of the species being
nearly allied to the small Patagonian representatives of the
group, while others belong to the same genera as those
found in the Pampas.

Passing on to a survey of the leading t3'pes of these
creatures found in the alluvial mud of the Pampas, where
they occur in great numbers, we may first notice the one
to which the name of glyptodon was originally applied.
The carapace in this form is characterised by the polygonal
plates being nearly smooth and marked by a rosette of
incised lines, while those along the margin are raised into a
series of bold knobs. In general contour the whole carapace
forms a nearly regular oval dome, with the plates on the
front and hind margins knobbed and ridged. Although in
the specimen first sent to England the tail of another
species was unfortunately affixed to the carapace, it is now
known that the armour of the tail took the form of a
number of rings, gradually diminishing in diameter from
the root to the tip, and severally ornamented with a series
of conical knobs, thus forming a protective case against
which little short of a steam-hammer would have been of
any avail.

Although one might have thought that these ring-tailed
glyptodons, as they may be conveniently termed, were suffi-
ciently large and bizarre to have stood alone in the world,
they were exceeded in size and strangeness of form by a still
more extraordinary creature. In this stupendous monster,
which measured upwards of 1 1 ft. 8 in. in a straight
line, the carapace is characterised by its peculiar hump-

SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS 93

backed form, while its margins lack the prominent knobs
characterising those of the preceding group. On closer
examination it will be found that each of the com-
ponent plates of the carapace, instead of being polygonal
and marked by a rosette of lines, is rhomboidal and pierced
by from two to five large circular holes. From the analogy
of the living hairy armadillo — known in Argentina by the
name of peludo, or hairy animal — it is quite evident that
during life the holes in the plates of the carapace of this
extinct monster — which, by the way, may be known as
the "club-tailed glyptodon," or technically as Daediciirus —
must have formed the exits of large bristles, which were
equal in diameter to a cock's quill, and were doubtless many
inches in length. The whole body of the animal must,
therefore, have resembled a gigantic porcupine. Still more
extraordinary is the conformation of the huge tail, which
had a length of about five feet. At its base this appendage
was encircled by about half a dozen double bony rings,
nearly as large at the base as the iron hoops in the middle
of an ordinary beer-barrel, their component plates being
pierced by the aforesaid holes for bristles. The whole of
the terminal half of the tail is formed by one continuous
piece of hollow bone, which, if we exclude whales, is one
of the most massive bony structures in the animal kingdom,
and is almost as much as a man can lift. Starting at its
base in the form of a nearly cylindrical tube, this sheath
rapidly expands at the sides, and becomes flattened on the
upper and lower surfaces, until at the tip it finally assumes
the form of a depressed, flattened club, which would have
formed a most effective weapon for a giant. Along the
sides of its extremity this club is marked by a number of
oval depressed discs, showing a sculptured pattern of
ridges and grooves radiating from the centre, and some

94 MOSTLY MAMMALS

of them attaining a length of six or seven inches. From
the structure of their sculpture it seems evident that
during life these discs formed the bases of huge horns
projecting at right angles to the tail, which would thus
have formed a veritable cheval de frise. If, as is quite
probable, these horns were as long as those of the common
African rhinoceros, the tail of the daedicurus must have
presented a most extraordinary appearance as it dragged
on the ground behind its owner (for it is impossible to
believe that any muscles could have raised such a stupen-
dous structure). The use of these horny appendages is,
however, hard indeed to guess, since the creature was
amply protected by the underlying bone ; and it is there-
fore probable that they must come under the category of
ornamental appendages. Be this as it may, with its bristle-
clad body and horned tail, the club-tailed glyptodon may
well lay claim to the right of being one of the most
extraordinary creatures that ever walked this earth during
the whole duration of the Tertiary period. Another species
belonging to the same genus, of which the remains are
found in the Tertiary beds of Monte Hermoso, is remark-
able for possessing a cone-shaped aperture in the middle
of the hinder part of the carapace, of which the only
conceivable use is that it acted as the point of discharge
of a gland.

Nearly equal in size to the Pampean representative of
the preceding genus, but distinguished markedly by the
characters of the skull and the more regularly dome-like
form of the carapace, is another monster from the Pampas
which has been described under the name of Panochthus.
Although the plates of the carapace have the same oblong
form as in the club-tailed glyptodon, they lack any per-
forations for bristles, and are marked by a number of

SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS 95

patches of minute tubercles, so that this species may be
spoken of as the tuberculated glyptodon. Doubtless the
carapace was covered during life by thin horny shields,
although the marks of these are not generally shown on
the bone ; and from the absence of bristles the creature
must have been as smooth as the small existing mulita,
or three-banded armadillo. The tail was much smaller than
that of the club-tailed species, consisting at the base of a
number of relatively small rings, and terminating in a tube
of about a yard in length. This tube lacks, however, the
terminal expansion and flattening of that of the preceding
form, while the large discs with which it is ornamented
take the form of prominent rough bosses, which probably
carried flattened horny knobs, instead of spines, during life.

The last representatives of the group to which I shall
allude are much smaller species from the deposits of
Monte Hermoso and the Pampas, known as smooth-tailed
glyptodons, or, technically, Hoplophorus. In these creatures
the carapace was much more elongated and depressed than
in the other kinds, while it projected forward on the sides
of the shoulders in a manner somewhat like that of the
armadillos. The plates of the carapace show a rosette
pattern, not unlike those of the ring-tailed glyptodon, but
they are still smoother, and of an irregular oblong shape.
As regards the tail, this consisted at the base of a number
of smooth rings, fitting into one another at their junctions
like the joints of a telescope, while at the end it terminated
in a slightly flattened tube ornamented with a number of
small, smooth oval discs of about an inch in diameter,
interspersed with which were arranged a few much larger
but equally smooth and prominent discs along the sides.
These discs, of all dimensions, were evidently coated with
smooth scales of horn during life, and, from the absence

96 MOSTLY MAMMALS

of apertures for bristles, the same smoothness doubtless
characterised the carapace. The head was protected by a
smooth shield of small tesselated plates, and the skull was
characterised by the peculiar twisting and curvature of
the bones of the nose.

Such are the chief characteristics of the better-known
representatives of the mailed monsters of Argentina — a
group which was continued in a straight line from the
pigmy gl3'ptodon of Patagonia to the ring-tailed species of
the Pampas, while all the other giant forms of the latter
must be regarded as lateral offshoots from the original
stock, which continued, as is so often the case, to develop
more and more bizarre characters until the date of their
final disappearance. In conclusion, it should be added that
a strange, gigantic armoured creature, found commonly in
the cavern deposits of Brazil, and also rarely in Argentina,
seems to have been a kind of connecting link between
the glyptodons and the armadillos, having the carapace
formed of a number of movable plates, arranged in a series
of overlapping bands as in the latter, but with teeth of
the type of the former. Unfortunately, however, this
interesting creature, which must have been as big as a
large rhinoceros, is known by such fragmentary remains
that its full affinities cannot yet be determined, as we are
still ignorant whether its skull approximated to the glypto-
don or the armadillo type.

Sufficiently protected from all attacks on the part of the
wolf-like marsupials and such other large carnivorous
mammals as may at the same period have roamed over
Argentina, the pigmy glyptodon of the Santa Cruz beds of
Patagonia could have had no difficulty in maintaining its
existence against foes of all kinds, and subsequently giving
rise to the gigantic mailed monsters described above.

SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS 97

Side by side with this well-defended creature there lived,
however, another not less remarkable mammal, of nearly
similar dimensions, and likewise belonging to the great
order of edentates, then, as now, so characteristic of
South America. This creature had, however, no such
coat of mail as that which defended its contemporary
(though there is a possibility that some bony granules
may have been embedded in its skin), and as it appears
to have been equally devoid of weapons of offence, while
it did not derive protection from an arboreal life, it may
be a matter of wonder how it managed to fight its way
through the struggle for existence. That it did so is,
however, perfectly clear, since the pigmy ground-sloth, as the
animal in question may be called, is clearly the ancestral
type from which were subsequently evolved those gigantic
edentates of the Pleistocene deposits of the Argentine
scientifically known by the names o( Megalotherium, Mylodon^
etc., but which may be collectively designated ground-sloths.
These, although in some cases unprotected by any means
of defence, were among the most gigantic of mammals, and
they had, it is needless to say, no difficulty in holding their
own ; and it is only with regard to their pigmy ancestors
that we have any cause for wondering how they managed
to survive. Possibly these pigmy ground-sloths were
burrowing creatures, like the great ant-eater of the present
day, and lived in holes excavated by their powerful claws ;
and if this should be the case, the difficulty as to their
survival vanishes.

Sloths are, however, such essentially arboreal creatures,
as characteristic of the Brazilian forests as are squirrels
and dormice of our own woods, that my readers will want
to know what I mean by using such an apparently contra-
dictory term as ground-sloths.

7

98 MOSTLY MAMMALS

To justify myself, and at the same time to enable my
readers properly to understand the structure of these
strange extinct edentates, it is necessary to enter into a
short dissertation on the subject of sloths, and likewise of
their distant cousins the ant-eaters.

The external form and long shaggy hair of the sloths are
too well known to require description, and I pass on to
draw attention to certain peculiarities in regard to their
skeletons and teeth which will aid in explaining the reason
for the term ground-sloths. In the first place, then, sloths,
which are comparatively small animals, are characterised
by their peculiarly short and rounded heads, of an almost
spherical form. If the skull of one of these animals be
examined, a total absence of front teeth will be noticed ;
while the cheek-teeth comprise five pairs in the upper
and four in the lower jaw.

As already stated, the teeth in all edentates are devoid
of the enamel so characteristic of those of other mammals;
and in the sloths they form short cylinders, of which
the outer layer is harder than the central core, in con-
sequence of which their grinding surfaces become slightly
cup-shaped. In the three-toed sloths {Bradypus) the whole
of the teeth are of this extremely simple type ; but in
their two-toed cousins {Cholaepus) the first pair in each jaw
are longer than either of the others, and modified into a
somewhat tusk-like form, the upper ones wearing against
the front of the lower ones so as to produce by mutual
attrition an oblique bevelled surface at the top of each.
Both limbs of sloths are remarkable for their length and
slenderness, but the front pair are much longer than the
hinder ones. The narrow and curved feet terminate in
long hooked claws, which in the three-toed species are
three in number in each foot, although in the fore-feet of

SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS 99

the two-toed sloth they are reduced to two ; in fact, the
feet are reduced to the condition of Httle more than hooks,
admirably adapted for suspending the animal back-down-
wards from the boughs of trees, but forming poor instruments
for terrestrial progression. Indeed, when on the ground
sloths walk slowly and awkwardly, with the soles of the
feet turned inwards, and the weight of the body supported
on their outward edges. It is important to notice that
in the skeleton of the feet the terminal bones, or those
ensheathed in the long claws, are not longitudinally grooved
on the upper surface.

The South American, or true ant-eaters, one of which is
terrestrial while the other two are more or less arboreal
in their habits, are so unlike the sloths that it is difficult
to believe they have any near relationship with the
latter ; and, indeed, were it not for the extinct creatures
now under discussion, it would have been very difficult
to discover how close the connection between these two
groups really is. In place of the short and rounded
heads of the sloths, the ant-eaters have the head greatly
elongated and very slender, while the thin jaws are totally
devoid of teeth, and the tongue is long, cylindrical, and
highly extensile. There is, however, some degree of
variation in regard to the elongation of the skull, the
maximum development occurring in that of the great
ant-eater. If possible, a still greater difference obtains in
the structure of the feet, the fore-foot of the great ant-eater
having five toes, of which the middle one is vastly more
powerful than either of the others, while all but the fifth
have strong claws. In walking, the extreme outer side
and part of the upper surface of the fore-foot are applied
to the ground ; but in the hind-foot, which has the fourth
toe the largest and all the five digits furnished with claws,

loo MOSTLY MAMMALS

the whole of the short sole touches the ground in the
ordinary manner. An important difference from the sloths
is to be found in the circumstance that the bones of the
terminal joints of the feet have a longitudinal median groove
on the upper surface at their tips.

With these remarks on some of the leading features of
the sloths and ant-eaters, the reader will be in a position
to appreciate the peculiarities in the structure of the ground-
sloths, and likewise to understand the appropriateness of
the name by which they are designated.

Apparently the first of these extinct animals known in
Europe was the giant ground-sloth, or Megalotherium, of
which a nearly complete skeleton was discovered in the year
1789 near Lujan, in the province of Buenos Aires. This
skeleton was soon after sent to Madrid, and described by
Cuvier in 1798, who gave it the name by which the animal
has ever since been known. Cuvier recognised the affinities
of the megalothere to the sloths ; and other skeletons sub-
sequently obtained from the superficial deposits of Buenos
Aires, and which are now in the Museum of the Royal
College of Surgeons, the British Museum, and the museums
of Milan, Paris, and La Plata, have in their turn served to
confirm the general truth of the original determination.

One of the most gigantic of land mammals, measuring some-
where about eighteen feet in total length, the megalothere,
although with a more elongated skull, agrees with the sloths
in the number of its teeth. In structure, however, these
teeth are decidedly different from those of the sloth. In
form they are square prisms, with a length of over ten
inches, and a diameter of fully an inch and a half. The
summit of each tooth carries a pair of transverse ridges,
produced by the alternation of vertical plates of different
hardness in the tooth itself ; and since the teeth are rootless

SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS loi

and grow continuously throughout the life of their owner,
this transversely ridged structure is likewise permanent.
To contain such enormous teeth, the lower jaw is remark-
ably deepened in the middle of its length, where it descends
suddenly. A long median channel, extending between and
in front of the anterior teeth, is evidently for the reception
of a large and fleshy tongue, which from its size was
probable extensile like that of the giraffe.

If we had only the megalothere to deal with, there
might be some hesitation, judging from the skull and
teeth (which in the group are the only portions of the
skeleton showing sloth-like affinities) in regarding the
group of animals to which it belongs as closely allied to
the sloths. Fortunately, however, the same Pleistocene
deposits of Buenos Aires (to say nothing of the caverns
of Minas Geraes, in Brazil) have yielded remains of other
and somewhat smaller ground-sloths, known as mylodons,
which effectually bridge, in these respects, the gap between
the megalothere and the sloths. In these animals the teeth
are either cylindrical or triangular in section ; and from
having a harder external coat, wear in the same cup-
shaped manner as those of the latter. Moreover, in
some mylodons the front pair of teeth in each jaw have
the elongated tusk-like form and oblique wear character-
ising those of the two-toed sloth, while in others they
resemble the hinder teeth, as in the three-toed sloth.
We thus have an exact parallelism in this respect among
the mylodons to the two genera of sloths ; and as their
skulls in their more rounded and shorter form, and the
absence of a descending expansion in the middle of the
lower jaw, are Ukewise more sloth-like than is the skull
of the megalothere, we can have no hesitation in re-
garding the ground-sloths, so far as cranial characters

I02 MOSTLY MAMMALS

are concerned, as closely allied to the sloths. It may be
added that the great divergence of the two series of
teeth in the mylodon skull indicates the presence during
life of a tongue of great width and size. Mylodons had
a number of ossicles, like large beans, embedded in the
outer surface of the skin ; but in the nearly allied
glossothere, of which portions of skin covered with long
sloth-like hair have been discovered in a cave in Pata-
gonia, nearly similar ossicles were embedded in the inner
side of the skin. Strange to say, these ground-sloths
appear to have been kept in caves as domesticated
animals by the ancient inhabitants of Patagonia.

Thus far I have shown how the ground-sloths are
related to the sloths in the characters of their skulls ;
but other members of the group, known as the scelido-
theres {Scelidothermni), although still retaining the same
number of teeth, present a certain approximation in these
respects to the ant-eaters. Thus their skulls, instead of
being short and broad like those of the mylodons, are very
long and narrow, and have the muzzle much produced in
advance of the anterior teeth. Indeed, it would require
only a still greater elongation and narrowing of the skull
of a scelidothere, coupled with the total loss of the
teeth, to produce one very similar to that of an ant-eater.

So far as I am aware, palaeontologists have not yet
been able to trace a complete transition from the gigantic
ground-sloths of the Pleistocene deposits of Buenos Aires
to their diminutive representatives from the older Tertiary
deposits of Patagonia, although it is known that some of
the species from the intermediate formations were inferior
in point of size to their more recent allies. It is, how-
ever, very interesting to find that the pigmy ground-sloths
of these Patagonian deposits had transversely ridged

SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS 103

prismatic teeth like those of the megalothere, and not the
cyhndrical or triangular ones of the mylodons and scelido-
theres ; thus apparently indicating that the former type
of tooth is the oldest. The contrast between the pigmy
ground-sloth and the giant ground-sloth {Megalotherium)
is, however, most remarkable. The total length of the
skeleton of the former was only about three feet, while
its skull was less than six inches, whereas that of the latter
was over a couple of feet in length. Then, again, the
whole series of five upper teeth occupy in the pigmy
ground-sloth a space of less than an inch and a half,
or less than the diameter of a single tooth of its
gigantic relative. That such a diminutive creature, if as
naked and undefended as its huge cousin appears to have
been, needed some special protection, is evident ; and it
is the need of such defence from attack that has led me
to suggest that the creature may have been fossorial in its
habits.

Leaving for a moment the mutual relationships and
affinities of all these different animals, a glance may be
directed at the skeleton of the body and limbs of the
ground-sloths. In the first place this differs from that
of the sloths in the shortness and extreme massiveness of
the Hmbs ; and especially in the extraordinary stoutness
and width of the bones of the hind-leg and haunches.
In the general form of the scapula or blade-bone, and
more especially in the presence of a complete pair of
clavicles or collar-bones, the ground-sloths resemble the
sloths and differ from the ant-eaters ; the clavicles of the
latter being rudimentary. The skeleton of the fore-foot
is, however, essentially that of an ant-eater, the inner toe
being rudimentary, the next three, and more especially
the middle one, enormously enlarged, and furnished

164 MOSTLY MAMMALS

during life with huge claws, while the outermost was small
and clawless. That during life the creature rested on the
outer side of this fifth claw and the backs of the three
large toes, in ant-eater fashion, may, from the structure
and arrangement of their bones, be considered certain.
Unlike the ant-eater, in which it rests upon the sole, the
hind-foot of the Pleistocene ground-sloths is even more
strangely modified than the front one, these creatures
walking only on its outer edge, while the enormous
middle toe, with its gigantic claw, does not appear to
have touched the ground in walking, and was thus
always kept sharp. The first toe is wanting, and the
second rudimentary, while the two outer ones were rela-
tively small and unprovided with claws. Some idea of
the gigantic proportions of the megalothere may be
gathered from the circumstance that its hind-foot measures
nearly a yard in length. Of the pigmy ground-sloths of
Patagonia the complete skeleton has not yet been de-
scribed ; but so far as my recollection of a specimen in
the La Plata museum goes, I believe that it was not of
the extremely specialised type characterising the later
gigantic forms. Moreover, while in the latter the terminal
joints of the feet were neither grooved nor split at the
extremities, in the small Patagonian species these were
deeply cleft at the end, as in the scaly ant-eaters or
pangolins of India and Africa. As regards the structure
of the vertebral column, the ground-sloths exhibit certain
peculiarities distinctive of the ant-eaters, which are only
rudimentary in the sloths.

When to this brief survey of the chief structural
peculiarities of the skeleton of the creatures under considera-
tion is added the circumstance that, from their enormous
size, they must necessarily have been terrestrial in their

SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS 105

habits, we are in a position to realise the appropriate
nature of the term " ground-sloths " by which they are
designated. These creatures may, in fact, be briefly
described as edentates with a skull, teeth, and shoulder-
girdle very similar to those of the sloths ; while as regards
their backbone and feet they come very close to the ant-
eaters, although in the later and more gigantic forms the
specialisation characterising the fore-feet of the latter has
been extended to the hinder pair.

Turning to the question of the mutual relationships and
phylogeny of the three groups of edentates discussed in
the course of the foregoing paragraphs, we shall have
little hesitation in regarding the pigmy ground-sloths,
which are the earliest known representatives of the group,
as the direct ancestors of the gigantic megalothere. A
modification in the structure of the teeth would equally
well permit of their having likewise been the ancestors
of the mylodons, which, as we have seen, possess sloth-
like teeth. This, however, will not permit us to regard
the mylodons as having been the forerunners of the sloths,
seeing that the latter have a less specialised type of
hind-foot ; and we must accordingly regard the sloths as
a side branch derived from the pigmy ground-sloths or
some nearly allied forms after the acquisition of cylindrical
teeth, but before the hind-foot had acquired the specialisation
characterising the mylodons and megalotheres. Hence
the curious structural similarity between the front teeth
of some of the mylodons and the two-toed sloth must be
another instance of that parallelism in development to
which reference has so often been made.

With regard to the ant-eaters, we have already seen
that the fore-foot of these animals resembles that of the
pigmy ground-sloths in that the terminal joints of the

io6 MOSTLY MAMMALS

larger toes are marked by a longitudinal groove repre-
senting the cleft of those of the latter; and as in both
groups the middle toe is the largest, there is no reason
why the ant-eaters should not trace their origin to these
same pigmy ground-sloths or a closely allied type. In
this case the specialisation has resulted in a lengthening
of the skull and the loss of the teeth, the hind-foot having
retained more or less of the primitive type. Here like-
wise we must notice that the resemblance presented by
the skull of the scelidotheres to that of the ant-eaters
must be regarded as an instance of parallel development.

From the structure of their teeth, the ground-sloths
were evidently pure vegetarians ; and the same may be said
of the sloths, which are animals specially modified for the
exigencies of an arboreal existence. On the other hand,
the ant-eaters, as their name implies, have given up a
vegetable diet and taken to living on ants, and to this may
be attributed their total loss of teeth. Should germs of
teeth ever be found in their jaws during an early stage of
existence, I venture to predict they will approximate in
structure to the teeth of the ground-sloths.

I cannot conclude without saying a few words as to the
probable mode of life and external appearance of ground-
sloths. The Patagonian specimens have shown that, like
sloths and ant-eaters, they were clothed with a thick
covering of coarse hair. Further, from their massive
proportions, and also from their kinship to the sloths,
it is most likely that ground-sloths were as slow and
deliberate in their movements as the latter. That such
monstrous creatures could not have existed in a treeless
country like the Argentine Pampas has been already pointed
out, and we may hence assume that in the days of the
ground-sloths Argentina was much like what Brazil is at

SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS 107

the present day. Browsing on the leaves and perhaps the
smaller branches of forest-trees, the ground-sloths probably
obtained their food by rearing themselves up against the
trunks, supported on the tripod formed by their massive
hind-limbs and powerful tail, the ponderous structure of
the haunch-bones being eminently adapted for maintaining
the body in such a posture. The same massiveness of
structure conclusively proves that the creatures were not
arboreal, since no tree capable of being climbed could
carry such an enormous weight. It was suggested, indeed,
by Sir Richard Owen that the megalothere was in the
habit, when reared up in the manner indicated above, of
clasping a tree in its arms and swaying it backwards and
forwards until it fell with a crash to the ground ; but
although such a radical mode of procedure may have been
occasionally resorted to, we have no right to assume that
such was the ordinary habit of the ground-sloths.

^ CELEBES : A PROBLEM IN DISTRIBUTION

Probably at least nine out of every ten of the readers of
the present article would pronounce the name of the island
Celebes with the second syllable short ; and if it were an
English name, they would be right in so doing. But the
Malays have a habit of accenting the middle syllable of
three-syllabled words, and we thus have Sardwak, Basflan,
Celebes, etc. In this respect Malay names are the exact
opposite of South American, in which the accent falls on
the third syllable, as in Panamd, Bogotd, and Ecuador.
Doubtless it is a small matter, but it is well to be correct
even in the pronunciation of names.

Having put matters right in this respect, the next point
is to inform my readers why Celebes has been selected
as the subject of an article at all ; and why Borneo,
Sumatra, or Java would not have done just as well. To
render this point clear I must refer briefly to the geo-
graphical position of Celebes and the neighbouring islands.
Borneo, Sumatra, and Java are the three largest of the
Malayan islands lying nearest to the Malay Peninsula ;
and although they possess many peculiar animals — notably
the orang, which is confined to Borneo and Sumatra — yet
their fauna as a whole is very similar to that of the Malay
mainland, and thus intimately connected with that of India,
Accordingly, naturalists are pretty well agreed in including
these islands in what is called the Oriental region of

1 08

CELEBES: A PROBLEM IN DISTRIBUTION 109

zoological distribution, of which the Philippine Islands
likewise form a part.

Now, Celebes lies due east of Borneo, from which it is
separated by the Macassar Strait, and also nearly midway
between the Philippines on the north and the small islands
of Lombok, Sumbawa, and Flores on the south ; these
three latter islands forming the continuation of the line
of Sumatra and Java, which evidently indicates an old
peninsula. Eastward of Celebes lie the Moluccas (or
Spice) Islands on the north, and Ceram (which forms the
lowest member of the same group) in the south ; both
these being nearly midway between Celebes and Papua
or New Guinea. And when we reach the latter country
we are practically in Australia, the animals being quite
unlike those of the typical Malayan islands and the other
countries of the Oriental region. We have, for instance, in
New Guinea, tree-kangaroos, cuscuses, flying-phalangers,
bandicoots, echidnas or spiny ant-eaters, cassowaries, cocka-
toos, birds of paradise, and bower-birds, all of which are
essentially Australian types, although some, like the birds
of paradise, attain their maximum development in New
Guinea itself The little island of Ceram has also a fauna
of an Australian type, including, among other forms, a
cassowary. Accordingly, all naturalists are agreed that
Australia, New Guinea, Ceram and the other Moluccas,
together with the Aru and some of the other small islands
in the neighbourhood, form one great zoological province,
which may be called the Australasian. But the problem
has been in which region to place Celebes, whose fauna
is in some respects intermediate between that of the
Australasian and Oriental regions. By Dr. A. R. Wallace,
the great authority on the geographical distribution of
animals, it was at first classed with the former, although

no MOSTLY MAMMALS

subsequently given a doubtful position ; and his views
have been followed by most later writers. Recently, how-
ever, several writers have come to the conclusion that it
should be included in the Oriental region.

A glance at the map will show that Celebes is an island
of very peculiar and unusual shape. It consists of an
irregular central region, from which are given off four
still more irregular peninsulas, of which the one running
in the direction of the Moluccas is considerably the largest.
Its general outline is more like that frequently assumed
by an amoeba than anything else, and it is quite clear from
this remarkable shape that the island is situated in a
subsiding area, and once formed a portion of a much
larger land-mass. From the pecuHarity of its animals it
is evident that Celebes has existed as an island since an
epoch comparatively remote ; and the question naturally
arises whether its last connection was with Borneo and
the other Malay islands, or with Ceram and New Guinea.
In a question of this nature the depth of the surrounding
seas has, of course, a most important bearing.

Putting, however, the evidence of soundings on one side,
we may endeavour to find out how much light the animals
of Celebes are capable of throwing on the problem.

Those of my readers who have any acquaintance with
the geographical distribution of animals, are probably aware
that no marsupials at all are found to the westward of
Celebes, and that to the eastward of that island monkeys
are quite unknown ; while hoofed animals are represented
only by a deer in Timor and a second in the Moluccas,
and likewise by a semi-wild pig in Ceram and another in
New Guinea. In fact, the quadrupeds of the Australasian
region, with these exceptions, consist exclusively of egg-
laying mammals, marsupials, and various peculiar kinds of

CELEBES: A PROBLEM IN DISTRIBUTION iii

rats, mice, and bats ; while, as already said, their birds
include cassowaries, cockatoos, birds of paradise, bower-
birds, and a host of other kinds more or less completely
unknown in the regions to the westward.

But, unfortunately, there is another element in the
problem which introduces a further complexity. The
Malays are bold and clever sailors, fond of voyaging from
island to island in these summer seas. And they are also
wonderful adepts in taming animals of various kinds.
Many of these they carry about with them in their
voyages — some probably for food and others as pets.
When they land on a strange island some of these animals
may occasionally escape, or possibly may be turned loose
intentionally. Now there is a very considerable probability
that the wild pigs of Ceram and New Guinea have been
thus introduced ; and if this be the case, the fauna of the
Australasian region is made more absolutely distinct from
that of the Oriental province. The deer of the Moluccas
and Timor present a case of greater difficulty; but as the
Moluccas cannot well be separated from the Australasian
region, they would seem, in these islands at least, to have
been introduced, and, if so, the same will hold good with
regard to certain smaller mammals of an Oriental type,
such as civets.

We are now in a position to consider how the animals
of Celebes compare with those of the neighbouring islands.
Now, the only mammals of a purely Australian type found
in that island are two species of cuscuses — sleepy creatures,
with beautifully soft fur, often very brilliantly coloured,
and showing great individual or sexual variation in the
markings. They are near relatives of the so-called
opossums (phalangers) of Australia, and are entirely arboreal
creatures, passing the day comfortably coiled up in slumber

112 MOSTLY MAMMALS

and feeding at night. If these creatures were of a type
near to that from which the other marsupials of Australia
have sprung, they might be considered as survivors from
a migration of marsupials which it has been suggested
took place at a remote epoch from Asia to Australia. But
they are not so, and it is therefore clear that this hypo-
thesis will not account for their presence in the island.
As they are so completely arboreal in their habits, they
are, however, just the kind of creatures which we might
naturally expect to be wafted from one island to another on
floating timber; and it is far from improbable that it is to
this mode of transport they owe their presence in Celebes.
All the other mammals are of an Oriental type, although
several of them are quite unlike their relatives on the
mainland and other islands. Among them one of the
most remarkable is the babirusa, a curious little pig in
which the tusks of both jaws in the males attain a most
extraordinary development, the lower ones rising straight
upwards, while the upper ones grow right through the
skull to curve backwards in a bold sweep towards the
eyes. Although nothing definitely is known as to the
origin of this strange animal, yet it is evidently a highly
specialised offshoot from the ancestral pigs of Asia. Equally
peculiar is the tiny little black buffalo, or anoa, described
in another article, which is not much larger than a good-
sized ram, and has upright horns quite unlike those of the
ordinary Asiatic buffalo. In the island of Mindanao, the
most southern of the Philippine group, there is, however,
a considerably larger buffalo, known as the tamarao, which
serves to connect the anoa with the ordinary Asiatic species.
More important still is the occurrence in the Tertiary
deposits of Northern India of several species of buffaloes
intimately related to the anoa. Clearly, then, this animal

CELEBES: A PROBLEM IN DISTRIBUTION 113

has originated from an Oriental stock, and the occurrence
of an allied species in the Philippines tends to show that
these islands were connected at no very remote epoch with
Celebes. Now the Philippines themselves, as shown by
their deer, have intimate relationships with Borneo, and
thus with the mainland.

The deer reported to occur in the island is a variety of
the rusa of Java, and apparently identical with the form
found in the Moluccas. It is generally considered to have
been introduced, but as Celebes shows so many signs of
affinity with the more western Malay islands in its animals,
this does not by any means appear certain. Anyway, the
Moluccan race may well have been exported from Celebes
by the Malays.

The next most noteworthy animals in the mammalian
fauna of the island are two species of monkeys, both
remarkable for their black colour. The first of these is
the short-tailed black baboon, a species representing a
genus by itself, but with relationships to the true baboons
of Africa and South-West Asia. Such relationship, from a
geographical point of view, might seem difficult to account
for, and to those who neglect the animals of a past epoch
it would appear well-nigh inexplicable. But it happens
that extinct baboons occur in India ; and as they doubtless
also existed in other parts of the Oriental region, there
is no difficulty in accounting for the origin of the Cele-
besian representative of the group. The other species — the
moor macaque — belongs to a widely spread Oriental genus.

But the most curious of all the mammals of the island
is a species of tarsier — small creatures with enormous
goggle eyes, slender, lanky limbs, and toes terminating
in suckers, distantly related to the lemurs. Now, these
tarsiers are strictly limited to the islands of Sumatra,

8

114 MOSTLY MAMMALS

Borneo, Java, Celebes, and Mindanao, together with some
of the neighbouring islets, and are totally unknown to the
eastward of the Molucca Sea. Although, being arboreal
animals, it may be argued that, like the cuscuses of Celebes,
they may have been carried about by floating timber, yet
it seems in the highest degree unlikely they should have
reached all the islands with an Oriental type of fauna and
avoided all those where the true Australian type comes
in. Moreover, they are very delicate animals, exceedingly
difficult to keep alive in captivity, and there is accordingly
a strong probability that they are native to the islands
where they occur. Like so many of its other animals, the
tarsier of Celebes is black — as, indeed, are the species
from the other islands.

So far, then, as their mammals are concerned, it seems
probable that at no very distant epoch Celebes, Borneo,
and the Philippines formed one land area; while Borneo
itself was connected with the mainland, probably by way
of Sumatra, the orang and some other species being common
to these two islands and unknown elsewhere. It is further
probable that Celebes, and most likely a portion of the
Philippines, became isolated before Borneo ceased to be
connected with Sumatra — or at all events with the main-
land. Possibly this early separation may account for a
very curious difference between the fresh-water fishes of
the two areas ; Celebes having no carps {Cyprinidae) or
cat-fishes {Siluridae), both of which are abundant in Borneo,
as in Asia generally. With regard to the south-western
portion of the Philippine group, it is important to notice
that the island of Palawan shows evidence of a closer con-
nection with Borneo than with the rest of the archipelago
to which it belongs. On the other hand, the mountains
of Luzon, in the Northern Philippines, are the home of

CELEBES: A PROBLEM IN DISTRIBUTION 115

a remarkable group of rats, some of which show affinity
to those inhabiting Austraha ; and it therefore seems
highly likely that the Philippines mark a portion of the
line by which Asia was probably in communication at a
still earlier epoch with New Guinea and Australia. Still,
there are some difficulties in this view of the case, because
the more primitive types of marsupials now found in
Australia are at present unknown in New Guinea. Possibly,
however, some still remain to be discovered in the un-
explored mountains of that country ; while, since the ex-
ploration of the Luzon Mountains by the late Mr. John
Whitehead yielded such wonderful zoological results, there
is the possibility that when the mountains of the other
islands have been as carefully worked we may find a few
marsupials still surviving. Should such a fortunate "find "
turn up we should have much support to the view that
the ancestors of the present fauna of Australia travelled
from Asia by way of the eastern archipelago.

There are many other points connected with the present
distribution of animal life in this wonderful region, and
their bearing on the former relations of the various islands
to one another, to which the limits of this article forbid
reference. A word may, however, be said in reference to
Timor, which, as already mentioned, forms the eastern
extremity of the line of the Sunda Islands — that is to say,
the fine including Sumatra, Java, and Flores, which is
evidently a broken-up peninsula. By most writers that
portion of the chain lying to the eastward of Java and
Bali has been assigned to the Australasian region, and it
has consequently been assumed that the deer found in
Timor must have been introduced by man. Timor and
Flores also contain several other mammals common to the
Oriental region, notably a monkey, a civet, a porcupine,

ii6 MOSTLY MAMMALS

and a palm-civet ; and although it is quite possible that
they may have been introduced by the Malays (as some of
them appear to have been into the Moluccas), the absence
of any typically Australasian mammals except a cuscus
(whose presence may be accounted for in the same way as
in Celebes) is, to say the least, very remarkable. More-
over, the birds of Timor show at least as many Oriental
as Australasian features, and it accordingly seems more
consonant with the known facts to regard the whole
chain of the Sunda Islands, which are geographically one,
as having formed a part of the old Asiatic continent.

Possibly my readers may think I have written a very
dull and uninteresting article, and that it is a matter of
very little importance indeed what were the former relations
of a number of obscure Malay islands. And in one sense
this is undoubtedly the case. But all those who have once
essayed the study of the distribution of animals cannot fail
to be fascinated by the problems it presents ; and in no
case are these problems more difficult to solve than in the
eastern islands of the Malay Archipelago. As evidence of
the interest attaching to Celebes, I cannot do better than
conclude by an extract from Dr. Wallace's " Island Life."

" There is no other example," it is written, " on the
globe of an island so closely surrounded by other islands
on every side, yet preserving such a marked individuality
in its forms of life ; while, as regards the special features
which characterise its insects, it is, so far as is yet known,
absolutely unique. Unfortunately, very little is known of
the botany of Celebes, but it seems probable that its plants
will to some extent partake of the speciality which so
markedly distinguishes its animals ; and there is here a
rich field for any botanist who is able to penetrate to the
forest-clad mountains of its interior."

" A DROWNED CONTINENT

A FEW years ago deep boring operations were undertaken
in the island of Funafuti, in the Ellice group of Polynesia,
with the primary object of ascertaining the depth to which
coral-rock, or limestone of coral origin, extends. As it was
found that such coral-made material extended to depths
far below the level at which living coral can exist, evidence
was afforded that the island had subsided. And as sub-
sidence was thus proved to have taken place in a single
island selected almost at random, the conclusion could
hardly be resisted that the greater part, if not the whole,
of Polynesia must likewise be a subsiding area, or, in other
words, the remnants of a drowned continent, some of the
higher lands of which are indicated by the atolls and other
islands of the Coral Sea. This raises the whole question as
to the permanence or otherwise of the great oceanic basins
and continental areas of the globe : a subject, it need
scarcely be said, having not only an intense interest of its
own, but also one of the utmost importance in regard to
many puzzling problems connected with the present and
past geographical distribution of terrestrial animals and
plants on the surface of the globe.

Although it might well have been thought that opinion
in scientific matters would be unlikely to veer suddenly
round, and after tending strongly in one direction incline
with equal force in the one immediately opposite, yet

117

ii8 MOSTLY MAMMALS

there are few instances where the swing of the pendulum
of opinion to one side has been more swiftly followed by
its oscillation to the other than has been the case in the
problem of the permanency of continents and oceans.
When geology first began to take rank among the exact
sciences, and it was demonstrated that most of the shells
and other fossils found in the solid rocks of many of
our continents and islands were of marine origin, it was a
natural, if hasty, conclusion that land and sea had been
perpetually changing places, and that what is now the
centre of a continent might comparatively recently have
been an ocean abyss. Accordingly, when any difficulty
in finding an adequate explanation in regard to the
geographical distribution of the animals or plants of two
or more continents or islands occurred, the aid of an
" Atlantis " or a " Lemuria " was at once invoked without
misgiving, and a path thus indicated across which the
inhabitants of one isolated area could easily have passed
to another.

This was one swing of the pendulum. But as the
methods of geological observation and investigation became
more exact and critical, it was soon obvious that, in many
areas at least, the alternations between sea and land could
not have been so frequent or so general as had been at
first supposed. It was, indeed, perfectly true that many
portions of some of our present continents had for long
periods been submerged, or had been at intervals alter-
nately land and sea. But at the same time it began to
be realised that the fossihferous marine deposits commonly
met with on continents and large islands were not of such
a nature that they could have been laid down in depths
at all comparable to those now existing in certain parts of
the basin of the Atlantic. Even a formation like our

A DROWNED CONTINENT 119

English chalk, which had been supposed to have analogies
with the modern Atlantic deposits, appears to have been
laid down in a sea of much less depth and extent, and
probably more nearly comparable with the modern Medi-
terranean. Then, again, it was found that large tracts in
some of our present continents, such as Africa and India,
had existed as dry land throughout a very considerable
portion of geological time. Moreover, it was asserted that
no formations exactly comparable to those now in course
of deposition in the ocean abysses could be detected in
any of our existing continents or islands ; while it was
further urged that in none of the so-called oceanic islands
(that is, those rising from great depths at long distances
from the continental areas) were there either fossiliferous
or metamorphic rocks similar to those of the continents
and larger continental islands.

This was the second swing of the pendulum, and for a
long period it was confidently asserted that where con-
tinents now exist there had never been any excessive
depth of ocean ; and, conversely, that in the areas now
occupied by the great ocean abysses there had never been
land during any of the later geological epochs. It was,
indeed, practically affirmed that wherever the sounding-line
indicates a thousand fathoms or more of water, there sea
had been practically always, and that no part of the
present continents had ever been submerged to anything
like that depth.

Almost as soon as the pendulum of opinion had attained
the full limits of its swing in this direction (and this swing
had been largely due to the influence of geologists and
physicists), there began to be signs of its return to a less
extreme position. It was, in the first place, proved that
a few deposits — and these of comparatively recent date —

I20 MOSTLY MAMMALS

analogous to those of the ocean abysses do occur in
certain areas. And, in the second place, it was shown
that a few oceanic islands do contain rocks like those of
the continents, and are not solely of volcanic or organic
origin. Zoological and palaeontological discoveries were at
the same time making rapid advances ; and the students
of these branches of science, who had been among the
foremost in giving the swing of the pendulum on the side
of continental instability its first impulse, now began to
press their views — only in a more moderate manner — in
the same direction. Evidence had long been accumulating
as to the identity of certain fresh-water formations and
their included animal and plant remains occurring in South
America, South Africa, India, and Australia ; and it was
urged that during the Secondary period of geological history
not only was Africa connected with India by way of
Madagascar and the Seychelles, but that land extended
across what is now the South Atlantic to connect the Cape
with South America, and that probably India was likewise
joined to Australia by way of the Malay Archipelago and
islands. In fact, there seems good evidence to indicate that
at this early epoch there was a land girdle in comparatively
low latitudes encircling some three-fourths of the earth's
circumference from Peru to New Zealand and Fiji.

Even taking into account its comparatively early date,
the existence of this girdle of land, the evidence in favour
of which can scarcely be shaken, gave a heavy blow to
the adherents of the absolute permanency of continents
and oceans, as it clearly indicates the relatively modern
origin of the basin of the South Atlantic. But this is not
all : South America, which, as mentioned in an earlier article,
was once more or less completely cut off from the northern
half of the New World, shows certain indications of affinity

A DROWNED CONTINENT 121

in its fauna with that of Europe in early Tertiary times,
and to a certain extent with that of modern Africa ; and
the most satisfactory way of explaining these relationships
is by assuming either the persistence of a land connection
between the Cape and South America across, the South
Atlantic till a comparatively late geological epoch, or that
such connection took place farther south by means of the
Antarctic continent. There are several objections, which
need not be considered here, in regard to the latter alter-
native, and since there is other evidence in favour of the
comparatively recent origin of the South Atlantic depres-
sion, the persistence of a land connection in lower
latitudes seems the more probable explanation.

In addition to all this there are indications of a relation-
ship between the land faunas of Australasia and South
America; and as similar types are not met with in Africa,
and several of them belong to groups unlikely to have
endured Antarctic cold, it has been suggested that America
and Australasia were in connection at no very remote epoch
by way of the Coral Sea. It is known, for instance, that
some of the AustraUan marsupials are more or less closely
allied to others which inhabited South America before it
was connected with North America ; and as no kindred
types are met with either in the latter area, in Europe,
or in Africa, a land connection by way of the South Pacific,
and that at a comparatively recent epoch, offers almost the
only satisfactory explanation of the means of transit, if the
Antarctic theory be rejected. And it may be mentioned
in passing that the acceptance of even the latter would
imply a large modification from the existing distribution
of land and water in the southern hemisphere. Similar
evidence is afforded by certain extinct tortoises common
to South America and Australia,

122 MOSTLY MAMMALS

But the evidence for a land connection by way of the
Pacific does not by any means rest on the testimony of
marsupials and tortoises alone. Passing over certain
groups, it may be mentioned that the earthworms of
Australia and New Zealand are strangely like those of
Patagonia, and have no very near relatives in Africa ;
while an almost equally strong affinity is stated to exist
between the Patagonian and Polynesian land-slugs. Neither
of these groups of animals are fitted to withstand the cold
of high latitudes, and it is difficult to see how the members
of the second, at any rate, could have reached the two
areas by any other means than a direct land connection.

Turning to the reports of the Funafuti boring, it appears
that this has been carried far below the limits of coral
life, and was still in coral limestone. So far, therefore,
the advocates of the theory that Polynesia is the remains
of a sunken continent have scored a great triumph ; and
although there is still the possibility that some of the
atolls in this vast area may prove to be perched on the
denuded summits of extinct submarine volcanoes, even
this would not interfere with the general conclusion. If
deeper borings should result in touching rocks more or
less similar to ordinary continental sedimentary deposits
or metamorphic crystallines, an even firmer basis would
be afforded to the hypothesis of subsidence which has
now received such striking confirmation.

As the result of the boring, it appears, then, that there
is a possibility that the community between the South
American and Australasian faunas may admit of being
explained by means of a direct land connection between
the two areas at a comparatively recent geological date.
Even, however, if this explanation receive future support
and acceptation, there are, as in all similar cases, still

A DROWNED CONTINENT 123

many difficulties with which to contend. One of these
is the practical absence of all non-volant mammals from
Polynesia, with the exception of the Solomon group, where
a few cuscuses and rats are found. But the case of the
West Indies — where there is every probability that there
was formerly a large mammalian fauna, the majority of
which were drowned by submergence — may very likely
afford the solution of the difficulty. Worms and slugs
would probably find means of survival in circumstances
where mammalian Yik would disappear. This explanation
will, however, clearly not apply in the case of New Zealand,
where, if mammals had ever existed, their remains would
almost certainly have been discovered. It must be assumed,
then, that if Polynesia was the route by which the faunas
of Australia and Patagonia were formerly connected, New
Zealand was at that time isolated. And, indeed, seeing
that the presumed land connection between the areas in
question must have existed at a comparatively late epoch,
it is most likely that the ancient Polynesian land was
already broken up to a considerable extent into islands and
archipelagos, so that the main line of communication may
have been but narrow, and from time to time interrupted.
Indeed, it must almost of necessity have been very in-
complete and of short duration after the introduction of
modern forms of life, as otherwise the types common to
Australia and Patagonia would have been much more
numerous than we find to be the case. Hence there is
no improbability in the suggested isolation of New Zealand
during the period in question.

But, putting these interesting speculations aside, the
results of the Funafuti boring indicate almost without
doubt that Polynesia is an area of comparatively recent
subsidence, and it has already been mentioned that there

124 MOSTLY MAMMALS

are good reasons for regarding a large part of the basin
of the South Atlantic as of no great antiquity, while the
area of the Indian Ocean seems to have been considerably
enlarged during the later geological epochs. Apparently,
therefore, the great extent of ocean at present characteristic
of the southern hemisphere is a relatively modern feature.

Hence it is clear that the extreme views prevalent a few
years ago as to the absolute permanency of the existing
continental and oceanic areas stand in need of some
degree of modification. And what we have now to avoid
is that the pendulum should not once more take too long
a swing in the opposite direction.

So far as the great continental masses of the northern
hemisphere are concerned, it would appear that portions
of these have always existed to a greater or lesser extent
as land. But the great extent and homogeneous character
of formations like the Mountain Limestone, the Chalk, and
the NummuUtic Limestone, suggest that sea was much
more prevalent in this area than it is at present, and that,
so far as the Old World is concerned, the continental area
has been growing. The North Atlantic, and probably also
the North Pacific, may apparently be regarded as basins
of great antiquity. On the other hand, in the southern
hemisphere, although Africa, parts of Australia, and at
least some portions of South America, are evidently land
surfaces of great antiquity, they, together with the islands
of the Coral Sea, seem to be mere remnants of a much
more extensive southern continent or continents. Con-
versely the southern oceans have gained in area by swallow-
ing up these long-lost lands. Obviously, then, although
true in a degree, continental permanency has not been
the only factor in the evolution of the present surface of
the globe,

^ DESERTS AND THEIR INHABITANTS

If popular errors connected with matters scientific are hard
to kill, still more is this the case when the erroneous
opinions have been held by scientists themselves. The
idea that flints and other stones grow is, I have good
reason to believe, still far from extinct among the non-
scientific, and it is not improbable that there are persons
possessing some acquaintance with science who still cherish
the belief that deserts are uninterrupted plains of smooth
sand, originally deposited at the bottom of the sea, from
which they have been raised at a comparatively recent
epoch. At any rate, there are several books, published
not very many years ago, in which it is stated in so many
words that the Sahara represents the bed of an ancient
sea, which formerly separated Northern Africa from the
regions to the southward of the tropics.

As a matter of fact, these opinions with regard to the
origin and nature of deserts are scarcely, if at all, less
erroneous than the deeply ingrained popular superstition
as to the growth of flints and pudding-stones. And a
little reflection will show that the idea of the loose sands
of the desert being a marine deposit must necessarily be
erroneous. Apart from the difficulty of accounting for the
accumulation of such vast tracts of sand on the marine
hypothesis, it will be noticed, in the first place, that desert-
sands are not stratified in the manner characteristic of

125

126 MOSTLY MAMMALS

aqueous formations ; and, secondly, even supposing that
they had been so deposited, they would almost certainly
have been washed away as the land rose from beneath
the sea. Then, again, we do not meet with marine shells
in the desert-sands, of which at least some traces ought
to have been left had they been marine deposits of com-
paratively modern age.

Whether or no the subjacent strata have ever been
beneath the ocean, it is absolutely certain that the sands
of all the great deserts of the world have been formed in
situ by the disintegration of the solid rocks on which they
rest, and have been blown about and rearranged by the
action of wind alone. All deserts are situated in districts
where the winds blowing from the ocean's surface have
to pass over mountains or extensive tracts of land, which
drain them more or less completely of their load of
moisture. Hence, in the desert itself, when of the typical
kind, little or no rain falls, and there is consequently
no flow of water to wash away the debris resulting from
the action of the atmosphere on the rocks below.

In other words, as has been well said, desert-sands
correspond in all respects, so far as their mode of origin
is concerned, to the dust and sand which accumulate on
our high roads during a dry summer. On our highways,
indeed, the summer's dust and sand are removed by the
rains of autumn and winter, only to be renewed the following
season ; but in a desert no such removal takes place, and
the amount of sand increases year by year, owing to the
disintegration of the solid rock here and there exposed.

Only one degree less untrue than the idea of their
submarine origin is the notion that deserts consist of
unbroken tracts of sand. It is true that such tracts in
certain districts may extend on every side as far as the

DESERTS AND THEIR INHABITANTS 127

eye can reach, and even much farther ; but sooner or
later ridges and bands of pebbles, or of solid rock, will
be met with cropping up among the sand, while fre-
quently, as in the Libyan Desert, there are mountain
ranges rising to a height of several thousand feet above
the level of the plain. And it is these exposed rocks
which form the source whence the sand was, and still is,
derived. These mountains naturally attract what moisture
may remain in the air, and in their valleys are found a
more or less luxuriant vegetation. Oases, too, where the
soil is more or less clayey, occur in most deserts ; and it
is in such spots that animal and vegetable life attains
the maximum development possible in the heart of the
desert.

In the most arid and typical part of the Libyan Desert
the sand is blown into large dunes, which are frequently
flat-topped, and show horizontal bands of imperfectly con-
solidated rock ; and between these are open valleys, partly
covered with sand and partly strewn with blocks of rock
polished and scored by the sand-blast. In such sand-
wastes the traveller may journey for days without seeing
signs of vegetation or hearing the call of a bird or the
hum of an insect's wing. But even in many of such dis-
tricts it is a mistake to suppose that vegetable and animal
life is entirely absent throughout the year. In the western
Sahara, for instance, showers generally moisten the ground
two or three times a year; and after each of these a
short-lived vegetation springs suddenly up, and if no other
form of animal life is observable, at least a few passing
birds may be noticed.

Among the most important and extensive deserts of the
world we have first the great Sahara, with an approximate
area of sixteen thousand square miles, nearly connected

128 MOSTLY MAMMALS

with which is the great desert tract extending through
Arabia, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Persia. By means of
the more or less desert tracts of Baluchistan, Sind, and
Kuch, this area leads on to the great Rajputana Desert
of India. More important is the vast Gobi Desert of
Mongolia, and other parts of Central Asia. In Southern
Africa there is the great Kalahari Desert, of which more
anon. In North America there is a large desert tract
lying east of the Rocky Mountains, and including a great
part of Sonora ; while in the southern half of the New
World there is the desert of Atacama, on the borders of
Peru and Chili. Lastly, the whole of the interior of
Australia is desert of the most arid and typical description.
But among these there are deserts and deserts. Tracts
of the typical barren, sandy type are, as already said,
extensively developed in the Sahara, as they are in the
Gobi and the Australian deserts. Between such and the
plains of the African veldt there is an almost complete
transition, so that it is sometimes hard to say whether
a given tract rightly comes under the designation of a
desert at all. A case in point is afforded by the South
African Kalahari. Although there are endless rolling dunes
of trackless sand, and rivers are unknown, yet in many
places there is extensive forest, and after a rain large
tracts could scarcely be called a desert at all. Mr. H. A.
Bryden, for instance, when describing the Kalahari, writes
as follows : " And yet, during the brief weeks of rainfall,
no land can assume a fairer or more tempting aspect.
The long grasses shoot up green, succulent, and elbow-
deep ; flowers spangle the veldt in every direction ; the
giraffe-acacia forests, robed in a fresh dark green, remind
one of nothing so much as an English deer-park ; the
bushes blossom and flourish ; the air is full of fragrance ;

DESERTS AND THEIR INHABITANTS 129

and pans of water lie upon every hand. Another month
and all is drought ; the pans are dry again, and travel is
full of difficulty." During the grassy season herds of
springbok used to migrate in the old days to the Kala-
hari, in the northern part of which giraffes live the whole
year, although they must exist without tasting water for
months.

Although such a district can scarcely be termed a
desert in the proper sense of the word, yet its sands have
precisely the same origin as those of deserts of the typical
description.

For sand to accumulate to the depths in which it occurs
in many parts of the Sahara and the Gobi by the slow
disintegration of the solid rocks under the action of
atmospheric agencies must require an enormous amount
of time, to be reckoned certainly by thousands, and, for all
we know, possibly by millions of years. And we accord-
ingly arrive at the conclusion that the larger desert tracts
must not only have existed as land for an incalculable period,
but also as desert. Hence we can readily understand why
the animals of Algeria and the rest of Northern Africa
differ for the most part from that portion of the continent
lying to the south of the northern tropic, the Sahara
having for ages acted as an impassable barrier to most, if
not all.

But if other evidence were requisite, there is another
reason which would alone suffice to compel us to regard
deserts as areas of great antiquity. The habitable parts
of all deserts — and it is difficult for the inexperienced
to realise that barren tracts will suffice for the mainten-
ance of animal life — are the dwelling-places of many
animals whose colour has become specially modified to the
needs of their environment. And it will be quite obvious

9

I30 MOSTLY MAMMALS

that such modifications of colour, especially when they
occur in animals belonging to many widely sundered
groups, cannot have taken place suddenly, but must have
been due to very gradual changes as the particular
species adapted itself more and more completely to a
desert existence.

To obtain an idea of the type of coloration character-
istic of the smaller desert animals, the reader cannot do
better than pay a visit to the Natural History branch of
the British Museum, where, in the Central Hall, he will
find a case devoted to the display of a group from the
Egyptian desert, mounted, so far as possible, according
to their natural surroundings.

Among such animals may be mentioned the beautiful
little rodents respectively known as jerboas and gerbils,
together with various birds, such as sand-grouse, the
cream-coloured courser, the desert-lark, desert-finches, and
desert-chat, and also various small snakes and lizards,
among the latter being the common skink. Although
some of the birds retain the black wing-quills of their
allies, in all these creatures the general tone of coloration
is extremely pale, browns, fawns, russets, olives, greys,
with more or less of black and pink, being the pre-
dominant tones ; and how admirably these harmonise with
the inanimate surroundings one glance at the case in the
Museum is sufficient to demonstrate. Very significant
among these are the desert-finches {Erythrospiza), which
belong to the brightly coloured group of rose-finches,
one of these specially modified species ranging from the
Canaries through the Sahara and Egypt to the Punjab,
while the second is an inhabitant of the Mongolian desert.
Among larger animals, a considerable number of the
gazelles are desert-dwellers, these including the palest-

DESERTS AND THEIR INHABITANTS 131

coloured members of the group ; and lions are likewise
to a great extent inhabitants of deserts — as, indeed, is
true of tawny and pale-coloured animals in general.

All the animals above mentioned belong, however, to
widely spread groups, which are common to the desert
tracts of both Africa and Asia, and they do not, therefore,
serve to prove the antiquity of any particular desert, as
they or their ancestors might have (and probably did)
migrate from one desert to another. Birds of such groups
are, of course, even more untrustworthy than mammals,
owing to their power of flight. And among those referred
to, some, such as the sand-grouse, can scarcely claim to
be regarded as exclusively desert birds, since they are
partial to any open sandy plains, like those of the Punjab,
or even Norfolk.

The case is, however, very different with certain of the
larger mammals, a notable instance being afforded by the
antelopes allied to the South African gemsbok (Oryx).
All the members of this group are inhabitants of more or
less sandy open districts, and never range eastwards of
Arabia, or possibly Bushire. The gemsbok itself, together
with the beisa of Eastern and North-eastern Africa, are
inhabitants of districts which do not, for the most part,
come under the designation of typical deserts. And we
accordingly find that both are by no means very pale-
coloured animals, while both are remarkable for the bold
bands of sable ornamenting their face and limbs. On the
borders of the Sahara there occurs, however, a very
different member of the group — the sabre-horned oryx
(O. leucoryx) — differing from the others by its curving horns,
and likewise by the extreme pallor of its coloration, which
is mostly dirty white, with pale chestnut on the neck and
under-parts. Obviously this species has been specially

132 MOSTLY MAMMALS

modified as regards coloration for the exigencies of a purely
desert existence, and as it is also structurally very different
from all its existing kindred, it must clearly be looked upon
as a very ancient type, which commenced its adaptation to
the surroundings of the Sahara ages and ages ago. The
Arabian desert is the home of another species of oryx
{O. beatrix), which, although more nearly allied to the
East African beisa, is a much smaller and paler-coloured
creature. In this case also there would seem little doubt
that the period when this animal first took to a purely desert
existence must have been extremely remote.

But an even more striking instance is afforded by
another antelope remotely connected with the gemsbok,
which is an inhabitant of the Sahara and the Arabian
desert, and is commonly known as the addax. It is an
isolated creature, with no near relation in the wide world,
and is easily recognised by its dirty white colour, shaggy
mane, and long twisted horns. It must have branched off
at a very remote epoch from the gemsbok stock, and
affords almost conclusive evidence of the antiquity of the
deserts it inhabits, as we have no evidence of the occurrence
of allied extinct species in other countries.

Some degree of caution is, however, necessary in drawing
conclusions that all isolated desert animals have been
evolved in the precise districts they now inhabit. A case
in point is afforded by the saiga, a pale-coloured antelope
without any very near kindred, inhabiting the steppes of
Eastern Russia and certain parts of Siberia, where it is
accompanied by the hopping Kirghiz jerboa {Aladaga).
Now, since fossilised remains of both these very peculiar
animals have been discovered in the superficial deposits of
the south-eastern counties of England, it is a fair inference
that physical conditions similar to those of the steppes

DESERTS AND THEIR INHABITANTS 133

(which, by the way, are by no means true deserts)
obtained in that part of our own country at an earlier
epoch of its history. From their comparatively isolated
position in the zoological system, as well as from their
occurrence in the strata referred to, both these desert
animals evidently indicate very ancient types, and they
accordingly serve to show not only that the semi-desert
steppe area formerly had a much greater western extension
than at present, but probably also that the existing portion
of that area dates from a very remote epoch. Hence
they confirm the idea of the early origin of the present
deserts of the Old World and their inhabitants.

It will be gathered from the foregoing that the deserts
and steppes of Africa and Asia possess a large number of
animals belonging either to species which have no very
near living relatives, or to altogether peculiar genera. In
the Arizona Desert of the Sonoran area of North America
it seems, however, to be the case that its fauna is largely
composed of animals much more nearly related to those
inhabiting the prairie or forest-lands of the adjacent
districts, of which, in many cases at any rate, they con-
stitute mere local races distinguished by their paler and
more sandy type of coloration. This is well exemplified
by the mule-deer, which in the Rocky Mountains is a
comparatively dark and richly coloured animal, but be-
comes markedly paler on the confines of the Arizona Desert,
assuming again a more rich coloration when it reaches the
humid extremity df the Californian peninsula. Most of
the North American mammals, indeed, acquire similar
pale tints as they reach the Arizona desert-tract, and a
practised naturalist can pick out with comparative ease
the specimens coming from this area from those of the
moister districts.

134 MOSTLY MAMMALS

It is not easy to obtain information as to the physical
features of the Arizona Desert as compared with the
Sahara, and especially as to the amount of sand it contains
area for area ; but, judging from the comparatively slight
modifications which its mammals appear to have under-
gone as compared with those of the more humid regions
adjacent, it seems not unlikely that these deserts are of
more modern origin than the Sahara and the Gobi.

Whether or no it be true in this particular case, it may
be laid down as a general rule that the greater the amount
of sand to be found in a desert, and the greater the
difference between the animals inhabiting that desert from
those dwelling in the adjacent districts, the greater will be
the antiquity of the desert itself. In the case of a desert
forming a complete barrier across a continent, like the
Sahara, if the animals on one side are quite different from
those on the other, its antiquity will be conclusively
demonstrated. If, on the other hand, they are more alike,
the age of the desert will be proportionately less.

AFRICA AND ITS ANIMALS

If we take a map of the world, and, after tracing upon a
sheet of thin paper the outUne of the British Islands, cut
out the tracing and lay it upon India, we shall find that it
covers a mere patch of that great area. Repeating the same
process with India, and placing the tracing thus obtained
on Africa in such a manner that the sharp angle on the
tracing formed by Assam overlies the projecting point of
Somaliland, which it almost exactly covers, it will be found
that the whole area embraced in the tracing occupies only
a small patch in the middle of the eastern side of the Dark
Continent. As a matter of fact, the patch thus marked
out ends in a blunt point northwardly some distance above
Khartum, thence it runs south to the neighbourhood of the
Victoria Nyanza, from which district it rapidly narrows to
terminate in a sharp point a little distance to the southward
of Zanzibar. Allowing some slight overlaps, no less than
six Indias can indeed be traced on the map of Africa ;
and as these leave between them and on their margins
considerable spaces of the country still uncovered, it would
be but a moderate estimate to say that Africa includes at
least seven times the area of British India. Some idea,
especially to those familiar with our vast Indian dominions,
may in this manner be most readily gained of the huge
extent of the African continent.

Having made these comparisons of the actual size of the

I3S

136 MOSTLY MAMMALS

three areas under consideration, I must ask my readers to
regard them for a moment from another point of view.
Every one famiHar with the birds and mammals of the
British Isles is aware that, even excluding Ireland, the same
species are not found over the whole area. The Scottish
hare, for instance, is specifically distinct from the ordinary
English kind ; while the red grouse is unknown in the
southern and eastern counties of England, and the ptarmigan
is confined to the colder districts of Scotland. These are
accordingly indications that even such a small area as
the British Isles contains local assemblages of animals, or
faunas, differing more or less markedly from those of
other districts.

Turning to India, we find such local faunas — as might
be expected from its larger area — more distinctly defined,
and more markedly different from one another. One great
fauna occupies the southern slopes of the Himalaya from
their base to about the upper limit of trees ; this fauna,
which includes many peculiar types unknown elsewhere,
being designated the Himalayan. The second, or typical
Indian fauna, occupies the whole of India, from the foot of
the Himalaya to Cape Comorin, exclusive of the Malabar
coast, but inclusive of the north of Ceylon. The third,
or Malabar fauna, occupies the Malabar coast and some of
the neighbouring hills, together with the south of Ceylon ;
the animals of these districts being very different from
those of the rest of India. The fourth, or Burmese fauna,
embraces only the province of Assam, in what we commonly
term India ; and many of its animals, again, although of the
general Oriental type, are very different from those of
the other districts. But even such divisions by no means
give the full extent of the local differences between the
animals of the whole area. In the second or typical area,

AFRICA AND ITS ANIMALS 137

for example, the creatures inhabiting the open districts of
the Punjab and the North-West Provinces display re-
markable differences from those dwelling in the forests of
Southern India (the home of the strange loris) ; while the
dwellers in the jungly tract of the south-western districts
of Bengal are equally distinct from those of either of the
other areas.

Seeing, then, that while slight differences are observable
in the local faunas of such a small area as the British
Islands, and that much more important ones characterise
the different zoological provinces of the vastly larger extent
of country forming British India, it is but natural to suppose
that distinctions of still higher value would be characteristic
of different parts of Africa, accordingly as they differ from
one another in climate, and consequently in vegetable
productions.

As a matter of fact, such differences do occur to a most
marked degree ; but when the vast superiority of Africa
over India is taken into consideration, the marvel is that
the fauna of the greater part of that area is not more
dissimilar than it is, and that it has been found possible
to include the more typical portion of the continent in one
great zoological region or province.

But the reader will naturally inquire what is meant by
calling one portion of a continent more typical than the
rest. As has been pointed out in the last article, Northern
Africa has, so far as its animals are concerned, been cut off
from the districts lying south of the Tropic of Cancer by
the great barrier formed by the Sahara ; and as the animals
of the districts to the north of that desert are for the
most part of a European type, while Southern Europe and
Northern Africa were evidently joined by land at no very
distant epoch of the earth's history, the districts north of

138 MOSTLY MAMMALS

the Sahara are for zoological purposes regarded as part
of Europe and Asia. Typical, or Ethiopian Africa, as it is
more generally termed, includes, therefore, only such portion
of the continent as lies to the south of the northern tropic.

But some critical reader may perhaps be led to remark
that some at least of the animals of Northern Africa
are common to the south ; the lion, whose range extends
from Algeria to the Cape, affording a case in point. To
this it may be replied that, popular prejudice notwith-
standing, the lion cannot in any sense be looked upon as
a characteristic African animal. Although year by year
growing rarer, it to this day still lingers on in certain parts
of Western India, while it is likewise found in Persia and
Mesopotamia, and within the historic period was common in
South-Eastern Europe. At a still earlier epoch, as attested
by its fossilised remains, it was an inhabitant of our own
island. It may, therefore, to a certain degree be regarded
as a cosmopolitan animal, which may have obtained entrance
into Africa by more than one route. In a minor degree
the same may be said of the hippopotamus, which was
formerly found in the lower reaches of the Nile, and at
a much earlier epoch in many parts of Europe, inclusive
of Britain. Being an aquatic animal, it can avail itself of
routes of communication which are closed to purely terrestrial
creatures.

Of the fauna of typical Africa, as a whole, some of the
most striking features are of a negative nature ; that is to
say, certain groups which are widely spread in most other
districts of the Old World are conspicuous by their absence.
This deficiency is most marked in the case of bears and
deer, neither of which are represented throughout the whole
of this vast expanse of country. Pigs allied to the wild
swine of Europe and India are likewise lacking, their place

AFRICA AND ITS ANIMALS 139

being taken by the bush-pigs and the hideous wart-hogs,
both of which are among the most characteristic of African
animals. Except for a couple of species of ibex in the hills
of the north-east, sheep and goats are likewise unknown
in a wild state. Among other absentees in the fauna,
special mention may be made of marmots, and their near
allies the susliks, as well as of voles, beavers, and moles.

Of the mammals (and space permits of scarcely any
reference to other groups) which may be regarded as
characteristic of typical Africa as a whole, the following, in
addition to the bush-pigs and wart-hogs already mentioned,
are some of the most important. Among the monkeys the
most widely distributed are the hideous baboons {Papio\
now restricted to Africa and Arabia, the southern portion
of the latter country being included in the same great
zoological province. The guenons {Cercopithecus), species
of which are the monkeys commonly led about by organ-
grinders, have also a wide distribution on the continent,
although of course more abundant in the forest regions
than elsewhere ; and the guerezas {Colobus), one of which
is described in a later article, have also a considerable
range. In a totally different group, the curious little
jumping-shrews {Macroscelides) form a peculiarly charac-
teristic family of African mammals belonging to the
insectivorous order. There are also many peculiar genera of
mongooses, but as most of these have a more or less local
distribution, they can scarcely be considered characteristic
of the continent as a whole ; still, they are quite different
from those found elsewhere. A very curious carnivorous
mammal known as the aard-wolf {Protelcs), strikingly like
a small striped hyaena, is not the least peculiar among the
animals of Africa, where it has a comparatively wide range.
The hunting-dog {Lycaon), which presents a considerable

I40 MOSTLY MAMMALS

resemblance to the spotted hyaena, is an equally remarkable
representative of the dog family. Although formerly found in
Europe, the spotted hyaena itself is now exclusively African.

Passing by the rodents, or gnawing mammals, as being
less familiar to non-zoological readers, we have the two
species of hippopotamuses absolutely confined to Africa at the
present day ; we are all familiar with the common species
in the "Zoo," but the small West African kind, which has
more the habits of a pig, is much less commonly known.

The stately giraffes are solely African, but are mainly
confined to more or less open districts ; while their ally
the okapi is a forest species. The herds of antelopes, for
the most part belonging to generic types unknown elsewhere,
with the exception of a few in Arabia, form one of the most
distinctive features of African life. Many of them, like the
strange gnus and the graceful gemsbok group, are confined
to the open districts of the south and east ; but others,
such as the bush-bucks and the harnessed antelopes, have
representatives in the forest districts of the west. Both
species of African rhinoceros are quite different from their
Oriental relatives ; but only one of these, the common
species, has a wide distribution in the country. Zebras
and the extinct quagga are familiar and striking African
animals, although most of them are confined to the open
plains and mountains. On the other hand, the African
elephant, which differs so widely in the structure of its
teeth from its Asiatic relative, has a much more extensive
distribution, and may therefore be classed among the most
characteristic of Ethiopian animals. Even more peculiar
are the little dassies {Procavia), the miscalled coneys of
our version of the Bible, which form a family absolutely
peculiar to Africa, Arabia, and Syria ; some of the species
dwelling among rocks, while others are active climbers, and

\

■^

■->■.>■>,

■I"'

#

^m ':m

African Elephants.

\_Tofacep. 140

AFRICA AND ITS ANIMALS 141

frequent the forest districts. But perhaps the strangest
mammal that may be regarded as characteristic of Africa
as a whole is the aard-vark {Oryderopus), commonly known
to the colonists as the ant-pig. It is a strangely isolated
creature, having at the present day no near relations,
either poor or otherwise.

The African buffaloes, with their several races or species,
also belong to a type quite peculiar to the continent. To
a great extent the ostrich is characteristic of Africa and
Arabia, although there is evidence to show that it formerly
enjoyed a considerable range in parts of Asia.

The above are only a few of the more striking instances
showing how different are the animals of Africa as a whole
from those of the rest of the world. Many others might be
added, but they would only weary my readers. Of course,
there are many groups, like the cats, common to other
countries, the lion and the leopard being found alike in
Africa and India ; but such do not detract from the pecu-
liarity of the African fauna as a whole. And here it may
be mentioned that a large proportion of the types now
peculiar to the Dark Continent once had a much wider
geographical range, fossil remains of baboons, giraffes,
hippopotamuses, ostriches, antelopes of an African type,
and not improbably zebras, having been discovered in the
Tertiary deposits of India.

But if the animals of Africa as a whole stand out in
marked contrast to those of the rest of the world, much
more is this the case when those characteristic of certain
districts of that huge continent are alone taken into con-
sideration. And most especially is this the case with the
inhabitants of the great tropical forest districts extending
from the west coast far into the interior of the continent — •
reaching, in fact, the watershed between the basins of the

142 MOSTLY MAMMALS

Congo and the Nile in the neighbourhood of Wadelai. As
a large number of the peculiar animals of this district are
more or less exclusively confined to the west coast, extend-
ing from Sierra Leone to the Congo, the area is appropriately
termed the West African sub-region. It is here alone that
we find the gorilla and the chimpanzee, the former being
restricted to the neighbourhood of the coast, whereas the
latter ranges far into the heart of the continent. And this
district is likewise the exclusive home of the pretty little
mangabeys, or monkeys with white eyelids (Cercocebus).
The galagos, which are near relatives of some of the
lemurs of Madagascar, extend throughout the forest region ;
but the even more curious pottos, or thumbless lemurs, are
confined to the west coast. Huge and forbidding fox-bats,
some of them with remarkable tufts of long white hairs on
the shoulders, are likewise restricted to this portion of the
tract, as is the insectivorous otter, or Potamogak, first
discovered during the travels of Du Chaillu. The equatorial
forest-tract is also the sole habitat of the African fl^^ing-
squirrels, to which further reference is made in the sequel ;
all these being distinguished from the flying-squirrels of Asia
by the presence of a number of scales on the under-surface
of the tail. Most of them belong to the genus Anomalunis,
but the smallest of all forms a genus {Idiurus) by itself,
while a flightless type {Zenkerclld) also belongs to the
group. Dormice of peculiar types and tree-mice are also
very characteristic of this tract. But far more generally
interesting are the pigmy hippopotamus of Liberia and the
water-chevrotain {Dorcatherium) of the west coast, the latter
an ally of the chevrotains of India and the Malay countries.
So far, indeed, as the equatorial forest tract fauna has any
representative in other parts of the world, it is to the
Malay Peninsula and its islands that the resemblance is

AFRICA AND ITS ANIMALS 143

closest. It is there alone that the other large manlike
ape — the orang— dwells ; and there is a group of brush-
tailed porcupines common to these two districts, and
unknown elsewhere throughout the wide world. Both
faunas, however, in all probability trace their descent from
the animals inhabiting Europe during the Pliocene and
Miocene epochs, among which was an extinct species of
water-chevrotain. As already mentioned, the okapi is
restricted to the forest area, as is the beautiful white-striped
bongo antelope, and its much smaller relative the zebra-
antelope.

The other great sub-regions include the open grazing
grounds and mountains of South and East Africa, the fauna
of which is quite different from that of the equatorial forest-
tract. Minor divisions may also be recognised in this area,
the Cape having many animals not found farther north.
Among the latter are the extinct quagga, the pretty little
meerkat {Suricata), and the Cape sand-mole {Bathyergus),
which, by the wa}^, has nothing to do with the true moles,
being a member of the rodent order. The tract as a whole
may be termed the east central sub-region ; and to it belong
the great hosts of antelopes, the zebras, and the aard-wolf
and hunting-dog. Very characteristic of the southern and
eastern parts of this tract are the beautiful golden moles
(Chrysocklori's), unique among mammals for the lovely play
of iridescent colours on the fur, and which have nothing
in common with the moles of Europe and Asia. To
the northward, in Abyssinia, this tract is the home of
another very remarkable animal, the great gelada baboon
{Theropithecus), easily recognised by the lionlike mantle of
long hair on the forequarters, whose nearest relative is
the Arabian baboon.

Whether SomaUIand should be included in this area, or

144 MOSTLY MAMMALS

should have a division to itself, may admit of argument ;
but at any rate it has many peculiar animals, among which
are a number of antelopes.

Lastly we have the Saharan sub-region, which contains a
comparatively limited fauna, passing by almost insensible
degrees into that of Northern Africa.

In some respects, especially in its galagos, the fauna of
Africa presents a certain resemblance to that of Madagascar ;
but the connection between that island and the mainland
was evidently very remote, and must apparently have
taken place before the great incursion of antelopes, zebras,
rhinoceroses, monkeys, elephants, etc., from the north, as
none of these are found in the island. Madagascar, there-
fore, is best regarded as forming a zoological province by
itself

Within the limits of a single article it is manifestly
impossible to give anything like an adequate sketch of the
fauna of such an extensive area, but such points as have
been noticed serve to show in some faint degree its richness
in peculiar forms of animal life.

It may be added that North-Eastern Africa has an extinct
mammalian fauna of its own, which seems to include the
ancestors of the elephant tribe.

A MONKEY HAND^PRINTS

The arrangement of the fine ridges and grooves on the
palmar aspect of the human hand has of late years been
studied with great attention — first by Sir Francis Galton,
and subsequently by Mr. Henry, now Chief Commissioner
of the Metropolitan Police — in order to develop a satisfactory
system of identification by means of " finger-prints." That
exceedingly important and interesting subject is not discussed
in the present article, in which attention is restricted to the
arrangement of these lines on the hands of monkeys, and
their function in both men and monkeys. This study
seems to have been first seriously taken up by Dr. D.
Hepburn, of Dublin, who communicated to the Dublin
Society the results of his investigations, which were duly
published in the Transactions of that Society. The method
employed by Dr. Hepburn was to take impressions of the
hands of living monkeys on plates of glass coated with
printers' ink ; but there are many difficulties connected with
this operation, and in preparing a series of impressions for
the Natural History Museum, it occurred to me that I might
be able to take them on paper from the hands of monkeys
recently deceased. I accordingly communicated with the
Prosector to the Zoological Society, asking him to be good
enough to send me the right hands of some of the monkeys
that died in the Society's menagerie. With this request he
very kindly complied, and from the specimens which from

I4S lo

146 MOSTLY MAMMALS

time to time arrived at the Museum, I was enabled to
take, among others, the impressions herewith reproduced.
Although they are not quite so successful as might be
desired, they are yet amply sufficient to show the general
plan of arrangement of their lines, and the variation to which
they are subject in different genera. Enlargements from
these same impressions are now exhibited in the British
(Natural History) Museum.

Before proceeding farther I must disclaim any intention
of poaching on the preserves of the so-called science of
" palmistry." This, so far as I can understand its methods,
deals exclusively with the folds or creases on the human
palm (corresponding with the white lines in the annexed
figures) ; while attention is here concentrated on the mode
of arrangement of the raised ridges and their intervening
grooves. It may, however, be mentioned that the creases
in question have, both in man and monkeys, a definite
mode of arrangement, which appears to be due to the
position and action of the palmar muscles. What possible
connection there can be between such muscular creases and
the duration of human life or the vicissitudes of our mortal
career may well be left for the professors of palmistry to
explain as best they can.

As regards the structure of the palmar ridges, an
examination of the reader's own hand with a lens will
easily show that these consist of a series of very minute
cone-like elevations, placed close together, and on the
summits of which are situated the apertures of the
sudoriferous or sweat-glands. If a section of the skin
be examined under a microscope, it will also be evident
that within these papillae are certain organs of touch
know as the tactile bodies. Between the papillary ridges,
as we may term them, are situated the equally narrow

1

Ir

Monkey Hand-Prints.

A. — Right Palmar Imprint of a Macaque Monkey {Macaciis cynomolgus) ; a, b, c,

interdij^ital eminences ; d, radial eminence ; e, ulnar eminence.
B. — Right Palmar Impression of a Spider Monkey [Ateles aler).
C. — Right Palmar Imprint of a Marmoset {Hapale jacchiis).
D. — Right Palmar Imprint of a Red-fronted Lemur {Lemur rufifrons.)

\_To face p. 146

MONKEY HAND-PRINTS 147

grooves, which contain neither sweat-glands nor tactile
bodies.

Looking carefully at fig. A in the plate, and, if necessary,
employing a lens, it will be seen that the arrangement of
the ridges and grooves, instead of being uniform over
the entire palm, takes the shape of a series of definite
patterns in certain areas, between which a more or less
regular linear arrangement obtains. On the ball of each
finger and the thumb, for example, it will be noticed that
the ridges assume what may be termed a concentric pattern,
in which the central ridges run longitudinally. Again, on
the three eminences situated on the palm opposite the
clefts between the four fingers, they take the form of
concentric whorls (a, b, c). A similar radial eminence (d)
with a whorl-like pattern is situated opposite the cleft
between the thumb and the forefinger ; while yet another
whorl-bearing elevation {e), which may be termed the ulnar
eminence, has its position at the basal angle of the palm
opposite the little finger. Minor eminences, with much
less distinct patterns, also occur on the palmar surfaces
of the two basal joints of the fingers. Between these
various pattern-bearing eminences, as is especially well
shown on the fingers, the ridges and grooves tend to
arrange themselves either in transverse lines, or (in the
words of Dr. Hepburn) with such slight modification of
this direction as would place them parallel to the long
axis of any cylindrical object which might be grasped by
the foot. It may be added that although in the human
hand the patterns found on the balls of the fingers are
frequently more complex than those in the monkey's hand,
yet the converse of this is true with regard to the eminences
on the palm itself, the ulnar whorl being generally quite
obsolete in man.

148 MOSTLY MAMMALS

In ordinary five-fingered monkeys, whether they hail
from the Old World or from the New, the foregoing type
of eminences is very constant. This is well exemplified
by the impression of the hand of one of the South American
capuchin monkeys (fig. A). Here, however, the fingers
are much longer and more slender than in the Old World
macaque. In consequence of this the bulbs of the fingers
are much less developed, so that it was found impossible
to get a good impression of them. These features are
even more developed in the hand of the tiny American
marmosets (fig. D), in which the digits are more like
claws than fingers, and consequently afford only a narrow
and blurred impression. A peculiarity of the marmoset
hand-print is to be found in the circumstance that the
radial eminence has come up to form an arch with the three
interdigital elevations, and that the ulnar elevation and
pattern are obsolete. Seeing how comparatively wide apart
from one another (both zoologically and geographically) are
the ordinary monkeys of the Old and New Worlds, it is
not a little remarkable that the palm-print of the macaque
should be so strikingly like that of the capuchin.

This similarity (since everything in nature has a use)
suggests that the patterns on the hands of these two
monkeys are due to the same physiological cause ; and
we have now to inquire what that cause is. The best
clue to the problem seems to be afforded, somewhat
strangely, by the tails of such of the South American
monkeys as are endowed with prehensile power in those
appendages ; confirmatory evidence being likewise afforded
by the prehensile tails of the American opossums and
tree-porcupines, as well as by those of the Australian
phalangers. In all these animals the naked, grasping
portion of the tail, which is situated at the extremity, is

MONKEY HAND-PRINTS 149

covered with papillary ridges and grooves precisely similar
to those on the hands and feet of monkeys, but invariably
arranged; in simple transverse lines across the tail, so that
in the act of grasping they would be parallel to the long
axis of the branch around which the tail was coiled.
Clearly, then, papillary ridges are primarily connected
with the grasping power, and when they are intended
solely for that function, they are so arranged as to be
parallel to the axis of the object grasped. As regards
this function of the papillary ridges. Dr. Hepburn observes
that although they are comparatively low, "yet they must
cause a certain amount of friction, and thereby prevent
slipping, while the naturally moist and clammy condition
of the palm and sole of monkeys must be of material
assistance to the firmness of the grasp. A man instinctively
moistens the palms of his hands when he wishes to make
his grasp more secure ; and the grasping power of monkeys
must be considerably increased by the application of the
numerous papillary ridges which are capable of intimate
adaptation to the surface of the object grasped."

In a later passage the same observer adds that, apart
from the hook-like manner in which the orang-utan and
the American spider-monkeys employ their hands in trapeze-
like movements, there can be no doubt that the palms are
capable of a considerable amount of lateral folding, as is
proved by the creases to which allusion has been already
made. And it appears probable that the papillary ridges
are designed to afford increased firmness of grasp when
the palms are thus folded. Consequently, simple transverse
ridges on the palms, except in the second joints of the
fingers, are conspicuous by their absence ; and we find
instead the complicated patterns on the eminences already
described.

50 MOSTLY MAMMALS

A somewhat different type of arrangement obtains in
the hand of the South American spider-monkeys (fig. B), in
which the thumb is wanting. In this group, although whorl-
like patterns are observable in the interdigital eminences, yet
they are much smaller and less distinct than in ordinary
monkeys ; the same being the case with the ulnar eminence.
The radial pattern at the inner side of the thumb is,
however, practically wanting, owing doubtless to the absence
of that digit. It will further be noticed from an examination
of the figure that elsewhere on the palm, not even excepting
the fingers, the general arrangement of the ridges is longi-
tudinal. Since the hands of the spider-monkeys are, as
already mentioned, largely used in a hook-like manner
during the arboreal evolutions of these active creatures, it
would seem at first sight that the arrangement of the ridges
precisely controverts what has been said above as to their
being parallel with the long axis of the object grasped.
But the palms of even these monkeys, as is indicated by
the numerous creases, are evidently much folded laterally;
and it must also be borne in mind that an equally important
function of the hand is the plucking and holding of spherical
or sub-spherical fruits. And for such a combination of
functions the mode of arrangement of the ridges is doubtless
the one most suitable. If the ridges were transverse, the
fruit would very probably have a tendency to slip out of
the hand on one side or the other ; but this is clearly
prevented by the longitudinal arrangement.

The above are the chief modifications displayed by the
palm-prints of monkeys ; and it may be added that a very
similar general plan of arrangement of the papillary ridges
and grooves obtains on the sole of the foot of these animals,
subject, however, to such modification as is necessary for
the different function of the foot as compared with the

MONKEY HAND-PRINTS 151

hand. But in some at least of their alhes, the lemuroids,
as represented by the true lemurs of Madagascar, the
galagos and pottos of Africa, and the lorises and tarsier of
Asia, a very curious departure from this arrangement
obtains. In regard to the true lemurs, it is generally stated
that on the outside of the palm of the hand and under the
base of the fingers are situated fleshy pads, giving them
greater grasping power. This, however, is scarcely an
adequate statement of the true state of the case. Fig. C
shows the palm-impression of the red-fronted lemur, a well-
known Malagasy species. In this it will be seen that the
balls of the digits are expanded into large convex circular
pads upon which are a number of papillary ridges ; but
instead of these ridges covering the whole surface of the
pads, they are interrupted by an irregular network of
relatively large canals, producing the white lines in the
impression. On the palm of the hand are seen the three
interdigital eminences of the monkey's hand, together with
a large radial and a somewhat smaller ulnar eminence.
The radial eminence is, however, divided into two portions
by a deep groove, and on all five eminences are observable
the usual papillary ridges and grooves traversed by the
aforesaid irregular network of grooves. On the palmar
aspect of the second joint of the fingers, and on such
portion of the centre of the palm as exhibits an impression,
the papillary ridges, instead of being uniformly distributed
in regular lines, are restricted to certain small pustule-like
eminences, on which, however, the linear arrangement is
distinctly visible with the aid of a lens. And if it had
been possible to obtain an impression of the basal joints
of the fingers, a similar pattern would doubtless have
been noticeable there also. Whether the curious arrange-
ment of canals characteristic of the palm of the red-fronted

152 MOSTLY MAMMALS

lemur, or a modification thereof, obtains in all the true
lemurs, must wait the acquisition of additional fresh
specimens of the hand ; but in that species at all events
it seems certain that these pads have a kind of sucker-
like action, which must greatly increase the firmness of their
owner's hold on the boughs it grasps.

Apparently this type of palm-structure culminates in the
curious little tarsier of the ]\^alay Islands, in which the long
and slender toes terminate in round sucker-like discs ;
similar discs occurring on the toes of the hind-foot.
Unfortunately I have had no opportunity of taking the
palm-impression of a recently deceased tarsier, and it will
probably be long before such a chance occurs, so that I
can say nothing as to the mode of arrangement of the
papillary ridges.

It may be added that the finger- and toe-pads of those
curious lizards commonly known as geckos are likewise
modified into adhesive discs. But in this case the sucking
action is caused by the skin being raised into a series of
parallel plates, and as palmar eminences, as well as papillary
ridges, are wanting, the structure is not apparently strictly
comparable with what obtains in the tarsier and the lemurs.

But even the foregoing by no means exhausts the
subject of palmar and plantar eminences. Any one of my
readers who takes the trouble to examine the feet of a
cat, a dog, or a rabbit will find a number of bare elevated
pads, covered with rough granular skin, interspersed
among the generally hairy surface. In all cases, both in
the fore and hind limb, one of these bare pads will be
found occupying the lower surface of the terminal joint
of each toe, lying immediately below the claw. And it
will be quite obvious that these correspond to the pattern-
bearing eminences occupying the balls of the thumb and

MONKEY HAND-PRINTS 153

fingers of the monkey. In regard to the pads on the
palm and sole, these are subject to some degree of variation
in the carnivora, and they may sometimes coalesce to such
a degree that their original relations are more or less
obscured. But in some of these animals * three distinct
pads are observable in the forefoot corresponding in position
with the interdigital eminences of the monkey's palm.
Continuing the semicircle formed by these three is a fourth
pad, representing the radial eminence of the monkey, while
farther down on the palm is one corresponding to the
ulnar eminence of the latter ; a small additional pad being
intercalated between the radial and the ulnar pads.

It is thus fully demonstrated that the pads on the fore-
foot of the dog and the cat correspond with the pattern-
bearing eminences of the monkey's palm, and these again
with the much less distinctly defined eminences on the
human hand. In animals which use both feet exclusively
for walking, it will, however, be obvious that delicate
papillary ridges, designed partly for the purpose of obtaining
a firm grip on any object seized, and partly to act as
organs of touch, would be perfectly useless. And we
accordingly find the papillary ridges of man and monkeys
replaced in the cat, the dog, and the rabbit by granular
conical elevations, which have, however, doubtless the same
structure, and are foreshadowed by the pustules on the
fingers and palms of the lemurs.

One other point remains to be mentioned. In all the
lower monkeys that have been examined both by Dr.
Hepburn and myself the pattern of the papillary ridges

* Those who are interested in the subject may turn to the figure
of the foot-pads of the Linsang, given by the late Prof. Mivart
on p. 158 of the Proceedings of the Zoological Society for the
year 1882.

154 MOSTLY MAMMALS

is of the concentric type (as shown in fig. A), in which
the central ridges are longitudinal and the external ones
form broad ellipses. In the chimpanzee, however, and
probably also in some or all of the other manlike apes, the
pattern on the balls of the fingers is of the form known as
the looped type, which is of common occurrence in the
fingers of the human hand. On the finger-tips of man
alone occurs the still more complicated whorled type ; and it
is thus evident that even in such a minute detail as the
arrangement of the lines on the fingers the manlike apes
and man stand apart from their kindred, and that in man
alone is the most complicated type ever developed, although
even in him it is comparatively rare.

LIVING MILLSTONES

The mill-like action of their own upper and lower molar-
teeth upon one another may have been quite sufficient to
suggest to our prehistoric parents the idea of opposing a
pair of corrugated stones in such a manner that by mutual
rotation or revolution they should be capable of reducing
to powder hard substances placed between them. Indeed,
the idea of millstones is such a simple and natural one
that it is quite probable it may have occurred to the human
mind without any reference to any prototype in nature ; and
in any case, if such a natural prototype is to be sought, it
is not necessary to go farther in search of it than our own
dental organs. Excellent, however, for their special purpose
as are these organs (when not subject to premature decay),
there are other types of tooth-structure to be met with in
the animal kingdom which present a much closer approxima-
tion to millstones, and might well have foreshadowed these
instruments, had they only been accessible to the primeval
savage. But since these natural millstones occur only in
marine fishes, some of which inhabit distant seas, while
others are met with only as fossils deeply buried in the
rocks, it is evident that the idea of artificial millstones
is not derived from these natural prototypes. In other
words, to use an expression now fashionable in natural
science, the development of artificial and natural millstones
is a case of parallelism.

155

156 MOSTLY MAMMALS

In spite of the fact that their early ancestors were provided
with a good working set of sharply pointed dental organs,
birds in these degenerate days manage to get along without
teeth at all. A few mammals, too, like the South American
ant-eaters, are in the same condition ; and some people have
thought that in a few more generations civilised man himself
will be reduced to the same toothless state. The great
majority of mammals, however, possess a more or less
efficient set of teeth, varying in shape, size, and number
according to the need of each particular species or group.
But there is one feature common to these organs in mammals
of all descriptions ; and this is that they are strictly confined
to the margins of the jaws, never extending either on to the
palate, or to the space enclosed between the two branches
of the lower jaw. In many reptiles, such as crocodiles and
a large number of lizards, the same law of dental arrange-
ment obtains. In some lizards, and still more markedly in
certain extinct members of the reptile class, we find, however,
a number of teeth developed on the palate, having flattened
crowns, and thus tending to make the mouth act the part of
one large millstone. But we must descend a stage farther
in the scale of animated nature before we come to structures
which are strictly comparable with artificial millstones and
crushing cylinders. And it is in the class of fishes that we
meet with these organs in the full perfection of this type of
development. Not that they occur by any means in all the
groups of that class ; the fact being that at the present day
living millstones are going out of fashion, the great pre-
ponderance of modern fishes having their dental armature
mainly restricted to the margin of the jaws, with or without
a minor development of crushing teeth on the palate or the
bones of the gullet. With the exception of a comparatively
limited number of cases, showing a different type of develop-

LIVING MILLSTONES 157

ment, to which it is not my present intention to allude, these
dental millstones are confined at the present day to those
hideous marine fishes commonly known as skates and rays,
and to the singular Port Jackson shark and a few allied
species inhabiting the Pacific and Malayan seas. On the
other hand, the seas of the Cretaceous, Jurassic, and ante-
cedent epochs absolutely swarmed with numerous kinds of
sharks more or less nearly related to the Port Jackson
species, whose mouths were filled with pavements of teeth
showing marvellous variety of structure and beauty of
ornamentation. The skates and rays, too, displayed types
of dental millstones quite unlike any of those of the present
day. And in addition to these, there were hosts of enamel-
scaled fishes whose m.ouths were likewise crammed with
beautiful crushing teeth, albeit of a totally different type
of structure to that obtaining in either the sharks or the
rays. Although well-nigh extinct, these enamel-scaled
fishes are still represented by the bony pike of the rivers
of North America and the bichir (remarkable for its fringed
fins and the row of finlets down its back) of tropical
Africa. But it is noteworthy that in neither of these sur-
vivors of an ancient group do we find the mouth furnished
with an apparatus of millstones ; while, as already said,
among the host of sharks that infest the warmer seas of
the globe it is only in the Port Jackson species and its three
kindred that we find similar structures retained ; all the
other members of the group having developed cuspidate
teeth adapted for seizing and tearing soft-fleshed prey,
instead of for grinding-up mail-clad food.

Clearly, then, there has been some general cause at work
which has rendered crushing teeth, so to speak, unfashion-
able among the fishes of the present day and the imme-
diately antecedent epochs. And in this connection it is

158 MOSTLY MAMMALS

important to notice that there has been an even more
strongly marked tendency to the extinction of the enamel-
scaled fishes, and their replacement by the ordinary soft-
scaled fishes so abundant in the present seas. As the
majority of these old mail-clad fishes, as well as a large
proportion of the ancient sharks, were provided with
crushing teeth, it is a fair inference that their food con-
sisted largely of shell-fish and crustaceans, with a certain
proportion of their own mail-clad relatives. When, how-
ever, the swift-swimming, soft-scaled fishes came to the
fore, they would naturally offer a more tempting and
nourishing diet to such sharks and other predaceous
members of their own class as were swift enough in their
movements to make them their prey. And consequently
the old millstone-jawed sharks would tend more or less
completely to disappear. On the other hand, the skates and
rays, which are for the most part slow-moving creatures,
flapping sluggishly along on the sea-bottom by means of
their fan-like fins, would be quite unable to capture the
modern type of swift-swimming fish. And they have thus
had to content themselves with the old-fashioned diet of
shell-fish and crabs, in consequence of which a large pro-
portion of them have retained the dental millstones which
have been so steadily going out of fashion among their
more advanced relatives. Not that these rays and skates
have by any means been content with the kind of molar
machinery that did duty for their forefathers, since some
of them, together with their Tertiary ancestors, have de-
veloped what appears to be an absolutely perfect type of
living mill, far superior to that which served the purpose
of their predecessors. And it must always be remembered
that these beautiful living millstones and cylinders (which
are some of the most exquisite bony structures to be met

LIVING MILLSTONES 759

with in the whole animal kingdom) excel their artificial
substitutes in that they never wear out ; being renewed
either by the development of new teeth on the inner or
hinder aspect of the cylinder, or by vertical successors
replacing the individual teeth from below or above.

And now that the dental millstones of the rays have been
mentioned, it will afford a convenient starting-point for a
brief survey of some of the most remarkable types of
structure presented by these curious organs.

The teeth of rays always form a pavement-like structure,
of which the component elements are arranged in straight
longitudinal rows, although they sometimes likewise show
a quincunxial mode of arrangement. The individual teeth
are not replaced by vertical successors ; but, being in the
form of a half-cylinder, as those in front become worn
down, the whole series is pushed forwards, and new teeth
are developed on the hinder margin of the cylinder. The
supreme development of a dental structure adapted for
crushing in this group occurs in the family of the eagle-
rays {Myliobatidae)^ in which the millstone of each jaw
forms a perfect semi-cylinder or plate, made up of flat-
crowned prismatic teeth united at their edges, often so as
to constitute a mosaic-like pavement. No piece of modern
machinery can be better adapted for crushing hard sub-
stances than are these beautiful ivory cylinders and
plates, the crushing power of which, when worked by the
strong jaws, must be enormous, and sufficient to grind
the strongest shell that can be introduced between them
to powder. Although in all cases pavement-like, the
millstone differs considerably in the different species in its
structure.

As an illustration of the group, we may take one of the
millstones of the beaked eagle-rays {RJiinopterd). Here the

i6o MOSTLY MAMMALS

millstone is in the form of a semi-cylinder, consisting of five
or more rows of teeth ; a very usual number being seven.
Generally the teeth of the middle row are the widest ; those
of the rows on either side being considerably narrower,
while the two or three marginal rows on each side may be
compared to the tesserae in a mosaic pavement. A further
development of the same type is exemplified by the typical
eagle-rays {Myliobatis), in which the middle row of teeth
in the millstone becomes still wider, while the three lateral
rows on each side are reduced to the condition of hexagonal
tesserae. Moreover, whereas in the species of Rhinobatis
both millstones are in the form of half-cylinders, in
Myliobatis the upper one alone retains this form, the lower
being a flattened plate. The culmination of this type of
sculpture is displayed in the rays belonging to the allied
genus Aetobatis, in which both upper and lower millstones
are flat and composed only of the middle row of teeth,
which are of great width ; the lateral rows having com-
pletely disappeared. The existing representative of this
genus is not very large (for a ray), seldom, if ever, measuring
more than about five feet across ; but some of its extinct
predecessors must have been monstrous fish, as the teeth
measure some five or six inches in diameter.

Quite a different type of dental armature is presented
by the millstones of the beaked rays {Rhinobatidae).
Here the teeth take the form of closely packed diamond-
shaped knobs, arranged in an alternating manner, so that
although they present longitudinal rows, yet they also
show oblique series, so as to give rise to a quincunxial
pattern. Then, again, the entire millstone in each jaw is
thrown into a series of undulations, so that the upper
one exhibits a large median boss, flanked by a pair of
smaller undulations, which are received into corresponding

LIVING MILLSTONES i6i

depressions in the lower millstone. It is difficult to
conceive a machine better adapted for crushing than is
presented by the jaws of the beaked rays.

Of a much less powerful type are the millstones of the
ordinary rays or skates {Raiidac) of our own coasts ; and
among these the common thorn back {Rata clavata) presents
a very remarkable condition, since the individual teeth take
the form of obtuse knobs in the female, whereas in the
male the centre of each of these knobs acquires a sharp
recurved point. Since everything in nature has a meaning,
it would seem a fair inference that there must be some
important difference between the food of the male and
female thornback, but I have not come across any obser-
vations bearing upon the subject.

Among the fossils to be obtained occasionally from the
workmen in large chalk-pits are teeth in the form of convex
quadrangular bosses, the marginal portion of which consists
of a broad granular area, while the centre is occupied by a
variable number of bold ridges, or folds, between which are
often irregular knobs. It is from these ridges that the fish
takes the name of Ptychodus. For a long time it was un-
certain how these teeth were arranged, but careful comparison
of a number of more or less incomplete series in situ has at
length solved the problem. In the lower jaw the complete
millstone was formed by a median row of large teeth,
on each side of which were six or seven other rows
composed of teeth gradually decreasing in size from the
centre to the margin. In the upper jaw, on the other
hand, there was a central row of small teeth, flanked
on each side by a row of large ones, externally to which
came a series of rows gradually diminishing in size. From
this mode of arrangement it is inferred that Ptychodus was
a ray; and the whole dental structure is as remarkable

II

i62 MOSTLY MAMMALS

for its perfection as a crushing machine as it is for its
intrinsic beauty.

Even more elegant from an aesthetic point of view are
the " millstones " of the Port Jackson shark {Cestracion)
and its allies. In place of forming a continuous plate
across the palate after the fashion of the eagle-rays, the
individual teeth in this group are arranged in oblique
bands round the edges and inner sides of the jaws,* showing
in the hinder region a melon-shaped swelling of remarkable
gracefulness, which would form an attractive ornament for
the capital of a pillar. In this melon-like portion of the
millstone the individual teeth form bluntly convex oblongs ;
those of one row being remarkably larger than all the rest,
while the rows in front and behind this do not correspond
with one another in size. Examined with a lens, each of
these blunt teeth is seen to have a minutely pitted structure,
while its median longitudinal line is marked by a narrow
smooth streak. New teeth are being continuously produced
on the margin of the series on the inner side of the jaw ;
and as the outer ones become worn away, the whole series
is pushed over towards the edge of the jaw. Proceeding
from the larger rows of teeth towards the front of the jaw,
it will be seen that as the individual teeth become gradually
shorter their smooth median line gains prominence, till it
finally develops into the sharply pointed cusp surmounting
each of the front teeth.

As already said, the Port Jackson shark and a few other
nearly related species (all of which, by the way, feed on
shell-fish and crustaceans) are the only sharks with mill-
stones met with in our present seas. And it is fortunate
that these have lived on, as otherwise we should never

* Strictly speaking, the tooth-bearing cartilages of sharks are not
true jaws.

LIVING MILLSTONES 163

have gained a true idea of the dental armature of their
extinct relatives which abounded in the seas of the Jurassic
epoch. Visitors to Whitby must be familiar with certain
black oblong fossils of about an inch and a half in length
known to the quarrymen as " fossil leeches." These are
the hinder teeth of an extinct shark {Asteracanthus) nearly
allied to the Port Jackson species, but of much larger size ;
and although they are more rugose than pitted, they show
the same smooth line on the summit. A beautiful specimen
from Caen, in the British Museum, shows that the arrange-
ment of these hinder teeth was almost exactly the same
as in Cestracwn, which may thus be regarded as a survivor
from a long-past epoch of the earth's history.

But there were other " millstone-mouthed " sharks at a
still earlier period which appear to have been allied to
Cestracion, although the degree of relationship is uncertain.
In these Palaeozoic sharks, as exemplified by Cochliodiis,
the series of hinder teeth seems to have had an arrangement
very similar to that obtaining in Cestracion, but the indi-
vidual teeth of several series were more or less completely
fused into a single solid plate, the ridges on which mark
the original lines of division between the component series.
These sharks exhibit, therefore, one among many instances
where the earlier forms of a group are in some respects
more specialised than their descendants.

So much space has been taken up by the rays and sharks
that only a few lines remain for the millstones of the enamel-
scaled fishes. In none of these do the teeth, which are
developed on most of the bones of both the upper and lower
jaws, ever form continuous plates ; and they are generally
either spherical or kidney-bean-shaped and arranged in more
or less longitudinal rows. Unlike those of the sharks and
rays, these teeth, as in the familiar Lepidotus of the Wealden,

i64 MOSTLY MAMMALS

are replaced by vertical successors ; and their mode of
development is so peculiar that in some cases the new tooth
is placed wrong way up beneath the one it is destined
to replace. In other instances, as in Coelodus from the
Folkestone Gault, successional teeth have not been ob-
served, and the mode of renewal is consequently still
unknown. Although within the limits of a single article
it is impossible to do more than give the crudest sketch
of a vast subject, yet what has been written may be sufficient
to attract my readers' interest to an extremely fascinating
branch of zoological study.

PART II

^ AN INVISIBLE MONKEY

In most English dictionaries the verb " to mimic " has for
its synonyms *' to ape, imitate, counterfeit, or mock " ; and
it is thus intimately connected with the monkey tribe, whose
imitations of human gestures and actions form one of their
most prominent characteristic features. Till a few years
ago naturalists were, however, totally unacquainted with
any instance among these animals of " mimicry " in its
scientific sense — that is to say, no case was known where
a monkey, for the sake of protection, resembled in form
or coloration either some other animal or an inanimate
object. During a journey to Mount Kenya and Lake
Barengo, in East Africa, Dr. J. W. Gregory, late of the
Natural History Museum, discovered that the peculiar type
of coloration characterising certain African monkeys is
protective in its nature, and that these monkeys, when
in their native haunts, are thereby rendered practically
invisible.

The monkeys in question (one of which is represented
in the annexed plate) are known to the natives of certain
districts of East Africa by the name of "gueieza." They
belong to the group of thumbless apes {Cohdus), which
are restricted to the African continent, where they take the
place of the langurs, or sacred apes, of India and other
Oriental countries. From the other thumbless apes the
guerezas (or those species to which that name properly

167

1 68 MOSTLY MAMMALS

applies) are distinguished by their long silky black and
white coats, which are much sought after by the natives
of Africa as articles of costume and for purposes of deco-
ration. In the typical Abyssinian guereza, the greater part
of the fur of the body and Hmbs is of a deep shining
black, but from the shoulders there depends a mantle of
long white silky hairs extending down each side and
meeting on the lower part of the back, so as to hang down
over the sides of the body as well as over the hips and
thighs. The terminal third of the tail is also clothed with
long white hairs. Strikingly handsome as is this species,
it is excelled in this respect by the East African guereza,
in which the base of the tail is alone black, the whole of
the remainder of that appendage being developed into a
magnificent white brush, which may be compared to an
Indian cliowri^ or fly-whisk.

Black and white is a type of coloration so conspicuous,
and, at the same time, so rare among the larger mammals,
that whenever it occurs we may be quite sure it is developed
for some special purpose, although, unless we have an
opportunity of seeing the animals in their native haunts,
it is almost impossible to divine what that purpose may
be. It is met with elsewhere in the zebras, and also in
the great panda {Aeluj'-opus) of Tibet. Although the former
animals are conspicuous enough in a stall at the " Zoo,"
or when stuffed in a museum, travellers tell us that when
seen in the haze of an African desert their black and
white stripes fade at a very short distance to an almost
invisible grey. This may even be observed in a hot
summer, when the grass is burnt brown, in the Duke of
Bedford's seat at Woburn Abbey, where several of these
beautiful animals roam at will in the park during the
summer months.

AN INVISIBLE MONKEY 169

With regard to the great panda, we have at present no
information. It may be suggested, however, that the start-
Hng contrast presented by its streaks and patches of creamy
white on a jet-black ground may harmonise with patches
of snow on black rocks, or possibly with the hnes of light
between the dark stems of forest trees.

Be this as it may. Dr. Gregory's observations have solved
the problem of the use of the remarkable coloration of
the guerezas, which has so long puzzled naturalists. Like
others of their kind, these monkeys pass most of their
time high up on trees, where they sleep either resting on
a bough or hanging beneath by their hands, or hands and
feet Now, in the dense forests clothing Mount Kilima
Njaro and other districts of East Africa, the black-barked
boughs are thickly draped with pendent masses and wreaths
of grey beard-moss or lichen, which reach for several feet
below them. "As the monkeys hang from the branches,"
writes Dr. Gregory, " they so closely resemble the lichen
that I found it impossible to recognise them when but a
short distance away."

We have thus decisive evidence that the black and
white coloration of the guerezas protects these animals
by a close resemblance to their inanimate surroundings.
There are, however, certain smaller mammals with a
similar type of coloration in which the startling contrast
of black and white seems to be for the purpose of rendering
them conspicuous ; and as some at least of these creatures
are endowed with a most disgusting odour, their con-
spicuousness has been regarded as warning other animals
from attacking them. The best known of these creatures
are the ill-famed American skunks, which are in the habit
of stalking over the Argentine Pampas in full daylight,
with the most consummate indifference to the presence of

I70 MOSTLY MAMMALS

other and more powerful animals. And any one who is in
doubt as to the cause of this proud indifference should
read Mr. W. H. Hudson's account of the terrible and
lasting effects of their foetid excretion, as detailed in " The
Naturalist in La Plata." Less familiar is the so-called
Cape polecat {Ictonyx), an animal of about the same size
as an ordinary polecat, but having its fur marked with
broad longitudinal bands of blackish brown alternating
with white. As this creature is stated to have an odour
as disgusting as that of a skunk, there can be little
hesitation in classing it among animals possessing "warning
odours."

Another member of the same family {Poecilogale albinuchd)
from South Africa is likewise conspicuously banded with
blackish brown and white, and thus closely resembles the
Cape polecat, for which it might readily be mistaken.
Unfortunately, its habits seem very imperfectly known, and
it is difficult to ascertain whether it has an odour as-
powerful as that of its larger cousin. It is very probable
however, it has not, and that its coloration is a true
mimicry of that of the latter. If this be so, we shall
have the pied coloration of the animals above mentioned
attributable to three distinct causes. In the case of the
guereza it affords protection, from its resemblance to in-
animate surroundings ; in the skunk and Cape polecat it
serves to warn other animals from attacking a noisome
beast, which is thereby protected ; while the South African
weasel enjoys immunity from attack from being mistaken
for the similarly coloured polecat.

SOME QUEER-NOSED MONKEYS

Of all the features of the human countenance none seems
more prone to exhibit marked variations in size and shape
than the nose. A broad and flattened nose, is, for instance,
characteristic of negroes and Australian natives, whereas
the classic or Grecian nose is found only among the highest
types of the Caucasian races of Europe. But while the
nasal organs of the lower races of mankind differ in general
from those of the higher peoples of Western Europe, yet
it is among the latter that perhaps the greatest amount
of variation in this respect may be noticed. And although
even among these mixed Western nations a considerable
amount of such nasal variability is evidently hereditary
and distinctive of particular families or races, yet there
are many instances in which it appears largely individual,
although it may, of course, be due to reversion. Be this
as it may, it will suffice for our present purpose to note
that among European races a distinctly " snub-nosed," or
" tip-tilted," type is not uncommon on the one extreme,
while at the other we have what is commonly called the
" long-nosed " type ; the latter being broadly distinguished
from the arched Roman, or aquiline, nose.

Now, it is a remarkable fact in natural history that
whereas the great majority of the monkeys and apes of
the Old World have noses of an ordinary pattern — that is
to say, not very far removed from the type characterising

171

172 MOSTLY MAMMALS

the inferior representatives of the human race — three of
them have developed peculiarities in this respect which
entitle them to be regarded as among the most extraordinary
of all four-footed beasts. And not the least remarkable
circumstance in connection with these nasal eccentricities
is that the two extremes are found in members of a
single group inhabiting widely distant and completely
isolated areas.

Before referring to the species displaying these remark-
able peculiarities, it will be well to briefly refer to their
nearest relatives. These are most familiarly known by
the sacred Hanuman monkey, or langur, of India, which
is one of a large group of species inhabiting most of the
Oriental countries ; one kind, the Himalayan langur, being
found at a considerable elevation in the outer hills of the
mighty range from which it takes its name. And in winter,
or early spring, these large grey monkeys may frequently
be seen disporting themselves among pines heavily laden
with snow. As distinctive features of the langurs, reference
may be made to their slim build, long hind-legs and tail,
and the absence of pouches in the cheeks for the storage
of food. Their hair is long and coarse, and may be of
any colour from slaty grey to bright foxy red or black.
All have, for monkeys, fairly well-formed noses, of ordinary
dimensions. Unlike the majority of the members of their
order, they feed on leaves in preference to fruits ; and, as
showing how similarity of habit gives rise to similarity of
structure (or, if the reader so please, vice versa), it is inter-
esting to note that the langurs have complex stomachs,
strikingly similar to those of sheep and ruminants in
general ; most other monkeys having simple stomachs of
the normal type.

As already mentioned, the three species of monkeys

Male pRuBubCib-AluNKEV.
A species confined to Borneo.

[To face p. 172

SOME QUEER-NOSED MONKEYS 173

which have gone in for eccentric nasal development are
near relatives of the langurs. The first of these, which
has been known in Europe since 1781, is an inhabitant
of Borneo, where, be it observed, there are also true
langurs with normal noses. As may be seen from the
figure, which represents a male in the Natural History
branch of the British Museum, the proboscis monkey, as
the species is called, is characterised by the inordinate
length of the nasal organ of the adult male, which projects
far in front of the line of the mouth, and gives to the
whole physiognomy a most grotesque appearance. So
remarkable, indeed, is the face of this monkey, that the
first view of a stuffed specimen suggests to the beholder
that it has been ** faked," after the fashion of the " bogus "
animals formerly manufactured by our Japanese friends.
The nostrils are situated on the under surface of the tip
of this ungainly proboscis, and are separated from another
by an extremely narrow partition. According to recent
observations, the nose, instead of projecting straight forward,
should bend down in front of the mouth. In the case of
the female the degree of nasal development is considerably
less ; and in the young of both sexes the nose is com-
paratively short, with the nostrils visible from the front,
instead of being directed downwards. In point of size,
the proboscis monkey is a comparatively large animal, the
length of the head and body of the adult male being about
thirty inches, and that of the tail some three inches less.
Its colour is likewise conspicuous and striking, the upper
parts, with the exception of a light band across the loins,
being brilliant chestnut, and the face, which is fringed
with long yellowish hair, a reddish flesh-colour.

Far more brilliant in colour is the first of the two
Tibetan species which exhibit the opposite type of nasal

174 MOSTLY MAMMALS

eccentricity in the langur group. But these snub-nosed
monkeys, as they may be appropriately called, are fully
as large as the Bornean species, and as they are of much
stouter build, both as regards body and limbs, they look
considerably bigger. Instead of a proboscis-like develop-
ment of nose these two very peculiar monkeys have their
nasal organs bent suddenly upwards at a sharp angle to
the line of the face, so that the nostrils are fully visible
from the front ; the whole aspect of the face being curiously
piquant. The species here figured — the orange snub-nosed
monkey — was first made known to European science by the
French missionary. Abbe David, who obtained specimens
while travelling in the province of Moupin, in Eastern Tibet.
Some of his specimens are preserved in the Zoological
Museum at Paris ; and the coloured plate of a female has
long been the only figure available to naturalists. Thanks,
however, to an energetic English naturalist resident in
China, the British Museum a few years ago acquired a
pair of these monkeys ; the figure being taken from the
male, which has been mounted for exhibition, and forms
one of the most attractive specimens in the large monkey
case. Since the photograph does not attempt chromatic
effect, it is necessary to mention that the general colour of
the upper-parts is rich olive-brown, flecked with yellow
and suffused with rufous, while the sides of the face, the
lower part of the forehead, and the under-parts are brilliant
yellowish orange, tending to full orange on the face, the
naked portions of which are pale blue. Across the loins
there is a light patch comparable to that of the proboscis
monkey ; the tail being proportionately rather shorter than
in the latter, with a distinct tendency towards a club-shape.
Altogether, the appearance of the animal is highly peculiar,
both from the point of view of form and of coloration.

Orangi: Sm'11-xosei) Monkey.
A native of Sze-Chuen.

\_Tofacep. 174

SOME QUEER-NOSED MONKEYS 175

The head, for example, in addition to its " tip-tilted " nose,
is noticeable for its extreme massiveness, which gives an
almost leonine appearance. And this general massiveness
is equally observable in the limbs, which are relatively shorter
than in the true langurs ; the feet being especially heavy
and broad, with their toes almost concealed by long hair.

And here the attention of the reader may be directed to
the circumstance that animals inhabiting cold countries
(and Sze-chuan, where the British Museum specimens
were obtained, can be very cold) are almost always much
more heavily and substantially built than their relatives
from warmer climes. An excellent instance of this phe-
nomenon is afforded by the case of tigers in the same
collection ; the Bengal tiger being a long lanky beast,
while its cousin from Mongolia is a heavily built creature,
with extraordinarily massive limbs. Of course the longer
hair of the Central Asiatic animal tends to exaggerate its
general massiveness, which, however, would be perfectly
apparent even without this extraneous aid. Possibly a
stout and heavy build, especially as regards the limbs,
may aid in protecting the circulatory system from the
effects of extreme cold.

As regards the habits of the orange snub-nosed monkey,
our information is of the most meagre description. These
animals are stated, however, to congregate in troops of
considerable size, and to ascend the tallest trees (the part
of Tibet they inhabit being more or less wooded) in search
of fruits, which they much prefer to leaves. When pressed
by hunger, leaves and the tender shoots of bamboo are
said to form their staple nutriment. Bearing in mind
this alleged partiahty for fruits, it would be interesting to
determine whether the stomach of these monkeys is as
complex as that of the true langurs.

176 MOSTLY MAMMALS

In 1899 the professors of the Paris Museum were enabled
to publish, with excellent coloured plates, the description
of a second species of the same group, also coming from
Tibet and the adjacent districts of North-Western China.

This second species, which may be popularly known as
the slaty snub-nosed monkey, is fully as large as its more
brilliantly coloured relative, which it also resembles in the
form of its nose. The tail is, however, much more bushy,
and long-haired throughout. And while the colour of the
upper-parts and outer and front surfaces of the limbs is
dark slaty brown, the cheeks, under-parts, and thighs are
mostly pure white ; the naked portions of the face being
flesh-coloured.

The specimens of the slate-coloured species in the Paris
Museum were obtained in the north-west extremity of
Yun-nan, on the left bank of the River Mekong, in the
neighbourhood of Yerkalo, and it seems evident that the
species inhabits the crest of the long range separating
the valley of the Mekong from that of the Yang-tsi-kiang.
During the summer it is probable they frequent that side
of the range which overlooks China, while their winter
quarters would appear to be the side directed towards
Tibet. The native name of " tchru-tchra," or snow-monkey,
sufficiently indicates the severity of the climate of the
region they inhabit. Probably the Blue River forms the
line of division between the distributional areas of the slaty
and the orange species, the latter being found in Southern
Kansu, Northern Sze-chuan, and Moupin.

Despite their long isolation from the sphere of European
science, one, if not both, of these peculiar monkeys seems
to have been known to the Chinese from time immemorial,
for in a work entitled " Shan-Hoi-King," or " Mountain and
Sea Record," which has been supposed to date from earlier

SOME QUEER-NOSED MONKEYS 177

than 2000 B.C., a so-called man of the Heu Yeung
kingdom appears, from his tip-tilted nose, to be one or
other of the species under consideration.

In the foregoing remarks we have treated the three
species of monkeys with eccentric nasal development
merely as zoological curiosities. But it will be evident
to every thinking mind that there must be a reason for
such strange departures from the normal, and until we
discover such reason we cannot be said to know anything
worth knowing about these animals. Unfortunately, those
who have had the opportunity of seeing these monkeys in
their native haunts have not assisted us in this matter, and
there is an absolute lack of information in regard to this
all-important point. That the problem cannot be solved
by guessing on the part of the stay-at-home naturalist
may be regarded as practically certain. At the present
day, owing partly to the anxiety to describe new species
and varieties, and partly to the desire to obtain specimens
of every animal for our museums, there appears a great
tendency for intelligent explorers and travellers to de-
generate from field-naturalists into mere collectors. And
the pity of this is too obvious to need more than mention.
It is indeed often said that it is most important to obtain
specimens of species before they become extinct ; but the
discovery of the raison d'etre of the tip-tilted nose of the
Tibetan monkeys, or of the proboscis-like organ of their
Bornean cousin, would be a thousand times more valuable
than the acquisition of untold specimens of either. And
even the recently acquired knowledge of the existence of
the second species of snub-nosed monkey pales into un-
importance when contrasted with the unsolved problem.
By all means, then, let all those who have the opportunity-
put mere collecting into a very subsidiary place, and devote

12

178 MOSTLY MAMMALS

all their energies to the solution of problems of this nature
(and their name is legion) before it becomes for ever too
late.

After what has been said as to the necessity of actual
observation to determine the reason for the peculiar nasal
development of these monkeys, it would obviously be out
of place to attempt to solve the problem in any other way.
Attention may, however, be directed to the circumstance
that the chiru, or Tibetan antelope, has a remarkably
swollen and puffy nose. And although the saiga antelope,
of the plains of Central Russia, has an equally remarkable'^
nasal development, yet it seems highly probable that in
the case of the chiru, at any rate, the enlarged size of the
nasal chamber and nostrils is correlated with the rarefied
atmosphere of the elevated plateau on which that ruminant
dwells. The snub-nosed monkeys, although living at a
considerably lower elevation than the chiru, are yet " well
up in the world " ; and since the shape of the nose in the
former would appear designed to admit the passage of as
much air as possible with the least impediment, it may
perhaps be suggested that the habitat has something to do
with the nose structure. As to the reason for the genesis
of the ungainly proboscis of the Bornean monkey, I have
not even the rudiment of a theory to offer my readers.

A REMARKABLE MAMMAL

My readers are not to imagine that the animal whose
portrait appears as a frontispiece to this work is one new
to science, or even one whose structure has hitherto been
imperfectly known. On the contrary, it has been known
to science for nearly a century and a quarter ; but it is
altogether such a peculiar and interesting creature that it
may well form the text of an article.

Like so many of its cousins the lemurs, the aye-aye
is an inhabitant of Madagascar, from the west coast of
which island the first specimen known to European
science was brought to Paris in 1780 by the French
traveller Sonnerat, who discovered several other curious
mammals and birds. By the naturalists of that time,
despite the remarkable peculiarity in the structure of
the forepaws mentioned later on in this article, it was
regarded as a squirrel, and accordingly named Sciurus
madagascariensis. It was, however, soon after apparent
that, whatever might be its real affinities, it could
not rightly be retained in the same genus as the true
squirrels ; and it was accordingly renamed, at first
Daubentonia^ and subsequently Chiromys {Cheiromys).
The justification for the proposal of this second title was
that the first had been previously employed in botany,
which was then (although not now) regarded as a bar
to its use in zoology. And at the present day some

179

i8o MOSTLY MAMMALS

naturalists think that the almost forgotten Daubentonia
ought to be resuscitated, and the familiar Chiromys
abolished. This, however, is a matter which may be left
for the specialists to settle among themselves.

But it is not with regard to its scientific name alone
that the creature has been unfortunate ; a difference of
opinion having arisen as to its right to the name " aye-
aye," by which it has been universally known since
Sonnerat's time. That traveller, it appears, had at first
two living specimens captured on the west coast of
Madagascar ; and when these were seen by the natives
of the east coast (where the species is unknown), they
ejaculated "aye-aye" — or more probably "hai-hai" — which
seems, not unnaturally, to have been regarded as the
native name of the animal. At least as early as i860
it was, however, suggested that in place of being the
animal's name, it was merely an exclamation of surprise
at the sight of a strange and unknown creature. And
this view of the case is maintained to be correct by
Mr. Shaw, a missionary who resided for many years in
Madagascar. On the other hand, another missionary,
Mr. Baron, affirms that the name "hai-hai" is derived
from the creature's peculiar cry.

When those who have the best opportunities for
deciding arrive at such opposite conclusions, it is difficult
for others to form a judgment. I have, however, con-
sulted a naturalist familiar with Madagascar, who tells
me that "hai" is undoubtedly the Malagasy expression
of surprise or wonderment ; and that as the aye-aye
is a shy and rare creature, seldom seen even by the
natives of the districts where it is found, and then
regarded with superstitious awe, the colloquial expression
of wonderment may well have become its accepted name.

A REMARKABLE MAMMAL i8i

If, however, "hai-hai" be, as Mr. Baron asserts, the
creature's own cry, then it would seem more hkely that
the exclamation has been derived from the animal, and
not that the animal has taken its name from the exclamation.
Anyway, there seems undoubtedly to be some kind of
connection between the exclamation " hai-hai " and the
name " aye-aye," and we may therefore be content to
accept the latter as the popular title for Chiromys
madagascariensis. The naturalist to whom allusion is
made above tells me, however, that the creature certainly
has another vernacular title in some parts of the island.

As already mentioned, the naturalist Gmelin, by whom
the aye-aye was originally described, regarded it as a
kind of squirrel — an opinion shared at first by the great
anatomist Cuvier. This view of its relationship was
doubtless formed from the somewhat squirrel-like appearance
of the animal, and the approximation made by its teeth to
the rodent type. When, however, the Paris specimen was
more carefully examined, and its skull and certain other
bones removed from the skin, it became apparent that its
relationships were evidently with the lemurs ; the German
naturalist Schreber being the one to whom the honour of
this identification is due.

From Schreber's time till i860 little or nothing more
was done to advance our knowledge of the aye-aye, of
which the Paris specimen remained the only example
in Europe. In 1858, however. Dr. Sandwith left England
for Madagascar, and previous to his departure Sir Richard
(then Professor) Owen impressed upon him the importance
of endeavouring to obtain specimens of this rare animal.
A year later the Professor received a letter stating that
with much difficulty a specimen had been secured ; and
this in due course arrived in England preserved in spirit.

i82 MOSTLY MAMMALS

It was dissected and described by Owen in i860; and
from the beautiful drawing by Wolf which accompanies
that memoir the figure illustrating the present article is
reproduced.

Soon after the arrival of the specimen sent to Owen
a living example of this strange animal was received at
the menagerie of the Zoological Society in Regent's Park ;
this being a female presented in 1862 by Mr. E. Mellish.
An excellent account of the habits of this animal in
captivity was published by the late Mr. A. D. Bartlett in
the Society's Proceedings for the same year. A male and
female were also received in the menagerie in the summer
of 1883, while a fourth specimen was purchased in the
autumn of 1887.

The ordinary public saw, however, little or nothing of
these specimens, for as might be inferred by its large
eyes, the aye-aye is essentially a nocturnal creature,
remaining comfortably curled up during the daylight hours,
and only venturing out as darkness comes on. In this
respect it resembles the majority of its cousins the lemurs ;
and were we naming animals afresh, the name lemur would
in some ways have been more appropriate to this particular
species than to those to which it properly belongs. For
the word " lemur " in its original signification means a
ghost, and not only is the aye-aye stealthy and ghost-like
in its movements, but it is regarded with superstitious
dread by the Malagasy, who believe it to be a kind
of spirit.

As already mentioned, the aye-aye has somewhat the
appearance of a large dark-coloured squirrel ; and in size
it may be compared roughly to a cat, the total length
being about three feet. The head and face are short and
rounded ; and the large eyes are furnished with a membrane

A REMARKABLE MAMMAL 183

which can be drawn across them from one side. The
large and rounded ears, which are inchned backwards,
are naked and dotted with a number of small tubercles.
The blackish brown hair all over the body is long and
coarse, but becomes longer still on the long and bushy
tail. Nothing very remarkable exists in the structure of
the hind-limbs, which somewhat exceed the front pair in
length ; but the forepaws, or hands, which are unusually
elongated, display a most strange peculiarity. As in lemurs
generally, the thumb is capable of being opposed to the
index finger, which is short ; the latter, together with
the fourth and fifth digits, being of normal thickness and
provided with long compressed and pointed claws. The
third or middle finger, as is beautifully shown in the
figure, is, however, quite unlike the others, being extremely
thin and spider-like. Of its use, mention will be made
later.

This attenuated middle finger is one of two marked
peculiarities whereby the aye-aye differs so strangely from
its relatives the lemurs. Its other peculiarity is to be
found in its dentition. Ordinary lemurs, it may be observed,
have from thirty-two to thirty-six teeth ; the incisor or front
teeth, although presenting certain peculiarities of form,
agreeing numerically with those of monkeys and man in most
cases. In the aye-aye, however, there are only eighteen
teeth, all told ; the incisors being reduced to a single pair in
each jaw, the canines, or tusks, wanting, and the cheek-teeth,
or grinders, comprising four pairs in the upper and three
in the lower jaw. Nor is this all, for the incisors, which
grow throughout life, are large somewhat chisel-like
teeth, recalling in many respects those of a beaver or
other rodent, although with peculiarities of their own
which render them easily distinguishable from those of all

i84 MOSTLY MAMMALS

the members of that group. Still, the whole character
of the dentition is so essentially rodent-like that there is
little wonder the old naturalists regarded the aye-aye as
a near relative of the squirrels.

The general anatomy of the aye-aye, especially the
structure of its skull, shows, however, that it is certainly
a near relative of the lemurs, which are themselves distant
cousins of the monkeys, from which, among many other
peculiarities, they differ by their expressionless, fox-like
faces. The aye-aye is therefore classed as a lemuroid ; of
which group, owing to the peculiarity of its dentition and
its attenuated middle finger, it must be regarded as a highly
aberrant and specialised member.

Unfortunately, in spite of recent explorations in the
superficial deposits of Madagascar, where bones of huge
extinct lemuroids have been disinterred, nothing whatever
is known as to the ancestry of the aye-aye. Evidently,
however, it must be a comparatively ancient type, for, if
we may judge from the analogy of other groups, a long
period of time must have been required to allow of the
gradual evolution and development of its characteristic
peculiarities of dental and manual structure.

Evidently these peculiarities must be connected with its
mode of life. And we learn from those who have observed
the creature in its native forests or in captivity, that the
aye-aye, unlike the true lemurs, subsists largely upon wood-
boring insect larvae, especially on the larva of a beetle known
to the Malagasy by the name of andraitra. Apparently the
aye-aye possesses a sense of hearing so acute that when
on a bough it can hear the faint rasping sound made by
the jaws of the andraita as it bores its way through the
wood in the interior. Thereupon it at once sets to work
with its powerful front teeth to chisel away the intervening

A REMARKABLE MAMMAL 185

wood till it opens up the tunnel of the burrowing
larva. As soon as the tunnel is reached the attenuated
middle finger is thrust in, either to act as a probe to
determine the position of the larva, or to drag it out from
its hiding-place, or perhaps for both purposes. Some un-
certainty still obtains as to the exact details of these and
other operations of a like nature, for our information on
these points appears to be mainly, if not exclusively, based
on native accounts. There is, however, little doubt that
the modus operandi is in the main as described above.

We thus have a sufficient and satisfactory explanation
of the reason why the aye-aye differs so remarkably in its
dentition and in the structure of its hand from all its living
kindred. If, however, we attempt to account for the gradual
development of these peculiarities by v/hat is commonly called
natural selection, we encounter considerable difficulty. It is
easy to conceive how the ancestors of the horse lost their
lateral toes by disuse, but how an ancestral aye-aye gradually
reduced the size of its middle finger till it assumed the
attenuated proportions of its existing representative is very
hard to understand, seeing that a slight diminution in the
calibre of this digit would be of little or no advantage.
Some much more potent cause than " natural selection "
seems necessary in this, as in many other instances.

As regards its general mode of life, the aye-aye wanders
through the silent forest at night in pairs, and never appears
to associate with others of its fellows than its partner. Pro-
bably the partnership is for life, but on this point we have
no definite information. The aye-aye is one of the com-
paratively few mammals which build a regular nest ; this
being constructed, according to Mr. Baron, of the carefully
rolled up leaves of one particular kind of tree, and lined
with small twigs and dry leaves ; the whole structure having

i86 MOSTLY MAMMALS

a diameter of about a couple of feet. Apparently the sole use
of this nest is as a nursery, and in it at the proper season
the female brings forth a solitary offspring — whether born
naked or clothed with hair does not seem to be ascertained.
The female alone builds the nest, which is placed securely
in the fork of a tree.

In addition to the use described above, the attenuated
middle finger is employed to comb the hair and clean the
eyes, mouth, and nose ; the animal, when thus engaged,
generally suspending itself head-downwards from a bough
by its hind-feet ; at any rate, this is the case in captivity.
As a rule, the food is not held in the paws, after the
usual monkey and lemur fashion, although the act of
drinking is performed in an ape-like manner, the fingers
being first dipped in water and then sucked.

Besides the boring larvae already alluded to, it is certain
that the aye-aye will eat various other kinds of food,
although native accounts differ to a considerable extent on
this point. Some say, for instance, that it subsists largely
on birds and their eggs, while others assert that honey is
its favourite food. Probably there is some degree of truth
in all these accounts, and that the creature is to a certain
extent omnivorous. It will eat sugar-cane with considerable
gusto, and in captivity has been known to take bananas.
But that these latter are not its natural food would seem to
be evident from the fact that they stick in and clog its teeth.

As regards its distribution, the aye-aye is a very local
animal ; its chief habitat being the great forest clothing the
eastern border of the great central plateau of the island.
Here, however, it is apparently restricted to the district
forming the confines of the provinces of Sihanaka and
Betsimisaraka, which is situate about five-and-twenty miles
inland in latitude 17° 22' S. I am, however, informed by

A REMARKABLE MAMMAL 187

the friend mentioned above that an aye-aye occurs in the
south of the island, which, if its habitat is isolated from
that of the typical form, may turn out to be a new local
race, or possibly even a distinct species.

Although the aye-aye is certainly far from being a common
animal, yet it is probably less rare than is often supposed.
Its supposed great rarity appears to be largely due to the
dread in which it is held by the natives, who can seldom
be induced to capture a specimen. It is believed to be
endowed with the power of causing the death of those who
attempt its capture, and it is consequently only some of the
bolder natives who will venture on this undertaking, and
then only after providing themselves with a charm to
counteract the effects of the creature's supposed super-
natural power. Occasionally, according to Mr. Baron's
notes, it is taken in traps set for lemurs ; but it is
then, unless the owner is possessed of the aforesaid charm,
invariably set at liberty, after being anointed with fat in
order to propitiate its goodwill and forgiveness. Only
very occasionally is a specimen offered for sale in the
market at Tamatave, when a good price — presumably from
Europeans — is always obtained.

*^THE PEDIGREE OF THE CAT*

Although it is a common notion that our ordinary " tabby "
is the direct descendant of the European wild cat {Felis
catus), now nearly exterminated in Britain, the best modern
authorities are of opinion that the real ancestor is a wild
species inhabiting North-Eastern Africa, and commonly
known as the Egyptian cat {Felts libycd) ; a reputed
variety of the same species being stated to inhabit parts of
Southern Europe. The facility with which several of the
smaller species of wild cats will breed together, and likewise
the circumstance that the domesticated cats of Asia appa-
rently have an origin distinct from that of the European
breeds, renders the subject one of more difficulty than
might at first seem to be the case.

With regard to the differences between the domesticated
and the wild cat, it has been generally asserted that the
latter is considerably the larger animal of the two, although
the comparisons made by Dr. E. Hamilton, who has
published a book on the subject, indicate that this is not
really the case. The statement that the tail of the wild
species is shorter and stouter seems largely due to the
circumstance that the fur is more abundant and bushy,

* A portion of the substance of this and the next article appear
in the one on " the Origin of Domesticated Animals." In spite,
however, of a certain amount of repetition, it has been thought
advisable to let all three stand in their original form.

i88

THE PEDIGREE OF THE CAT 189

so that the tail of the domesticated breeds appears longer
and more slender ; but, on the whole, it seems that in
domesticated cats the tail does differ to a certain extent in
this respect from that of the pure-bred wild animal, although
individuals of the domesticated breeds are sometimes met
with which exhibit scarcely any difference in this respect
from the wild cat. Obviously, then, the tail — on which so
much stress has been laid — is not a matter of very much
importance in the inquiry. With regard to the general
coloration of the fur, although both the wild cat and a
large number of individuals of the old European domesticated
breed are what is commonly known as the " tabby " type,
the markings of pure-bred specimens of the former are
stated to present certain differences from those of the latter,
and are described as being more tiger-like. Then, too, the
dark rings on the tail of the wild cat appear blackish
brown when held against the light, whereas those of the
domestic tabby are jetty black.

Perhaps the most important point in which domesti-
cated cats differ from the pure-bred wild cat, and thereby
resemble the Egyptian cat, is in the coloration of the hind-
foot. Dr. A, Nehring, of Berlin, who first brought the
fact to notice, states that in the Egyptian animal the pads
on the under-surface of the toes are black, this colour
extending upwards on the foot as far as the heel-bone, the
under-surface of this part of the limb being in some cases
wholly black, but in others marked with black stripes
on a lighter ground. On the other hand, the pure-bred
wild cat has only a small black spot on the pads, while the
colour of the fur on the under-surface of the foot as far
up as the heel-bone is some shade of yellow or yellowish
grey. Since all European domesticated cats — except, of
course, those which are wholly black or white — agree with

190 MOSTLY MAMMALS

the former type of coloration, there seems full justification
for regarding them as the descendants of the Egyptian
cat. Moreover, the tail of the latter is distinctly longer
and less bushy than that of the wild cat, and thus more
like that of the domestic breeds. Additional evidence in
favour of the southern origin of our domesticated breeds
has been furnished by Dr. G. Martorelli, of Milan, who
has described two European wild cats, the one from
Sardinia and the other from the Tuscan Maremma. These
are stated to be very different from the ordinary wild cat,
and to approximate to the Egyptian cat, of which they
are regarded as forming a race or variety, under the name
of the Mediterranean cat {F. mediterranea). As these cats
are stated to present considerable resemblance to domes-
ticated breeds, there can be little hesitation in accepting
the view that, so far as Europe is concerned, the latter
were originally derived from the Egyptian cat.

But Prof Martorelli goes one step farther than this,
and suggests that the European wild cat, through the
intervention of the Mediterranean race of the Egyptian
cat, is hkewise descended from the latter. Curiously
enough, Dr. Hamilton, from the circumstance that certain
fossil remains found in Belgium and England seemed to
belong to F. libyca rather than F. caius, had previously
hazarded the conjecture " that the European wild cat and
the Egyptian domestic cat are derived from one common
ancestor."

Although it is going a little out of the way, it may be
mentioned here that, in the opinion of Prof Martorelli, the
Egyptian cat has given rise to another line of descendants.
The first species on this line is the jungle-cat (^F. chaus)
of India and Africa, while the second place is occupied by
the various species of lynxes, between which and the

THE PEDIGREE OF THE CAT 191

Egyptian cat the jungle-cat forms a connecting link. From
a side branch of this line the steppe-cat (/^ caudatd) of
Bokhara is considered to have sprung.

Returning to the domesticated cat of Europe, it may be
mentioned that the animal termed ailnros by the ancient
Greeks, and kept by them in a domesticated state, was
not really a cat, although the word is so rendered in our
translation of the classics. On the contrary, it appears,
from the researches of the late Prof Rolleston, of Oxford,
to have been a species of marten {Musteld). That cats
were tamed by the ancient Egyptians is proved by the
number of their mummified remains entombed in various
parts of the country, notably at Bubastis. Indeed, so
plentiful are mummified cats, that a few years ago they
formed a brisk article of trade, being employed for manure.
From a careful examination of these remains, it has been
inferred by Prof Virchow that the animal to which they
belonged was indistinguishable from the wild Egyptian
cat, and was not truly domesticated. In one of the ancient
frescoes of the country there is, however, depicted a cat
presenting a striking likeness to the ordinary " tabby,"
and it is therefore quite possible that a distinct domesticated
race may also have existed in ancient Egypt. There is,
indeed, a possibility that if the so-called Mediterranean cat
be really a wild variety of the Egyptian cat, a domesticated
race may have originated in South-Eastern Europe, rather
than in North-Eastern Africa. In suggesting that the
original domestication took place in the latter area, Dr.
Hamilton cites the occurrence of representations of undoubted
Egyptian cats in Etrurian tombs dating from a period
between 350 and 200 B.C. And a correspondent from
Rome wrote to him as follows : "I should think there
was no doubt whatever that the Etruscans received the

192 MOSTLY MAMMALS

domestic cat from the Egyptians by means of the Phoenician
traders, as in the very earliest and rudest Etruscan tombs
in the neighbourhood of Civeta Castellani (the contents
of which are now in the Museum of Papa Giulio, near
Rome) there are unmistakable traces of the Phoenician
trade." Without denying that such may have been the
case, the discovery of the Mediterranean cat, as already
mentioned, suggests the possibility of a European origin
for the domesticated breed. On the other hand, the
Mediterranean cat itself may prove to be merely a feral
race derived from an Egyptian importation.

Be this as it may — and the problem is one hardly
capable of decisive solution — Dr. Nehring is of opinion
that wild cats were originally brought under subjugation
by stationary agricultural tribes, to whom it must have
been of the utmost importance that their hoards of grain
should be protected as much as possible from the ravages
of rats and mice.

When once a domesticated breed had become established
in Europe, it would certainly have freely crossed with the
wild cat. And it seems highly probable that to such
crossing is due the great prevalence of " tabbies " in Europe
previous to the introduction of the now fashionable Persian
breed, the wild cat having the dark stripes broader, and
frequently more numerous, than they are in the Egyptian
cat.

As to the date of introduction of the domesticated cat
into Britain, the earliest written evidence of its existence
there occurs in the laws of the Welsh prince Howel
Dhu, which were enacted about the middle of the tenth
century. Certain remains of cats have, however, been dis-
covered in Roman villas in this country, which appear to
belong to the domesticated breed ; and if these be rightly

THE PEDIGREE OF THE CAT 193

identified, the first introduction of the animal must have
been at a much earlier date, the Roman evacuation
having taken place about the middle of the fifth century
of our era.

Although cats of all colours are now met with, and some
of them at least have been long known there, the preva-
lence of " tabby " is, as already said, very characteristic of
the old domesticated breed in Europe. In Eastern Asia,
on the other hand, as was long since pointed out by that
very observant naturalist the late Edward Blyth, " tabbies "
are unknown, and either spotted or uniformly coloured cats
are prevalent. In India, for instance, where they have not
been crossed with a European stock, the ordinary cats are
either spotted or fulvous, with barred limbs. In Siam we
have the peculiar and valuable Siamese cat, characterised
by the uniformly tawny fur of the body, the dark muzzle,
under-parts, and limbs, the short legs, and blue eyes.
Again, the long-haired Persian or Angora breed is also
uniformly coloured, the prevalent tints being white, yel-
lowish, or greyish.

Among the smaller wild species of the genus indigenous
to India is the desert-cat {Felts ornata), of which the
general colour is pale sandy, with small roundish black
spots on the body and elongated spots or streaks on the
neck and face, two dark bars being present on the inner
side of the fore-hmb. From this species have probably
originated the spotted domesticated cats of India, in which
the spots tend to aggregate into streaks on the fore-part
of the body, while the slender tail is ringed. Probably,
however, considerable crossing has taken place with two
other wild Indian species — namely, the leopard-cat {F. ben-
galensis) and the tiny rusty-spotted cat {F. rubiginosa).
Many of these spotted Indian domesticated cats have run

13

194 MOSTLY MAMMALS

wild, and one such has been described as a distinct
species.

With regard to the fulvous domesticated Indian breed,
in which the fur of the body is uniform tawny, the legs
barred, and the tail ringed, it seems probable that this too
was originally descended from the desert-cat, but that it
has derived its uniform coloration from the jungle-cat
(F. chaus), which, as already said, is related to the lynxes.
That it is not the direct descendant of that species seems
evident from the different relative lengths of its tail and
limbs, and the absence of pencils of hair on the ears.

I have already said that in the opinion of Prof.
Martorelli the jungle-cat and steppe-cat are descendants
of the Egyptian cat ; and as the desert-cat and steppe-cat
are closely allied, it follows that, if his views be correct,
all the Indian domesticated cats trace their ultimate origin
to the Egyptian cat.

Nothing definite is known as to the origin of the beau-
tiful Siamese cat, but it seems possible that it may be
the descendant of the golden or bay cat {F. temmmckt) of
the Malay countries, which is a uniformly coloured bright
ferruginous-red or dark-brown species, with a relatively
short tail.

There is likewise no certain information with regard to
the pedigree of the Persian or Angora cat. The deserts
of Central Asia are, however, the home of a very peculiar
species of the genus Felis, which was first described by the
Russian naturalist Pallas, under the name of F. manul, and
is popularly known as Pallas's cat. This species, which is
about the size of an average domesticated cat, differs from
all other wild Old World members of the genus by the
great length and softness of its fur. Its general colour is
pale whitish grey, with some narrow dark markings on the

THE PEDIGREE OF THE CAT 195

chest, loins, and limbs, the tail being short and ringed.
With the exception of the shortness of the tail and its
dark rings, all the characters of this species are just
those which might be expected in the ancestor of the
Persian breed, and it is quite probable that the points
mentioned may have been eliminated by careful selection
or crossing.

To discuss certain other less well-known domesticated
breeds would probably be wearisome to the reader. Suf-
ficient has been said to indicate that the origin of the
animal commonly known as Felis domestica is probably a
composite one, and that it is scarcely entitled to be called
a single species.

If the views of Prof, Martorelli be found substantially
correct, the following will be the lines of evolution : Firstly,
we have the ancestral type of the Egyptian cat {F. libyca),
inhabiting North-Eastern Africa and a considerable part
of Europe during the Pleistocene, and perhaps a part
of the Pliocene, period. From this original species origi-
nated in the eastern side of the Old World the Mediter-
ranean cat {F. mediterraned) and the wild cat {F. catus).
When man became dominant he produced the European
domesticated breed, either directly from the typical Egyptian
cat or from its variety the Mediterranean cat. And this
original domestic breed soon became crossed with its im-
mediate cousin the wild cat.

On the other hand, in the East the original Egyptian cat
gave rise to the jungle-cat {F. chaus), the steppe-cat {F.
caudatd), and presumably, therefore, that near ally of the
latter, the Indian desert-cat {F. ornatd). From the latter
are derived the spotted Indian domesticated cats, while
the fulvous domesticated breed of the same country has
been produced by a cross with the jungle-cat. Both these

196 MOSTLY MAMMALS

are now largely crossed with their somewhat remote cousin,
the striped domesticated cat of Europe.

The Persian cat, as we have seen, may probably be
derived from Pallas's cat, which has no sort of connection
with the Egyptian cat ; and the cross between the Persian
and European " tabby," now so common, is consequently
a very mixed breed indeed. Finally, it is probable that
the Siamese cat has an ancestry totally distinct from that
of all the rest.

THE PEDIGREE OF THE DOG

The number of breeds and varieties of the domesticated
dog is so great that it is at first rather hard to believe
that all are descended from a few wild types. Neverthe-
less, the differences between these are not greater than
those met with among domesticated pigeons and fowls,
which are known to be respectively descended from the
wild pigeons of Europe and the jungle-fowls of Asia. A
peculiarity of most domesticated dogs is their power of
barking, which seems to be entirely unknown among all
wild members of the family Cam'dae, even the semi-domes-
ticated dogs of the Eskimo being unable to bark, as are
the dingos of Australia. But if kept among barking dogs,
both these breeds, and apparently also wolves and jackals,
will soon learn to bark in a more or less thorough manner.
Barking is, therefore, evidently an acquired habit ; but that
it affords no argument against the derivation of the domes-
ticated breeds from the wild races is evident not only from
the above instance, but also from the circumstance that the
Asiatic jungle-fowl are unable to crow in the manner
characteristic of their domesticated descendants. Several
traits — such as turning round several times on a hearthrug
in order to make a hole before lying down, and scratching
up earth with their fore-feet and throwing it backwards
with the hind pair, common to wolves and jackals — are
inherited by even the most domesticated of domestic
dogs ; and these are evidently of great value in helping to

197

198 MOSTLY MAMMALS

trace the ancestry. A German writer, the late Prof. L.
Fitzinger, considered that domesticated dogs might be
divided into seven well-marked groups, which included
close upon a couple of hundred of more or less well-marked
breeds and varieties. Other authorities are, however, of
opinion that the number of main groups might be reduced
to half a dozen, these including wolf-like dogs, such as the
Eskimo breed, the various kinds of greyhounds, spaniels,
hounds, mastiffs, and lastly terriers.

All who have written on the subject are in accord in
regarding all domesticated dogs, with the exception of the
Australian dingo, as constituting but a single species — the
Cajiis familiaris of Linnaeus. But if it be true, as seems
probably the case, that domesticated dogs trace their
ancestry to more than a single wild species, it will be
obvious that Canis familiaris cannot in any sense be re-
garded as equivalent to an ordinary wild species ; and that,
properly speaking, if this were possible, the various true
breeds ought to be affiliated to the wild species from w^hich
they are respectively derived. Still, for practical purposes,
the ordinary classification may be accepted, if it be remem-
bered that Canis familiaris, like Felis domestica, is in all
probability a "convergent" species.

By naturalists all the members of the dog tribe are in-
cluded in the great family Canidae, which thus embraces
wolves, jackals, foxes, wild dogs, the African hunting-dog,
the long-eared fox of the Cape, and the bush-dog of Guiana.
Somewhat different views are entertained as to how many
of these should be included in the typical genus Canis, but
this is a matter which needs no consideration here, and we
may accordingly proceed to eliminate from the list those
groups which have certainly no claim to be on the ances-
tral line of the domesticated breeds.

THE PEDIGREE OF THE DOG 199

First of all we may dismiss the rare South American
bush-dog (Speoihos), which is a small somewhat fox-like
creature with a short tail and teeth of a quite peculiar
type. Equally far removed from the line are the long-
eared Cape fox {Otocyon) and the African hunting-dog
{Lycaon), the former having more teeth than the domes-
ticated breeds, while the latter has fewer toes. Next we
may eliminate the wild dogs of Asia, which are frequently
separated from the other members of the family under
the name of Cyon^ as all these have one pair less of
cheek-teeth in the lower jaw, and therefore obviously can-
not be the ancestral stock, as an organ once lost cannot
be replaced. Rather nearer to the domesticated races are
the foxes and fennecs {Vulpes), exclusive of the South
American species commonly so called. But if we examine
the skull of the British or any other species of true fox,
an important difference will be found between it and the
skull of any domesticated dog, wolf, or jackal. This
difference is best displayed in the shape of the projecting
process of bone forming the hinder border of the socket of
the eye ; this process in a fox being distinctly concave,
whereas in all the others it is highly convex.

We thus arrive at the conclusion that the only existing
members of the family that can possibly be the ancestors
of the domesticated breeds are wolves, jackals, the Aus-
tralian dingo, and certain South American species which,
although commonly termed foxes, are really more closely
allied to the jackals and wolves ; and it is further obvious
that the only extinct species which can claim a place in the
line of descent are those having skulls and teeth of the
wolf t3'pe — in other words, species of the genus Canis in
its restricted sense.

Before proceeding farther, it may be mentioned in con-

200 MOSTLY MAMMALS

firmation of the foregoing views that in all the late Mr.
Bartlett's long experience at the " Zoo " he never met with
a well-authenticated instance of a fox interbreeding with
either a dog, wolf, or jackal ; and although newspaper
reports have subsequently mentioned a hybrid between a
fox and a dog, it is obvious that such crosses are, at the
most, of extreme rarity.

On the other hand, when suitably matched, there is no
sort of difficulty in obtaining crosses between wolves and
jackals and domesticated dogs; and it is a well-known
fact that the Eskimo are constantly in the habit of crossing
their sledge-dogs with wolves in order to impart strength
and stamina to the breed. Indeed, Eskimo dogs are so
closely related to wolves that there can be no question
that they are descended from them, Mr. Bartlett remarking
that they are undoubtedly " reclaimed or domesticated
wolves."

This being so, Eskimo dogs should properl}^ be called
Cants lupus instead of Canis familiaris ; and if it could be
shown that all domesticated dogs have the same ancestry,
the former name should stand for all. On the other hand,
as was long since pointed out by that acute observer the
late Sir John Richardson, the Hare Indians of North
America, who inhabit a zone lying considerably to the
south of Eskimo territory, have dogs very closely resem-
bling the small American prairie-wolf, or coyote, which
is the wild species most commonly met with in their
territory. And it may be affirmed with a considerable
degree of confidence that the Hare Indian dog presents
the same relationship to the coyote as is borne by the
Eskimo dog to the wolf. Accordingly, if we base our
nomenclature on descent, the former breed ought to be
called Cam's latrans.

THE PEDIGREE OF THE DOG 201

We have now arrived at the conclusion that domesticated
dogs trace their descent back to at least two wild species,
and we may quote once more from Mr. Bartlett, who writes
as follows : " All wolves, if taken young and reared by
man, are tame, playful, and exhibit a fondness for those
who feed and attend to them. The same may be said for
all the species of jackals. This being so, it is highly
probable that both wolves and jackals were for many ages
in the company of man, and that owing to this association
the different species of these animals may have bred
together and become domesticated."

This introduces the various species of jackals into the
problem, and since there is a marked similarity between
certain domesticated breeds of dogs and jackals, while the
native domestic dogs of nearly every country present a
more or less markedly striking likeness to one or other of
the indigenous wild Cantdae of the same district, there can
be little doubt that Canis familiaris has a multiple origin,
and that man has tamed various wild races at different
times in different parts of the globe. And it will be obvious
that where the domestication has taken place in very
remote ages, and there has been much subsequent mingling
and shifting of population, the resemblance to the wild
species will be the least marked. On the other hand,
where the taming has been comparatively recent, where
there has been no shifting of population, or where the
original breed was best adapted to the needs of its masters,
then the resemblance to the original stock will be most
likely to persist longest.

To give a few instances. Mr. Blyth was much struck
with the marked resemblance between many of the Indian
pariah dogs and the wolf of the same country — a resem-
blance to which I can testify from my own experience. In

202 MOSTLY MAMMALS

many parts of Europe the wolf-dogs and sheep-dogs are
remarkably like the races of wolves inhabiting the same
districts ; and the black Florida wolf-dog is strikingly similar
to the black wolf of that country. Sheep-dogs may there-
fore be included among the breeds descended from wolves,
and are some of those which have undergone the least
amount of modification from the parent type. On the
other hand, when we proceed to South-Eastern Europe
and the South of Asia, we meet with breeds of dogs so
like the jackals of the same districts that it is hard to
believe they are not very closely related. South Africa
is the home of that very peculiar species, the black-backed
jackal, and in many districts dogs are met with showing
a marked resemblance in form and coloration to that
species, although having lost the deep black patch on the
back from which it takes its name. It has also been
noticed that certain domesticated breeds in South America
are so like the Cams azarae of the same region as to lead
to the belief that the one is the descendant of the other.

From these and other considerations Darwin was led to
the following conclusion: "It is highly probable that the
domestic dogs of the world are descended from two well-
defined species of wolf — namely, C. lupus and C. latrans —
and from two or three doubtful species — namely, the
European, Indian, and North African wolves ; from at
least one or two South American canine species ; from
several races or species of jackal ; and perhaps from one
or more extinct species."

In all the above-mentioned instances the domesticated
breeds belong either to half-savage races, or are those
which, like wolf-dogs, sheep-dogs, and pariah dogs, have
departed but little from the original wolf or jackal type.
In some cases we have seen these breeds are kept true

THE PEDIGREE OF THE DOG 203

by crossing with the original stock, and several of them
may be comparatively modern. Such breeds throw no
light on the origin of the more specialised domesticated
breeds, such as mastiffs, spaniels, hounds, and terriers, all
of which are quite unlike any wild species, and have
evidently undergone a long course of modification, dating
back in some cases for hundreds if not thousands of years.
To trace the pedigree of such breeds is probably quite
impossible, although the investigations of archaeologists
and palaeontologists are most important in proving the
extreme antiquity of the domestication of the dog. Ancient
monuments show that at a very early period domesticated
dogs were differentiated into two very distinct breeds —
namely, those which hunt by scent like hounds, and
those which, hke greyhounds, depend upon sight in the
chase ; and when once these were established further
modifications would doubtless have soon arisen if attention
was paid to breeding. Many of these breeds and strains
were doubtless produced by crossing those derived from
different wild species, by which means all trace of the
original ancestry would gradually have been lost.

In the Roman period not only were sight-hounds and
scent-hounds fully differentiated, but there were also various
kinds of lap-dogs and house-dogs, although none quite like
our modern breeds. Even as far back as about 3000 b.c.
Egyptian frescoes show not only greyhound-like breeds,
but one with drooping ears like a hound, and a third
which has been compared to the modern turnspit ; while
house-dogs and lap-dogs came in soon afterwards. Whether
any of these are the direct ancestors of modern breeds, or
whether all such have been produced by subsequent cross-
ing, is a very difficult question to answer, more especially
when we recollect that if an ancient Egyptian artist had

204 MOSTLY MAMMALS

to draw the portrait of a modern dog it would be very
doubtful whether it would be recognised by its master or
mistress.

But the record of the antiquity of domesticated dogs
does not even stop with the earliest known Egyptian
monuments. Not only were such breeds known in Europe
during the Iron and Bronze Ages, but also during the
antecedent Neolithic or polished stone period. These have
been described by the late Prof. Riltimeyer and Dr.
Woldrich ; and those who are acquainted with the diffi-
culty of distinguishing between some of the living species
by their skulls alone will understand the laborious nature
of the task. Still, these authorities appear to have made
out that the Swiss Neolithic dog {Canis paluslris) had
certain cranial resemblances to both hounds and spaniels,
and thus indicated an advanced type, which is considered
to have been derived from neither wolves nor jackals, but
from some species now extinct. Certain other breeds have
also been recognised from the superficial deposits of the
Continent ; and if, as is very likely to be the case, any
or all of these races are the forerunners of some of the
modern breeds, it will readily be understood how complex
is the origin of the mixed group which we now call Canis
familiaris. Even in South America there is evidence of the
great antiquity of domesticated dogs, for I have described
a skull from the superficial deposits of Buenos Aires,
which, though apparently contemporaneous with many of
the wonderful extinct mammals of the Pampas, yet shows
unmistakable signs of affinity with domesticated breeds,
although the precise relationship has not yet been estab-
lished.

Perhaps, however, the greatest puzzle in the group is
the dingo, or native dog of Australia, which has been

THE PEDIGREE OF THE DOG 205

regarded as a distinct species, under the name of Cams
dingo, and is found both in the wild condition and also
in a semi-domesticated state among the natives. In
appearance it is somewhat like a rather small wolf, with
pointed ears and a bushy tail ; its usual colour being
rufous tawny, although some individuals are much paler,
and others so much darker as to be almost black.

As, with the exception of numerous peculiar kinds of
rats and mice and a few bats, Australia is populated with
marsupials to the exclusion of ordinary mammals, it was
long supposed that the dingo, which appears to be very
closely related to the Indian pariah dog, was introduced by
man. But of late years a quantity of its fossilised remains
have been dug up in various parts of Australia in association
with those of gigantic kangaroos, diprotodons, and other
extinct marsupials, in beds where there appears to be no
evidence of the presence of man. And it has consequently
been urged that the dingo is as truly indigenous to
Australia as are kangaroos and wombats. There is,
however, great difficulty in accepting this view, as the
rodents might have obtained an entrance by being carried
on floating wood, or by some other means of transport ;
and if the dingo travelled by land to Australia, other
placental mammals ought to have accompanied it. More-
over, the dingo is neither a wolf nor a jackal, but in all
essential characters a true dog of the domesticated type,
which seems scarcely separable from Cams familiaris. We
have, therefore, the further difficulty of determining, if it
be really a distinct species, from what Asiatic form it took
its origin. This difficulty is enhanced when we recollect
that throughout the Malay countries there are no wild
species of the restricted genus Canis known, the so-called
wild dogs of Java and Sumatra belonging, as already said,

2o6 MOSTLY MAMMALS

to Cyon. It is true that Messrs. Kohlbrugge and Jentink
have recently described a dog from the Tennger Mountains
in Eastern Java under the name of Canis familiaris teng-
gerana, which is apparently a semi-domesticated race living
in a partially wild condition. When more is known about
it, and its resemblances or dissimilarities to the dingo are
fully indicated, there may be a possibility of some rays of
light being shed upon the problem of the introduction of
that animal into the Antipodes.

TWO FASHIONABLE FURS

To those who are of an observant nature, an afternoon's
stroll through any of the fashionable London thoroughfares
during any of the past few winters must have revealed
the prevalence of a fashion for the beautiful furs respectively
known as blue fox and white fox. The skins of these
animals are either worn entire as boas (or " necklets," as
I am told they are called by ladies) or made up as muffs,
and in either condition are strikingly beautiful. Blue fox
has long been highly esteemed as a fur, skins selling for
between ten and fourteen guineas ten years ago. White
fox, on the other hand, has only during the last few years
been appreciated as its beauty deserves, the price per skin
having risen from between half a crown and sixteen
shillings and sixpence during 1891 to three or four
guineas, or even more, during recent years.

But it is not the price of either the blue or the white
skins I propose to discuss in detail in the present article.
The circumstance to which I desire to draw the attention
of my readers is the very remarkable one that both the
blue and the white skins belong to one and the same kind
of animal. At first sight this may seem, perhaps, a fact
of no special interest or importance. For, as we all know,
certain species of mammals, such as the stoat or ermine,
the mountain-hare, and the lemming, are normally white in

certain parts of their habitats in winter and dark-coloured in

307

2o8 MOSTLY MAMMALS

summer. Again, many mammals vary to a great extent
in coloration according to locality, so that there may be
dark-coloured and light-coloured races inhabiting different
localities. The most striking instance of this is, perhaps,
the big-horn wild sheep of North America, which in the
Rocky Mountains is a khaki-coloured animal with a white
rump, but in Alaska is nearly pure white all over through-
out the year. It is true, indeed, that American naturalists
prefer to regard the big-horns of the Rocky Mountains and
Alaska as distinct species rather than local races of a
single variable animal, but for our present purpose such
slight differences of opinion do not really affect the case
one way or the other.

That white fox and blue fox skins are not (as was once
supposed to be the case by some naturalists) the summer
and winter coats of the same individual animals will be
apparent by a comparison of furs of the two descriptions
worn by our lady friends. Both descriptions have the
same long thick hair, with a woolly under-fur at the base,
and are evidently the winter coats of the animals to which
they respectively belong. Indeed, with all long-haired
animals of the northern parts of the Old World, with the
possible exception of the Polar bear, it is the winter coat
that is alone valued by the furrier.

That blue and white foxes are not local races of the
same species (or distinct species) is evident from the fact
that in certain districts both occur together, although in
other localities (as in Iceland, where all the foxes are
blue) only one form may be met with. It is, indeed,
possible that in some cases blue and white cubs may appear
in the same litter. For instance, Prof. A. S. Packard, in
his work entitled " The Labrador Coast," states he was
informed by a native " that the white and blue fox littered

TWO FASHIONABLE FURS 209

together, but that the blue variety was very rare." Again,
in answer to inquiries on this subject, Dr. Einar Lonnberg,
of Upsala, whose observations are based on personal ex-
perience, wrote to me as follows : —

"The 'blue' foxes are uniformly dark-coloured summer
and winter, and do not change to white at any time. In
the summer they are very dark — dark brown, in fact ; in
winter they are also dark, but more bluish. The indi-
viduals which turn white in winter are during the summer
ashy grey on the upper-parts and limbs, but have the tail,
under-parts, more or less of the flanks, and the ears and
muzzle white. The distribution of the grey and white is,
however, subject to individual variation. The ' blue ' fox
is, in fact, merely an individual variety of the white one.
Both breed together, and sometimes there are dark and
light individuals in the same litter. A friend of mine
observed on Bear Island a pair in which the female was
white and the male blue. In Iceland it is stated that all
the Arctic foxes are blue."

More precise information is required on the subject of
their interbreeding, but it is quite certain that the blue fox
and white fox of the furrier are only individual phases of
the winter coat of a single species of fox.

Although it is stated that white specimens are occa-
sionally met with in summer, the white phase of the Arctic
fox (as the species is called) normally assumes a dark
coat in summer. The difference between the winter and
summer coats of this phase of the species is well illustrated
by a couple of specimens which have recently been placed
in the central hall of the Natural History branch of the
British Museum. In the case containing the mountain-
hare, ptarmigan, stoat, and weasel in their white winter
dress has been introduced a specimen of the Arctic fox in

14

2IO MOSTLY MAMMALS

the same coat. In contrast with this, the case in which
are placed the above-mentioned animals in their dark
summer costume contains a specimen of the white phase
of the Arctic fox in its dark summer coat. In this speci-
men, the hair (which is much shorter than that of the
example in the winter dress) is dirty rufous brown shading
into grey on the upper-parts and outer side of the limbs,
and yellowish white below. In other examples the colour
of the upper-parts is greyer, while the under-parts are
nearly pure white. Sometimes also, it is stated that grey
hairs are largely mingled with the white winter coat, so
that we have a more or less marked tendency towards the
blue phase even in the winter dress. In all cases the
muzzle remains black, and it is stated that there may
occasionally be a black tail-tip in the white winter dress.
I have not seen a " blue fox " in the summer dress,
but am told that the coat is then chiefly distinguished
from its winter condition by its much shorter hairs and
less pure blue colour.

Of course, the so-called " blue " of even the best skins
is a slaty or French grey rather than a blue in the proper
sense of the word, and in many instances it tends to drab
or dark purplish. Alaskan blue fox, which is somewhat
coarse in the texture of the fur, has this purplish or sooty
tinge most strongly developed, and at one time was
specially valued on this account, although of late years
the lighter varieties seem to have been chiefly in demand.

Lest any of my readers should be led to think that the
Arctic fox is a near relative of the common species, it
may be well to state, before going any farther, that it is
a very distinct animal indeed. Apart from its coloration,
the most distinctive features of the species are to be
found in its short, rounded ears (which look almost as

TWO FASHIONABLE FURS 211

though they had been cropped), moderately sharp muzzle,
very long and bushy tail, and the coat of hair on the
soles of the feet. From this latter feature the species
takes its name of Canis lagopus; the object of the hairy
soles being, of course, to afford the animal a firm foothold
on the ice and frozen snow on which it passes so much
of its time. In having two distinct colour-phases at all
seasons of the year, which may be met with in the same
locality, the Arctic fox stands practically unique among
mammals. It is true that black-maned and yellow-maned
lions may be occasionally met with in the same litter,
while black leopards and black jaguars occur now and then
among litters of cubs of the ordinary colour. But neither
of these instances is exactly on all fours with the case
of the Arctic fox. With regard to the lion, it has now
been ascertained that the black-maned and tawny-maned
specimens belong, in most cases at any rate, to distinct
local races; and it is most probable that when light- and
dark-maned cubs are met with in the same litter, it is due
to crossing between two of these races. Black or melanistic
leopards and jaguars, on the other hand, are more analogous
to albinoes, and generally occur in hot and damp climates.
The black phase of the common water-vole, found high up
in many British valleys, is an instance somewhat analogous
to that of black leopards, being apparently due to climatic
conditions, and therefore not strictly comparable with the
case of the Arctic fox.

Many invertebrate animals exhibit two or more distinct
phases — generally differing to a certain extent from each
other in details of form or structure — and to such the
name of dimorphic animals is technically applied. Natural-
ists have agreed to designate the Arctic fox by the same
title, although, were it not that it might be taken to

212 MOSTLY MAMMALS

convey an altogether different meaning, the term " dichroic "
would be more appropriate, seeing that the difference
between the two phases is solely one of colour, and has
nothing to do with shape or structure. Using, then, the
term " dimorphism " as indicative of the existence in one
animal of two distinct colour-phases totally unconnected
with either locality or season, the Arctic fox appears to be
the only mammal to which this designation can be
properly applied.

The reason for this remarkable dimorphism in the Arctic
fox is hard indeed to discover, and no satisfactory explana-
tion of the puzzle appears hitherto to have been offered.
It is almost unnecessary to say that the reason why
Arctic and sub-Arctic animals turn white in winter is that
they may be as inconspicuous as possible in their environ-
ment of snow and ice. And if blue foxes were met with
only in countries where snow lies but a short time in
winter, while white ones occurred solely in more northern
lands, some clue to the puzzle might be forthcoming. But,
as a matter of fact, this is not the case.

The distribution of the Arctic fox is circumpolar, ex-
tending in the New World about as far south as latitude
50° — that is to say, nearly to the southern extremity of
Hudson Bay — and in the Old World to latitude 60°, or,
approximately, to the latitude of Christiania and the Shet-
land Isles. Northwards the species extends at least as far
as Grinnell Land.

In Iceland all the Arctic foxes appear to belong to the
blue phase, and as that island is far to the south of many
portions of the habitat of the species, it might be thought
that this is the reason why the white phase is unrepre-
sented there. But that island is far north of the line
where the mountain-hare and the stoat begin to assume

TWO FASHIONABLE FURS 213

a white winter livery ; and if it is essential for these species
that they should assimilate their colour to that of their
surroundings, why is it not equally so in the case of the
Arctic fox ?

Again, although, as already mentioned, blue foxes are
rare in Labrador, in. Alaska they are comparatively common,
and the same is the case in Greenland, whence the Royal
Greenland Company imported 1,451 skins to Copenhagen in
1 89 1. And if it be essential for animals to turn white in
winter in any country in the world, it is surely Alaska. It
is difficult to ascertain the proportion of blue to white foxes
in either Alaska or the PribilofF Islands, but it is certain
that in both localities the two phases are found together,
living apparently under precisely the same physical con-
ditions.

As regards the islands last named, Mr. Elliot, in his
work on "The Seal Islands of Alaska," writes that "blue
and white foxes are found on the Pribiloff Islands, and
find among the countless chinks and crevices in the
basaltic formation comfortable holes and caverns for their
accommodation and retreat, feeding upon sick and pup
seals, as well as water-fowl and eggs, during the summer
and autumn, and living through the winter on dead seals
left on the rookeries and their carcases on the killing-
grounds."

This account, then, fully establishes the fact that blue
and white foxes occur in regions where, according to all
accepted rules, there ought to be none but white in-
dividuals during the long and dreary winter. It gives,
however, no definite clue to the reason for the strange
association.

There is, however, a description of the habits of Arctic
foxes in Grinnell Land given by Colonel Fielden, in his

214 MOSTLY MAMMALS

"Voyage to the Polar Sea," which may possibly throw
some light on the subject, although, unfortunately, it
does not tell us whether blue as well as white foxes
are found in that region. After referring to the numbers
of lemmings to be seen looking out from the mouths of
their holes, or feeding in the vicinity, the author proceeds
as follows : —

" We noticed that numerous dead lemmings were scat-
tered around. In every case they had been killed in the
same manner — the sharp canine teeth of the foxes had
penetrated their brain. Presently we came upon two
ermines killed in the same manner. . . . Then, to our
surprise, we discovered numerous deposits of dead lem-
mings ; in one hidden nook under a rock we pulled out
a heap of over fifty. We disturbed numerous 'caches'
of twenty and thirty, and the earth was honeycombed with
holes, each of which contained several bodies of these
little animals, a small quantity of earth being placed over
them. In one hole we found the greater part of a hare
hidden away. The wings of young brent-geese were also
lying about ; and as these birds were at this time just
hatching, it showed that they must be the results of suc-
cessful forays of prior seasons, and consequently that the
foxes occupy the same abodes from year to year. I had
long wondered how the Arctic fox exists in winter."

Now, it will be evident that in this instance the foxes
killed the prey stored up for winter use while they were
in the dark summer coat. And since in winter, when the
birds have left and the lemmings have retired to the
depths of their burrows, they have no game to capture
and no enemies to fear save Polar bears (which would
not be likely to do them much harm), it would appear
to be a matter of no consequence whether their coats be

TWO FASHIONABLE FURS 215

dark or light. Consequently, it seems a possible explana-
tion of the phenomenon under consideration that the blue
phase of the Arctic fox indicates a reversion to the
ancestral coloration of the species, due to the fact that
no advantage is to be gained by the assumption of a
white livery. Such reversion might well take place only
in certain individuals of a species, and would probably
tend to become more or less completely hereditary. Before
such an explanation can, however, be even tentatively
accepted, it is necessary to ascertain whether the blue
Arctic foxes of Iceland are in the habit of making winter
stores of provisions. If they are not, but hunt their prey
in winter, the theory will not hold good.

For animals which hunt their prey in winter, or are
themselves hunted, it would seem essential that they should
be white even in the highest latitudes, where the long
Polar night lasts three-quarters of the year, since in the
bright starlight — to say nothing of moonlight — they would,
if dark-coloured, be almost as conspicuous on the snow
as in daylight.

As regards the number of Arctic fox skins which find
their way into the market, Mr. W. Poland, writing ten years
ago, states that from twenty-five thousand to sixty thousand
of the white phase were then annually imported from
Siberia, the greater number of these coming to Leipsic.
The fur of these is of a rather coarse quality, quite different
from that of the fine-haired Greenland skins. In 1891 about
nine thousand white skins were imported by the Hudson
Bay and Alaska Companies, and nearly one thousand by
the Royal Greenland Company. Of blue skins, about
two thousand were annually imported into London by the
Alaska Company, and some five hundred to Copenhagen
by the Greenland Company, although in 1891 the number

2i6 MOSTLY MAMMALS

of skins sold by the latter body reached 1,451. It is note-
worthy that in the fur trade Greenland blue fox skins are
well known to be of the same fine-haired quality as the
white skins from the same locality, while the Alaskan blue
skins are equally coarse-haired. Consequently there is
presumptive evidence of the existence of a Greenland and
an Alaskan race of the species ; and, as a matter of fact,
American naturalists have recently split up the Arctic fox
into several distinct forms, some of which are regarded as
species.

^THE SEA-OTTER AND ITS EXTERMINATION

A FEW summers ago a gentleman with whom I am
acquainted spent his hoHday in shooting and fishing on
the west coast of Ireland, and in the course of his trip
procured several fine otter-skins, taken in some of the
bays of that picturesque district. As these otters lived in
the sea, my friend, who does not profess to be a naturalist,
jumped to the conclusion that they were sea-otters ; and
as he had heard of the value attaching to the pelts of the
latter animal, was not a little elated at having obtained
such spolia opinia at such small cost. And it came some-
what as a shock to him when he heard that otters living
in the sea were not necessarily sea-otters in the zoological
sense of the term, and that to procure specimens of the
latter he would have to journey to the shores of the islands
and continents of the North Pacific.

Now although it is improbable that many of my readers
would be likely to confound an ordinary otter which has
taken up its residence on the coast with its truly marine
cousin, yet before entering upon the consideration of the
habits and impending extermination of the latter, a few
words relating to some of the leading points of distinction
between the two animals will scarcely be wasted.

Ordinary otters, then (of which there are numerous
species, ranging over nearly all the habitable parts of the
globe where water is plentiful), are animals nearly allied

217

2i8 MOSTLY MAMMALS

to the martens and weasels, but specially modified for the
needs of an aquatic life, and furnished with teeth adapted
to seize and hold the slippery prey on which they subsist.
Since, however, they are much less exclusively aquatic
than seals, spending much of their time on shore, their
structural variations from the ordinary mammalian type
are far less marked than is the case in the members of
the latter group. The toes, for instance, are not webbed,
and neither pair of limbs shows a tendency towards a
paddle-like form, although both are relatively short. In
addition to this shortening of the limbs, the points chiefly
noticeable as adaptations for swimming are the great breadth
and flatness of the head, the small size of the ears, the
absence of a distinctly defined neck, the elongated and
flattened body, moderately long and powerful tail, and the
denseness and softness of the fur. As regards the teeth,
it will suffice to mention that while these conform to the
general marten type, the hinder ones are remarkable for
the greater extent of grinding surface, the last upper molar
especially being distinguished by the peculiarly squared
form of its crown. In all these teeth the cusps are re-
markably strong and sharp, and thus suited for piercing
the scales of fish.

Contrast these features with those distinctive of the sea-
otter — which, by the way, is the only representative of
its kind. In addition to its being a shorter- and thicker-
bodied creature, with a still broader muzzle and no
definable neck at all, the sea-otter is at once distinguished
by the structure of its hind-feet, which are fully webbed,
and so lengthened and expanded as almost to simulate
paddles ; the extremities of the toes being, it is said,
turned down beneath the sole when on land. The tail,
too, is thicker, less tapering, and more flattened than that

THE SEA-OTTER AND ITS EXTERMINATION 219

of an ordinary otter. The skin invests the body as loosely
as a pillow-case covers a pillow ; and the dark brown fur
is unrivalled for its softness, depth, and density. But
even more remarkable is the difference between the cheek-
teeth of the two animals. In place of the sharply cusped
grinders of the common otter, the marine species has the
crowns of these teeth surmounted by smooth ill-defined
bosses, separated by narrow crack-like lines ; the one type
having been aptly compared to freshly chipped flints, and
the other to water-worn pebbles. Clearly such structural
differences must be correlated with a totally different
description of diet, and, in place of being a fish-eater,
the sea-otter subsists by grinding up sea-urchins, clams,
mussels, and such-like, shells and all.

Had we living animals alone to guide us, there might
be some hesitation in saying that the sea-otter is a highly
modified offshoot from the stock of the ordinary otter, but
the evidence of extinct forms indicates the probability of
this being the case. Fossil remains of true otters occur
comparatively low down in the series of rocks belonging
to the Tertiary period ; and somewhat higher in the scale
are found, both in Europe and India, those of an extinct
genus {Enhydriodon), in which the cheek-teeth are to a
certain extent intermediate between the types respectively
characteristic of the ordinary and the sea-otters. These
intermediate extinct otters appear, however, to have been
fresh-water animals, so that purely marine habits would
seem to have been acquired only with the advent of the
modern sea-otter.

The geographical range of the latter on the American
side formerly included Alaska, the Aleutian and Pribiloff
Islands, Sitka, and Vancouver Island, and thus down
the coast to California; while on the opposite shore it

220 MOSTLY MAMMALS

embraced Kamtchatka and the Komandorksi and Kurile
Islands.

Numerous accounts of the habits and capture of this
valuable animal have been published as the results of the
observations of naturalists and hunters on both sides of its
habitat, many of these relating to times when it was still
more or less abundant, and its pelts consequently did not
realise the extravagant prices now current. The attention
recently directed to the fur-seals of Bering Sea has resulted
in equally important observations with regard to the sea-
otters of the same region, and the results of some of these
are recorded in a pamphlet issued by the Treasury Depart-
ment of the Washington Government, drawn up by the
Commandant of the Bering Sea Patrol Fleet, Captain
C. L. Hooper. As in the case of the fur-seals, the same
sad story of ruthless destruction and relentless persecution
is unfolded ; and while the animal has already been com-
pletely swept away from several of its original haunts,
there is great danger of its complete extermination from
this side of the Pacific unless adequate means for its pro-
tection are promptly devised and effectually carried into
execution.

From the same report it appears that when the Russians
first visited Alaska its shores literally abounded with sea-
otters, which were relentlessly hunted and slain, affording
a rich harvest to their captors. In consequence of this,
after a period of about fifty years — that is to say, towards
the close of the eighteenth century — a notable decrease
in numbers was observable ; and by the same date the
otters, which were said to have swarmed on the Pribiloffs
at the time of their discovery in 1786, had almost com-
pletely disappeared from these islands. From the close of
he eighteenth century till the taking over of the country

THE SEA-OTTER AND ITS EXTERMINATION 221

by the United States, the Russian-American Company had
the practical control of the Alaskan territory, and formu-
lated regulations for otter-hunting, by which the total
catch was limited and a restriction placed upon the number
captured by individual natives.

In the earlier days the sea-otters were in the habit of
coming ashore, both to feed on the sea-urchins and shell-
fish thrown up by the tide, and also for the purposes of
repose and breeding. The otters were either captured in
nets or killed by means of spears or clubs. Only males
were, however, then slaughtered ; the hunters being taught
to distinguish the females, even when in the water, by the
difference in the colour and shape of the head and neck.
And when hunting on shore the utmost care was taken to
prevent disturbing the animals more than necessary, and
also to leave as few traces as possible of human presence.

Notwithstanding these regulations, the sea-otters con-
tinued to diminish in number; and, in addition to the
Pribiloffs, had already disappeared from certain districts
at the date of the transference of Alaska to America.
After this date, although the hunters for several years
adhered to some extent to the old rules, the destruction
became much more rapid, and all precautions for the
preservation of the breed were ignored. Numerous cod-
fisheries were established on some of the banks ; and the
people thus collected, together with the refuse left on the
shore, rendered many districts unsuitable to the otter.
Moreover, there were no regulations to prevent white
men from killing as many animals as they pleased ; and
as the sea-otter was by far the most valuable inhabitant
of the shores, it naturally came in for the largest share
of attention.

Harassed on all sides — netted in the sea, clubbed and

222 MOSTLY MAMMALS

shot on shore, its landing-grounds rendered uninhabitable by
human presence as well as by the refuse of the fisheries
and the decaying bodies of its own companions — the sea-
otter, as might have been expected, has totally changed
its original mode of life. Instead of hauling out on shore
to feed, repose, and breed, it now sleeps and breeds on
floating masses of seaweed, while its feeding-grounds are
banks in some thirty fathoms of water. But even in these
situations the unfortunate animals enjoy no peace, but are
hunted and harassed by fleets of schooners from March
till August. From many of its old habitats it has more
or less completely disappeared, all the grounds to the
west of Unimak Pass being practically deserted. On a
few of the banks, indeed, a stray otter may now and then
be captured at long intervals, but on others not a single
head has been observed for the last ten years or so. At
the present day most of the otters captured in the Aleutians
are taken on the banks lying to the south-west of Kadiak.
These banks are bounded on the north-west by the Alaska
peninsula, on the north-east by Kadiak Island, to the
south-east by the Trinity Islands, and to the south-west
by the Semedi Islands.

Between the years 1873 and 1883 inclusive, the approxi-
mate number of sea-otters annually captured by the
natives of the Aleutian Islands varied between 2,500 and
4,000. The latter number was exceeded in 1885, but from
that year there has been a rapid decrease, as is shown by
the following figures — viz., 1886,3,604; 1887,3,095; 1888,
2,496; 1889, 1,795; 1890, 1,633; 1891, 1,436; 1892, 820;
1893, 686; 1894, 598; 1895, 887; 1896, 724.

This very heavy numerical decrease has been accom-
panied by an equally marked rise in the price of the
skins. In 1888 the average price per skin was £21 lOs.,

THE SEA-OTTER AND ITS EXTERMINATION 223

in 1889 it had increased to £l2)t ^-^d in 1891 to £S7, since
which date the price has again risen. For specially fine
skins ^88 was considered a record price some years ago,
but now ;^iOO is by no means uncommon, and ;^200, and
even ^^^225, have been paid for unusually splendid specimens.

As regards the methods of capture, clubbing and spearing
are probably the least wasteful, few, if any, of the animals
thus killed being lost. The gun is less satisfactory, as
many wounded animals escape to die a lingering death.
But the most wasteful of all is the net. Unless the animals
be removed from the net within a few hours after death
their skins are irretrievably ruined by the attacks of the
myriads of minute crustaceans which swarm in the Arctic
seas. Netting can be effected only in stormy weather, the
nets being stretched from the shore to some convenient
rocks ; and frequently it is impossible to visit them for
days together, when such captures as they may contain
are valueless.

But the great diminution in the numbers of the sea-otter,
although bad enough, is by no means the most serious
element in the matter. Ever since the Russians took
possession, hunting the sea-otter has afforded the chief
means of livelihood to the Aleutian islanders. On this
point Captain Hooper writes as follows : " The decrease
in the yearly catch has already brought some of the settle-
ments to the verge of want, and if they are allowed to
become exterminated, actual suffering and even starvation
can only be averted b}/ Government aid. Properly pro-
tected and reserved exclusively for the use of the natives,
the otter, while it can probably never be brought up to
its former numbers, can be preserved from extermination,
and will furnish a means of subsistence for these people
for many years."

224 MOSTLY MAMMALS

Although there is some little doubt in the matter, it
appears probable that the whole of the present haunts of
the sea-otter are within the territory of the American
Government, and if this be the case there will be no need
for an international agreement. Captain Hooper has com-
piled a code of regulations for provisional acceptance by the
Government, and as these appear in every way admirably
suited to effect the object for which they were drawn, it
must be the earnest hope of every naturalist that they will
be sanctioned and put into operation with the least possible
delay.

A GIANT AMONG SEALS

Few generalisations have taken a firmer hold of the
popular imagination than the notion that the animals of
to-day bear no sort of comparison with their predecessors
of the past in respect of bodily size, and that, so far as
the giants of the animal kingdom are concerned, we are
living in a dwarfed and impoverished world. Like most
popular conceptions, this idea contains a considerable
element of truth mingled with a large amount of mis-
conception. In the first place, there is no accurate defi-
nition of what is meant by " the past." If it mean only
those epochs of the earth's history previous to the advent
of man, it is unquestionably inaccurate. If, on the other
hand, it also embrace the prehistoric portion of man's
sojourn on the globe, it has scarcely a claim to be regarded
as a fair or accurate statement of the true state of the
case, seeing that the extermination of a very considerable
percentage of the large animals of the epoch in question
has been the work of man himself — a work, unhappily,
which is still proceeding apace.

But, in addition to this, the animals of one geological
epoch are very frequently confounded with those of another,
so that dinosaurs and mosasaurs, ichthyosaurs and plesio-
saurs, mastodons and mammoths, and glyptodons and
ground-sloths are often spoken of as if contemporaries and
inhabitants of the same country.

225 IS

226 MOSTLY MAMMALS

If such were really the case, we should indeed be living
in an impoverished epoch of the world's history ; but if
we take the term "present" in not too narrow a sense,
and also bear in mind that Europe, and such other parts
of the world as have been more or less thickly populated
for untold ages, scarcely form a fair basis of comparison,
it will be manifest that the idea in question is to a con-
siderable extent due to misconceptions and inaccuracies of
the nature of those referred to above.

It is true that in certain portions of the world the
larger forms of animal life disappeared at an epoch when
man can scarcely be regarded as having taken a promi-
nent part in their extermination ; a notable example of this
kind being South America, where the huge ground-sloths,
toxodons, and macrauchenias of the latter part of the
Tertiary epoch disappeared with seeming suddenness in
what is to us an unaccountable manner. The extermi-
nation of the mammoth, the woolly rhinoceros, and the
hippopotamus from Europe, although partly, perhaps,
attributable to climatic change, has not improbably been
accelerated by man's influence; and the same may be true
with regard to some of the larger mammals of ancient
India.

In the latter country we have, however, still the Indian
elephant, the great one-horned rhinoceros, and the wild
buffalo, which, although not actually the largest repre-
sentatives of their kind, are yet enormous animals. In
Africa the presence of animals of large corporeal bulk is
more noticeable. Although the extinct elephant of the
Norfolk " forest-bed " is stated to have been the biggest
of its tribe, it is very doubtful if it was really larger
than the living African elephant ; and the so-called white
rhinoceros, in the days of its abundance, was certainly not

A GIANT AMONG SEALS 227

inferior in point of size to any of its extinct relatives.
The giraffe, again, which in the Mount Elgon district is
stated to tower to twenty feet, is much taller than any extinct
quadruped yet known to us ; and the hippopotamus falls
but little short of its ancestors of the Pleistocene epoch.
The elands, again, are by far the largest of antelopes
known at any period of the earth's history ; and the
ostrich, although not comparable with some of the New
Zealand moas (which, by the way, were probabl}' exter-
minated only a few centuries ago by the Maoris), is yet
the largest member of its own particular group. Again,
no fossil ape is known which is anywhere in the running
as compared with a full-grown male gorilla. It is, more-
over, probable, despite the old-world legends of giants,
that man at the present day is, on the whole, a taller and
finer animal than he ever was before.

Of course, there are certain cases where the animals of
to-day cannot compare with some of their predecessors,
and a case in point is afforded by the extinct atlas tor-
toise of Northern India, which (although its size has
been vastly exaggerated) far exceeded in bulk its living
cousins of the Galapagos and Mascarenes. This, however,
may perhaps be accounted for by the larger area of its
habitat.

Among the inhabitants of the ocean we shall find even
more striking testimony as to the large bodily size (either
absolute or relative) attained by many animals of the
present day. Probably no mollusc was ever larger than
the giant clam, whose valves measure a yard or more in
length ; and we have no evidence that the enormous cuttles
and squids forming the food of the sperm-whale were
ever rivalled in size during past epochs. The huge long-
limbed crab of the Japanese seas, and the cocoanut crab

228 MOSTLY MAMMALS

(which is but a marine creature that has taken to a ter-
restrial existence) of the islands of the Indian Ocean, are
likewise probably the giants of their kind. At no epoch
of the earth's history have we any record of an animal
approaching in size the blue rorqual, with its length of
between eighty and ninety feet, and its weight of, probably,
at least as many tons. The sperm-whale and the Green-
land right-whale were, at the time of their abundance,
certainly the largest of their respective kinds ; while the
basking-shark has probably been unequalled in bulk by
any of its predecessors. The great white shark of the
present day is indeed considerably inferior in size to its
cousins whose teeth now strew the floor of the Pacific ;
but these latter lived at no very distant period, and may
possibly still survive. Walruses were never larger than
they are at the present day, and the dugongs and manatis
of the seas of our own days were fully as large as any
of their ancestors of which we have ken ; while the north-
ern sea-cow of Bering Sea — exterminated only a century
and a half ago — was in this respect far ahead of all other
competitors.

The same is true with regard to the animal forming
the subject of the present article — the sea-elephant, or,
better, the elephant-seal — which so vastly exceeds in size
all other members of its tribe, that even the largest sea-
lions and walruses, when placed alongside its huge bulk,
look dwarfs by comparison. But it is not only from its
vast size that this seal is of more than ordinary interest,
since it is remarkable for many peculiarities in structure
and habits, approaching the eared seals (or sea-lions and
sea-bears) more closely than is the case with any other of
the true or earless seals. It has also, unhappily, an interest
attaching to it on account of its impending extermination.

A GIANT AMONG SEALS 229

Elephant-seals frequent the shores of many of the
islands of the South Seas, where they spend a long time
on land during the breeding season, and also occurred
formerly on the Pacific Coast of North America from Cape
Lazaro to Point Reyes, California, where they are now
practically extinct. As these Californian elephant-seals
were completely isolated from those inhabiting the South
Sea Islands, they are regarded by American naturalists as
constituting a species by themselves ; but since their
distinction from the typical southern form is but slight, it
seems preferable to look upon them in the light of an
isolated local race. These seals never appear to wander
south to the Antarctic pack-ice.

Our first definite, if not actual, knowledge of the elephant-
seal seems to have been derived from a specimen brought
to England by Lord Anson in 1744 from the island of
Juan Fernandez, and the figure and account given in the
" Voyage Round the World " of that great commander,
where the species is called " sea-lyon." Lord Anson
seems to have obtained a male and female specimen
(" lyon " and " lyoness " he calls them), the former ot
which was stuffed and exhibited in the British Museum.
What its dimensions were is now unknown — a somewhat
unfortunate matter, since it was probably a full-grown
adult male of larger size than any, or the majority, of
those to be met with at the present day. After being
exposed in the Museum galleries for considerably more
than half a century, probably without any protection
from dust and the still more mischievous hands of
visitors (who then, as now, doubtless displayed an irre-
sistible impulse to handle every accessible object), the
specimen must certainly have shown marked signs of
wear and tear. Anyway, if we may judge by the fact

230 MOSTLY MAMMALS

that the jaws and teeth, which had been mounted in
the skin, were sold by the Museum to the Royal College
of Surgeons in 1809, the specimen appears to have been
destroyed early in the last century. The aforesaid jaws
and teeth are still preserved in the museum of the College
of Surgeons.

Although many years later a female skin, presented by
the Admiralty, was mounted and exhibited, from the date
of the destruction of Lord Anson's specimen the British
Museum till quite recently had no example of either skin
or skeleton of an adult male of this giant seal to show
the public. The deficiency has been made good by the
generosity of Mr. Walter Rothschild, and the mounted
skin and skeleton of two nearly adult males are now
exhibited in the same case. Unfortunately the taxidermist
has not been as successful as he might have been in the
mounting of the skin ; but nevertheless the specimens
suffice to convey an adequate idea of the huge bulk of
the creature and the leading peculiarities of its form.

It may be mentioned here that Anson's figure and
description afforded to Linnaeus his only knowledge of the
species, and upon this evidence was established his Phoca
leonina, the specific title being the equivalent of Anson's
"sea-lyon." As the real sea-lions are totally different
animals — eared seals, in fact — it is a great pity that this
name was ever given, but, as being the earliest, it has to
stand, and cannot be replaced, as proposed by some writers,
by the more appropriate elephantina. As the elephant-
seal differs very widely from the common seal and its
immediate relatives, it could not, of course, with the advance
of zoological science, be suffered to remain in the same
genus, and it accordingly now typifies a group by itself
under the name of Macrorhinus leoninus.

A GIANT AMONG SEALS 231

The generic title Macrorhinns refers to the most dis-
tinctive feature of the species, the pecuHar trunk-Hke form
of the muzzle of the old males. Not only do the male
and female elephant-seal differ in regard to the form of
the muzzle (the trunk being undeveloped in the last-named
sex), but there is also a vast inferiority in the size of the
latter as compared with the former. So marked, indeed,
is this discrepancy, that an early observer is stated in
WeddelFs " Voyage " to have mistaken the two sexes for
mother and young.

From the testimony of old "beach-combers" and others
who have hunted them in their native haunts, it seems
evident that the dimensions now attained by sea-elephants
fall far short of those reached in the old days, when they
abounded on the islands of the South Seas, and were
permitted to grow to their full size. In the majority of
text-books twenty feet is given as the length of the species ;
but it is definitely known that specimens at the present
day frequently reach or exceed this length, and as none
of these (as exemplified by the condition of the bones in
the British Museum and other skeletons received of late
years in England) appear to be fully adult, it seems well-
nigh certain that old bulls must have grown to much
greater size. Probably twenty-five feet would not be an
undue estimate for the length of an adult male, and it is
far from improbable that close upon thirty feet may have
been reached in some cases.

Among the favourite haunts of the elephant-seal were
the islands of the Crozet group, Kerguelen, and St. Paul,
in the Indian Ocean, as well as Heard Island. In the
South Atlantic these monsters formerly abounded on
Tristan-da-Cunha, and nearer the American coast they are
again met with farther south on the Falklands, South

232 MOSTLY MAMMALS

Georgia, and the South Shetlands. On the eastern side
of the Pacific they occur, as recorded by Lord Anson, on
Juan Fernandez, and thence by way of the Marquesas to
the Macquarie and other islands south of New Zealand,
where the British Museum specimens were obtained. The}^
were likewise common on the coasts of Tierra del Fuego
and Southern Patagonia ; and the occurrence of the isolated
colony north of the equator in California has been already
mentioned.

The trunk-like muzzle of the old bull sea-elephant, like
the sac on the crown of the head of its relative the bladder-
seal, is capable of inflation during periods of excitement,
but at other times is small and relatively inconspicuous.
Probably it is only when the animals are on shore, and
more especially during the breeding season, that the trunk
is inflated to its full extent. The sketch in Lord Anson's
" Voyage," although true to nature in some respects, is in
many ways a caricature, and it is only of late years that
photographs have been obtained showing the true form of
the animal. From these it appears that when on land the
old bulls are in the habit of supporting the fore-part of
the body on the front flippers and raising the neck and
head into a nearly vertical posture, so that the latter is
fully six feet above the ground. When the trunk is
inflated to its fullest extent, the mouth is opened, and the
animal emits a succession of terrific roars, which may be
heard for miles.

In using its front flippers as a means of support to this
extent, the elephant-seal is quite unlike the rest of the
earless seals, and resembles the sea-lions and sea-bears.
It also agrees with the latter group in the great superiority
of the males to the females in point of bodily size. A
third point of resemblance between elephant-seals and

A GIANT AMONG SEALS 233

eared seals is shown by their breeding habits, which are
in many respects similar. On the Crozet Islands, for
example, where they arrive about the middle of August,
the old bulls secure a station for themselves. They do
not, however, pass any long period without taking food,
neither do they collect "harems" for themselves after the
manner of the sea-bears and sea-lions ; the females selecting
a station for themselves some distance away. Soon after
landing the females give birth to their young, which are at
first black, and, although there is some discrepancy between
different accounts, it seems probable that both sexes remain
with their offspring till the latter are ready to enter the
sea, which they usually do when about six or seven weeks
old. When they have once taken to a maritime life, the
young sea-elephants are said to grow at a prodigious rate ;
and, indeed, unless they take many years to attain full
maturity, this must necessarily be the case.

As just indicated, the few accounts that have been given
of the breeding habits of these seals by no means accord
with one another, and this is the more to be regretted
since, owing to the comparative scarcity of the species at
the present day, it is very unlikely that an authentic
history will ever be given to the world.

The extermination of this giant seal, so far as it has as
yet gone, is a sad story, accompanied as it is by details of
revolting and fiendish cruelty. In the eighteenth and the
early part of the nineteenth century these seals were met
with in thousands on most of their island haunts as well
as on the shores of Patagonia, but the ease with which
they could be killed, and the value of their hides and oil,
soon led to a vast reduction in their numbers ; and in
many of their old breeding-places, such as the Falklands,
they are either very scarce or are altogether exterminated.

234 MOSTLY MAMMALS

On Heard Island they still survive in considerable numbers,
owing to the difficulty of gaining access to their favourite
breeding-ground, to reach vi^hich from the shore two
glaciers have to be crossed. The difficulty of removing
the oil and hides from such a locality has, however, been
to a considerable extent overcome by driving the seals to
sea during stormy weather, when they are compelled to
seek an easier landing-place. In the Macquarie Islands
elephant-seals appear to be still found in considerable
numbers, but the difficulty, or impossibility, of obtaining a
fully adult male tells its own tale as to the persecution to
which the species is subject ; and it is only too palpable
that long before the middle of the present century elephant-
sealing will have been abandoned as an unprofitable trade.
But by that time we shall really be living in an impoverished
world, so far as large animals are concerned.

^ THE FLYING'SQUIRRELS OF ASIA AND

AFRICA

Despite the repetition of the statement as to their essential
structural difference in almost every work on popular natural
history issued to the public, few persons, save those who
have made anatomy a special study, can be induced to
believe that swallows and swifts are not closely allied
birds. And it may be presumed that an equal degree of
increduHty will prevail in the minds of most people when
they are told that the two animals whose portraits are
given in the plates accompanying have no sort of intimate
relationship, being in fact much more widely sundered from
one another than are such apparently dissimilar creatures
as a squirrel and a beaver. An instance of this incredulity
has indeed been actually published with regard to the
figured species of the so-called African flying-squirrels, or,
as they might be better termed, scale-tailed squirrels. Now
this particular species of the group was sent home from
Central Africa by Emin Pasha in the 'eighties, and described
and figured under the name of Anomalurus pusillus by Mr.
Thomas, of the British Museum, in 1887 and 1888. Three
years later the figure (the one here reproduced) appeared
in Major Casati's " Ten Years in Equatoria," with the
following remarks : —

" The flying squirrel {Mboma) lives in the forests, almost
always upon the branches of the trees, whence it throws

23s

236 MOSTLY MAMMALS

itself, expanding the membrane which joins the feet to the
body, Uke a parachute. The skin is used as an ornament.
I think it is identical with one very common in the island
of Ceylon, which is almost tame."

The extraordinary misconception as to the affinities of
the creature displayed in the last sentence of this quotation
will be apparent when I say that the scale-tailed squirrels
—whether furnished with a flying membrane or not — are
absolutely restricted to Africa, where not a single repre-
sentative of the true flying-squirrels of Asia and Europe
exists.

The reason why these two very dissimilar groups of
animals are regarded in popular estimation as near relatives
is, of course, due to the fact that both are furnished with
expansions of skin by means of which they are enabled
to take flying leaps from bough to bough. Such flying
membranes are developed in very few mammals, and the
popular idea is that the presence of such a membrane must
necessarily imply intimate affinity between all the forms in
which it occurs. Hence not only are the African flying
scale-tailed squirrels associated with the typical flying-
squirrels, but the still more widely separated flying-phalangers
of Australasia are likewise regarded as members of the same
group.

In making such associations the public fail to recognise
that similar structures may be produced in totally different
groups of animals owing to their living under similar special
conditions, or having peculiar habits of the same nature. In
external appearance rodents belonging to different families,
such as squirrels and dormice, may be very much alike ;
and if certain members of each group had acquired the same
mode of life as the flying-squirrels, their similarity would
probably have become still more noticeable. For unless

Ax Ai KiL.v.N S( Ai l-Tail in Vi.u.ii

[To face p, 236

THE FLYING-SQUIRRELS OF ASIA AND AFRICA 237

the whole skeleton of the fore-limbs be so modified as to
form a wing, as in bats, it is difficult to see how ordinary
mammals could be endowed with the power of taking flying
leaps save by the development of an expanse of skin along
the sides of the body in the manner which obtains in the
true flying-squirrels, the scale-tailed flying-squirrels, the
flying-phalangers, and, it may be added, the flying-lemurs.

The development of flying membranes in all these four
groups of mammals has, in fact, taken place quite inde-
pendently, and affords an interesting example of what is
known as parallelism in development. Such parallelisms
are due, so to speak, to the poverty of possibilities in
the way of modification of animal structures. As already
said, the simplest and most obvious way of endowing an
ordinary four-limbed mammal with the power of taking
flying leaps is by the development of lateral expansions
of skin. Similarly, the only easily conceivable method by
which a primitive short-limbed and many-toed hoofed
mammal could be converted into one cut out for speed,
like a horse or a gazelle, is by reducing the number of
the digits and increasing the length of the lower segments
of the limbs. Accordingly, we find parallehsm in this
respect between the horses and the zebras on the one hand,
and the gazelles, antelopes, and deer on the other.

But the parallelism is by no means exact in this latter
case, as indeed would be naturally expected if the lines
of evolution were distinct ; and the structure of the lower
portion of the limb of a horse differs essentially from the
same part in a gazelle.

Neither is the parallelism exact in the case of the two
groups of flying-squirrels. In the flying-squirrels of Europe
and Asia, such as the one depicted in the plate, the
flying membrane, or parachute, is merely a lateral expansion

238 MOSTLY MAMMALS

of the ordinary skin of the body, which extends outwards
between the limbs as far as the wrists and ankles. In
addition to the two lateral membranes, there is a narrow
and inconspicuous one passing from each cheek along the
front of the shoulder to the front of the wrist ; and another,
at least in the larger forms, connecting the two hind-legs
and involving the base of the tail.

In general characters the parachute of the scale-tailed
flying-squirrels of Africa conforms to the above type ; and
a superficial observer might say that the two were in all
respects similar. A closer examination will, however, reveal
the fact that the parachute in this group is supported by
a process of cartilage projecting like a yard-arm from the
elbow and extending to the edge of the membrane. As
this is present in all the scale-tails (as we may call them
for short, especially as they have no right at all to the
title of squirrels) and absent in all the true flying-squirrels,
it evidently indicates an important difference between the
two groups.
^ A further important distinction between them is afforded
by the presence on the under-surface of the basal portion of
the tail of a series of overlapping horny scales, from which
the African group takes both its popular title of scale-tail
and its scientific name of Anomalurus. Evidently these
scales are intended to aid in supporting the animals as
they climb the boughs or stems of trees, and they are
thus strictly analogous to the stiff tail-feathers of wood-
peckers.

Yet another difference between the two groups is to be
found in the structure of the crowns of their cheek-teeth.
In ordinary squirrels the grinding surfaces of these teeth
are surmounted by simple tubercles, which in some cases
may be elongated into ridges. And a similar type of

The Woolly Flying-Squirrel of Astor and Gilgit.

\To face p. 23S

THE FLYING-SQUIRRELS OF ASIA AND AFRICA 239

tooth-structure obtains in most of the flying-squirrels of
Europe and Asia, although in the species shown in the
plate the structure has become somewhat more complicated
owing to the taller crowns of these teeth. In the scale-tails,
on the other hand, a totally different type of tooth-structure
obtains, the crowns of the molars being divided by trans-
verse folds of enamel, after a fashion recaUing that which
prevails in certain South American rodents.

To the anatomist these differences are sufficient to render
it quite certain that the scale-tailed flying-squirrels are, at
most, but very remotely connected with their non-scaled
namesakes of the northern hemisphere. The non-scientific
person might, however, say that the " yard-arm " in the
parachute and the scales on the tail are features which
have been developed concomitantly with the acquisition of
the parachute itself in certain species of flying-squirrels,
and that, like the differences in the structure of the teeth,
they are of no particular importance one way or the other
in regard to the affinities of the animals in which they
occur.

A few years ago it would have been impossible to
produce absolutely decisive evidence as to the futility of
such specious arguments. Recently, however, there has
been discovered on the West Coast of Africa — that home
of strange and primitive types of animal life — a rodent
looking not unlike a large dormouse, which is really the
"grandfather" of all the flying scale-tails. For this creature
(known as Zenkerella), although without a parachute, has
scales on its tail like Anomalurus, and teeth of the same
type as the latter. Whether it is the actual form from
which the flying scale-tails are descended, or whether it
is itself a descendant of such ancestral form, may be left
an open question, as it is one of no practical importance.

240 MOSTLY MAMMALS

But it may be taken as certain that the flying scale-tails —
of which, by the way, there are two distinct generic types
{Anomalurus and Idiurus) — are the specialised descendants
of a creature closely allied to, if not identical with, Zenkerella.
It may further be affirmed with certainty that the evolution
of the flying from the non-flying scale-tails has taken place
in Africa. Whether, however, Zenkerella itself is an aborigi-
nal African type, or an immigrant into the dark continent
from the north, is a question difficult to answer at the
present time.

Although the flying-squirrels of Europe and Asia have
been known from time immemorial, their pedigree is not
so easy to trace as is that of the scale-tails. Probably
they were evolved from non-flying squirrels at an earlier
date than that at which Anomalnnis branched off from
Zenkerella (or its prototype), as they appear to be repre-
sented by teeth in some of the earlier Tertiary deposits
of Europe. It is therefore quite probable that even the
generic types from which they trace their descent have
died out. Nevertheless, it may be considered practically
certain that they are descended from rodents more or less
nearly allied to the true squirrels of the genus Sciurus.
Their pedigree is therefore wholly distinct from that of their
reputed cousins, the scale-tailed flying-squirrels of Equatorial
Africa.

In appearance the true flying-squirrels, of which there
are three distinct generic types, are very similar to
ordinary squirrels, as indeed they are in their habits ;
their long flying leaps, during which they half float in the
air by the aid of the parachute, being only an extension
of the bounds taken by the ordinary red squirrel in its
passage from tree to tree. Many of them are even more
beautifully coloured than ordinary squirrels. Compared

THE FLYING-SQUIRRELS OF ASIA AND AFRICA 241

with the latter, flying-squirrels are more strictly nocturnal
animals ; and their shrill scream is familiar to all travellers
in the wooded districts of the Himalayas, as they are
attracted by the light of the camp-fire.

The smallest members of the group are the pigmy
flying-squirrels, typified by Sciuropterus volans of Eastern
Europe and Siberia, and represented in North America
by the closely allied S. volucella. They are pretty little
creatures, with soft velvety fur and enormous staring
black eyes. In all the pigmy flying-squirrels the mem-
brane connecting the hind-legs and the base of the tail is
absent ; but, in compensation, the tail itself is broad, flat,
and laterally expanded, so as to form an efficient aid in
flight.

The typical and larger flying-squirrels, formerly known
as Pteromys but now called Petaurista, are confined to
Europe and Asia, having no transatlantic representative.
Unlike that of the pigmy flying-squirrels, the tail of these
rodents is cylindrical and comparatively thin, while, as
already said, the parachute is fully developed between the
hind-limbs.

In the last and finest representation of all the flying-
squirrels — the species shown in the accompanying plate —
the writer has a special personal interest. About the
year 1878, when in Srinagar, Kashmir, he purchased
the skin of a large flying-squirrel from a chamra-walla
(tanner), who stated that it came from Astor or Gilgit,
and that he had never previously seen its like. In due
course this skin was brought to England, and converted
into a perambulator-rug, in which capacity it was in use
for several years, on one occasion narrowly escaping
complete destruction by the jaws of a favourite pug-dog.
At this period, it may be mentioned that the writer was

i6

242 MOSTLY MAMMALS

less well acquainted with mammals, so far as their exteriors
are concerned, than he is at the present day. And
although he had a suspicion that the skin in question
was peculiar, no steps were taken to ascertain whether
this was really the case. One day, however, in 1888,
when paying a visit to the Natural History Museum, he
was shown a living flying-squirrel from Astor, remarkable
for its dark colour and bushy tail, which was pronounced
to represent a then unknown species. A brief inspection
was sufficient to render it evident that the skin serving as
a perambulator-rug belonged to the same species as the
living animal, although a much larger and finer individual.
It was soon after presented to the Museum, and described,
in conjunction with the complete specimen, not only as
the type of a new species, but of a new genus, under the
title of Eupetaurus cinereus. Owing to the splendid de-
velopment of the tail in the flat skin, the figure of which
a reproduction is given in the plate was partly drawn
from that specimen.

The main reason for making the woolly flying-squirrel
(as, from the nature of its coat, it has been called) the
type of a genus by itself is afforded by the characters of
its cheek-teeth, which differ from those of other members
of the group by their tall crowns and imperfectly developed
roots. This character indicates greater specialisation than
the ordinary flying-squirrels. Unfortunately little or
nothing is known as to the life-history of this splendid
representative of the flying-squirrels, but there is some
reason to believe that it dwells, at least to a certain extent,
among rocks rather than in trees.

Although they do not properly come within the scope
of the present article, a few words may be said with
regard to the flying-phalangers (the flying-squirrels of the

THE FLYING-SQUIRRELS OF ASIA AND AFRICA 243

colonists) of Australia, since in one respect they present
a curious analogy with the flying-squirrels of the Old
World, It need hardly be said that these Australian
flying-phalangers are true marsupials, with a dentition
resembling that of the ordinary phalangers, or, as they
are locally called, opossums. The larger flying-phalangers,
which constitute the genus Petaurns, are characterised by
the full development of the parachute and the rounded
bushy tail. As in the case of the Asiatic flying squirrels,
we are unable to point out the non-volant type of
phalanger from which they are descended.

On the other hand, the beautiful pigmy flying-phalanger
{Acrobates\ which differs from the larger forms by the
scantier development of its parachute, as well as by its
tail being formed after the type of a feather — that is to
say, being flattened, with a line of hair along each edge —
is evidently descended from the non-flying feather-tailed
phalanger (Distichurus), or the immediate ancestor of the
latter. In this case, therefore, we have an exact parallelism
to the descent of the flying representatives of the scale-tails
from the non-flying Zenkerella.

THE BEAVER IN NORWAY

Had not the use of its hair in the manufacture of hats
been superseded by that of silk, there is Httle doubt that
the beaver, both in the Old World and in America, would
by this time have been numbered among extinct animals.
As it is, the creature has but a hard time of it at best,
for although there is no longer a demand for its hair by the
hat-manufacturer, yet beaver-fur is an article highly valued
by the furrier, and equally highly esteemed by the fair
sex. Although a few survive in the Rhone and the Rhine,
while more numerous colonies are found in parts of Russia,
the beaver has been practically swept away from most
European countries, though place-names frequently bear
testimony to its former presence. Among the countries
where it still maintains a foothold is Norway, where Dr.
Robert Collett, the well-known Zoological Professor at the
University of Christiania, has described its present condition
and habits.

It appears that for some years the beaver has enjoyed
a certain amount of protection in Norway, and if this pro-
tection be continued. Dr. Collett is of opinion that the
animal will survive well into this century. The two most
important colonies now remaining are situated at Aamli
and Nedrethelemarken.

The Norwegian beaver began to decrease in numbers
from the early part or middle of the eighteenth century,

244

THE BEAVER IN NORWAY 245

and by 1800 had already disappeared from most parts of
the country, with the exception of the northern districts
of Finmark and Nordland, and the southern province of
Nedenas, or Christiansand. The work of extermination
went on more or less rapidly till the year 1845, when it
was somewhat checked by the enactment of protective
statutes ; but either these could not have worked very
effectually, or the war of extermination had been only too
well carried out, for in 1880 the number of individuals
surviving throughout the country was estimated at only
about three score. Three years later the number of head
was put down roughly at a hundred, and since that date
it is probable that the number has been fully maintained,
if, indeed, it has not actually increased.

The statutes which have been enacted for the preserva-
tion of the beaver in Norway are not, for the most part,
of a very effectual nature, and have a decidedly feudatory
smack. The statute of 1845 provided that no beavers at
all should be killed for ten years, and then only by the
proprietors of the estates on which they were found. This
was admirable so far as it went, but as from the beginning
of 1856 proprietors were again allowed to kill, without
either restriction as to time or number, it is obvious that
the good results of the first enactment might very well
have been speedily lost. Probably this was found to be
the case, as in 1863 a fresh statute was propounded,
establishing a close time and fixing a limitation in number.
According to this statute, beavers were only allowed to
be killed during the months of August, September, and
October, and then only by owners of estates, who were
permitted to kill but one individual annually on each
separate estate.

Special exemptions might, however, be granted by the

246 MOSTLY MAMMALS

sovereign, who was enabled to give permission for the
killing of several individuals on large estates, or even
to permit the proprietors to kill the whole number of
animals on an island or enclosed property, thus putting
some of the colonies, like the one at Aamli, entirely in
the power of the owner. Moreover, although slaughter is
entirely forbidden on Crown or municipal lands, beavers
might be killed to any extent, and apparently in any
number, on private estates where they inflicted appreciable
damage.

Two much more effectual statutes have, however, come
into operation: the one, dated August 31st, 1894, pro-
tecting all the beavers in the Amt of Sondre Bergenhus
till the end of 1904, and the other, dated September 3rd,
1895, doing the same for the colony of Aamli till the end
of 1905. The penalty for illegally killing beaver is a fine
of eighty kronors (about £4. lOs.), which can be inflicted
on all the participators in the offence.

The chief food of the beaver in Norway consists of the
fresh bark of deciduous trees, more especially the aspen,
the larger branches being barked, but the twigs consumed
entire, and the coarse bark of the trunk generally rejected.
For winter use small branches are sunk near the entrance
to the lodge, but no store of stripped bark is collected.
Most of the trees felled are situated close to the water,
with beaten tracks leading to them from the lodge, but
occasionally some are chosen a considerable distance away
from the river. The trees are gnawed all round until
the portion left is so thin that the stem breaks from its
own weight, the stump remaining being generally about
half a yard in length, and terminating in a point like a
pencil, as does the lower end of the felled stem. Small
trunks or branches are, however, gnawed in a slanting

THE BEAVER IN NORWAY 247

direction. Only healthy trees are selected for felling,
and sometimes these are left half gnawed through without
any apparent reason. No attempt appears to be made
to make the trees fall in any particular direction, as they
may be seen lying pointing all ways. The trunks and
boughs, after being stripped of their bark, are cut into
convenient lengths and employed for building, the current
being used for their transport whenever practicable. Many
lodges are, however, constructed in still water, and the
animals are then compelled to convey the timber by their
own exertions, this being effected by holding the log in
the water between the fore-paws and swimming with the
hind-feet.

The construction of the lodge is a serious business,
occupying at least two years, and annual repairs are
necessary to keep it in habitable condition. Building
operations take place in the autumn, lasting from Sep-
tember till well into November, and as they are nearly
always undertaken at night, it is but seldom that an
opportunity occurs of seeing the animals at work. In
Norway the lodges are either conical or elliptical in shape,
the majority being now of the latter type. The conical
lodges, which appear to have been more common formerly
than they are at present, are placed on the banks of ponds
in which the water level is constant, such ponds being
either natural or made by the animals damming up the
stream. On the other hand, the elliptical or elongated
lodges are invariably formed on the banks of a river with
running water subject to constant change of level. Although
the majority are considerably smaller, they may be as
much as fifty feet in length, the width seldom exceeding
eight or nine feet. One half generally lies under water,
and thus prevents the edifice from being left high and dry

248 MOSTLY MAMMALS

when the river runs low. The main entrance is invariably
placed at the end of the submerged portion, but another
outlet may be made on shore beyond the lodge itself, and
is then generally covered with a layer of twigs, or twigs
and earth. As a rule, the lodges are isolated, although a
couple may be built in contact. Seen from a distance, the
lodge looks like a confused pile of timber and earth with-
out any definite arrangement. The logs employed are
usually from a couple of feet to a yard in length, although
they may sometimes be double this size ; twigs are also
largely used, and sometimes take root and develop into
saplings on the roofs. Stones are but seldom employed.
Many of the logs are stripped of their bark, but others are
built in just as they are felled ; and not infrequently drift
logs of pine and other trees which are men-felled are
annexed. The logs and twigs are thrown together pell-
mell, and the interstices tightly rammed with earth, the
thickness of the walls being about a couple of feet. The
passage leading from the submerged edge of the lodge to
the central dwelling-chamber is usually single, and about
twenty inches in diameter, its interior, when in clayey soil,
becoming worn perfectly smooth.

A double lodge opened in 1895 is described by Mr, Collett
as follows : " The left or short lodge contained an unoccu-
pied chamber without lining. The right, which was long
and of considerable age, extended for some way under an
oak coppice. The chamber in this was situated about six
yards from the water, half a yard underground, and con-
sisted of an enlargement of the passage to about three-
quarters of a yard in height." It was thickly lined with
the under-bark of the aspen.

Ice-floes and floating timber do much damage to the
lodges, and thus entail an annual repair, which, as already

THE -BEAVER IN NORWAY 249

said, is carried out in autumn. Spring and autumn floods
also frequently submerge the lodges, from which large
portions are loosened and swept away. From twenty to
thirty years is the probable period during which a lodge
is habitable.

On the bank of the river in the neighbourhood of the
lodge numerous burrows are met with, a few of which are
in connection with the lodge, although most are entirely
separate. Burrows are the first refuges formed by the
beaver when taking possession of a fresh spot, and they
may accordingly be likened to the rude sheds erected by
workmen employed on building a mansion. Probably
each lodge is tenanted only by a single couple and their
young family, the young beavers, when able to do without
parental assistance, either settling down temporarily in
burrows in the immediate neighbourhood, or wandering
away to found new colonies. Small lodges constructed in
a kind of jerry-building fashion appear to be run up by
bachelor beavers who have not yet ventured to take upon
themselves the responsibilities of a wife and family. There
may, however, be also spinster beavers to whom such
accommodation is also necessary — it is to be hoped only
temporarily.

Dams are constructed where beavers have quartered
themselves by the sides of gently flowing streamlets, or
small ponds through which a current runs, in order to
obtain water of sufficient depth and maintaining a constant
level. The dam is substantially built and difficult to
demolish. One examined in 1895 was constructed at the
outflow of a small stream through a forest-marsh ; and
where there was formerly but a small shallow pool, a
pond or lake of some few hundred yards in diameter soon
resulted from the labours of these indefatigable rodents.

250 MOSTLY MAMMALS

The dam, which was about fifteen feet in length, with
a cross-section of some two feet, was entirely made in the
course of three weeks during the summer of 1890. In
Canada, when the dam is sufficiently stout, the pool will
eventually silt up and form a " beaver-meadow," but Mr.
Collett does not record any of these " meadows " in
Norway.

During the cold winter months the beavers, although
not hibernating in the proper sense of the term, pass what
appears a somewhat dull existence in the central chamber
of the lodge, the roof of which for most of the time is
buried in snow. Sometimes, however, when the weather
is mild for the season, and an unusually cold autumn has
prevented the completion of the annual repairs at the
proper time, the beavers will venture out from their
retirement for a short period in order to remedy such
dilapidations as stand in urgent need of immediate atten-
tion. When they have been engaged on such works their
footprints are visible in the snow. Immediately after the
breaking up of the ice in spring the animals issue forth
to procure a fresh supply of food and resume their daily
avocations.

The young beavers are born in April or May, three
being apparently a common number in a litter. At first
their eyes are closed, but they grow rapidly, and by
September or October are about the size of a cat. When
able to shift for themselves, they leave the parental lodge,
and frequently start off to found a family in some fresh
locality, although sometimes they set off on their wanderings
alone. Following the courses of small streams, they
frequently track straight across the open mountain-slopes
for many miles, so that one or more not infrequently
make their appearance in valleys where none have been

THE BEAVER IN NORWAY 251

known for years. They will even occasionally cross
small arms of the sea, and the perils of the journey end
in death to no inconsiderable number.

Several old-time superstitions still cling round the beaver.
One of the most persistent and most incorrect is that
the flat scaly tail is employed as a trowel for plastering
down the mud during building operations. Another is
that the secretion of the tail-glands — the castoreum of the
old pharmacopoeia — has the property of frightening away
whales or porpoises when approaching the boat ! Still
more strange is the old idea that some individuals were
compelled to lie on their backs and be laden with building
materials, when they were dragged by their companions
to the scene of operations. Probably this fable originated
from the circumstance that many individuals have the
hair worn off the back from constantly passing up and
down the narrow burrow or entrance to a lodge.

THE EXTINCT QUAGGA

When the Dutch first colonised that part of Africa of
which Cape Town now forms the capital, they found the
country absolutely swarming with a great variety of species
of large game and other animals, whose form and appear-
ance were for the most part unfamiliar. As they them-
selves came from a land which had long since been stripped
of the larger members of its fauna, it is possible that
unfamiliarity with these prototypes was one of the causes
which led to the indiscriminate and often inappropriate
bestowal of the names of the large mammals of Europe,
or compounds of the same, on the animals of the new
country. What, for instance, can be more inappropriate
than the transference of the Dutch name for elk (eland)
to the largest of the Cape antelopes — unless, indeed (which
is scarcely likely), the settlers were acquainted with the
fact that etymologically the word signifies, in its Greek
original, " strength " ? Neither is hartebeest (stag-ox) much
better, although wildebeest (wild ox) is by no means an
unsuitable designation for the animals known to the
Hottentots by the title of gnu. Bastard hartebeest, on
the other hand, is a cumbrous and senseless name for the
antelope the Bechuanas call tsessabe, and it is much to
be regretted that the Boers did not see fit to adopt for
South African animals the native titles they found ready

to hand.

252

THE EXTINCT QUAGGA 253

In two instances, and apparently in two only, so far
as the larger animals are concerned, they did, however,
adopt this practice. The first instance is that of the
large and handsome spiral-horned antelope now univer-
sally known as kudu, a name which is certainly not Dutch,
and is believed by Sir Harry Johnston to be of Hottentot
origin, since it is unknown to the Kaffirs or other tribes
who speak dialects of the Bantu language. The second
case is that of the animal forming the subject of this
article, which is now universally known as quagga, from a
corruption of its Hottentot name quacha, pronounced by
the natives as " quaha." Even in this instance, however,
the Boers appear at first to have displayed considerable
reluctance to adopt the native name, for they originally
called the animal wilde esel (wild ass) in the same way
as they christened its cousin, Burchell's zebra, wilde
paard, or wild horse. Eventually, however, better counsels
prevailed, and Equus quagga became known to the Cape
Dutch by the aforesaid native name, while the wilde paard
(whose early title still survives in Paardeberg) was
renamed bonte quacha, or striped quagga. When, how-
ever, the true quagga became very rare and eventually
exterminated, the prefix bonte was dropped from the Dutch
designation of Burchell's zebra, which was henceforth
known throughout South Africa as the quacha, or quagga
pure and simple. Hence much confusion, and possibly
also a factor in the extermination of the species to which
that title of right belonged. For as the name in question
continued to be in common use in South Africa at the
time the true quagga was on the point of extermination,
it is quite probable that this may have been the reason
why the attention of naturalists in Europe was not drawn
to its impending fate while there was yet time.

254 MOSTLY MAMMALS

According to the best obtainable evidence the quagga
appears to have become extinct, in Cape Colony at any
rate,* about the year 1865, at which date a specimen
was actually living in the London Zoological Society's
menagerie ', while another had died there only the year
before. Of the latter example, a male, presented to the
Society in 1858 by the late Sir George Grey, the carcase
was fortunately acquired by the British Museum, where
both its skin and skeleton are now preserved. The former
specimen — a female purchased in 185 1 — survived till the
summer of 1872, when its carcase was sold (apparently
without the least idea of its priceless value) to a London
taxidermist, from whom the mounted skin was acquired
many years after by Mr. Walter Rothschild, for his museum
at Tring. Not impossibly, this specimen was actually the
last survivor of its kind, although, as already said, there
was not even a suspicion that it belonged to a rare species.
Most fortunately for natural history, a photograph of this
animal was taken in the summer of 1870 by Messrs.
York & Son, and it is from that picture that most of the
later figures of the animal appear to have been taken. It
is probably the only photograph of a living specimen in
existence.

According to a note published by the Secretary, in the
Proceedings for 1891, the only other example of the quagga
in the London Zoological Society's menagerie was one
purchased in 183 1. No record of its death appears to
have been preserved, but it may have been the same

* From the fact that a skin was purchased by the Edinburgh
Museum in 1879, Mr. G. Renshaw {Zoologist, February, 1901) has
suggested that the species may have survived in the Orange River
Colony till about that date ; but the Edinburgh specimen appears to
have been an old one at the date of its purchase.

THE EXTINCT QUAGGA 255

specimen of which the skin was exhibited in the Society's
old museum in 1838, or thereabouts. These, however,
were by no means the only specimens brought alive to
England, for as early as 181 5 one was in the possession
of Lord Morton, while somewhat later on in the last
century Mr. Sheriff Parkins was in the habit of driving
two quaggas in a phaeton about London, and in narrating
this circumstance the late Colonel Hamilton Smith men-
tions that he himself had been drawn in a gig by one of
these animals, which showed " as much temper and delicacy
of mouth as any domestic horse." Another quagga was
in the possession of a former Prince of Wales, and there
are records of others in England. The skulls of the two
driven by Mr. Parkins, as well as a portrait of one of
them, are preserved in the Museum of the Royal College
of Surgeons.

In addition to the specimens in the British, Edinburgh, and
Tring museums, several skins are preserved on the Con-
tinent. With one exception, all appear to be of the same
general type as the London example photographed by Messrs.
York in 1870. The exception is one in the Imperial Museum
at Vienna, of which a description and photograph have
recently been published by the Director, Dr. L. von Lorenz,
in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London.
Unfortunately there is no record as to the locality where
the Vienna specimen (which is a female) was obtained, all
that is known being that it was acquired by purchase
in 1836.

Compared with the ordinary type of quagga, as exemplified
by York's photograph, the Vienna animal is of somewhat
larger dimensions, with a creamy buff (instead of greyish or
chocolate-brown) ground-colour on the upper parts, with the
exception of the head, which is clay-brown. A more striking

256 MOSTLY MAMMALS

difference is to be found in the broader dark stripes (of which
there seem to be more in a given space), and a corresponding
decrease in the width of the intervening Hght intervals. The
stripes also seem to extend farther back on the body.

But there is also a difference between quaggas of the type
of the one photographed by York and those figured by the
early writers, as exemplified by the plate in Colonel Hamilton
Smith's volume on horses in the " Naturalists' Library." In
the specimen there represented, which not improbably came
from Cape Colony, the head, neck, and forequarters are
marked by narrow black stripes on a chestnut ground.
The markings are, indeed, as Dr. von Lorenz remarks, just
the reverse of those of the Vienna specimen ; the British
Museum example and the one figured by York being in
some degree intermediate between these two extreme types.

With some hesitation. Dr. von Lorenz suggests that there
may have been local races of the quagga, as there are of
Burchell's zebra.

Even in the days of its abundance the quagga (which,
by the way, takes its name from its cry) had a comparatively
limited distribution, ranging from the Cape Colony up the
eastern side of Africa as far as the Vaal River, beyond
which it appears to have been unknown. In this respect
it closely resembled the white-tailed gnu, which, however,
is known to have crossed that river in one district.
Curiously enough, the two species lived in close comradeship,
and in the old days their vast herds formed a striking
feature in the landscape of the open plains of the Orange
River Colony. Both have now disappeared from the face
of the country, for the white-tailed gnu, if, indeed, any are
now left, only exists in a semi-domesticated state on a
few farms.

Owing to its rank flavour, and especially its yellow fat,

THE EXTINCT QUAGGA 257

the flesh of the quagga was almost uneatable by Europeans,
although it was keenly relished by the Hottentots, who,
in the early days of the Cape Colony, were largely fed
upon it by their Dutch masters. Whether this was the
cause of its comparatively early disappearance from that
part of the country, it is now impossible to say, but
certain it is that when Sir Cornwallis Harris made his
trip to the interior in 1836, quaggas were no longer to
be met with in any numbers in Cape Colony, although
Colonel Hamilton Smith, writing a few years later, states
that they were still to be found within its limits. North
of the Vaal River they occurred, however, in their original
multitudes, and it was not till about the middle of the
last century that the Boers took to hide-hunting, and
thus in a few years accomplished the extermination of the
species.

Allusion has already been made to the facility with
which the quagga could be broken to harness, and it
seems probable that the species could have been more
easily domesticated than any of its South African relatives.
Another trait in its disposition is worth brief mention. It
was said to be the boldest and fiercest of the whole equine
tribe, attacking and driving off both the wild dog and the
spotted hyaena. On this account the Boers are stated
to have frequently kept a few tame quaggas on their
farms, which were turned out at night to graze with the
horses in order to protect them from the attacks of beasts
of prey.

Throughout the whole of the plain country to the south
of the Vaal River the quagga was the sole wild representa-
tive of the horse family, the true zebra being confined to
the mountains of Cape Colony and adjacent districts.
North of the Vaal River the veldt was, however, dotted

17

258 MOSTLY MAMMALS

over with herds of Burchell's zebra, the aforesaid bonte
quagga, which, inclusive of its local races, has a very
extensive geographical distribution in East and Central
Africa. It is scarcely necessary to say that this species
differed from the quagga in having the whole or the
greater part of the body striped, as well as by the more
brilliant coloration and the pattern of the striping. One
very remarkable feature in connection with this species
must not be passed over without notice. In the original
and typical race (now nearly extinct), which was obtained
just north of the Vaal River, in British Bechuanaland,
and therefore immediately adjacent to the northern limits
of the quagga, the whole of the legs, as well as a
considerable portion of the hindquarters, are devoid of
stripes. In this respect the typical form of the Transvaal
species comes much nearer to the last-mentioned animal
than do the races from more northern districts, in which
the hindquarters and legs are more or less completely
striped ; the striping attaining its fullest development in
the most northern race of all, the so-called Grant's zebra
of Somaliland and Abyssinia.

Of course, these gradations towards the quagga type of
coloration of the more southern representatives of Burchell's
zebra, as well as the differences in the coloration of the
quagga itself as compared with zebras, have a meaning
and a reason, if only they could be discovered. And it
may be remarked incidentally in this place that unless we
attempt to account rationally for such variations, there is
little justification for the modern practice of distinguishing
between the local races of variable species.

The striping of the zebras, which there is considerable
cause for regarding as the primitive type of coloration of
the horse family in general, is evidently of a protective nature.

THE EXTINCT QUAGGA 259

It was stated some years ago that zebras a short distance
off were absolutely invisible in bright moonlight, and I
have reason to believe that the same is to a great extent
the case in sunlight. For some reason or other the species
inhabiting the plains (not the mountains, be it observed) of
South Africa have tended to discard this striped coloration,
the southern race of Burchell's zebra exhibiting the first, and
the quagga the second stage in this transformation. In
North Africa the transformation has been carried a stage
farther, the wild asses of the Red Sea littoral having
discarded their stripes almost completely in favour of a
uniform grey or tawny livery. In this part of the continent
there is now no trace of a transitional form, whatever may
have been the case in the past, and we thus have the
sharp contrast between the uniformly coloured wild asses
of the coast of the Red Sea on the one hand, and the fully
striped zebras of Abyssinia and Southern Somaliland on
the other.

Whether there is anything in the climatic and other
physical conditions of the plains of Cape Colony which
renders a partially striped species less conspicuous than one
in which the striping is fully developed, the disappearance of
the quagga makes it now impossible to determine. But
observation might advantageously be directed to the com-
parative invisibility, or otherwise, of the wild asses of the
Red Sea littoral and the fully striped zebras of the interior,
and whether this would be affected in any degree by the
transference of the one to the habitat of the other. What-
ever be the explanation, the fact remains that at the
opposite extremities of Africa some of the members of
the equine tribe have developed a tendency to the replace-
ment of a striped livery by one of a uniform and sober
hue, and that in the south of the continent this tendency

26o MOSTLY MAMMALS

exists only in the species inhabiting the plains. Moreover,
it is only in South Africa that the transitional form is met
with, and only in the north of the continent that the
striping has been completely lost.

But, as I have already mentioned in earlier articles, this
is only one phase of a general tendency among mammals
to replace their spots or stripes by a uniformly coloured
coat.

So far as I am aware, no one has ever attempted to
give a philosophical reason for this remarkable tendency.
But till an adequate explanation of the phenomenon be
forthcoming, naturalists, to repeat the words of a well-
known ornithologist, have left half their work (and I am
inclined to think the more important half) undone. Without
ascertaining the reason for phenomena of this nature, our
zoological work is, indeed, as though a man were content
with describing the mechanism of a complicated machine
without an inkling as to its use.

One word more, and I have done. To the systematic
zoologist, the quagga is an animal of special interest as
affording evidence of the intimate relationship between
the zebras and the wild asses. Although, judging from
its geographical distribution, it was probably not the actual
transitional form between the two groups, yet it serves to
show the manner in which the transition was effected.

ANCIENT AND MODERN HIPPOPOTAMUSES

The popular conception of hippopotamuses is that they
are clumsily built creatures of enormous size and bulk,
spending the greater part of their time in the rivers and
lakes of Africa, where they are more at home than on land,
diving with the readiness of a crocodile, and even walking
on the river bed with their bodies submerged many feet
below the surface of the water. As regards the common
hippopotamus {Hippopotamus amphibhis), which is the one
that alone has been exhibited in our Zoological Gardens,
this conception is a perfectly true one. As, however,
is so frequently the case in popular zoology, this concep-
tion, excellent as it is so far as the common species
are concerned, does not cover the whole ground, for it
happens that there exists in Liberia a second species of
the genus, known as the pigmy hippopotamus (//.
liberiensis\ differing not only in size, but likewise in
habits, from the one with which we are all familiar. In
place of a total length of about eleven feet, measured in
a straight line, and weighing probably between three and
four tons, the pigmy hippopotamus is not larger than a
good-sized wild boar, although it has the short and stout
limbs of its gigantic cousin, with which it also agrees to
a certain extent in the relatively large size of its head.
As regards its mode of life, this species differs, however,
in toto from the common one. Instead of passing at least

261

262 MOSTLY MAMMALS

as much of its time in the water as on land, and never
hving away from rivers or lakes, the pigmy hippopotamus
is an inhabitant of the dense tropical forests of that part
of Western Africa which is its home, where it apparently
leads a life very similar to that of wild pigs, wallowing
in swamps after the manner of those animals, but apparently
not habitually frequenting rivers, though it is doubtless,
like almost all mammals, able to swim well when the
necessity arises. Moreover, in place of associating in large
herds after the manner of the common species, and never
moving far from one particular locality, the Liberian
hippopotamus is a comparatively solitary creature, going
about at most only in pairs, and wandering long distances
through the woods, where it seems to have no definite
place of abode. At the present day the creature appears
to be very rare, and there are even rumours that it is
extinct.

Out of a large number of representatives of the genus
once spread widely over the Old World, the common
and pigmy hippopotamuses, both of which are confined to
Africa, are the only species which have survived to the
present day ; and the reader will at once see, when we
take into consideration the probable habits of the extinct
kinds, how fortunate it is that these two widely different
forms have been preserved. Were there only the common
species, we should have had no conception that any hippo-
potamus possessed the habits characterising the smaller
kinds, and might thus have been led into drawing very
erroneous inferences as to the mode of life and habitat
of fossil species.

The general appearance of the common hippopotamus is
so familiar that but little is necessary in the way of descrip-
tion. It may be observed, however, that the enormous size

ANCIENT AND MODERN HIPPOPOTAMUSES 263

of the head, and especially the great width of the mouth,
the prominent position of the eyes and nostrils, the minute
ears, bulky body, short and stout limbs, and short tail,
are among the most striking external features of the
creature. The presence of hoofs (four in number on each
foot) shows that the hippopotamus belongs to the great
order of hoofed, or ungulate, mammals, and the thickness
of its nearly naked hide led the older naturalists to place
it among what used to be called the pachyderms. It has
been shown, however, by anatomical investigations that the
group thus designated, which included such totally different
forms as elephants, rhinoceroses, and hippopotamuses, is
an entirely artificial one, and that the last-named animals,
together with their near relatives the pigs, are much more
closely connected with the ruminants.

If the reader desires to know why zoologists place such
very dissimilar-looking animals as the hippopotamus and
the giraffe in the same great group, while they sunder
from the former the apparently more similar rhinoceroses,
it may be replied that this is largely due to the difference
in the structure of the feet of the two groups. In that
the bones of the skeleton of the two middle toes are
symmetrical to a line drawn between them, the hippo-
potamuses and pigs resemble the ruminants, whereas the
rhinoceroses agree with horses in having the middle toe
(which is alone present in the latter) symmetrical in itself.
One of the essential characteristics of the ruminants is
the circumstance that in the lower part of the leg the
two middle toes are supported by a single bone known
as the cannon-bone, which consists anatomically of two
originally distinct elements welded together, while the
supporting bones of the small lateral toes are incompletely
developed. If, on the other hand, we examine the skeleton

264 MOSTLY MAMMALS

of a hippopotamus, we shall find that in each foot the four
nearly equal-sized toes are severally supported by four
complete and distinct bones, known in the fore-limb as
the metacarpals and in the hind-limb as the metatarsals ;
and it will be obvious that this is a much simpler or more
generalised type of foot-structure than that which charac-
terises the ruminants. If, again, we contrast the foot of a
hippopotamus with that of a pig, we shall find that whereas
in the latter the lateral pair of hoofs are considerably
smaller than the middle pair and do not touch the ground
when the animal is walking on a hard surface, in the
former the two pairs are nearly equal in size and are all
applied to the ground in walking. In this respect the
hippopotamus is the most primitive of all the even-toed
hoofed mammals that have survived to the present day,
and is, therefore, a creature of special interest to the
believer in evolution. It is, indeed, a member of the great
group from which the ruminants are considered to have
originated ; although, if the reader should be led from this
statement to jump to the conclusion that a hippopotamus
was in any sense an ancestor of the giraffe, he would be
led into a grievous error. As is the case with nearly all
existing animals of a primitive type, the hippopotamus, in
place of being an ancestral form, is a side branch from
the original stock, which has developed certain specialised
features not found in the latter. To show that this is the
case, we have but to study the teeth of the various species
of hippopotami, which are of such a nature as to show
conclusively that those of the ruminants could not have
been derived from them.

In the group of animals last mentioned the molar-teeth
have crescent-shaped columns on their grinding surfaces.
Extinct animals show a complete passage from such teeth

ANCIENT AND MODERN HIPPOPOTAMUSES 265

to a simple type not unlike that now found in the pigs.
The molar-teeth of the hippopotamus, though of the same
general plan as those of the latter, have, however, their
four main columns, when partially worn, with a distinctly
trefoil-shaped pattern ; and it is quite evident that such
a tooth could never have given rise to the crescent-teeth
of the ruminants. The hippopotamus molar is, indeed,
quite peculiar, and its structure is so well marked and
characteristic that any person who has once seen a
specimen could immediately identify any example that
might come under his notice.

As regards their front teeth, it may be mentioned that
hippopotamuses have an enormous pair of curved tusks or
canines in each jaw. In the common species, between
these huge tusks are two pairs of incisors, those of the
upper jaw being of nearly equal size, whereas in the lower
jaw, where these teeth are cylindrical and project nearly
horizontally forwards, the central ones are very much
larger than the lateral pair. If, however, we examine
the lower jaw of the pigmy Liberian species, we shall
find that normally there is but a single pair of incisors
between the tusks, which would lead to the conclusion
that this animal is a more specialised type than its larger
relative. The truth of this inference is curiously confirmed
by the circumstance that individuals of the Liberian hippo-
potamus are occasionally met with in which there are two
incisor-teeth on one side, while on the other there is but
the single tooth ; this being an excellent example of what
evolutionists term reversion or atavism. This, however,
by no means brings us to the end of the variation in the
number of these teeth obtaining in the group under
consideration ; but before proceeding farther it is necessary
to remark that, since in ordinary mammals the typical or

266 MOSTLY MAMMALS

full complement of incisor-teeth consists of three pairs, it is
natural to suppose that one pair has been lost in the common
species. That such is really the case is demonstrated by
the extinct Siwalik hippopotamus (//. sivalensis) of the
Pliocene deposits of the outer ranges of the Himalaya.
Here between the two large tusks there are three pairs of
incisor-teeth, which differ from those of the common species
in being all of nearly equal size ; and if we were to
examine the upper jaw, we should find that in this also
there is the same number of teeth. In the presence of
these three pairs of incisors the Siwalik hippopotamus
resembles the pig, from which it departs less widely than
does the common species in that these teeth are relatively
smaller and also of nearly equal size. The Siwalik hippo-
potamus must accordingly be regarded as a less specialised
species than either of its living cousins ; and since, together
with an allied species from the Irrawady Valley known as
the Burmese hippopotamus (//. iravaticus)^ it is the oldest
representative of the genus, its generalised features are
precisely what evolutionary considerations would have led
us to expect.

There is, however, yet another curious point in con-
nection with these teeth demanding a moment's notice.
From the evidence of the two species mentioned, it is
quite impossible to determine which of the three pairs of
lower incisors found in the Siwalik hippopotamus have
disappeared in the common species. Fortunately, however,
palaeontology here once more comes to our aid, showing
not only which pair has been lost, but how the loss was
brought about. From the gravels of the Narbada Valley
in Central India, which are probably intermediate in age
between the Pliocene deposits yielding remains of the
Siwalik hippopotamus and the brick-earths of our own

ANCIENT AND MODERN HIPPOPOTAMUSES 267

country in which occur those of the common African species,
there are found two extinct members of the genus, one
known as the Narbada hippopotamus {H. namaclicus), and
the other as the Indian hippopotamus (//. palaeindicus). In
the former of these the lower incisors are similar in size
and number to those of the Siwalik species ; but in the
latter, while the inner and outer pairs are very large,
there occurs on each side between them a minute and
rudimentary tooth, squeezed out from the general line to
the upper margin of the jaw, and evidently just about to
disappear altogether. We have thus decisive evidence that
the missing pair of lower incisor-teeth in the common
hippopotamus is the second ; and we further see how a
complete transition can be traced, as regards the number
of these teeth, from the Siwalik species through the
common one to the Liberian hippopotamus. While it is
possible that the African hippopotamus may have been
directly derived from the Siwalik species, it is quite clear
that the pigmy hippopotamus is not the descendant of its
giant existing cousin.

With regard to the geographical distribution of the genus,
we have already said that the two living species are confined
to Africa, to which it may be added that there is no record
of their having ever occurred in the districts lying to the
north of the Sahara during the historic period. They are,
therefore, essentially inhabitants of what naturalists term
the Ethiopian region, although they are quite unknown in
the island of Madagascar, which belongs to the same
zoological province. So far as I am aware, there is no
evidence that the pigmy species ever ranged beyond its
present habitat of Liberia, although the case is very different
with regard to the range of the common species. At the
present day this animal is found from the Cape Colony

268 MOSTLY MAMMALS

northwards to the cataracts of the Nile, and it extends
westwards to Senegal ; but while for several centuries it
has been very seldom met with on the Nile below the
entrance of the Atbara and Blue Nile, there is abundant
evidence that in the time of the Pharaohs it was common
in Egypt, where in the temple of Edfu, as well as several
other buildings, there are frescoes representing the mode in
which it was hunted and speared. That the hippopotamus
is the animal indicated in the Book of Job under the name
of behemoth is, according to Canon Tristram, undoubted,
but there is no evidence that the Jews were acquainted
with it otherwise than during their sojourn in Egypt. It
is true, indeed, that the writer just mentioned suggests
that its range may have extended eastwards as far as
Palestine, but this is mere conjecture, and had the creature
ever lived there the expeditions which have from time to
time explored that country ought to have found some of
its remains. In the Pleistocene and upper Pliocene deposits
of Southern and Central Europe there occur, however,
numerous remains of a hippopotamus which cannot be speci-
fically distinguished from the existing African form, although
it is generally of rather larger size. The difference in size
was at one time thought to indicate that the fossil form
was a distinct species, but the discovery many years ago
of a half-fossilised jaw in the alluvium of the Nile near
Kalabshi, in Nubia, showed that in former times the
African hippopotamus attained dimensions as large as the
European form. In England the hippopotamus ranged at
least as far north as Leeds, and it is a remarkable circum-
stance that in many places its remains have been found
in association with those of the reindeer. How animals
now inhabiting countries with such totally different climatic
conditions as tropical Africa and Lapland could have lived

ANCIENT AND MODERN HIPPOPOTAMUSES 269

in the same country at the same time, is very difficult to
understand. If the hippopotamus had been different from
the Hving African one, we might have regarded it as a
terrestrial species, like that of Liberia, and thus perchance
capable of standing a colder climate ; but being identical
with the former, we are perforce compelled to believe
that its habits were similar, and that in its home the
rivers must have been more or less free from ice through-
out the year. Whatever may be the true explanation of
the difficulty, it is pretty clear that no theory of summer
and winter migrations will hold good, as the hippopotamus
is essentially a resident animal.

Returning once more to Africa, we may notice that in
Algeria, where the genus is now unrepresented, a small
species (//. hipponensis) flourished during the Pleistocene
period ; this species being distinguished by carrying three
pairs of lower incisor teeth, which differed from those of
other members of the genus in having their enamel
smooth and their extremities somewhat expanded, thus
approximating to the corresponding teeth of the pigs.
Equally noteworthy is the occurrence of another species,
Lemerle's hippopotamus {H. lemerlei\ in Madagascar,
where its remains are common in the great marsh of
Ambulisatra. Somewhat intermediate between the common
and the Siwalik species, this rather small hippopotamus
had sometimes three and sometimes two pairs of lower
incisors. Certain traditions current among the Malagasy
suggest that this species may have lived within the historic
period, and it may even be one of several mysterious animals
alluded to by an early European voyager.

In addition to the common species. Southern Europe,
inclusive of Cyprus, Malta, and some of the other Medi-
terranean islands, was the home of several smaller species,

270 MOSTLY MAMMALS

one of which, the Cyprian H. minutus, had much the
proportions of the Liberian species, although its molar-
teeth are of a simpler type. Possibly these small forms
may have been more or less completely terrestrial in their
habits.

The three Indian species have been already sufficiently
discussed, while mention has been likewise made of the
Burmese hippopotamus. The latter species, by the way,
was decidedly pig-like in many parts of its structure, and
may well, therefore, have been a marsh-haunting animal.
It was at one time thought that one of the later Indian
hippopotamuses was an unknown animal referred to in
Sanscrit literature, but further investigation has shown
this view to be untenable. Eastwards of Burma, we are
unaware that there is any evidence of the existence of
these animals, and they appear to have been always
unknown in the New World.

Although it is possible that in Madagascar Lemerle's
hippopotamus may have been exterminated by human
agency, such an explanation will not hold good with regard
to the other fossil species. So far as can be seen, India and
Burma are now in every way as well fitted to be the
dwelling-places of hippopotamuses, giraffes, and ostriches as
they were during the Pliocene period, when those animals
either wallowed in their lakes and rivers, or stalked over
their plains ; and as the former countries have not been
completely swept during the interval by a glacial period,
it seems impossible to divine the reason why these creatures
should have so completely vanished from the one area
and have survived in full strength in the other.

THE DEER OF THE PEKING PARKS

October I2th, i860, will always be memorable as the date
of the burning of the Imperial " Summer Palace " in the
Yuangming Yuan, the wonderful pleasaunce situated to the
north-west of Peking. The Yuangming, which at the time
had apparently been unvisited by Europeans, occupies an
area of many hundred acres, and is in fact a park diversified
with lakes, and containing a collection of buildings of
immense extent, among which was the Summer Palace.
The most beautiful part is the forest clothing the flanks of
the Hiang-chan hills, which attain a height of a thousand
feet, and from which may be viewed at the foot the ex-
tensive lake, and in the far distance the walls of Peking
enveloped in a smoky haze. Dotted through the gardens
were temples, lodges, and pagodas, groves, grottos, lakes,
bridges, terraces, and artificial hills. ** It certainly was,"
writes a spectator, "one of the most beautiful scenes I
had ever beheld." In the Summer Palace were gathered
together all the treasures and curiosities accumulated by
the reigning dynasties of China during untold centuries.
All these perished in the conflagration, which lasted two
days. Whether this burning of the palace, which was
ordered by Lord Elgin as a punishment for the atrocities
inflicted by the Chinese on British subjects, was justifiable,
it is not our province to inquire. Mr. Justin McCarthy, in
his " History of Our Own Times," considers that it was.

271

272 MOSTLY MAMMALS

All that concerns us here is the fact that among the loot
sent home from the destruction of the Yuangming Yuan
were the skins and antlers of certain deer which had been
shot in the gardens. These specimens, now in the British
Museum, appear to have been obtained by Colonel Saul,
although Consul Swinhoe was the gentleman by whom they
were sent to this country.

Although there does not appear to be any record that
such was the case, these specimens may be taken as an
indication that among the other attractions of the grounds
of the Summer Palace were herds of deer, kept either for
the purposes of sport or to enhance the beauty of the
landscape. The best of the three specimens sent home
was a young stag in the winter coat, of which a coloured
figure was given in the Proceedings of the Zoological
Society of London for i86i. By the late Dr. Gray, then
keeper of the Zoological Department of the British Museum,
this deer was regarded as belonging to an ill-defined species
named many years before. Two years later this identifi-
cation was disputed by Mr. Swinhoe, by whom it was
regarded as representing a new species, for which the
name Cerviis hortiilorum — the deer of the (Summer Palace)
Gardens — was, appropriately enough, suggested.

For many years this species was regarded as inseparable
from one inhabiting Manchuria, which is now known to
be a very different animal. But among the deer now
living in the Duke of Bedford's park at Woburn are a
herd of a very beautiful species from Northern Manchuria,
which is now ascertained to be identical with Mr. Swin-
hoe's Cervus hortulorum. These Peking deer (as it has
now been agreed to call the species) are remarkable for
the extraordinary difference between their summer and
winter dress — a difference so great that persons who have

From a photograph by the Duchess of Bedford.\

A Peking Stag with the Antlers in Velvet.

[To face p. z'jz

THE DEER OF THE PEKING PARKS 273

seen them at one season may well be excused for not
recognising them at the other. In the summer coat, as
shown in the plate, they are of a brilliant reddish chest-
nut, profusely spotted with white ; in winter, on the other
hand, when the coat of the old stags becomes very long
and shaggy, they are uniformly umber-brown, although
traces of spots may persist in the younger stags and
hinds. The old stags are but little inferior in size to red-
deer, with which species certain hinds from the Summer
Palace were indeed identified by Mr. Swinhoe, who quite
failed to recognise that they were really the adult form
of his " garden-deer."

In England the Peking deer seems to thrive as well
as red or fallow deer, and in time we may hope to see it
established in many of our parks.

But the Yuangming Yuan was not the only park where
deer were kept by the Chinese Emperors. To the south
of Peking lies a park known as the Non Hai-tzu (or
Nanhai-tze), far exceeding in extent the Yuangming Yuan,
the brick wall by which it is enclosed being forty-five
miles in circuit. This imperial hunting-park, as it is
commonly called by Englishmen, is separated from the
city by a plain, which is marshy in places, and gives rise
to a river flowing in part of its course through the park
itself. The whole tract is thickly forested, but villages and
military posts are dotted here and there in the clearings.

The park was in former days strictly guarded, and no
Europeans were allowed entrance, although there are
reports that by the aid of disguises a few entered from
time to time. According to rumour the park was the
home of large herds of deer of various kinds, as well as
of flocks of the Mongolian gazelle, or yellow sheep, as it
is called by the Chinese.

18

274 MOSTLY MAMMALS

Till the year 1865 naturalists had no idea as to the
species of deer to be found in the Non Hai-tzu, the
Anglo-French expedition of i860 having confined their
attention to Peking and the Yuangming Yuan. In February
of the former year, however, the vv^ell-known French
missionary, explorer, and naturalist, Pere Armand David,
obtained an opportunity of looking over the wall, and was
much astonished at the sight which met his eyes. In
addition to Mongolian gazelles, he saw herds of a species
of deer which he then regarded as an unknown kind of
reindeer, although he described it as somewhat donkey-
like in appearance, with a long well-haired tail. At that
season of the year the stags were without antlers. At
this time the energetic missionary was quite unable to
obtain a specimen of the new deer, but by bribing the
Tatar guards of the park he succeeded, in January of the
following year, in acquiring the skins of a stag and hind.
Meantime the French Minister at Peking had been en-
deavouring to procure a living pair of this deer by
diplomatic means, and in February of that year succeeded
in his efforts. The stag, however, unfortunately died soon
after its removal from the park, and its skin was sent to
Paris with those of the two specimens obtained from the
Tatar guards.

When these specimens arrived at the Paris Museum
they were examined by Prof. Milne-Edwards, who in due
course described them as representing a new genus and
species of deer, under the name of Elaphunis davidianus.
By the Chinese, it may be well to mention, the animal is
known by the name of mi-lou, or, more commonly, sen-
pou-siang.

The accompanying photograph gives an excellent idea
of the external appearance of the stags of this very

From a photoe:raJ>li by the Duchess of Bcdjord.''i

PfeRE David's Mi-lou Deer.
The antlers are not completely free from velvet.

[ To face p. 274

THE DEER OF THE PEKING PARKS 275

remarkable and interesting species of deer. To describe
its characteristics in anything like detail would obviously
be quite out of place in an article of the present nature,
and it will suffice to allude to a few of its more striking
peculiarities. One feature by which the stags of this
species differ from those of all other Old World deer, save
the elk and the roe, is that the antlers are of the forked
type — that is to say, in place of having a forwardly pro-
jecting brow-tine immediately above their base, the main
shaft, or beam, is undivided for a short distance, and then
splits in a fork-like manner. A peculiarity of the mi-lou
deer, and one whereby it differs from all the numerous
species of American deer carrying antlers of the forked
type, is that the hind prong of the main fork forms an
undivided tine of great length directed backwards. The
front prong, on the other hand, is forked at least once,
and has but Uttle forward inclination till the point of
bifurcation is reached. The long donkey-like tail, which
attracted the attention of the Abbe David at his first sight
of the animal, is particularly well displayed in the photo-
graph. The general colour of the coat is fawn-grey,
becoming lighter on the face, rump, inner sides of the
limbs, and under-parts. Unlike the majority of deer,
there is but little change in the colour of the coat accord-
ing to season. One very curious peculiarity displayed by
the stags in the herd of mi-lou deer at Woburn Abbey
is that they shed and renew their antlers twice a year,
instead of once, as in other deer. Whether, however, this
peculiarity has always been inherent in the species, or
whether it is the result of long domestication, is impossible
to say, for the species is quite unknown in a wild state.
Indeed, it cannot now be ascertained whether this double
change of antlers took place among the herds in the

276 MOSTLY MAMMALS

Non Hai-tzu, or even in the specimens first brought to
Europe.

The date of the introduction of these deer into the
imperial hunting-park is probably very remote, seeing
that, as already said, they have never been found wild in
any part of Asia by Europeans, It is true that, according
to Dr. S. W. Bushell, to whose account reference is again
made in the sequel, a Chinese writer of the latter part of
the eighteenth century mentions Kashgaria as the native
country of these deer ; but even if that be correct, the
species may have been exterminated there centuries ago.
Anyway, there is but little hope of its survival in that
district at the present day.

As China became slowly opened up to European
enterprise, the difficulty of obtaining specimens of the
mi-lou deer gradually decreased, and in August, 1869, ^
male and female were received at the menagerie of the
Zoological Society as a gift from Sir Rutherford Alcock.
A second pair were acquired by purchase in 1883, since
the death of which the species appears to have been
unrepresented in the Society's collection. Meanwhile
specimens were from time to time received by various
menageries on the Continent ; and the species has bred at
the gardens of the Societe d'Acclimatation at Paris and
elsewhere.

The subsequent history of this interesting and remark-
able species is extremely sad, no one apparently having
had the least idea that it was on the point of extermina-
tion until too late. No definite statements are made by
the earlier travellers as to the numbers of these deer in
the Non Hai-tzu when they first came under the observa-
tion of Europeans. Writing, however, in the summer of
1898 to the Secretary of the Zoological Society, Dr. Bushell

THE DEER OF THE PEKING PARKS 277

stated that he had formerly ridden among the herds which
swarmed in the imperial park, where they appear to have
been reserved for the sport of the Court, and were care-
fully protected. Whether, in later years, less care was
taken than formerly to see that the park and its sur-
rounding wall were in good condition, the account does
not state; but during or about the year 1894 the Hun-ho,
which flows through the park, became flooded, and
breached the wall in several places. Through the gaps
thus made all the mi-lou deer escaped, and appear to
have been killed and eaten by the peasantry of the sur-
rounding districts, who were suffering at that time from
famine. In his letter Dr. Bushell promised to make in-
quiries on his return to China if any of the deer had
escaped destruction, but as nothing more has been heard
from him on the subject, it may be presumed that all were
slaughtered.

Assuming, then, that the mi-lou deer does not exist
in a wild state in some unexplored part of Kashgaria,
or other remote part of Central Asia, it seems only
too evident that its sole living representatives are those
preserved in European collections. By far the greater
number of these are now at Woburn Abbey, where they
run in the open park with the other deer. They breed
freely, without an undue proportion of males among the
fawns ; a very hopeful sign being that some hinds pur-
chased from Paris, where they were sterile, bred after they
were transferred to their new quarters. Some time ago
the herd at Woburn numbered over twenty head, and it
has probably increased since that date. One point in
favour of the prospects of the survival of the Woburn
herd is the fact that the species has for centuries been
kept in a state of semi-domestication — that is to say it has

2 78 MOSTLY MAMMALS

lived in an enclosed park without, apparently, any infusion
of fresh blood. It would, therefore, seem probable that it
will be less likely to suffer from the effects of inbreeding
than is the case with animals suddenly transferred from
the wild state to captivity. Every care is, of course,
taken of these valuable animals, and naturalists will watch
with interest the results of the attempt to renew and
preserve a decadent and almost exterminated race.

So far as I am aware, Pere David's mi-lou deer is
the only example of a mammalian species used neither as
a food-supply nor as a beast of burden which has been
preserved from extermination in a semi-domesticated state.

Readers of this article who may be desirous of seeing
the mi-lou deer, will find a handsome stag, with fully
developed antlers, exhibited in the Natural History branch
of the British Museum, where there is also the mounted
head of a female — both the gift of the Duke and Duchess
of Bedford. Unfortunately, the taxidermist to whom the
task of mounting the stag was confided (and taxidermists
are the despair of naturalists, whose name they are prone
to appropriate !) took for his model a red-deer instead of
photographs like the one here reproduced. Consequently,
instead of having the slouching, donkey-like carriage so
essentially characteristic of the species, the Museum
specimen is represented with its head elevated, after the
fashion of Landseer's picture, " The Monarch of the Glen."

As already mentioned, the mi-lou deer, which is the
sole representative of its kind, has no near relatives in
the Old World. In spite of a certain not very important
difference in the structure of the bones of the fore-foot, it
appears, however, to be a not very distant cousin of the
typical American deer — that is to say, the numerous species
other than the elk, the wapiti, and the reindeer, which

THE DEER OF THE PEKING PARKS 279

are really Old World forms, whose entrance into America
is apparently a comparatively recent event. Probably both
the mi-lou and the American deer are the descendants of
an extinct group, with antlers of the same general type,
which flourished in Europe during the later portion of
the Tertiary epoch. The greater the pity that such an
ancient and remarkable type as the former should be on
the point of extermination !

FOUR-HORNED SHEEP

Of late years, at any rate, the attention of British breeders
of sheep and cattle has been directed to the obliteration
rather than to the development of horns ; these weapons of
offence and defence being not only quite unnecessary to
domesticated animals which are never exposed to the attacks
of beasts of prey, but often being the cause of serious
damage, either from the animals fighting when in the open,
or goring one another when crowded together during transit
by rail. Among cattle the estimation in which " polled "
breeds are held at the present day, and the practical dis-
appearance of the old longhorns, are excellent examples of
this fashion ; while among sheep, if we except the mountain
and Dorset breeds, the majority of those bred in this country
are hornless.

If, however, fashion and custom had set in the opposite
direction, there is little doubt that some extraordinary
developments in the form, size, or number of horns might
have been witnessed in both these groups of animals.
Length of horn was indeed a feature in the old-fashioned
breed of British long-horned cattle, and the massiveness and
size of the horns of the humped cattle of Gallaland and
Abyssinia, as well as the length frequently attained by the
same appendages in the trek-oxen of Cape Colony, bear
testimony to the facility with which developments in this

direction can be encouraged.

ago

FOUR-HORNED SHEEP 281

Horn-development among domesticated cattle, however,
seems to be restricted to increase in size, with some com-
paratively slight degree of modification in regard to general
form and curvature ; and it does not appear that any breed
is known in which the horns are permanently characterised
by an abnormality in structure.

Very different is the case in sheep, in which the horns
seem to lend themselves with great facility to abnormal
development in several directions. The typical form of
horn is familiar to us in the wild sheep of Europe and
Asia as well as in the old classical sculptures of Jupiter
Ammon ; and this type, although much reduced in size,
is fairly well retained in the modern Dorset and merino
breeds. In old rams of both breeds there is, however, a
tendency to produce a spiral of greater length than
ever occurs in v/ild sheep ; and this tendency is perhaps
even more noticeable in the mountain breeds of Scotland
and Wales. In all the above breeds the original close
and incurved horizontal spiral is, however, preserved.
But in the so-called Wallachian breed of Eastern Europe
the horns take the form of upwardly directed corkscrews,
mimicking in fact to a certain degree those of the beau-
tiful African kudu antelope. A single skull in the old
Hunterian collection of the Royal College of Surgeons
indicates the existence of a closely allied if not identical
breed of sheep in Sumatra.

A far more curious modification produced by domesti-
cation is, however, displayed by the augmentation in the
number of the horns ; two, three, four, or even six extra
horns being sometimes noticeable. When a pair of such
additional horns are developed they usually occupy the
upper and fore part of the head, and are of a more slender
shape and take a more upright direction than the normal

282 MOSTLY MAMMALS

pair, which generally retain their ordinary position and form,
although frequently showing a more or less pronounced lack
of symmetry. When the Zoological Society possessed a
farm at Kingston Hill, in the year 1829, several of these
four-horned sheep were kept there ; but, although llamas
and alpacas, which are just as much domesticated animals,
are exhibited at the present day in the Society's menagerie
in the Regent's Park, four-horned and other abnormal
breeds of sheep are not on show. Flocks of four-horned
sheep are, however, kept in several British parks.

Bearing in mind the close affinity existing between
sheep and goats, it is not a little remarkable that the
additional horns developed in the four-horned breed of the
former should approximate to a considerable degree both
in direction and in curvature to those of the latter. This,
however, must not be taken as an indication that the
additional pair in the four-horned sheep represents the
normal pair of the goats.

Four-horned sheep belong to at least two distinct breeds,
one of which is of great antiquity. According to report this
breed originally came from Iceland and the Faroe Islands,
where these sheep still exist, as they also do in the Orkneys,
Shetlands, Hebrides, and the Isle of Man. Occasionally, it
is said, the little brown sheep of the island of Soa, in the
Hebrides, develop four horns, although they are normally
two-horned.

Like the Soa breed, European four-horned sheep are
of very small size, and dark in colour, the fleece being not
infrequently mottled with patches of brown and white. The
wool, too, as in nearly or quite all the inferior breeds of
sheep, is much mixed with hair, so that it is by no means
of a fine quality.

From the islands of north-western Europe four-horned

FOUR-HORNED SHEEP 283

sheep may be traced eastwards across the northern districts
of Continental Europe and Asia into China, where they
appear to be comparatively numerous. Among the flocks of
the nomad Tatars, the presence of four horns is associated
with an enlargement of the base of the tail, owing to the
deposition in that region of a large amount of fat. Although
such a difference might be produced by crossing Icelandic
four-horned sheep with the two-horned fat-tailed breed,
it quite possibly indicates an altogether distinct breed.
Moreover, Brian Hodgson, a late Anglo-Indian naturalist,
in a paper on the tame sheep and goats of the Sub-
Himalayas and Tibet, published in vol. xvi. of the Journal
of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1847), stated that the
Hunia sheep of the Himalayas, which are white with black
faces, occasionally develop four or more horns. Again,
Darwin, in his " Animals under Domestication," mentions
that merino sheep when exported to Chili display the same
tendency.

A breed of black and white sheep, originally natives of
Zululand and other parts of South Africa, not unfrequently
develop an additional pair of horns which are quite different
in shape from those of the Icelandic breed, as indeed are
both pairs in colour, which is black. A flock of this breed
is kept by the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth.

In most, if not in all cases, the two horns on each side
of the head in these sheep are perfectly distinct and separate
from one another at the base ; but this does not prove that
they may not in the first instance have originated by a
splitting or division of the young horns of the normal pair.

In this connection it is very noteworthy that the antlers of
deer are occasionally bifurcate for a portion or the whole of
their length on one side of the head, although there does not
seem to be an instance on record where such a feature occurs

284 MOSTLY MAMMALS

on both sides. That such duphcated antlers are due to a
splitting during early development is rendered perfectly
manifest by the head of a fallow-deer figured on p. 855 of
the Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1896. In this
instance it is the right antler which is double throughout its
length ; but instead of the two divisions of this antler being
complete in every detail, the front one corresponds only
with the fore half of the normal complete antler, and vice
versa. Hence the proof of bifurcation.

On the other hand, in a three-horned red-deer head in the
collection of Lord Powerscourt at Enniscorthy the dupli-
cated antlers of the right side are practically replicas of one
another; both being somewhat simpler than the normal left
antler. In this case there is no evidence of bifurcation, but
the three-horned fallow-deer seems sufficient to demonstrate
that the origin of the abnormality is the same in both
instances. If this be the case, there seems no reason why
additional cranial appendages developed in the four-horned
breeds of sheep should not have been originally due to
fission, although no trace of such original splitting can now
be detected. As a matter of fact, a specimen in the British
Museum actually shows the occurrence of such a splitting in
the horns of a ram of this breed.

Splitting seems, indeed, to be a very common mode by
which abnormalities are produced. The Museum of the
Royal College of Surgeons possesses, for instance, the skull
of a dog in which both the upper tusks, or canine teeth, are
longitudinally split for about half their length, and there is a
similar specimen in the British Museum. This splitting is
clearly due to a partial fission of the crown of the tooth-
gum. And it is not improbable that a similar fission, carried
to a greater extent, may explain the condition obtaining
in the skull of a fox killed during the winter of 1900 by the

FOUR-HORNED SHEEP 285

South Oxfordshire Hounds, in which there are two complete
canines on each side of the upper jaw, one behind the other,
giving a most remarkable appearance to the head. As
already said, the complete duplication of the upper canine
may quite possibly be an extreme development of the
imperfect fission noticeable in the other specimens ; but, on
the other hand, it may be due to the growth of a supple-
mental germ which exists at the root of most mammalian
teeth, but, as a rule, remains dormant throughout life.

To return to our sheep. It has now to be mentioned
that the development of two or more additional horns in
these animals is by no means the only abnormality which not
infrequently makes its appearance in connection with these
appendages. There is, on the contrary, an equally marked
tendency to "sport " in the opposite direction — that is to say,
to the coalescence of the normal pair so as to give rise to
what are practically unicorn-sheep.

These unicorn-sheep have a much more restricted habitat
than their many-horned cousins, being apparently confined
to a certain portion of the Himalaya or Tibet, although they
are not referred to by Brian Hodgson in his paper on the
tame sheep and goats of the Sub-Himalayas and Tibet,
already referred to.

Three specimens of the horns of this remarkable breed
of sheep are known to be preserved in England, two of
them being in the British Museum (to which they were
presented by Hodgson), while the third is in the Museum
of the Royal College of Surgeons, as the gift of Colonel
Finch in 1830. The latter is described in the Museum
Catalogue in the following words : '* The horns have grown
parallel to each other, and are firmly united throughout
their whole extent, producing the appearance of a single
horn, the extremity of which has been sawed off, probably

286 MOSTLY MAMMALS

to relieve the animal of the inconvenience of pressure upon
the neck."

Precisely the same description, inclusive of the sawing off
of the top of the amalgamated horns, would apply to the
two skulls of this breed in the British Museum,

In the case of the many-horned breed of sheep it would
seem that the redundancy in horn-development is more
probably a disadvantage than a benefit to the animals in
which it occurs. And if, as seems to be the case, the
amalgamated horn in the unicorn-sheep tends to run into
the neck of the owner so as to necessitate the amputation
of the tip, the abnormaUty is altogether harmful ; so that
if it occurred in a state of nature it would probably soon
disappear.

This amalgamation of the horns in the unicorn-sheep
presents a curious analogy to the so-called solid-hoofed pigs,
which have been known from a very early period. " From
the time of Aristotle to the present time," wrote Darwin,
" solid-hoofed swine have occasionally been observed in
various parts of the world. Although this peculiarity is
strongly inherited, it is hardly probable that all the animals
with solid hoofs have descended from the same parents ; it is
more probable that the same peculiarity has reappeared at
various times and places." The peculiarity is produced by
the welding together of the middle pair of hoofs into a single
large hoof.

Although we may at present be unable to explain the
curious variations displayed by different organs among
animals under domestication, this is surely no reason why
we should refuse to study them at all.

MUSK-OXEN IN ENGLAND

Some persons are unfortunate in their names, and the
same is the case with certain animals. The ruminant
popularly known as the musk-ox and scientifically as
Ovibos moschatus is an instance of this, for although no
objection can be taken to the prefix " musk," and its Latin
eqivalent moschatus, yet the English title " ox " is in the
highest degree misleading, while the technical "Ovibos,"
which suggests characters intermediate between the oxen
and the sheep, is equally unsatisfactory. To say that the
creature is an animal sui generis would be a truism, seeing
that it is the sole existing representative of the genus
Ovibos ; and yet this expression, perhaps, best conveys
the real state of the case — namely, that it is a more or
less isolated member of the ruminant group, coming under
the designation neither of an ox nor a sheep, nor yet
being a connecting link between the two. Under these
circumstances it would be much better if the name
" musk-ox " could be dropped altogether, and (unless it
be altogether unpronounceable) its native Greenland equi-
valent adopted instead. Unfortunately, however, I have
hitherto been unable to ascertain by what name the creature
is known to the Greenlanders.

Although now restricted to Greenland and Arctic America
eastward of the Mackenzie River, the musk-ox was formerly
a circumpolar animal, its remains being occasionally met

287

288 MOSTLY MAMMALS

with in the interior of Alaska, more commonly in the frozen
cliffs of Eschscholtz Bay, and also in the ice-bound soil of
the Lena and the Yenisei valleys. Although unknown in
Franz Josef Land and Spitzbergen, the musk-ox extends
polewards through Parry Island and Grinnell Land into
North Greenland, where its northward range is probably
only limited by the limits of vegetation. South Greenland
at the present day is, however, too hot for such a cold-
loving beast, and Melville Bay now forms the southernmost
point to which it wanders on the west coast. Consequently
it would seem probable that the musk-oxen on the west coast
are completely isolated from those on the eastern seaboard ;
the central mountain range of the interior of Greenland
being apparently impassable even by such hardy animals,
while a transit vid Cape Farewell is, as we have seen,
barred by climatic conditions of an opposite nature.

In America, however, the musk-ox still ranges consider-
ably farther south, its limits in this direction being
approximately formed by the sixtieth parallel of north
latitude ; but it is stated that year by year its southern
range is slowly contracting — possibly owing to pursuit by
man. When the musk-ox ceased to be an inhabitant of
the Siberian tundra, or why it should ever have disappeared
from regions apparently so well suited to its habits as are
Northern Asia and Alaska, there are no means of ascer-
taining. But the date of its disappearance was probably
by no means remote, comparatively speaking, and it is
even possible that man himself may have taken a share
in its extermination. However this may be, it is beyond
doubt that the musk-ox was an inhabitant of the south
of England, as well as of parts of France and Germany,
during or about the time of the glacial epoch ; its remains
occurring not uncommonly in the gravels of the English

MUSK-OXEN IN ENGLAND 289

river-valleys, such as those of the Thames and Severn, as
well as in the brick-earths of Kent. It is also probable
that they occur in the " forest-bed " of the Norfolk coast,
which somewhat antedates the great glaciation of Britain.

This being so, it is evident that the musk-ox was a
living British animal within the period during which our
islands have been inhabited by man, for in many of the
deposits in which its remains occur flint implements and
other evidences of human presence are likewise found.
Probably, indeed, the early human inhabitants of Britain
not infrequently made a meal of musk-ox beef; but the
disappearance of the animal from the British fauna may
apparently be attributed rather to a change in climatic
conditions than to pursuit by man.

From that long-distant day when the last indigenous
British musk-ox departed this life no living representative
of the species appears to have been brought to our islands
till the autumn of 1899, when a couple of young bulls were
added to the collection of the Duke of Bedford at Woburn
Abbey, These were captured in August in Clavering Island,
situated off the coast of East Greenland, opposite Konig
Wilhelm Land, about latitude 74° 5' N. When they arrived
they were about the size of a rather large sheep, but by
March of the following year the solitary survivor had
increased considerably in size, although the horns were then
only just visible above the long hairs of the sides of the
forehead.

Probably most of my readers are more or less familiar
with the general appearance of the adult musk-ox ; but
those who are not would do well to turn to its portrait
as shown opposite next page, or, still better, to pay a
visit to the British Museum at South Kensington, where
both the mounted skin and the skeleton are exhibited. The

19

290 MOSTLY MAMMALS

absence of the large flattened, fibrous, and downwardly
curving yellow horns, which almost meet in the middle
line of the forehead of the adult bull, renders the aspect
of the head of the calf very different. In other respects,
however, the calves are very like the full-grown animals
in general appearance, showing the same long, straight,
and rather coarse hair, the conspicuous light-coloured
" saddle " on the back, the white *' stockings," the woolly
triangular ears, the broad and almost completely hairy
muzzle, and the entire burying of the rudimentary tail in
the long hair of the hindquarters. Owing, however, to
the inferior length of the hair on the flanks, more of the
legs is exhibited in the young than in the adult ; and
this enables the peculiarly heavy and massive form of the
pasterns and feet to be better seen. Nothing was more
curious about the calves at Woburn Abbey than their
movements, which recalled those of a Polar bear more
than those of an ox or a sheep, the hocks being turned
outwards in an altogether pecuHar and distinctive manner.
If this strange gait is also characteristic of the adult, it is
probably adapted for progression on glaciers and other
ice-coated surfaces ; firmness of foothold being secured by
the presence of a considerable amount of hair on the
under-surface of the foot.

But there is one respect in which the Clavering Island
calves differed from the adult specimens exhibited at the
time of their arrival in the British Museum, as well as from
the description then given of the species. This is the
presence of a large patch of white hair on the forehead,
as well as of an ill-defined white streak down each side of
the face, and some scattered white hairs in the middle line
between the muzzle and the eyes.

As these differences have been found to be constant.

MUSK-OXEN IN ENGLAND 291

the Greenland musk-ox is now regarded as representing
a distinct local race.

To discuss the affinities of the musk-ox on this occasion
would obviously be out of place ; but my readers may
probably like to be informed of some of the reasons which
preclude its being classed either with the oxen or with the
sheep. As regards the horns, it will suffice to say that
they are quite unlike those of either of the groups in
question. From the oxen the animal is broadly dis-
tinguished alike by the structure of its upper teeth and
also by its hairy muzzle. But this broad and hairy
muzzle, in which there is a narrow naked and granular
area immediately above and between the nostrils, is equally
unlike the narrow and short-haired muzzle of the sheep
and goats. In the structure of its upper teeth, as well as
in the presence of glands below the eyes and of only two
mammae in the female, the musk-ox is, however, much
more like the latter group. But these two latter features
are of no great zoological importance, some sheep lacking
face-glands, while one species of goat has four mammae ;
and they in no wise serve to prove the existence of any
close relationship between musk-oxen and sheep. It may
be added that the aborted tail of the musk-ox separates
it very widely from the oxen, in all of which this appendage
is of great relative length ; but in this respect the animal
comes closer to the sheep, nearly all the wild forms of
which have short and stumpy tails. In the extremely
late development of the horns (as attested by the survivor
of the Woburn pair) the species seem to stand apart from
both groups.

Judging from the photographs in an account by Dr. Nathorst
of the hunting of these animals, it would seem that in East
Greenland musk-oxen are commonly found in small herds of

292 MOSTLY MAMMALS

from eight to nine or a dozen in number. Their favourite
haunts seem to be the gently sloping and boulder-strewn
short valleys at the foot of the cliffs. Here they can be
approached without much difficulty, and killed in the open,
the members of the herd standing to gaze unconcernedly
at the aggressor after one or more of their number has
been shot down. When separated from their mothers,
the young calves are by no means difficult to capture. I
have been told by a friend that during an expedition to
Greenland some officers succeeded in capturing a number
of these calves, which they were carrying down on their
shoulders to the coast; but the captive animals squealed
so loudly as to attract the attention of all the Polar bears in
the neighbourhood, which thereupon started in pursuit and
soon induced the unarmed captors to drop their booty 1

THE WILD OX OF EUROPE

Among many losses attributable, directly or indirectly, to
the first French Revolution appears to be one which is
absolutely irretrievable, and must ever remain a source of
the deepest regret to the naturalist. Up to that time there
were preserved in Alsace two huge horns commonly
reputed to belong to the great extinct wild ox of Europe.
The one was kept in the cathedral at Strassburg, the
other in the episcopal palace at the neighbouring town of
Zabern, or Saverne. The former was of great length
(6 ft, 6 in.), and comparatively slender, while the second
(which was mounted with silver and used as a drinking-
horn) was also very large and apparently stouter. Its
length is not given, but its capacity was so great that it
would hold four litres of wine.

The French naturalist Buffon, who saw the Strassburg
specimen, believed that it was truly the horn of a wild
ox, or aurochs, but this opinion is disputed by Prof.
Nehring, of Berlin, who, on account of its great length and
slenderness, considers that it belonged to a domesticated
Hungarian bullock. This is confirmed by an ancient
tradition that the horn in question was that of one of
the oxen employed in carting stones for building the
cathedral, and Dr. Nehring's view may accordingly be
accepted.

On the other hand, the Zabern horn, whose capacity, as

293

294 MOSTLY MAMMALS

already said, was four litres, may, in the opinion of the
same authority, be confidently regarded as that of an
aurochs. For if it be assumed that its capacity has been
somewhat enlarged by shaving away the inner surface, it
would seem to accord fairly well in size with large fossil
specimens of the bony horn-cores of that animal. For
three centuries the Zabern horn was the emblem of an
association known as " the brotherhood of the horn."
This society was founded in May, 1586, by Bishop John
von Manderscheid, who came into possession of the horn
as a hunting-trophy, or heirloom, from his ancestors. The
meeting-place of the society was the castle of Hoh-Barr,
near Zabern. The horn was regarded with great veneration
by the members of the confraternity, to which distinguished
strangers were occasionally admitted as " honorary members."
Like the Strassburg ox-horn, the Zabern aurochs-horn
mysteriously disappeared during or soon after the French
Revolution.

With its disappearance vanished apparently the last
relic of an aurochs killed within the historic period. It is
true that Prof. W. B. Dawkins * has stated that a pair of
aurochs-horns were borne in procession on certain occasions
in the canton of Uri, Switzerland, so late as about the year
1866, but it does not appear that the practice is continued,
or that the horns are still in existence.

In the Middle Ages aurochs-horns were commonly pre-
served— although even then as rarities— in churches and
castles, where they were generally used as drinking-vessels ;
and it is mentioned in the "Commentaries" of Julius Caesar
that even in his time such horns, mounted in silver, were
employed for the same purpose. In the year 1 5 50, Conrad
Gesner mentions that an entire aurochs-skull (apparently
* Quart. Jonrn. Geol Soc, vol. xxii. p. 393.

THE WILD OX OF EUROPE 295

with the horns) was preserved in the town-hall at Worms,
and another at Mayence. Probably both have long since
perished.

Seeing that horns are almost unknown in a fossil state,
it might well have been thought that, with the loss of the
historic Zabern specimen, the last example of an aurochs-
horn has disappeared for ever. By a lucky chance, a
nearly perfect horn of the wild ox has, however, been
recently discovered in a peat-bog in Pomerania, together
with a fragment of the bony horn-core on which it was
supported during life. The specimen has been described
by Dr. Nehring, and proved to belong unquestionably to
the aurochs, as distinct from the bison.

The mention of both aurochs and bison in the preceding
sentence renders it desirable to allude to a matter which
has been the cause of considerable confusion and mis-
conception. Until within the last few years, nearly all
naturahsts regarded these two names as synonymous, and
appHed them both to the bison ; or rather, in many cases
dropped the latter name altogether, and miscalled the
animal to which it belongs the aurochs. The same practice
is largely followed by sportsmen at the present day.
In old German the wild ox appears to have been called
indifferently either iiy or auerochs ; the former name being
Latinised by Caesar into Urns. Auerochs, according to the
usual interpretation, signifies mountain or wild ox ; but
opinions differ as to whether ur has a similar meaning, or
whether it signifies the old or primeval ox. Be this as it
may, the wild ox, which may even in Caesar's time have
been growing scarce, gradually became rarer and rarer
during the Middle Ages, till it finally disappeared in the
first half of the seventeenth century. The name, however,
still remained among the peasantry of Eastern Europe, and

296 MOSTLY MAMMALS

as there was no species to which it could possibly apply
save the bison, which then still survived in Poland and
elsewhere, it was transferred to that animal, of which, as
already mentioned, it became the common designation.
A precisely analogous instance has occurred in Eastern
Russia. The bison, in place of being restricted, as now,
to Lithuania and the Caucasus, was formerly much more
widely distributed. When it disappeared from certain
districts, its name still survived, and became transferred
by the peasants to the eastern race of the red-deer,
as the only large wild ungulate with which they were
acquainted.

As regards the gradual extermination of the aurochs
as a wild animal during the Middle Ages, much important
evidence has been collected of late years by Messrs. Nehring
and Schiemenz.

During the Pleistocene epoch, when the mammoth and
the woolly rhinoceros inhabited the British Islands and
the Continent (which were then one), the aurochs was a
common animal, as is attested by the abundance of its
remains in formations of that age. Some of the finest
and largest skulls of this so-called Bos primigenius were
obtained by the late Sir Antonio Brady from the brick-earths
of Ilford, in Essex. Other skulls have been obtained from
the peat of Perthshire, from Burwell Fen, Cambridgeshire,
and from a peaty deposit at Newbury, in Berkshire. A
skull from Burwell Fen, in the Woodwardian Museum at
Cambridge, has a flint implement embedded in the fore-
head, thus showing that the animal was hunted by the
prehistoric inhabitants of our islands at a time when the
mammoth and rhinoceros had already disappeared.

As to the date of the extermination of the wild aurochs
in Britain there is no decisive evidence, but no skulls or

THE WILD OX OF EUROPE 297

other remains have hitherto been identified from deposits
of Roman or later age. It is, of course, possible that it
may have survived till the epoch in question, or later, in
the more remote parts of the kingdom, and Prof. Dawkins
has even suggested that the tauri sylvestres mentioned by
Fitzstephen, who wrote his " Life of Beckett " in the reign
of Henry II., as inhabiting the forests round London,
were aboriginally wild animals. On the other hand, they
may equally well have been cattle that had run wild, and
this is confirmed by Bishop Leslie, of Ross, who stated in
1598 that the Bos sylvestris of the Caledonian Forest was
white.

On the Continent, we have the evidence of Caesar as to
the co-existence of the aurochs or urus in the Hercynian,
or Black, Forest with the bison and the elk. And it is
related how the young German warriors of that time
prepared themselves for war by hunting and killing the
fierce aurochs. A remarkable confirmation of the truth of
Caesar's statement as to the co-existence of the aurochs
and bison on the Continent during the period of the Roman
occupation is afforded by the discovery in Swabia, during
the widening of a railway in 1895, of two statuettes of oxen
belonging to the Roman period. They were dug up in loam
at a depth of nine feet below the surface, and have been
described and figured by Prof E. Fraas.* The one, as
shown by the great elevation and depth of the fore-
quarters, clearly represents the bison. The other, on the
contrary, is as evidently intended for the aurochs. The
horns have been broken off in both specimens, but what
remains of them agrees in each instance with the form
they should assume. In stating that both species inhabited
the Black Forest contemporaneously, it is not meant that
* "Fundberichte aus Schwaben," vol. vii. p. ^il (1899).

298 MOSTLY MAMMALS

they were actually found in company. On the contrary,
it is more probable, as pointed out by Dr. Nehring, that
while the one frequented the low-lying and swampy forests,
the other resorted to the higher and drier woods.

Of later chronicles than Caesar's one describing the
wars of Charlemagne in the early part of the ninth century
alludes to the king going to hunt bisons or aurochs
{bisontium vel urorum) in the forests of Aix-la-Chapelle.
The use of the term vel is a little ambiguous, but Prof.
Dawkins considers that the passage indicates the occurrence
of both species in the forest, while he is also of opinion
that the animal slain by Charlemagne was undoubtedly an
aurochs. Of special importance is the mention of both
bison and aurochs (urus) in a grace used at the Abbey of
St. Gall about the year 1000. Another important state-
ment is to the effect that aurochs and elk were met with
by the First Crusade when crossing Germany at the close
of the eleventh century, special reference being made to
the enormous size of the horns of the former animals.
Again, in the " Nibelungen-Lied," of the twelfth century,
Siegfried is related to have killed a bison and four aurochs
near Worms.

A work by the German writer Herberstain, entitled
" Moscovia," of which an Italian translation was published
at Venice in 1550, affords the most important evidence
of any as to the survival of the aurochs in Poland (and
probably also in Hungary) during the later Middle Ages.
In this work appear woodcuts — rude, it is true, but still
characteristic and unmistakable — of two perfectly distinct
types of European wild cattle, one being the aurochs, or
ur, and the other the bison. As Herberstain had travelled
frequently in Poland, it is probable that he had seen both
species alive, and the drawings were most likely executed

THE WILD OX OF EUROPE 299

under his own immediate supervision and direction. It
has been suggested that the figure of the aurochs was
taken from a domesticated ox, but Messrs. Nehring and
Schiemenz have shown that this is quite a mistaken idea.
Not the least important feature of the work of Herberstain
is the application of the name "aurochs" to the wild ox,
as distinct from the bison. The locality where aurochs
survived in Herberstain's time was the forest of Jakto-
zowka, situated about fifty-five kilometres west-south-west
of Warsaw, in the provinces of Bolemow and Sochaczew.
From other evidence it appears that the last aurochs was
killed in this forest in the year 1627. It is important
to notice that Herberstain describes the colour of the aurochs
as black, and this is confirmed by another old picture
of the animal. Gesner's figure of the aurochs, or, as he
calls it, "thur," given in his " His tor}' of Animals," pub-
lished in 1622, was probably adapted from Herberstain's.
It may be added that an ancient gold goblet depicts the
hunting and taming of the wild aurochs.*

As a wild animal, then, the aurochs appears to have
ceased to exist in the early part of the seventeenth century ;
but as a species it is still among us, for there can be no
doubt the majority of the domesticated breeds of European
cattle are its descendants, all diminished in point of size,
and some departing more widely from the original type
than others. Aurochs' calves were in all probability cap-
tured by the prehistoric inhabitants of Britain and the
Continent and tamed ; and from these, with perhaps an
occasional blending of wild blood, are doubtless descended
most of our European cattle.

Much misconception has, however, prevailed as to which
breeds are the nearest to the ancestral wild stock. For
* See Keller, Globus, vol. Ixxii., No. 22 (1897).

300 MOSTLY MAMMALS

instance, in 1 866, Prof. Dawkins wrote as follows :
"The half-wild oxen of Chillingham Park, in Northumber-
land, and other places in northern and central Britain,
are probably the last surviving representatives of the
gigantic urus of the Pleistocene period, reduced in size
and modified in every respect by their small range and
their contact with men."

When this was penned, it is only fair to state, the fact
that the colour of the aurochs was black does not appear
to have been known to the writer ; neither was it then
generally recognised that the park cattle (which are always
white) are semi-albinoes. Such semi-albinism is always
the result of domestication, as is mentioned in Bell's
" British Quadrupeds," and could not have arisen in the
wild state. Moreover, the park cattle display evidence of
their descent from dark-coloured breeds by the retention
of red or black ears and brown or black muzzles. In the
Chillingham cattle the ears are generally red, although
sometimes (probably as the result of crossing) black, and
the muzzle brown ; while in the breed at Cadzow Park,
Lanarkshire, both ears and muzzle are deep black, and
there are usually flecks of black on the head and fore-
quarters. It is further significant that, in the Chillingham
herd at any rate, dark-coloured calves, which are weeded
out by the keepers, make their appearance from time to
time.

Now, it is a remarkable fact that when the black Pem-
broke breed of domesticated cattle tends to albinism, the
ears and muzzle, and more rarely the fetlocks, remain
completely black or very dark grey, although the colour
elsewhere is whitish, more or less profusely flecked and
blotched with pale grey. In the shape and curvature of
the horns, which at first incline outwards and forwards.

THE WILD OX OF EUROPE 301

and then bend somewhat upwards and inwards, this breed
of cattle, which is known to be of great antiquity, resem-
bles both the gigantic aurochs and the (by comparison)
dwarfed park breeds. Moreover, in both the Pembroke
and the park breeds the horns are light-coloured with
black tips.

Important evidence as to the close affinity between these
two breeds is furnished by Low, in his "Domesticated
Animals of the British Islands." It is there stated that a
breed of cattle very similar to that at Chillingham was
found in Wales in the tenth century, these cattle being
white with red ears, " The individuals of this race yet
existing in Wales are found chiefly in the county of
Pembroke, where they have been kept by some individuals
perfectly pure as a part of their regular farm-stock. Until
a period comparatively recent, they were relatively
numerous, and persons are yet living who remember when
they were driven in droves to the pasturages of the Severn
and the neighbouring markets. Their whole essential
characters are the same as those (of the cattle) at Chil-
lingham and Chartley Park and elsewhere. Their horns
are white, tipped with black, and extended and turned
upwards in the manner distinctive of the wild breed.
The inside of the ears and the muzzle are black, and
their feet are black to the fetlock-joint. Their skin is
unctuous and of a deep-toned yellow colour. Individuals
of the race are sometimes born entirely black, and then
they are not to be distinguished from the common cattle
of the mountains."

It is thus evident that the white park cattle are a
specialised offshoot from the ancient Pembroke black breed,
which, as Low mentions in a later passage, from their
soft and well-haired skins, are evidently natives of a humid

302 MOSTLY MAMMALS

climate, such as that of the forests in which dwelt the
wild aurochs. This disposes, once and for all, of a theory
recently broached that the park cattle are descendants of
a white sacrificial breed introduced by the Romans.

A further inference is that the Pembroke cattle are
themselves the most immediate descendants of the wild
aurochs (which, as we have already seen, was black) now
living in the British Islands, or perhaps, indeed, anywhere
else. That the park cattle have in some cases reverted to
a semi-wild state, whereas the Pembrokes are thoroughly
domesticated, has nothing to do with the argument, and
is merely the result of the force of circumstances.

To some persons the red ears of the Chillingham and
some of the old Welsh white cattle may give rise to a
doubt as to the relationship with the aurochs and Pem-
broke breed ; but it should be borne in mind that red is
the primitive coloration of all wild cattle, and that, for
aught we know to the contrary, the calves, or even the
cows, of the aurochs may have been of this colour, as are
those of the banting, or wild ox, of Java, of which the
old bulls are black. The red ears of the Chillingham breed
are therefore, at most, a reversion to the colour of the
ancestors of the aurochs.

From the foregoing statements it is evident that the
aurochs and the Pembroke and park cattle belong to one
and the same species, and since the latter do not appear
specifically separable from the domesticated cattle of Scan-
dinavia, which probably formed the type of the Bos taurus
of Linnaeus, it is clear that the aurochs has no right to
a distinct species name. Instead of Bos primigenms, it
should be called Bos taurus priimgenius.

THE SMALLEST WILD CATTLE

Among the larger mammals the species or varieties in-
habiting islands are more or less markedly inferior in
point of size to their nearest continental relatives. In
the case of the smaller islands, like Sardinia and Corsica,
the reason of such a diminution in stature is not far to
seek, and it is therefore not in the least surprising to
find that the Corsican red-deer is a very inferior edition
of its prototype of the mainland. The buffalo of the
small island of Mindoro, in the Philippines, is greatly
inferior in size to the wild buffaloes of the tall grass-
jungles of Assam. In the case of islands of the
dimensions of Sumatra and Borneo the reason of the
phenomenon is by no means apparent, especially when
we find them inhabited by a man-like ape (the orang-
utan) almost rivalling in bulk and stature the gorilla
of Western Africa, Nevertheless, even in such areas
the same feature is to a certain extent noticeable, the
wild buffalo of Borneo being considerably smaller than
its Indian relative. As regards its actual area, the
island of Celebes occupies a kind of intermediate position,
since it is much inferior in extent to either Sumatra or
Borneo, although far too extensive to come under the
denomination of a small island. From its peculiar shape,
which recalls the form often assumed by an amoeba, it has,
however, a much smaller area that could be enclosed by

303

304 MOSTLY MAMMALS

a ring fence than many islands of less than half its
acreage, and this may really bring it, so far as the de-
velopment of animal life is concerned, into the same
category as a small island.

Be this as it may, Celebes has the distinction of being
the home of the smallest living representative of the wild
cattle, or, indeed, of the wild cattle of any period of the
earth's history, for no equally diminutive fossil member of
the group appears to be known. An idea of the extremely
diminutive proportions of the anoa, or sapi-utan, as the
animal in question is respectively called by the inhabitants
of Celebes and the Malays, may be gained when it is
stated that its height at the shoulder is only about 3 ft.
3 in., whereas that of the great Indian wild ox, or gaur,
is at least 6 ft. 4 in. In fact, the anoa is really not
much, if at all, larger than a well-grown Southdown sheep,
and scarcely exceeds in this respect the little domesticated
Indian Bramini cattle.

The anoa has many of the characters of the large
Indian buffalo, but its horns are relatively shorter, less
curved, and more upright. In this, as well as in certain
other respects, it is more like the young than the adult
of the last-named species ; and as young animals fre-
quently show ancestral features which are gradually lost
as maturity is approached, it would be a natural suppo-
sition that the anoa is a primitive type of buffalo. This
idea receives a remarkable confirmation from the circum-
stance that in the later Tertiary strata of Northern India
there occur skulls of anoa-like buffaloes, which, however,
in correlation with the continental area where they are
met with, indicate animals of considerably larger dimen-
sions than the living Celebes animal. In fact the latter,
together with the somewhat larger wild buffalo, or

-1

k/ '^

J

From a />/ioiogiafih by the Vuc/uss oj Bca/vnl.]

Male and Female Anoa, or Dwarf Buffalo.
The bull has unfortunately lost the greater part of his tail.

\_Toface p. 304

THE SMALLEST WILD CATTLE 305

tamarau, of the island of Mindoro, and the aforesaid
extinct Indian species, constitute an altogether peculiar
and primitive group of the buffalo tribe.

In its young state and during middle life the anoa is
covered with a fairly thick coat of somewhat woolly hair,
which is at first yellowish brown, but eventually becomes
dark brown or blackish. In common with other Asiatic
buffaloes, the hair is reversed along the middle line of
the neck and back as far as the haunches ; that is to
say the tips are directed towards the head instead of
towards the tail. What may be the precise object of this
reversal (which is also met with among many antelopes
and deer) is not yet ascertained. Possibly it may have
something to do with the manner in which the animals
rub themselves against the stems or boughs of trees and
bushes.

In old individuals, especially those of the male sex,
the coat of hair almost completely disappears, leaving the
black skin bare and shining, like that of old buffaloes in
general. This condition has been attained by the bull
shown in the foreground of the accompanying photograph.
And here it should be remarked that this particular
animal has suffered the loss of the greater portion of
its tail, which somewhat alters the appearance of its
hindquarters. With the usual fatality that attends the
grouping of animals, it has also happened that the hind-
quarters of the bull are in full view, while those of the
cow are concealed. The somewhat spiteful and uncertain
temper of the bull is indicated by the circumstance that
it was found necessary to affix brass knobs to its horns.
From the more typical buffaloes the anoa differs by the
general presence of white markings. These usually take
the form of a gorget on the lower part of the throat,

20

3o6 , MOSTLY MAMMALS

and of one or two spots on each side of the under-jaw,
as well as patches above the lateral hoofs ; but there may
also be white blotches on the neck and back, and in front
of the eyes, while more or less of white may appear on
the muzzle and the whole of the lower portion of the
limbs. The special interest attaching to these white
markings is that the spots on the sides of the face as
well as the gorget on the throat are also met with
among certain antelopes, such as the kudu and the bush-
bucks ; and from this it has been inferred that the anoa
is more nearly related to the antelopes than is any other
member of the ox tribe. Although this may be true to
a certain extent, the connection with the kudu tribe is
remote.

According to the meagre accounts we at present possess
of the creature in its native haunts, the anoa dwells in
pairs on the elevated ground of the interior of Celebes,
where it passes most of its time in thick forests in the
neighbourhood of water. In associating in pairs it is
quite unlike all other wild cattle, with the possible excep-
tion of the Philippine tamarau ; and here again it presents
a resemblance to the kudu and bushbucks, which also
generally go about in pairs or small family parties.

Examples of the anoa are but rarely seen alive in
England, although they do not appear very difficult to
procure. The first specimen exhibited in the London
Zoological Gardens was purchased in May, 1871, and a
second was obtained by exchange in June, 1880. Between
the latter date and 1896 (when the last complete list
of the animals in the menagerie was published) not a
single example of this very interesting little buffalo was
obtained. At Woburn Abbey the pair represented in the
accompanying photograph dwelt in a good-sized paddock

THE SMALLEST WILD CATTLE 307

by themselves, and flourished for a considerable period.
Unfortunately, however, one of the two has died since
the photograph was taken.

Apart from the interest attaching to it as a primitive
island type, and as being the smallest representative of
the ox tribe, it cannot fairly be said that the anoa is a
very attractive animal. It has nothing specially to com-
mend it from an aesthetic point of view, being, in fact,
a rather ugly and ungainly creature ; and from its pug-
nacious disposition it is not adapted for turning out in
British parks among other horned animals. Moreover,
it has a decidedly delicate constitution, which alone
would be sufficient to render it unfit for this kind of
life.

ARMOUR-CLAD WHALES

Among the many wonderful palaeontological discoveries that
have startled the scientific world during the last few years,
none, perhaps, is more unexpected than the assertion that
the ancestral whales were protected from attack by a bony
armour analogous to that with which the armadillos of South
America are covered. Scarcely less marvellous is the fact
that vestiges of this ancient coat of mail are still borne by
such familiar cetaceans as the porpoise and its near relative,
the Japanese porpoise {Neophocaena phocaenoides), the latter
species being distinguished by the absence of a back-fin.
That creatures like the modern pelagic whales and porpoises,
or even the river dolphins, could ever have been invested
with a complete bony armour, is, of course, an absolute
impossibility. The rigidity of such a panoply would have
interfered far too much with the mobility of their supple
bodies, while its weight would have impaired their buoyancy.
Consequently it is necessary to assume that in even the
earlier representatives of these types the armour must
have been in a condition of degradation and elimination,
so that we must go back to more primitive forms to find it
in its full development. As every one knows nowadays,
whales and dolphins trace their ancestry to land animals,
and nothing is more likely than that when such ancestral
creatures began to take to an amphibious life on the
seashore, or at the mouth of a large river, they should

308

ARMOUR-CLAD WHALES 309

have developed a dermal armour which would serve to
protect them alike from the breakers and from the attacks
of sharks and other marine monsters. For the idea that
the terrestrial ancestors of the cetaceans were clad in
armour cannot for a moment be entertained, since the
primitive mammals were not so protected, and the American
armadillos afford an instance of the development de novo
of such a bony panoply at a comparatively recent
epoch.

Years ago the late Dr. H. Burmeister described a porpoise
from Argentina as Phocacna spinipinnis, on account of its
possessing a number of spiny tubercles embedded in the skin
in the neighbourhood of the back-fin as well as on the fin
itself. " Some small spines," he wrote, " begin in the middle
of the back, at the distance of twenty-five centimetres
in front of the fin, as a single line of moderate spines ;
but soon another line begins on each side, so that in the
beginning of the fin there are already three lines of spines.
These three lines are continued over the whole rounded
anterior margin of the fin and are augmented on both sides
by other small spines irregularly scattered, so that the whole
number of lines of spines in the middle of the fin is five."
In a section of the skin of the back-fin the tubercles are
distinctly seen, many of them being double.

Similar tubercles were described on the back-fin of a
porpoise taken in the Thames in 1865 ; and quite recently
a row of no less than twenty-five well-developed tubercles
has been detected on the front edge of the back-fin of a foetal
porpoise, these tubercles being nearly white and thus showing
up in a marked contrast to the dark-coloured skin. Even
more distinct are the tubercles in the skin of the finless
back of the Japanese porpoise, where they form several
rows of polygonal plates.

3IO MOSTLY MAMMALS

In a fossil porpoise {Delphmopsis freyerz) from the middle
Tertiary deposits of Radoboj, in Croatia, the tubercles are
still more strongly developed, and form a series of regu-
larly arranged and parallel rows in the neighbourhood of
the back-fin. They clearly indicate one step from the
modern porpoises in the direction of a species provided
with a functional bony armour in this region of the body.
Between the extinct Croatian porpoise and the much more
ancient whale known as Zeuglodon, some parts of whose
body are believed to have been protected by a bony armour
as solid as that of the giant relatives of the armadillos, the
intermediate links are at present unknown, although they
may turn up any day. Zeuglodon was first discovered
in the early Tertiary strata of the United States, but its
remains have subsequently been found in the equivalent
deposits of Egypt and elsewhere, and in early times it
was probably the dominant cetacean of the world. Years
ago there were discovered with the bones of the internal
skeleton of this whale a number of bony plates which
originally formed a dermal armour ; but these plates were
regarded as belonging to a species of leathery turtle and
as having nothing to do with the whale.

In microscopic structure, as well as in their arrangement,
these polygonal bony plates are said, however, to differ from
the armour of the leathery turtle ; while their structure is
generally similar to the undoubted bones of Zeuglodon
with which they are found in association. Moreover, a
fragment covered on one side with armour of this type has
been discovered which cannot apparently be any part of
the shell of a turtle, but which may well be the back-fin
of Zeuglodon. And as the aforesaid bony tubercles of
the porpoises are always found on or near the back-fin, it
has been assumed that in Zeuglodon the entire dorsal fin,

ARMOUR-CLAD WHALES 311

as well as some portion of the back, was covered with a
complete tesselated armour of bony plates.

The majority of the living toothed whales (inclusive of
porpoises and dolphins) are furnished with a dorsal fin,
and it is therefore reasonable to suppose (apart from the
evidence of the specimen just referred to) that Zeuglodon
was similarly provided ; and if this be so, that cetacean
was evidently a pelagic creature. For the function of a
dorsal fin is to act as a kind of keel in maintaining the
balance of the body, this appendage being most developed
in purely pelagic cetaceans like the killer, while in littoral
or fluviatile forms such as the narwhal, the white whale,
and the Japanese porpoise, it is either small or wanting.
It is, further, noticeable that cetaceans with pointed muzzles
(of which Zeuglodon is one) nearly always have a larger
back-fin than those in which the muzzle is short and
rounded. In the whalebone bones, among which the
dorsal fin is either small or wanting, its function may be
discharged by the keel on the middle of the upper jaw,
or, owing to corporeal bulk, no such function is required
at all.

If, then, we are right in regarding Zeuglodon as a pelagic
cetacean, it is evident that it could not have been completely
armoured, but that such armour as it retained was merely
a survival from a fully armoured non-pelagic ancestor. For
it is almost impossible to believe, if they were armoured at
all, that the ancestral form was not invested in a complete
panoply, at least on the dorsal region.

The v;hole argument is tersely summed up as follows
by Dr. O. Abel [Beitr. Pal. Oster.-Ung., vol. xiii. p. 4,
1 901), to whom naturalists are indebted for these interesting
researches.

In their earliest stage of development the toothed whales

312 MOSTLY MAMMALS

were full armoured. The object of the armour was as a
defence against enemies, such as sharks, such an armour
being also very valuable to animals exposed to the force
of a strong surf on rocky shores. As the creatures took
more and more to an aquatic life, the acquisition of greater
speed would be of greater value to them, and this would
be accomplished by diminishing the specific gravity and
friction of the body, the shortening of the extremities
and the development of a caudal fin to serve as the sole
instrument of locomotion.

Accordingly the armour would very soon be lost by the
pelagic cetaceans in order to diminish friction and lighten
the specific gravity. Only among certain types, which
diverged at an early epoch from the ancestral stock and
took to a fluviatile or estuarine life, did vestiges of the
armour remain, while the dorsal fin remained undeveloped
(Neophociiena). That in this form, as well as in the closely
allied true porpoises {Phocaena), we have the most primitive
type of living toothed whales, is confirmed by the nature
of the dentition as well as by the circumstance that in this
group alone the premaxilla is toothed. The relation of the
interparietal to the parietal bones of the skull is likewise
confirmatory of the antiquity of the porpoises.

It may be added that Zeuglodon differs from modern
cetaceans by the characters of its teeth, those of the
lateral series being double-rooted and having compressed
and serrated crowns, distantly recalling those of the leopard-
seal. Between Zeuglodon and the shark-toothed dolphins
{Squalodon) the gap is very great, but still one which
might readily be bridged were the missing links forth-
coming ; and as it is, the molars of the one type seem
derivable from those of the other. In Squalodon the molars
alone retain the double-rooted character of Zeuglodon, and

ARMOUR-CLAD WHALES 313

a transition from the former, in respect of tooth-characters,
to the modern dolphins and porpoises is afforded by Sauro-
delphis, of the Argentine Pliocene, in which the roots of the
teeth, although single, are elongated antero-posteriorly and
thus display clear evidence of their original duality. By
Dr. Abel, Saurodelphis is indeed regarded as occupying
the middle position between Squalodon and the modern
dolphins ; the porpoises being considered to form a side
branch which diverged from the main stem at an earlier
date than the appearance of the genus first named.

In conclusion, it may be mentioned that modern investiga-
tions tend to connect the ancestral toothed whales with the
Carnivora, and in no wise support Sir William Flower's
favourite idea that these cetaceans trace their descent from
early ungulates.

»• SLOTHS AND THEIR HAIR

Although the name " sloth " is not infrequently mis-
applied by travellers to the slow-lemurs of India and
the Malay countries, or to their cousins the galagos of
Africa, it should properly be restricted to certain peculiar
mammals inhabiting the tropical forests of Central and
South America. In addition to the simple character of their
teeth, which are confined to the sides of the jaws, sloths
are characterised by their short faces, rudimentary tails,
shaggy coats, and hook-like claws, by means of which
they hang suspended, back-downwards, from the branches
of the trees among which their lives are spent. Two very
distinct types of these animals are known, readily distin-
guished by the number of toes on the fore-limb. In the
one form — the three-toed sloth — there are three claws on
each foot, both in the front and the hind limbs. But in
the other — the two-toed sloth— there are only two claws
on each of the fore-feet.

These, however, are by no means the only differences
between the two types (and I say types rather than
species, because it is quite probable that each modification
has more than a single specific representative). In the
first place, there is a difference in the form and position
of the first tooth in each jaw. In the three-toed sloth,
or ai, for instance, this tooth is similar in form to those
behind it, from the first of which it is separated by a

314

SLOTHS AND THEIR HAIR 315

space not longer than the one between the second and
third. In the two-toed form, on the other hand, the first
tooth is taller than those behind, and has a bevelled
instead of a flat grinding surface, while the space dividing
it from the second much exceeds that between any of
the others. Again, the front of the upper jaw of the
two-toed sloth carries a T-shaped bone, corresponding to
the premaxillae of other mammals, which is totally wanting
in the other species. The front of the lower jaw of the
former is also prolonged so as to form a kind of spout,
of which there is no trace in the latter. In both these
respects the two-toed sloth comes much nearer to the
extinct ground-sloths than is the case with its three-clawed
cousin.

Again, if the males of the three-toed sloth be examined,
there will be seen a patch in the middle of the back where,
owing to the absence of the long coarse external hair,
the presence of a soft orange and brown under-fur is
shown. It has been stated that this patch of under-fur
is made visible by the animals rubbing their backs against
boughs and wearing off the long hair, but it seems much
more probable that it is a sexual character. Of this under-
fur the two-toed sloth has but a very imperfect development.

Apart from its extremely coarse and brittle nature, the
most striking peculiarity of the outer hair of the sloths is
its more or less decidedly green tinge. To see this in
perfection it is necessary to examine living animals, as it
tends to fade away more or less completely in skins
long exposed to the light, leaving the hair of a pale greyish
brown colour.

Now green is a very rare colour among mammals, and
there ought, therefore, to be some special reason for its
development in the sloths. And, as a matter of fact, the

3i6 MOSTLY MAMMALS

means by which this coloration is produced is one of the
most marvellous phenomena in the whole animal kingdom —
so marvellous, indeed, that it is at first almost impossible
to believe that it is true. The object of this peculiar type
of coloration is, of course, to assimilate the animal to its
leafy surroundings and thus to render it as inconspicuous
as possible ; and when hanging in its usual position from
the under-side of a bough, its long, coarse, and green-tinged
hair is stated to render the sloth almost indistinguishable
from the bunches of grey-green lichens among which it
dwells. And if the physical means by which this green
tinge in the hair of the sloths is produced be little short
of marvellous, what is to be said with regard to the inducing
cause of the phenomenon ? But of this anon.

If a few hairs of the al be examined under the microscope
by a person familiar with the structure of hair in general,
it will be found that while the central portion consists of
what is technically known as cortex (and not of the medulla
which forms the core of the hair of many mammals), the outer
sheath is composed of an altogether peculiar structure, for
which the somewhat cumbersome name of extra-cortex has
been proposed. Possibly it may correspond to the thin
cuticle of more ordinary hairs, possibly not ; either way, it
need not concern us further on this occasion. In old and
worn hairs this outer sheath (as it will be more convenient
to call it) becomes brittle and breaks away piecemeal, leaving
the central core alone.

But in ordinary circumstances the sheath tends to form
a number of transverse cracks, and in these cracks grows
a primitive type of plant — namely, a one-celled alga. For
the benefit of my non-botanical readers it may be well to
mention here that algas (among which sea-weeds are in-
cluded) form a group of flowerless plants related on the

SLOTHS AND THEIR HAIR 317

one hand to the funguses and on the other to the hchens.
The majority Hve in water — either salt or fresh — compara-
tively few deriving their nourishment from the moisture
contained in the air. Some, indeed, are confined to particular
descriptions of rock, and possess structures recalling roots,
but even in these cases it is doubtful if they draw more
than an insignificant fraction of their nutriment from the
substance on which they grow.

In the moist tropical forests forming the home of the
sloths the algas in the cracks of their hairs grow readily,
and thus communicate to the entire coat that general green
tint which, as already said, is reported to render them
almost indistinguishable from the clusters of lichen among
which they hang suspended,

" In thick transverse sections of the hair," writes Dr.
Ridewood, who has recently investigated the structure of
sloth-hair, " these algal bodies show up very clearly, since
they stain deeply, and have a sharply defined circular or
slightly oval outline. Unless the hair is much broken, they
are confined to the outer parts of the extra-cortical layer."

Not the least curious phase of a marvellous subject is
that the two-toed sloth, although the structure of its hair
is very different from that of the ai, also has an alga,
which belongs to a species quite distinct from the one
found in the former.

In the two-toed sloth the hairs lack the outer sheath
investing those of the ai, and consist chiefly of the central
core or cortex ; in other words, they correspond to those
hairs of the latter from which the outer sheath has been
shed. The surface of these hairs is distinctly furrowed
with longitudinal grooves or channels, and it is in these
channels that the alga distinctive of this particular species
is lodged and flourishes. After stating that a solution

3i8 MOSTLY MAMMALS

capable of exhibiting the absorption bands of the vegetable
colouring-matter chlorophyll can be obtained from the hairs
of this animal, Dr. Ridewood gives the following particulars
with regard to their structure : —

" The hairs are, as a rule, coarse, and with a single curve
extending over the greater part of the length, while the
basal fourth or so is wavy ; but in young specimens, and
in some apparently adult examples from Costa Rica, the
hair is very delicate and soft, and sinuous from base to
point. However, in these forms the hairs . . . have only
two or three furrows instead of the more usual nine, ten,
or eleven. The algas, also, are quite absent from many of
the grooves. When such an empty groove is examined
in optical section it exhibits the outlines of obsolete extra-
cortical cells. ... In baby specimens more than half of
the hairs are slender non-medullate cylinders, with a very
distinct scaly cuticle, and no grooves on the surface."

These simple hairs are, in fact, the only rudiments of
an under-fur possessed by the two-toed sloth, or unau.

It may be added that in the extinct ground-sloths (the
skin of one of which has been preserved in a cave in
Patagonia) the hairs are solid, without any trace of the outer
sheath of those of the ai, or of the flutings characterising
those of the unau. These are thus evidently of a less
specialised type than is the hairy covering of the modern
tree-sloths, as indeed would naturally be expected to be
the case in the members of the ancestral group from which
the latter probably trace their descent.

The above, then, are the essential facts with regard to
the peculiarities of their hair by means of which the sloths
are brought into such special and remarkable harmony with
their environment, and it now remains to consider how best
to explain their origin.

SLOTHS AND THEIR HAIR 319

Of all the problems with which the naturalist has to
deal, those connected with the "mimicry" of one animal
by another, or the special resemblances by certain animals to
their inanimate surroundings, are some of the most difficult,
and the present instance forms no exception to this rule, if
it is believed that *' natural selection," or some such mode
of evolution, has been the sole factor in the case.

In this instance, at any rate, there can be no question as
to any volition on the part of the animal concerned having
aided in the development of its protective resemblance.
And, on the hypothesis of natural selection, it appears
necessary to assume that when the modern type of sloths
was first evolved no alga grew in the hair of these animals,
which were consequently able to exist and flourish without
any such adventitious aid. The nature of their hair formed,
however, in the case of each of the two groups, a con-
venient nidus for the lodgment and growth of an alga ;
and such a suitable situation was accordingly in each
instance seized on as a habitat by one of those lowly
plants. At first, of course, only a certain number of
sloths would have had alga-producing hair, and these,
from the green tinge of their coats, would consequently
enjoy a better chance of escape from foes than would their
brethren which had not yet acquired the greenish garb.
And, on the assumption that alga-growing hair is in-
herited, their progeny would consequently have the best
chance of winning in life's race. It is, of course, not
difficult to assume that when the alga had once become
firmly established as part and parcel of the hair of each
group it acquired in both cases distinct specific characters,
even if there were not originally two kinds of these plants
concerned.

And here arises one of the many difficulties connected

320 MOSTLY MAMMALS

with this sort of explanation. It is quite clear that an
alga would have been of no advantage to the sloths until
they had acquired their present completely arboreal kind
of life, and since there is a considerable probability that
both types of these animals were independently derived
from some of the smaller ground-sloths, it follows that on
two separate occasions an alga has independently taken
advantage of this suitable vacant situation and adapted
itself to its new surroundings. This difficulty, like the
one connected with sloths having flourished before they
acquired a lichen -growth, may appear of little importance
to those who are convinced of the all-sufficiency of natural
selection, but to others it may (if well founded) seem more
serious.

As we have already seen, the structure of the hair in
the two types of sloth is, each in its own way, absolutely
peculiar, and has therefore doubtless some special purpose.
And, to put it shortly, the question consequently is whether
these two types of hair structure were specially developed
for the reception and growth of algas designed to aid in
the protection of the animals in which they occur, or whether
such development has taken place for some totally different
object, and that the subsequent growth of the algas, and
the additional protection thereby afforded, have been purely
fortuitous. The fact that the hairs themselves assimilate
the body of the sloth to a lichen-clad knot shows that
their peculiar character is largely protective, and it would
be a most curious coincidence had this protective resemblance
been enhanced by an accidental growth of algas.

As regards the manner in which the growth of algas is
maintained in the sloths from one generation to another,
the only rational explanation which presents itself is that
the young sloths become infected with alga- spores from

SLOTHS AND THEIR HAIR 321

their parents. As already mentioned, in very young
individuals of the two-toed sloth a large proportion of the
hairs are devoid of grooves ; and it would therefore seem
that the young sloths do not develop a growth of alga till
about the time they are old enough to leave the maternal
arms and hang independently on the leafy and lichen-clad
boughs of their native forests.

21

BLIND CAVE-ANIMALS

True cave-animals — that is, those which are blind and more
or less completely colourless, and spend their whole time
in utter darkness — must be sharply distinguished from
creatures like bats and owls, which take advantage of such
situations as a temporary shelter, from which they issue
forth at night to the outer world. And as most of these
are more or less closely allied to animals which enjoy the
full light of day, one of the first things that strikes one
is why they have given up the joys of an ordinary exist-
ence, to pass what appears to us to be a miserable life
in total darkness. Whatever be the true explanation of
this, it is of course easy to understand why they should
have lost their eyes, and also the coloration characteristic
of their outer-world relatives.

A curious parallel exists between the inhabitants of caves
and those creatures dwelling in the dark abysses of the
ocean depths; both dwelling in situations entirely cut off
from the smallest trace of daylight, and both being descended
from animals living either in the air or water under the
ordinary conditions. In one point, however, a remarkable
difference exists between the two. Cave-animals, as already
said, are content to crawl or swim in Cimmerian darkness,
whereas the finny and other denizens of the depths of the
ocean possess organs giving forth a brilliant phosphorescent
light, and likewise other organs by which they can perceive

322

BLIND CAVE-ANIMALS 323

such light, and are thus able to see and capture their prey
with ease. In the absence of such artificial hght and special
modes of vision, cave-animals are of course compelled to
rely solely on their organs of touch, hearing, and perhaps
of smell ; and, to our thinking at least, their life must be
far more dreary and devoid of pleasure than is that of the
inhabitants of the deep sea. Possibly, however, there may
be other compensating advantages unknown to us; and,
in any case, they lead a life of peace unmolested by the
various carnivorous tyrants of the outer world. It is,
however, very noteworthy that there is one blind fish
inhabiting the ocean at great depths, and that a member
of the same family is also found in the caves of Cuba ;
and this instance seems to indicate that certain families
of fishes are better suited than others for taking to a
subterranean existence.

Caves or subterranean channels containing the typical
blind fauna are met with in many countries, apparently
invariably in limestone rocks, and mostly in those belong-
ing to the Carboniferous epoch ; the latter, from their
massiveness, being especially adapted for the formation of
such chambers by the action of water. Needless to say,
the formation of a cavern of any size in soHd limestone
rock is a process involving an enormous length of time
for its accomplishment, and it is therefore essential that
the rock should be of very considerable geological age.
Indeed, it is believed that the formation of the celebrated
Mammoth Cave was commenced at a comparatively early
date in the Secondary era, although it was not completed
till the Pleistocene. The reader must not, however, be
led to suppose that cave-animals belong to an older epoch
than those of the outside world, as it is probable that
many of them have not taken to their present mode of

324 MOSTLY MAMMALS

existence before the later Pliocene or early Pleistocene
period.

Caves of sufficient dimensions to have developed a special
fauna of their own are met with in so many parts of the
world, that it would be tedious to give a list even of those
which are most generally known. Among those that have
attained the widest degree of celebrity is the Mammoth
Cave, situated in a hill of limestone in Edmonston County,
a little to the south-west of the centre of Kentucky. This
enormous cave is adorned with the most beautiful stalactitic
and other deposits, which, when lit by the magnesium or
the electric light, form an enchanting sight. Messrs.
Packard and Putman write that " in the drier localities,
where the floors are dusty and everything indicates the
prolonged absence of moisture, the ceiling is covered with
a white efflorescence, that displays itself in all manner of
beautiful shapes. It requires no stretch of the imagination
to discover among these the perfect form of many flowers.
The lily-form prevails, and the ceilings of many of the
chambers are covered with this beautiful stucco-work,
surpassing in delicacy and purity the most beautiful work-
manship of man. These are not produced by the dripping
of water, and the gradual deposit of sulphate of lime upon
the outer portions. The stalactite is formed in this manner ;
but these are neither stalactitiform nor are they produced
in a similar way. The efflorescence in the drier portions of
the cave cannot take place where there is much moisture.
The growth of these beautiful forms is from within, and the
outer extremities are produced first. They are the result
of a sweating process in the limestone, that forces the
delicate filaments of which they are composed through
the pores upon the surface of the rock, their beautiful
curved forms resulting from unequal pressure at the base,

BLIND CAVE-ANIMALS 325

or friction in the apertures through which they are
forced."

Another well-known American example is the Wyandotte
Cave, traversing the Carboniferous limestone of Crawford
County in south-western Indiana, Of this cave, Prof Cope
wrote in 1872 that he was not aware whether its length
had ever been accurately determined, " but the proprietors
say that they have explored its galleries for twenty-two
miles, and it is probable that its extent is equal to that
of the Mammoth Cave. Numerous galleries which diverge
from its known courses in all directions have been left
unexplored." The fact that the blind cave-fish appears to
occur in all the subterranean waters flowing through the
great Carboniferous limestone region of the central districts
of the United States, suggests that the Mammoth and
Wyandotte Caves are in communication. Almost equally
celebrated are certain caves in the island of Cuba, which
are also traversed by subterranean streams. In Europe,
perhaps the most interesting cave is that of Adelsberg in
Carniola, as being, together with certain other caves in
Carinthia and Dalmatia, the sole habitat of that strange
creature, the olm or proteus, so graphically described
many years ago by Sir Humphry Davy. Although the
Carinthian and Dalmatian forms of this creature differ
slightly from the Carniolan type, there can be little doubt
that the subterranean waters of all the three countries
are, or were at a comparatively recent date, in free com-
munication. Several caves with the blind fauna are met
with in Western Europe, some of the most notable being
those in various parts of the South of France ; but the
only one in the British Islands is Mitchelstown Cave, near
Fermoy, in Ireland, which is excavated in the Carboniferous
limestone.

326 MOSTLY MAMMALS

The animal of the highest zoological position occurring
among the true cave-fauna is the aforesaid olm, which is
the sole representative of the genus Proteus, and is allied
to the ordinary salamanders and newts. The olm is a
somewhat eel-like creature, measuring about eleven inches
in length, and with a uniformly flesh-coloured skin, save
that the branching external gills are brilliant scarlet. The
limbs are very short and weak, the front pair being provided
with three and the hinder with two toes, and the eyes are
completely hidden. Now it is a most remarkable fact that
the only other salamander referred to the dame family
{Proteidae) as the olm is a peculiar North American species
with well-developed eyes, four toes to each foot, and a dark
brown skin, which constitutes the genus Necturiis. From
this it may. be inferred that the ancestral type of the two
genera formerly inhabited the northern hemisphere, and
that while its transatlantic descendant has preserved the
primitive number of toes and adhered to an ordinary mode
of life, the European species has become more specialised
in regard to its limbs, and has taken to a completely
subterranean existence. According to Sir Humphry Davy
the olm only makes its appearance in the Adelsberg grotto
when the waters rise to an unusual height, remaining at
other periods in the streams flowing beneath its floor.

The only other vertebrate animals belonging to the true
cave-fauna are fish of several species. By far the most
celebrated among these is the well-known blind-fish
{Amblyopsis spelaea), which has been taken in both the
Mammoth and the Wyandotte Caves, as well as in the
intervening subterranean waters. This fish is the typical
representative of a small family allied to the cyprinodonts,
which are themselves relatives of the carps. It is quite
destitute of external eyes, and its body is completely

BLIND CAVE-ANIMALS 327

colourless ; but its sense of hearing is extraordinarily
developed. In the typical form this fish has a small pair
of pelvic fins, but in some examples (which have been
referred to a distinct genus under the name of Typhlichthys)
these are wanting. The maximum length is five inches.
Prof. Cope writes that if these fish '* be not alarmed,
they come to the surface to feed, and swim in full sight
like white aquatic ghosts. They are then easily taken by
hand or net, if perfect silence is observed, for they are
unconscious of the presence of an enemy except through
the medium of hearing. This sense is, however, evidently
very acute, for at any noise they turn suddenly downward,
and hide beneath stones, etc., at the bottom. They must
take much of their food near the surface, as the life of the
depths is apparently very sparse,"

The only other genus in the family is known as Cholo-
gaster, and differs from the last in the retention of small
external eyes, and likewise in the skin being coloured.
Pelvic fins are absent, and the front of the head is provided
with two horn-like appendages. These small fish were first
known from three examples taken in the ditches of the South
Carolina rice-fields ; but another specimen was caught in a
well in Lebanon County, Tennessee, in the year 1854. They
appear to have taken to a partially subterranean life com-
paratively recently, and therefore retain their eyes and dark
coloration.

Although these cave-fish are clearly allies of the cyprino-
donts, there is no evidence to show that they are directly
descended from any member of that family. A clear descent
is, however, indicated by a very remarkable family of fishes
known as the Ophidiidae^ which are near relatives of the
cod tribe. With the single exception of the cave-fish of
the caves of Cuba {Lucifuga detttatd), all the members of

328 MOSTLY MAMMALS

the family are marine forms, some inhabiting shallow water,
while others are found only at great depths. Now the
Cuban blind fish, in which the eyes are totally wanting
or rudimentary, is a very close ally of a marine form
named Brotula, in which the eyes are fully developed, and
has evidently been specially modified from the former for
a subterranean existence. The barbels, which are present
in the marine fish, are replaced in the cave form by minute
tubercles. This, however, is not the only point connected
with this curious family, as there are two species, belonging
to as many genera {Typhlonus and Aphyonus), found at great
depths in the southern oceans, which are also completely
blind, and apparently have no phosphorescent organs. And
it would appear from these examples that the fish of this
family have some special disposition towards a life of
darkness.

The only other fish that can be said to belong to the
cave-fauna is a member of the great fresh-water family of
cat-fishes {Siliiridae)^ and has been named by Prof. Cope
Gronias nigrilabris. This fish, which attains a length of
about ten inches, is closely allied to an ordinary fresh-
water American form, and occurs in the Conestoga River
in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where it is stated to
be occasionally taken by the fishermen, and is beheved
to issue from a subterranean stream said to traverse the
limestone of that district, and to discharge into the Conestoga
River. Although blind, the fish has a rudimentary eye, and
is therefore in process of modification for a completely sub-
terranean life.

To refer in detail to the invertebrate inhabitants of caves
would far exceed my allotted limits, and only a few words
can be said on this part of the subject. Among the most
interesting are the blind cray-fish, in the ordinary form of

BLIND CAVE-ANIMALS 329

which {Cambarus) the eyes are rudimentary in the adult,
but larger in the young, thus affording conclusive evidence
of their descent from forms fully endowed with vision.
Prof Cope has, however, described one cray-fish from the
Wyandotte Cave in which the eyes are completely wanting.
Among the insects, there is a totally blind beetle {Ano-
phthalmus) belonging to the family of Carabidae, or ground-
beetles, from the American caves ; while those of France
and Ireland have yielded a bhnd and colourless spring-tail
{Lipurd). Wingless grasshoppers are abundant, but these,
at least generally, can see. Centipedes and spiders are
also common, one of the former from the Mammoth Cave
being totally blind, while others retain their eyes. In the
European species of cave-spiders (Parrhoma) the eyes are
excessively minute, and tend to become obsolete ; but it
is noteworthy that these creatures belong to a genus in
which the eyes are small even in the open-air kinds.

It is thus apparent that all cave-animals are descended
from allied forms Hving in the outer world, and that in
many cases they belong to families which appear specially
adapted for modification to a subterranean existence.

One of the most interesting discoveries is the close
alliance between creatures inhabiting caves widely remote
from one another. Writing of the animals of the Mitchels-
town Cave, Mr. G. H. Carpenter observes that the spring-
tail " is hardly to be separated from a species found in the
caves of Carniola, and the Sinella (another blind and bleached
insect) is almost identical with one inhabiting the caves of
North America ; while the spider is apparently the same as
a cave-dweller from the Mediterranean district of Southern
France, which probably occurs in the North American
caverns also. . . . Any possible geographical connection
which would permit the migration of subterranean animals

330 MOSTLY MAMMALS

between Southern Europe or Ireland, or between Ireland
and North America, seems altogether out of the question
within any period during which the fauna can have been
specifically identical with that of the present day. The
only conclusion is that from ancestors, presumably of the
same genus, which took to an underground life in such
widely separated localities, the similar conditions of the
caves have evolved descendants so similar that when com-
pared they cannot, or can hardly, be specifically distinguished
from each other."

Should these identifications be confirmed, it will be evident
that the same, or closely allied species, have originated inde-
pendently in different caves, and although the author cited
is of opinion that this phenomenon may only hold good with
regard to cave-animals, it is possible that it may be found
also to exist in the outer world, since it has been suggested
that the horses (Equus) have originated independently in
the Old and New Worlds from different ancestral stocks.

GIANT LAND'TORTOISES

In the long-past days when the plains of India were the
home of the mighty sivatherium and of still more gigantic
elephants and mastodons, while its rivers were tenanted
by hippopotamuses and huge long-snouted gharial-like
crocodiles, that country was likewise inhabited by the
most gigantic land-tortoise of which we at present have
any knowledge. When fragments of its fossilised shell
and more or less nearly complete specimens of its limb-
bones came under the notice of its original describers, it
was thought, indeed, that they indicated a creature of
truly colossal proportions, the length of the shell in a
straight line being estimated at no less than 12 ft, 3 in.
In a restoration of the shell made under the superintend-
ence of the discoverers of the species, and still exhibited
in the geological department of the Natural History
Museum, the length was reduced to a little over eight
feet. But even these reduced dimensions appear to be
considerably in excess of the reality, and it is probable
that the maximum length did not much exceed six feet.
A shell of this size considerably exceeds, however, that of
any modern land-tortoise, so that the Siwalik tortoise, or
Testudo atlas, as it is scientifically called, is fully entitled
to rank as the real giant of its kind.

But the Siwalik tortoise was by no means the only
giant species inhabiting India during the Pliocene epoch,

331

332 MOSTLY MAMMALS

as remains of other, although smaller, forms have been
discovered in the same deposits. The nearest living ally
of the Siwalik species appears to be Testudo emys, of the
countries east of the Bay of Bengal, in which the shell
does not much exceed a foot in length. Both kinds have
the front end of the lower shell produced and notched,
although the production and notching are much more
pronounced in the extinct form. Both also have the horny
shield immediately above the tail double, instead of (as is
usually the case) single ; and in both the skin of the legs
contained embedded nodules of bone.

The Pliocene deposits of the South of France have also
yielded remains of a giant land-tortoise (7". perpimana),
with a shell about four feet in length, and likewise furnished
with bony nodules in the skin of the limbs. And from
the caves of Malta have been obtained bones of yet
another very large species (T. robusta), apparently allied
to the recently extinct T. inepta of Mauritius.

Going farther afield, we find evidence of the existence,
during late Tertiary times, of giant land-tortoises in North
America, while some imperfect shells attest the former
occurrence of another species in Patagonia. It may be,
therefore, assumed that during the Pliocene, and perhaps
a portion of the Miocene epoch, land-tortoises of huge
size were spread over the greater portion of the warmer
countries of the globe.

With, or before, the close of the Pliocene division of
geological time, these great reptiles seem, however, to have
utterly vanished from all the continents of the world, and
to have continued to exist only in certain islands, from
some of which they likewise disappeared before or during
the early portion of the historic period, while others have
become extinct quite recently. Whether these island giant

GIANT LAND-TORTOISES 333

tortoises are the direct descendants of the species which
once inhabited the nearest continents, or whether they
have been independently developed from smaller forms in
or near their own habitats, is a question by no means easy
to answer. Neither is it any less difficult to account for
the complete disappearance (apparently without human
intervention) of all the continental forms. Although the
Siwalik mastodons, elephants, sivatheres, giraffes, hippo-
potamuses, and other large mammals all died off, yet
many of them left descendants (collateral or direct) in
either India or Africa ; and this makes it the more strange
that not a single descendant of any of the Pliocene
giant land-tortoises should have survived in any one of
the five continents. Such, however, is the case, explain it
how we may.

Since the Pliocene epoch giant tortoises have been re-
stricted to two widely sundered groups of islands. In
modern times the islands most famous for these tortoises
are those of the Galapagos group, which take their title
from one of the Spanish names {galdpago) for a tortoise,
and are situated on the equator, a comparatively short
distance off the western coast of South America. All the
other "tortoise-islands" are in the Indian Ocean, where
they lie (with the exception of the lower extremity of
Madagascar) within the southern tropic, off the African
coast. By far the largest of these islands is Madagascar,
which has long been inhabited by man, and from which
the tortoises (perhaps in consequence of his occupation)
disappeared ages before the historic period, being known
to us only by their sub-fossilised remains. Between the
northern point of Madagascar and Africa lie the islands of
the Comoro group, which had also native inhabitants of
their own ; and from these islands the tortoises likewise

334 MOSTLY MAMMALS

disappeared at an early date. All the other tortoise-islands
in the Indian Ocean were inhabited. They include the
Aldabra group, north-west of Madagascar, where the few
tortoises now remaining in the south island are under
Government protection, the Mascarenhas, or Mascarene
group (Reunion, or Bourbon, Mauritius, and Rodriguez),
the Amirantes, and the Seychelles. None of the Mascarene
species survive in their proper home, and all were thought
to be extinct, although a specimen has turned up from
a distant island, to which it had been carried. Much the
same may be said with regard to the Seychelle tortoises,
which were exterminated long ago in their proper habitat.
There seems, however, to be good reason for believing
that a few survivors of the species have been preserved in
islands to which they had been transported in ships. This
transportation of tortoises from one island to another has
indeed added considerably to the difficulty of unravelling
the complicated history of the group, a specimen of the
South Aldabra tortoise having been carried to one of the
islands of the Chagos group, to the south of the Maldives,
whence it was subsequently transported to Mauritius.

The accounts left by the early voyagers show that in the
Mascarene and other islands of the Indian Ocean, as well
as in those of the Galapagos group, the tortoises formerly
existed in enormous numbers. As regards the Galapagos
islands, it is remarkable that there are no small-sized
species; and the same holds good for the islands of the
Indian Ocean, with the exception of Madagascar, where
there is one comparatively small form {T. radiata). It
should be added that, if we except Madagascar (where
there is one moderate-sized carnivore), none of the tortoise-
islands were ever the home of large and predatory
mammals. This naturally suggests the idea that the

GIANT LAND-TORTOISES 335

survival in these islands of the reptiles under consideration
is entirely due to the absence of such mammals. But, on
the other hand, it has to be borne in mind that the giant
Siwalik tortoise lived in a land where large mammals —
both carnivorous and herbivorous — absolutely sv^armed ;
and the same was also the case with the other extinct
continental species referred to above. Moreover, we have
no evidence of the existence of large tortoises on the
continents of the world at an epoch before the advent of
large mammals. Still, the absence of the latter from
practically all the tortoise-islands is a fact that cannot be
disregarded, and must almost certainly have had a very
great influence on the development of their chelonian
inhabitants.

In regard to the numbers in which giant tortoises
formerly existed on the islands of the Indian Ocean, very
kw words must suffice. Writing in 1691, the French
traveller Francois Leguat stated that in Rodriguez the
tortoises covered the ground so thickly that in places you
might walk a hundred paces or more by stepping from the
back of one on to that of another. In Mauritius, though
apparently less abundant, they were still very numerous
down to 1 740 ; and there is ample testimony that during
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries they also swarmed
on Reunion, although not a single specimen of the species
indigenous to that island has been preserved. The ease
with which these reptiles could be captured and carried
off, and the facility with which they could be kept alive on
board, coupled with the large amount of excellent meat
yielded by each, rendered them a valuable food-supply to
the crews of ships, and it was far from uncommon for
vessels leaving Mauritius to carry off a cargo of four
hundred at a time, while in 1759 one of four vessels

336 MOSTLY MAMMALS

specially engaged in carrying tortoises from Rodriguez to
Mauritius took six thousand at once. Such a drain could
not but tell rapidly on the supply, and by the early part
of; the last century the Mascarenes were denuded of their
tortoise-fauna.

The Malagasy tortoise {Testudo gmndidieri) appears, as
already said, to have been exterminated before Europeans
had any knowledge of the islands, but beautifully pre-
served shells (wanting the horny shields) have been dis-
covered, three of which are exhibited in the Natural
History Museum. Among the Mascarene tortoises, most
of which are distinguished from those of Aldabra by their
long thick necks and the absence of a nuchal shield* to
the shell, five or six species are known in a sub-fossil
state from Mauritius. To one of these {T. indicd) special
interest attaches from the circumstance that till about 1871
all the tortoises from the islands of the Indian Ocean were
referred to by that name. Of equal interest, although
from a totally different point of view, is the Rodriguez
tortoise {T. vosmaeri)^ on account of the extreme tenuity
of its bony shell — a feature shared by certain of the
Galapagos species, and indicative that the thick shell
characteristic of tortoises generally is not required by the
island forms which have no enemies.

A tortoise received in company with two others from the
Seychelles in 1894 by Mr. Rothschild, and now living at
Tring, is believed to be one of the Mascarene species, with
which it agrees in the characters referred to above. It
may have come from one of the smaller islands, and thus
be different from any of the named forms, although it
is difficult to determine this during its life. Very little

* The nuchal shield is the single symmetrical horny plate found
in the middle line of the front margin of the shell of most tortoises.

GIANT LAND-TORTOISES 337

appears to be known of the Reunion, Comoro, and
Amirante tortoises, but it is stated by Mr. Rothschild
that the one from Reunion differed from all the other
Mascarene forms, and resembled those from Aldabra.
Special interest attaches to the history of the surviving
representatives of the presumed Seychelle tortoise, which
has been named T. sumeirei. It appears that in the year
1766 five giant tortoises from the Seychelles were taken
to Mauritius by the Chevalier Marion de Fresne, and have
been since known, as Marion's tortoises. In 1833 °"^>
which died soon after, was brought to the London Zoo-
logical Gardens, where a second arrived some years later.
A third was received in 1898, but did not long survive
its journey. The other two are still living in Mauritius.
By far the most celebrated of these latter is the one in
the Royal Artillery Barracks at Port Louis. It is now
nearly blind, although otherwise in good health. The
shell measures about forty inches in a straight line, and
is reported to have been of that size so long ago as
1 8 10. Probably this tortoise was at least a century
old when first brought to Mauritius nearly one hundred
and forty years ago. In its long thick neck, and the
absence of a nuchal shield, Testudo sumeirei agrees with
the Mascarene species, and as it is quite dilTerent from the
Aldabra forms, Mr. Rothschild considers that its original
home was the Seychelles, whence Marion brought his
specimens — probably some of the last survivors of their
kind — to Mauritius as curiosities. Possibly the tortoise
brought in 1798 from the Seychelles to Colombo, where
it survived till 1897, may have been of the same species.
The length of its shell is fifty-three and a half inches, or
only an inch and a half less than that of the great South
Aldabra tortoise noticed below.

338 MOSTLY MAMMALS

Passing on to the Aldabra tortoises, distinguished by
their short necks and the presence of a nuchal shield, we
have first to notice that the only member of the group
surviving in a wild state in its native habitat is the South
Aldabra Testudo daudini. Very remarkable is the history
of a male of this species received by Mr. Rothschild in
1897, which is the largest known example of modern giant
tortoises, the length of the carapace in a straight line
being no less than fifty-five inches, or only nineteen inches
short of the length assigned to that of the extinct T. atlas.
This monster, whose original home was South Aldabra,
lived for many years on Egmont Island, in the Chagos
group, whence it was taken by its owner, M, L. Antelme,
to Mauritius, and thence sent to England. It is currently
reported to have lived in Egmont for a century and a half,
but since the Chagos group was only colonised from
Mauritius in the early part of the last century, there is
some doubt as to the correctness of the statement. Any-
way, this tortoise must have been of a prodigious age at
the time of its death. During its sojourn on Egmont
Island this tortoise used to bury itself and become dormant
for half the year — a most remarkable fact in a tropical
island. South Aldabra is a coral island very difficult to
traverse, so that it is no easy matter to obtain a sight of
the tortoises. Seven were, however, captured and exported
in 1895, of which six reached Europe alive.

The second species of Aldabra tortoise (T. gigantea)
formerly inhabited the north and central islands in great
abundance, but is now known solely by individuals intro-
duced by the planters into the Seychelles, where they are
kept in a state of semi-domestication, and by a single
specimen in St. Helena. There appear to be two races of
this species — namely, the typical form, in which the shell

j^ra/« a photograph by S. G. Payne, by permission or the Hon. Walter Rothschild.^

The Giant Tortoise of South Aldabra Island.

\^To jace p.

GIANT LAND-TORTOISES 339

is depressed, with the horny shields nearly smooth, and
T. gigantea elephantina, in which the shell is highly convex,
with the shields on the back marked by conspicuous con-
centric striations. In some instances the shield immediately
above the tail is divided, as in the extinct Siwalik tortoise.
The shell of a male of this species received by Mr. Roth-
schild in 1 893 measured forty and a quarter inches in length
(in a straight line) four years later. The St. Helena example
is said to have lived in that island for more than a century.
It is not a little remarkable that the survivors of the
North Aldabra tortoise should have been preserved in the
Seychelles, while those of the species beHeved to be
indigenous to the latter islands have been kept in captivity
in Mauritius,

In 1894 Mr. Rothschild's specimen of the North
Aldabra tortoise weighed 327 lb., but by 1897 its weight
had increased to 358 lb. These weights are, however,
vastly exceeded by that of the great South Aldabra
tortoise, which scaled no less than 560 lb. ; this was,
however, immediately after its journey to England, during
which it had become much emaciated, so that these figures
afford no real criterion of its proper weight. Of the habits
of the North Aldabra tortoise at Tring, its owner wrote
as follows : " Whenever the temperature is over sixty
(60° Fahr.), this tortoise has a fine run of 350 acres of
grass park, but on the temperature falling to sixty, it is
kept in a shed, and when once the temperature shows
permanently below 58° Fahr., it is put in an orchid-house
— i.e., from September to June. When at liberty in the
park it lives entirely on grass, but in the hothouse feeds
on carrots, cabbages, lettuce, and several other vegetables.
It is very fond of rotten fruit."

Of the habits of the giant tortoises of the islands of

340 MOSTLY MAMMALS

the Indian Ocean in a state of nature we know practically
nothing, owing to the fact that in South Aldabra alone
are any members of the group living in a wild condition,
and that accurate observation is there practically impos-
sible. Of the mode of life of the Galapagos species we
have comparatively full accounts ; but limitations of space
render it impossible on the present occasion to refer
further to these species, either as regards their distinctive
characteristics or their history and habits. I have only
to add that readers of this volume are indebted to Mr.
Rothschild for the loan of the photograph illustrating
this article.

SOME STRANGE NURSING HABITS

While the instinct of taking care of their progeny, whether
these are born in the hving stage or first come into the
world in the form of eggs, is more or less deeply
implanted in the higher vertebrates, among the lower
members of that great group the eggs and young are
very frequently left to shift for themselves. Still this
state of things is by no means universally the case ; and
I shall show in the course of the present article that
certain amphibians and fishes exhibit structural modifica-
tions for the purpose of protecting their eggs and young,
which are almost or quite unparalleled elsewhere. Cele-
brated as they mostly are on account of their highly
developed parental instincts, birds exhibit no instances
where the body of either parent is specially modified
for the purpose of carrying about either the young or
the eggs after their extrusion. And I believe that the
same holds good with regard to reptiles, although into
the disputed question whether vipers afford protection to
their young by allowing them to run down their throats
I am not going to enter here, beyond confessing that I
am inclined to trust the numerous observers who state
that they have seen the phenomenon with their own eyes.
With certain groups of mammals — notably the marsupials
— the case is, however, different, many of them, like the
kangaroos, carrying their imperfectly developed young in

341

342 MOSTLY MAMMALS

a special pouch borne on the body of the female until
sufficiently advanced to take care of themselves. In the
females of certain other members of the same order —
namely, some of the American opossums — the young are
carried on the parental back, with their own tails tightly
twisted round that of their mother. In another group, the
female spiny ant-eater, or echidna, carries about her egg in a
pouch developed in the breeding season on the under-surface
of her body. Most bats carry their helpless offspring tightly
clinging to their breasts, and the females of many lemurs
bear them clinging transversely across the under-surface of
the lower part of their bodies. There is, however, one bat —
namely, the naked Chironieles torquata — in which both sexes
are provided with a pouch on the chest. In this pouch the
female carries her offspring ; and it is thought probable that
when there are two, the male may assist his partner by
relieving her of one. Among mammals, such instances are
rare, but among amphibians there are numerous instances
where the eggs or young are carried about, either attached
to the skin or borne in special receptacles.

Commencing with that group of amphibians represented
by the frogs and toads, we find among these various
instances of abnormal ways of protecting their young
during the early stages of development, one of which has
been known for nearly a couple of centuries, while many
of the others have but recently been described. So far
back as the year 1705, Fraulein Sibylla von Merian, in a
work on the reptiles of Surinam, described a remarkable
toad-like creature, in which the young are carried in a
series of cells in the thick skin of the back of the female,
which at this period has a honeycomb-like appearance.
Till a few years ago, when a living example was received
by the London Zoological Society, the Surinam toad {Pipa

SOME STRANGE NURSING HABITS 343

americana), as the animal in question is called, was, I
believe, only known in Europe by means of specimens
preserved in spirit ; and we have, therefore, been obliged
to depend upon foreign observers for an account of its
marvellous life-history. As it differs from other members
of its order with regard to its method of bringing up its
family, so the Surinam toad is structurally more or less
unlike all its kindred, constituting not only a genus, but
likewise a family group by itself. Externally it is charac-
terised by its short and triangular head, which is furnished
with a large flap of skin at each corner of the mouth, and
has very minute eyes. The four front toes are quite free,
and terminate in expanded star-like tips ; but a large web
unites the whole five toes of the hind-foot. In any state
the creature is by no means a beauty, but when the female
is carrying her nursery about with her she is absolutely
repulsive in appearance. It would seem that soon after
the eggs are laid, they are taken up by the male and
pressed, one by one, into the cells in the thickened skin
of his partner's back ; there they grow till they fit closely
to the hexagonal form of their prisons, each of which is
closed above by a kind of trap-door. After a period of
some eighty-two days, the eggs reach their full develop-
ment and produce, not tadpoles, but actually perfect little
toads. The reason of this is that tadpoles, which require
to breathe the air dissolved in water by means of their
external gills, could not exist in the cells, and, conse-
quently, this stage of the development is passed through
very rapidly within the cg^. When ready to come forth,
the young toads, which are usually from sixty to seventy
in number, although there may sometimes be over a
hundred, burst open the lids of their cells, and, after
stretching forth their heads or a limb, make their debut

344 MOSTLY MAMMALS

in the world. Doubtless glad to be free from her charge,
the mother-toad thereupon rubs off what remains of the
cells against any convenient stone or plant-stem, and
comes out in all the glory of a brand-new skin, only,
before long, to undergo the whole process over again.

The Surinam toad is, however, by no means the only
South American representative of its order whose nursery
arrangements are peculiar, a considerable number of frogs
and toads from the warmer regions of the New World
having ideas of their own as to the proper method of
bringing up a young family. Among these are certain
species nearly allied to the familiar tree-frogs of Europe,
but differing in that the females have a large pouch for
the reception of the eggs. Unlike the kangaroos and
other mammalian marsupials, in which the female has her
nursing-pouch on the under-side of the body, these mar-
supial frogs (Nototrema) have this receptacle placed on the
back, at the hinder end of which it forms a half-open
tunnel, with its aperture directed backwards, although the
pouch extends beneath the skin of the whole of the upper
surface of the body. In this capacious nursery are deposited
some fifteen or sixteen large eggs, which in due course
develop into complete little frogs, without living tadpoles
being produced, although at a certain stage the large eyes
and long tail of a veritable tadpole are visible through the
clear covering of the egg.

According to a communication made by Dr. Goeldi, of
Rio de Janeiro, to the Zoological Society, the tree-frogs
of the genus Hyla inhabiting that part of Brazil show
considerable diversity in regard to nursing habits, although
none of them have any part of their own body modified
into a nursery. One species, for instance, builds nests of
mud on the shallow borders of pools, wherein the eggs

SOME STRANGE NURSING HABITS 345

and tadpoles are protected from enemies ; while another
kind lays its eggs in a slimy mass attached to withered
banana-leaves, the young remaining in this nest until they
have passed through the tadpole stage. In a third species,
on the other hand, the larval stages are hurried through
before hatching, the female carrying a load of eggs on
her back, where they remain until developed into perfect
frogs. Some years ago a female of this species was
exhibited alive at a meeting of the Zoological Society thus
loaded.

It will be observed that in all the foregoing instances
the female parent takes charge of the eggs, either on or
in her own body, or in a specially prepared nest, as soon
as they are laid ; but there are two genera of South
American frogs in which it appears that, while the eggs
are left to themselves, the tadpoles are carried about by
their mother. The members of the one genus {Dcndrobates)
are tree-frogs from Surinam and Brazil, while the other
species is from Venezuela, and belongs to the genus
Phyllobates. Here the tadpoles, which may be from a
dozen to eighteen in number, affix themselves to the body
of their mother by their sucking mouths, and are thus
carried about. In the case of one species of the genus
first named, it appears that this mode of locomotion is
only resorted to when the water is drying up and the
mother desires to convey her offspring to other pools ; but
in the other forms the attachment seems to be more
enduring.

The female of Darwin's frog (Rhinoderma danvini), from
Chili, has, however, " gone one better " than all her allies,
for not only does she get her eggs and young safely carried
about until they are fit to take care of themselves, but she
has actually shifted the onerous task of taking care of

346 MOSTLY MAMMALS

them to her consort. Whereas there is nothing remarkable
about the structure of the female of this frog, the male
has a capacious pouch underlying the whole of the lower
surface of the body, which communicates with the exterior
by means of a pair of apertures opening into the mouth
on each side of the tongue. As soon as his partner has
deposited her eggs, the male frog takes them in his front
paws and transfers them to his mouth, whence they pass
into the great nursing-pouch, where they remain in perfect
security till hatched into young frogs, which make their
way into the world by the same passage.

Peculiar as is this method of taking care of the eggs, it
is by no means altogether without a parallel in the animal
kingdom, although we have to go to the class of fishes to
find anything approaching a similar example. Among the
so-called cat-fishes {Silitridae), the males of several species
of the large tropical genus Arms take the eggs into their
mouth, whence they are transferred to the capacious
pharynx, where they remain until hatched. It is also said
that among the fresh-water fishes of the chromid family,
the males of the typical genus inhabiting the Sea of
Gahlee take charge of the eggs in a similar manner.
Indeed, among the comparatively few fishes that take any
care at all of their ova, the charge almost invariably falls
to the share of the long-suffering male, whose partner,
having laid the eggs, appears to think that she has done
quite enough in family matters, and is at full liberty to
enjoy herself as she pleases.

Of the two definitely known instances in which female
fish take care of their eggs, one occurs among the aforesaid
family of the cat-fishes, in the genus Aspredo, represented
by some half-dozen species from the Guianas. In these
fish, none of which exceed a foot and a half in length, the

SOME STRANGE NURSING HABITS 347

large eggs are carried on the under-surface of the body of
the female, where they form a shield-like mass extending
from a short distance behind the mouth on to the pelvic
fins. In some respects the position of the ova recalls a
female fresh-water cray-fish in the breeding season ; but
a closer resemblance exists between the fish in question
and the Surinam toad already described, although in one
case the female bears her load upon her back, and in the
other upon her abdomen. In both instances the eggs are,
however, pressed into the soft spongy skin, the female
cat-fish effecting this operation by lying closely upon the
newly deposited spawn. Instead of being completely
buried in closed cells, the eggs of the fish remain partly
exposed, and are thus carried about till they are hatched ;
the rugosities then disappear from the skin of the abdomen
of the parent, which resumes its normal smoothness.

Everybody who has been in the habit of partaking of
whitebait will probably have occasionally observed among
the contents of his plate a long, slender, bony fish, with
a pipe-like nose, which has evidently no claim to kindred
with its neighbours. This fish is a young representative
of the pipe-fishes, which, together with the so-called sea-
horses, so well known for their habit of curling their tails
round the stems of seaweed, constitute a family especially
remarkable for the variety and curious nature of their
nursery arrangements. Among these an Oriental genus of
small pipe-fishes {Solenostomd) agrees with the fish last
mentioned in that the female takes charge of the eggs.
For this purpose she is provided on the lower surface of
her body with a roomy pouch, formed by the coalescence
of the pelvic fins with the skin of the abdomen. The
inner walls of this pouch are furnished with long filaments,
which aid in keeping the egg in position; and it is highly

348 MOSTLY MAMMALS

probable that after the young fish are hatched they are
retained for some time by attachment to the walls of the
chamber. In the true pipe-fishes {Syngnathus), on the
other hand, the task of looking after the nursery falls to
the males, which are provided with a long pouch on the
under-surface of the tail, formed by a fold of skin arising
on each side, and the two meeting in the middle line.
How the eggs are conveyed into this pouch I am totally
unaware, but when once there, they are completely enclosed
by the junction of the edges of the two folds of skin, and
thus remain till they are hatched into minute eel-like pipe-
fish, which soon make their way into the world by thrusting
open the folds of the pouch. In the sea-horses the
development is carried one stage farther, the nursing-
pouch being completely closed along the middle line, and
only communicating with the exterior by means of a small
aperture at the anterior end, through which the eggs are
by some means or other introduced, and by which in due
course the young make their escape. Certain pipe-fishes
{Doryichthys) diffier from the ordinary forms in that the
males have the pouch situated beneath the abdomen instead
of under the tail ; and it is not a little remarkable that~~in
certain allied genera {Nerophis, etc.) the eggs are simply
attached to the lower surface of the abdomen of the male
without the development of a pouch. We have thus an
excellent instance of the evolution of a special organ, so
far as the abdominal pouch is concerned ; but it would seem
highly probable that the caudal pouch of the allied forms
must have been independently evolved, in which event
we should have a remarkable example of parallelism in
development.

Although many fishes retain their eggs within their
bodies until the young are hatched and attain a consider-

SOME STRANGE NURSING HABITS 349

able size, I am not aware that any others have special
arrangements for carrying about their eggs after extrusion,
with the exception of the aberrant lung-fish (Protopterus)
of tropical Africa. In this genus the numerous eggs and
embryos are reported to be nursed in a long gelatinous
pouch attached to the sides of the back of one of the
parents, although which of the two is charged with this
office does not appear to be ascertained. Several kinds of
fish are, however, in the habit of constructing nests for the
reception of their eggs, while a few take advantage of other
animals for their protection. For instance, the females
of the small roach-like fishes of which the continental
bitterling (Rhodeus amarus) is the only European example,
have the oviduct periodically prolonged into a tube of
considerable length, by means of which the eggs are
introduced within the shells of living fresh-water bivalve
molluscs, where they remain secure from foes until hatched.
Among the nest-building species the most familiar are the
bullheads (Cotitis), sticklebacks (Gas(rosteus), and lump-
suckers {Cyclopterus), in all of which, as in the other
instances, the nest is formed and guarded by the male
fish. In the sea-stickleback the nest is a large structure
composed of pendent seaweeds, tightly bound together into
a pear-shaped mass by means of a silk-like thread. "When
the eggs are safely deposited within its interior, the male
fish immediately mounts guard, and has been known to
continue uninterruptedly at his post for upwards of three
weeks. Should any damage happen to the nest, so that
the precious eggs lie open to the attack of any predaceous
wanderer, the janitor forthwith sets to work with the
greatest energy to repair the damage, poking his nose into
the structure, and rearranging the materials till all is made
right. Nests are also made by the fresh-water species, and

3SO MOSTLY MAMMALS

guarded with the same care ; the male not unfrequently
stirring up the eggs with his snout, and often keeping up
a fan-hke movement of his fins for the apparent purpose
of ensuring a continual change of the water.

As nest-building fishes are comparatively rare, much
interest attached to an account in the American Naturalist^
by Messrs, Young & Cole, of the manner in which the
brook-lamprey {Lampetra wilderi) makes a structure of this
nature. It is believed that the males precede the females
at spawning time and commence nest-building before the
arrival of the latter. The nest is made among pebbles, but
it does not seem that the lampreys follow any definite plan
in its construction. They affix themselves to such pebbles
as require removing from the nest, and then endeavour to
swim straight away with them. In the case of a heavy stone
two lampreys may join forces. The number of fish in a
nest may vary from one to thirty or forty ; but there are
generally between three and twenty-five.

Even when no nest is built, the males of some fishes mount
guard over the eggs ; this being the case with the bow-fin
{Amia calva), so abundant in the lakes of North America.

Such are some of the chief instances among amphibians
and fishes where special arrangements — either of structure
or of habit — are made for the protection of the eggs and
young; and although these bear but a small proportion to
the cases where the latter are left to themselves, yet they
are sufficient to show that in these respects these two
groups present peculiarities almost or quite unknown among
Qther vertebrates. Why such special arrangements have
been evolved in these cases, or whether the groups in which
they occur have any advantage in the struggle for existence
over their fellows, are questions which, for the present at
least, must remain unanswered

THE COLOURS OF COWRIES

Among all the treasures of the shell-cabinet few are more
generally attractive than the cowries, or kauris iCypi^aed),
which form the type of a family by themselves. Rivalling
the olives in the brilliancy of their polished enamel, they
exceed those shells in the beauty and diversity of their
coloration, while their form in the adult state is so peculiar
as to attract the attention of even the most unobservant.
Possibly the very fact that many of them are so common
as, like the tiger and Surinam-toad cowry, to be employed
as decorative objects for our chimney-pieces, has, to a
certain extent, detracted in popular estimation from their
many striking peculiarities. But even if this be so, a
moment's comparison with any other shell will at once
show how different they really are. And if rarity be an
additional attraction, some among the couple of hundred or
so of living species are worthy of attention, even from
this not very elevated standpoint. Take, for instance,
the prince cowry {C. princeps) and the spotted cowry
iC. guttata), examples of which have sold respectively for
forty and forty-two pounds ; while the beautiful orange
cowry, used as a head ornament by the chiefs of the Friendly
Islands, formerly fetched about twenty pounds, although
good specimens can now be bought at from three to five
pounds. Other species claim attention on account of
their commercial uses, the ring cowry being employed by

351

352 MOSTLY MAMMALS

the islanders of Eastern Asia for personal adornment, for
weighting their fishing nets, and as a means of exchange ;
while in the latter respect the well-known money cowry has
a still more extensive use over a large part of Asia.

But it is from the peculiarities of their structure and
coloration that these beautiful shells claim our attention in
the present article. Taking any common species, it will be
seen that the upper surface of the shell approaches more
or less to an egg-shape, with a notch at each extremity
forming the terminations of the mouth below. Somewhat
to the right of the middle line in most species runs a
straight or slightly sinuous line over which the pattern of
the rest of the upper surface does not extend, this line
marking in the living animal the limits of the right and
left lobes of the so-called mantle, which during activity
extends upwards from the foot on which the creature
crawls to develop the rest of the shell. Compared with
an olive, in which the spire is relatively small, the shell of
an adult cowry differs by the rudimentary condition or
even absence of a spire ; while on the under-surface the
narrow mouth of the shell (not, be it understood, of the
animal) is remarkable for the series of vertical ridges, or
" teeth," with which its edges are armed.

Now, since almost all other univalve shells related, even
remotely, to the cowries, have a more or less elongated
spire at the hinder or upper end, the inquirer naturally
seeks to find out the reason for the disappearance of this
part in the members of the present group. In a fully
adult specimen of the common black-spotted tiger cowry
no trace at all of the spire can be detected, but in the
equally common Surinam-toad cowry a more or less distinct
remnant, partly buried in the abundant cement, is observable
even in the adult. In Scott's cowry the spire is much

THE COLOURS OF COWRIES 353

more pronounced, and in a half-grown specimen of the
same species is so elongated as to project considerably
beyond the hinder extremity of the shell. Moreover, in
immature examples of this species the hinder extremity
of the right margin of the shell is expanded into a wing-
like extension, recalling the wing-shells, or Strombidae.
In both the adult and the young of Scott's cowry the
coloration is very similar ; but in the young of the Surinam-
toad cowry there is a difference both in form and in
colour from the adult. In form the shell has a distinct
spire, and a thin outer lip ; and in still younger examples
these characters are more exaggerated, the mouth being
entirely devoid of teeth, and the outer lip quite thin and
sharp. Again, whereas the upper surface of the adult
shell has a broad dark brown margin, and the central
area spotted with light brown on a ground of dark
brown, the young exhibits dark and light transverse bands,
with a certain amount of mottling.

Young cowries, then, are much more like ordinary shells
than are the adults, and clearly indicate that the latter
belong to a highly modified or specialised type. The
alteration is produced by the expansion of the mantle-
lobes of the adult, which deposit a shining enamel over
the entire shell, eventually concealing more or less com-
pletely the spire, and thus totally modifying the original
form. A young cowry is, indeed, much more like an olive
or a melon-shell ; but, as a matter of fact, neither of the
two latter are the nearest relatives of the Cypraeidae, among
which are the Strombidae, or wing-shells. And in this
connection the near resemblance of the young of Scott's
cowry to a wing-shell is decidedly worthy of note, as
suggestive of a direct affinity between the wing-shells and
the cowries.

23

354 MOSTLY MAMMALS

Turning now to the interesting problem of coloration,
the first feature that must strike the observer is that the
pattern developed on the shells of most cowries is not
seen by the animals themselves, for the reason that by
the time the creature is fully protruded from its shell,
the upper surface of the latter is more or less completely
concealed by the fleshy lobes of the mantle. Accordingly,
it would seem to be apparent that the colouring of these
molluscs is developed for the purpose of protection, and
not for the admiration of the different individuals or
sexes of the same species. It might, indeed, be urged
that as the lobes of the mantle are coloured similarly to
the shell, or even more intensely, the colours are visible
to the animals, and are therefore designed for mutual
admiration. But had this been the object, it would surely
have sufficed to restrict the coloration to the outer surface
of the mantle-lobes, and not to have extended it on to
their inner surfaces, from which it is deposited on the
shell. As regards the utility of the cowry type of colora-
tion for protective purposes, I have never had the
opportunity of seeing the living molluscs in their native
haunts, nor have I come across any description from those
who have. Cowries, which are mostly tropical or sub-
tropical molluscs, are, however, described as living in
shallow water not far from the shore, and feeding on
zoophytes ; and so far as one can judge, their colours
ought to harmonise well with the hues of the denizens of
a coral-bank, or a mass of sea-anemones, many of which
are more or less similarly spotted. If this explanation
prove to be the true one, we can readily see why both the
shells and the hard parts of cowries partake of the same
striking types of coloration.

Turning now to the consideration of the various types of

THE COLOURS OF COWRIES 355

coloration met with among cowries, it has been shown in
an earlier article that among mammals spots and stripes are
frequently met with in the young which disappear in the
adult. Many species of deer and swine, for instance, which
are spotted or striped with white in youth become more or
less completely uniform in mature age ; while the lion and
the puma frequently exhibit traces of dark spotting in the
cub stage. In these animals, therefore, it is evident that
a spotted or striped coat is the original type, and a uniform
tint the more advanced form. In cowries, on the other
hand, it seems that transverse dark banding was the original
type of coloration, and that from such banded type two
later modifications have taken place. In the one of these,
spotting of various kinds has resulted, while in the other
a more or less uniform colour has been the final result.
The primitive banded type serves to connect the cowries
with less specialised shells, a young Surinam-toad cowry
being strikingly like a melon-shell, both in form and
colouring, while the faint banding observable in young
specimens of Scott's cowry recalls the colours of many of
the wing-shells, to which, as already mentioned, the former
approximates in form.

The proof that banding was the original type of cowry
coloration is easy, seeing that it prevails in the young of
the great majority of species. In its young condition, for
instance, the Surinam-toad cowry is striped, while in the
adult, as already said, it has chestnut spots on a dark
ground in the central area of the upper surface. Take,
again, the adult and immature conditions of the common
lynx cowry, the former of which is variously spotted, while
the latter still retains distinct transverse dark and light
bands. Still more striking is the difference between the
immature and adult conditions of the lesser false Argus

356 MOSTLY MAMMALS

cowry ; the latter exhibiting small white spots on a dark
ground, while the former is banded with dark and light,
without the slightest trace of spotting. It may be men-
tioned that this species of cowry is of a long narrow
shape, and it would seem, for two reasons, probable that
that is the primitive form of cowries, the short and broad
shape being a later modification. One of the reasons in
favour of this view is that almost all cowries which retain
the primitive banding in the adult condition are of the long
form. Among such may be mentioned the little wasp
cowry, the mole cowry {C. talpa)^ remarkable for its tawny
back and dark brown base, and one variety of the carnelian
cowry (C carneola), as well as the orange-tipped cowry
{C. isabelld). Again, in the true Argus cowry, which
develops peculiar ringed spots in the adult condition, the
primitive bands are still more or less distinctly traceable
at all ages.

To exemplify the second reason for the same view, we
may take . the serpent's-head cowry. Here we see the
short round type in its full development, the coloration
being chocolate-brown above and below, with the central
area of the back finely spotted with white. If, however,
we take a young individual of this species, it will be noticed
that the shape of the shell is comparatively long and
narrow, while the colouring is in the form of bands.
Many other instances might be cited, but the foregoing are
sufficient for my present purpose.

I may accordingly pass on to notice briefly some of the
more striking types of coloration presented by adult cowries.
Banded cowries have been already mentioned, but it may
be added that, from the intensity of the colours, the wasp
cowry is not improbably the culmination of this type.
On the other hand, in the flesh-coloured carnelian cowry,

THE COLOURS OF COWRIES 357

of which there is both a long and a short form, the bands
tend to become very indistinct ; and it may be suggested
that the short form is not far removed from the ancestral
type of the beautiful orange cowry, which is one of the few
uniformly coloured species ; such uniformly coloured forms
indicating, as already said, one line of specialisation.

Among the spotted cowries several types are noticeable.
Firstly, we have species in which the back of the shell is
simply spotted with black or brown, among them being the
tiger cowry (C. tigris), the panther cowry {C. pantherina),
and the much smaller lynx cowry {C. lynx). As all these
have a comparatively short and wide shell, they indicate
an advanced type. Next we have white-spotted cowries,
such as the false Argus {C. cervus), the lesser false Argus,
and the fallow-deer cowry ; and as the two former are
long-shaped, while the latter is comparatively short, they
seem to indicate a medium stage of evolution.

From the black- and brown-spotted forms seem to have
originated the group represented by the map and nutmeg
cowries {C. mappa and arabicd), in which the spots are
retained along the margins of the back of the shell, the
central area of which is more or less finely reticulated or
vermiculated, the map cowry taking its name from the width
and sinuosity of the line between the mantle-lobes. In the
typical nutmeg cowry the reticulations are very nutmeg-like,
but in other specimens more or less distinct pale spots are
dotted all over the central area, till in the variety histrio
the spots are the dominant feature, being only separated by
these lines so as to form a kind of network, or honeycomb
arrangement. Perhaps the cullender cowry may be regarded
as an offshoot of this type.

But another modification may apparently also be traced to
the arabica-mappa stock, the members of which are inter-

3S8 MOSTLY MAMMALS

mediate between the long and the short types. As already
said, these cowries have the central area of the back reticu-
lated or white-spotted, and lighter than the black-spotted
margin. And from such a type the transition is easy to
the modification presented by the serpent's-head cowry
and the Surinam-toad cowry, in which the central area is
white or chestnut-spotted, while the margin and much of the
under-surface is dark brown. The great width and short-
ness of these cowries afford further evidence of their high
degree of modification. Obviously the chestnut-bordered
cowry is another member of this group in which chestnut
spots have been superadded to the normal white-spotted
central area. Apparently a special development of this type
may be recognised in the white ring-cowry (C. annnhis),
the yellow ring from which it takes its name marking the
line of division between the original spotted central area
and the dark area. Finally, from the ring-cowry may easily
be derived the money cowry, in which the ring has all but
disappeared, while the marginal area has developed a series
of rugosities, apparently connected with the filaments on
the margins of the mantle-lobes, which scarcely intrude on
the central area. Whether these two white species have a
habitat different from that of their brethren is a subject well
worth the investigation of those who have the opportunity.

Omitting mention of certain other sub-types, this part of the
subject may be concluded by brief reference to the true Argus
cowry {C. argus), which, from its elongated form and the
retention of barring, is evidently an ancient type specially
distinguished by the ring-like form of the spots.

All the above-mentioned species (together with a host
of others) are members of the typical genus Cypraea,
distinguished by the smooth and shining enamel, and the
circumstance that the teeth of the mouth do not extend across

THE COLOURS OF COWRIES 359

the whole of the lower surface. There are, however, other
cowries differing from these by the development of rugosities
on the back, and the extension of the teeth of the mouth
right across the lower surface. Both these features may
safely be regarded as indications of greater specialisation
than exists among any of the typical cowries. One type
is represented by the pustuled cowry, in which the orna-
mentation on the upper surface takes the form of small
spherical pustules, frequently of a bright red colour, when
they recall a fragment of wood overgrown with funguses.
In the second, a still more advanced modification, the
ornamentation of the back assumes the form of transverse
ridges, which in some species are comparatively wide apart,
and separated by a considerable interval in the middle
line, whereas in others, like the little European cowry
Trivia europaea), they are so closely approximated, and so
nearly meet in the middle line, as to give the idea of a
small and neatly parted head of hair.

Even these by no means exhaust the modifications which
the cowry type is capable of assuming, as witness the pure
white '' poached egg " and the " weaver's shuttle," both
members of the genus Ovula, the latter remarkable for the
elongation of the two extremities of the mouth into tube-
like processes. Both these, as well as certain other allied
types, depart from the ordinary cowry type by their white
or pinkish colour, and are therefore evidently specialised
modifications. In the case of the weaver's shuttle the colour
is probably produced to harmonise with the sea-fans, upon
which these molluscs are 'parasitic ; but further information
in regard to the reason for the absence of colour is requisite
in the case of the other kinds.

One result of this brief dissertation on cowries is to show
how short-sighted was the idea prevalent some years ago that

36o MOSTLY MAMMALS

shells were of no importance in the study of molluscs, and
that attention must be restricted to the soft parts (the so-
called " animal ") alone. A wider grasp of the subject
shows that nothing in Nature is unworthy of our best
attention, and is sure to yield results of interest if only
we approach the subject with unbiassed and unprejudiced
minds.

BREEDING HABITS OF FROGS AND TOADS

Few phenomena in animated nature are more marvellous
than the development of ordinary frogs and toads, in the
course of which a creature to all intents and purposes a
vegetable-feeding fish becomes transformed into a carni-
vorous reptile. In all the ordinary frogs and toads of
Europe, Asia, and North America, the process of develop-
ment may, very briefly, be described as follows : The eggs,
which are enveloped in a glutinous matrix, are deposited
in large masses in water, and in due course develop into
the familiar tadpoles. At first the new-born tadpole affixes
itself to some convenient object by means of a sucker, but
in the course of a few days takes to a free-swimming mode
of existence. In its earliest days it breathes by means
of external gills, but these are soon replaced by internal
gills, covered by a gill-flap, and these again by lungs.
While these changes are going on, the hind-limbs, and
afterwards the fore-legs, bud forth from the body, the long
tail is absorbed, the larval mouth is replaced by the per-
manent one, and the coiled intestine is shortened and
straightened. And thus in due course the aquatic, gill-
breathing, limbless, long-tailed, herbivorous tadpole blossoms
forth as the terrestrial, lung-breathing, four-limbed, tailless,
and carnivorous frog or toad, as the case may be.

If this state of things were common to all the members
of the group, it would be, as it is, sufficiently marvellous

361

362 MOSTLY MAMMALS

to excite our unbounded wonder and admiration. But in
many frogs and toads the course of development is modified
in various ways from this typical plan in accordance with
the special needs of their existence, thus giving rise to
many wholly unexpected phenomena and peculiarities.

The first peculiarity is displayed by the Japanese frog
{Rhacophorus schlegeli), in which the eggs are laid in the
muddy banks of paddy-fields or ponds above the water-
level. The egg-mass is kneaded into a froth by the legs
of the female parent, and its exterior hardens into a kind
of crust. Within this " pudding" the tadpoles are hatched ;
and eventually the mass breaks up into a fluid, and bursts
its crust to flow into the water, carrying with it the tad-
poles. If the eggs be removed from the " pudding " and
transferred to water, they immediately perish.

In a West African frog {Chwojnantis guineensis), as well
as in a Brazilian species {Phyllomedusa iheringi), the eggs,
on the other hand, are deposited in nests formed of leaves
glued together by the parent. And in both instances the
tadpoles swim about within a frothy substance. In the
case of the latter species the nest has an opening below
through which the tadpoles are eventually discharged into
the water over which it is built ; but those of the first
species are believed to be washed off" the leaves by rain,
falling into water below.

The female of the little Paraguay tree-frog {Phyllomedusa
hypochondrialis) carries her partner on her back until a
suitable leaf in the neighbourhood of water is found, when
the two parents bend back its tip in such a manner as
to form a funnel, in which the female deposits her spawn.
Two nests of this description, each containing about one
hundred eggs, may be formed by each pair of frogs.
After an interval of six days the tadpoles hatch out and

BREEDING HABITS OF FROGS AND TOADS 363

escape into water ; if they fail to fall directly into the
latter, they are capable of wriggling during a shower a
distance of several inches along the ground, aiding them-
selves by a jumping motion. In the case of the tree-frog
of Rio de Janeiro {Hyla nebulosd) the spawn is deposited
in the sheath of withered banana leaves far away from
water ; the tadpoles undergoing the whole of their develop-
ment in the frothy egg-mass, and actually dying if they
are put into water. Here, then, we have an instance in
which the normal conditions of tadpole development are
totally changed.

But this is by no means a solitary example. The tad-
poles of another Brazilian frog (Cystignathus fragilis), and
probably also those of a Ceylon species {Rhacophorus eqties),
are stated to undergo a portion of their development on
land. The eggs have been found in frothy masses on
land, those of the former species usually in grass near
pools, and its tadpoles have been observed under decaying
tree-trunks. Again, a third Brazilian frog {Cystignathus
mystaceus) never goes near water, even to spawn ; the
eggs being deposited in comparatively small numbers in
a hole under stones or decaying wood near the edge of
a pool, but above the water-level. The frothy substance
in which they are hatched probably serves the tadpoles as
food, since it diminishes in quantity as they develop. In
a dry season the tadpoles often remain in the nest until
they are of large size, but more generally they are swept
into the pool when its level rises after rain above the
normal. Masses of a green frothy spawn of about the
size of a rook's egg found adhering to the walls of cisterns,
to faces of rock overhanging water, and to moist tree-
trunks in Ceylon, are believed to be deposited by the frog
known as Polypedates maculatus. In Brazil the tadpoles of

364 MOSTLY MAMMALS

a tree-frog {Hyla abbreviatd) have been observed adhering
to rocks by means of the flat surface of the abdomen,
which acts as a sucker. Nothing is, however, known with
regard to the eggs.

In all the foregoing instances the peculiarities of develop-
ment are confined to the situations in which the spawn
is deposited and the tadpoles are developed. There is,
however, another and far more remarkable class of cases
in which the bodies of either the male or female parent
are specially modified to act as receptacles for the eggs
and tadpoles. The best instance of this class is that of
the well-known Surinam toad {Pipa americand)* in which
the eggs are evenly distributed, as they are laid, over the
back of the female by the male. Around these the skin
of the back speedily thickens until each egg is enclosed in
a separate cell, furnished with a lid. The eggs hatch in
about eighty-two days, and the young are stated to find
safety and nourishment on the parental back until their
transformation is completed. The limbs make their appear-
ance at an unusually early age, even before the external
gills are shed.

Equally remarkable are the "nursery" arrangements of
the pouched frogs {Nototremd) of South America. In these
frogs the back of the female is furnished with a long tube-
like pouch, having its opening at the posterior end. In
this pouch the eggs, which are about fifteen in number,
are deposited and hatched ; and the tadpoles also undergo
the whole of their metamorphosis in the same chamber.
In some cases, at least, the pouch splits longitudinally

* The breeding habits of this and some of the following forms have
been already referred to in a previous article ; but, in order to render
the present one complete in itself, it has not been considered advisable
to eliminate such repetition as may exist.

BREEDING HABITS OF FROGS AND TOADS 365

when the young frogs are ready to make their appearance
in the world.

Perhaps, however, the most pecuHar kind of " nursery "
is the one found in Darwin's frog {Rhinoderma darivmt).
In this extraordinary creature the males are provided in
the breeding season with an enormous pouch on the throat,
in which the large eggs (generally about ten in number)
are hatched and the tadpoles protected until they become
true frogs. The tadpoles never have external gills, and
probably not internal ones either, so that they are much
more advanced at birth than is the case with their brethren
of ordinary species.

Another instance of abbreviated or accelerated develop-
ment is furnished by Goeldi's tree-frog {Hyla goeldti) of
Brazil. Here the score or so of eggs are carried on the
back of the female, in which the skin of the margins is
raised so as to form a kind of saucer. According to one
authority, the newly hatched young are in the form of
perfect frogs, which prefer not to stay in water. Another
method of carrying the eggs is displayed by a Cingalese
frog {Rhacophorus reticulatus), in which they adhere to the
abdomen of the female.

Some frogs, again, such as Spea hammondi of North
America, are in the habit of depositing their spawn in
rain-pools liable to rapid desiccation. And in these cases
the tadpoles acquire limbs at an unusually early age, in
order to be enabled to seek a fresh pool when their own
shows signs of giving out. The tadpoles of an Idaho
frog {Spea bombifrons) show a singular dislike to water,
even while in the swimming stage of existence ; they
breathe air, and live on the bare ground in smooth spaces
which they clear for themselves. Three other American
species (two of which belong to the genus Dendrobates,

366 MOSTLY MAMMALS

and the third to Phyllobates), to which water is essential
while in the tadpole stage, adopt the plan of carrying their
young attached to their backs (either by means of suckers
or of a viscid secretion), and are thus enabled to transport
them to another pool when occasion arises. In the case
of the genus last mentioned, it is the father frog on whom
the burden of carting about his family falls, but in the
other instance it is not known to which sex this duty is
entrusted. A frog {Arihrolepis seychellensis) from the
Seychelles is likewise in the habit of carrying its young
on its back, but in this case the purpose of the arrange-
ment is not to transport them from one pool to another,
but merely to protect them during development, which
takes place on land, the tadpoles breathing by means of
lungs.

The Coqui frog {Hylodes martinicensis) of the West
Indies affords, however, the best instance of the manner
in which these reptiles can develop without resorting to
the water at all. In this species the eggs are laid on
the leaves of plants in damp situations, the female parent
remaining near by on guard until they hatch. This
takes place in about a fortnight after deposition, but instead
of tadpoles, perfect little frogs make their appearance in
the world, all the transformations taking place within the
egg. A Peruvian species of the same genus {Hylodes
lineatus) exhibits a precisely similar mode of development ;
and the same is the case with the curious Solomon Island
frog {Rana opisthodon).

In conclusion, mention must be made of the tadpole of
a South African frog {Dactylethra capensis), not on account
of any peculiarity in its mode of development, nor on
account of its form (although this is strange enough),
but from the curious circumstance that it alone, among

BREEDING HABITS OF FROGS AND TOADS 367

all the numerous representatives of its tribe, feeds on
animal instead of vegetable substances. The full-grown
frog, too, has peculiar ways of its own, never when at rest
assuming the sitting posture characteristic of all other
frogs and toads, and never showing the humped back of
other species. Evidently a thorough radical and reformer
among frogs.

'^SCORPIONS AND THEIR ANTIQUITY

To the circumstance that scorpions have their bodies pro-
tected by a coat of the hard substance technically known
as chitin, the palaeontologist is indebted for a knowledge
of their past history and extreme antiquity ; and it is owing
to the preservation of their remains in the Palaeozoic strata
of both the Old and New Worlds that we are enabled to
explain their present geographical distribution. There are
many other groups of invertebrates that we can have little
doubt are fully as ancient as scorpions, but which lack a
hard external investment, and whose past history is accord-
ingly a blank. One of the most remarkable instances of
this is afforded by the peculiar creatures termed Peripatus,
representatives of which are found in countries as remote
from one another as South Africa, New Zealand, Australia,
South and Central America, and the West Indies. These
animals have much the appearance of caterpillars, being
furnished with a pair of simple antennae, and having a
large number of short, conical, caterpillar-like feet extend-
ing along the whole length of the under-surface of the
body, and each terminating in a pair of hooked claws.
They breathe by tracheal tubes, after the manner of insects,
but instead of these tubes opening by a regular series of
apertures along each side of the body, their apertures are
scattered in an irregular manner over its whole surface.
And it has been considered probable that these animals

368

SCORPIONS AND THEIR ANTIQUITY 369

are closely related to the ancestral stock of insects, spiders
and their allies, and myriapods. This being so, it is evident
that Peripatus must be an extremely ancient type, and there
is a great probability that if their remains were suitable for
preservation we should find evidence of their existence in
some of the oldest rocks of the northern hemisphere. It
has, indeed, been assumed from their present geographical
distribution that these, as well as many other types of
animals, have always been southern forms, and that their
presence in the great southern continents and islands
indicates a former union of all the lands of the southern
hemisphere. That there was a south equatorial belt of
land in Palaeozoic times seems to be pretty evident from
certain peculiarities connected with the Carboniferous floras
of the northern and southern hemispheres, and it is, there-
fore, possible that in the case of Peripatus such an explana-
tion may be the true one. Since, however, palaeontology
teaches us that many ancient types have migrated from
their original northern home to find a refuge in the remote
parts of the southern continents and islands, it seems more
probable that such has also been the case with Peripatus.
And if we can show that this has been the case with the
scorpions, which now attain their maximum development
in the more southern portions of the globe, the argument
will be strengthened in the case of Peripatus.

Belonging to the great group of Arachnida, which includes
the spiders, scorpions are especially distinguished by their
compressed bodies, and by the sharp separation of the
cephalo-thorax from the abdomen, the latter consisting of
seven segments, and being followed by six narrower seg-
ments, collectively forming the post-abdomen, the last of
which is specially modified into the so-called sting. The
cephalo-thorax or fore part of the body is covered by a

24

370 MOSTLY MAMMALS

shield-like carapace, upon the upper surface of which are
carried a variable number of simple eyes, one pair of which
is larger than the others, and is placed dorsally, while the
smaller ones are marginal. The first pair of appendages are
modified into short nipping claws, while the jaw-appendages,
technically known as maxillary palpi, are greatly enlarged
to form the huge pair of pincers carried on each side of the
head ; and the four pairs of walking legs are supported by
the first four segments of the thorax. It is important to
add that by means of lung-sacs opening by four pairs of
apertures on the sides of the abdomen, scorpions breathe
air, and it is accordingly only in rocks of fresh-water
origin, or such as were deposited near the shore, that their
remains are likely to be preserved.

According to the most recent classification, existing
scorpions are divided into four families, of which the first
two are again divided into several sub-families. An im-
portant feature in this classification are the so-called '* pedal
spurs," which are found upon the articular membrane con-
necting the foot, or terminal segment of the legs, with the
segment that precedes it. The Scorpionidae^ or typical
scorpions, have only one such spur, whereas two are present
in the other three families. It will be unnecessary to further
consider the classification of the group in this place; but
it is important to notice that one of the sub-families of
the Scorpionidae is confined to Africa south of the Sahara,
and the Indian and Malayan countries ; while another has
representatives not only in those regions, but also in
northern South America and Australia. At the present
day, indeed, scorpions are found in Europe only in the
more southern countries, where the majority of the species
are of comparatively small size ; and it is in the tropical
and sub-tropical regions of the globe that the group attains

SCORPIONS AND THEIR ANTIQUITY 371

its maximum development, the largest forms being, I
believe, South American and South African.

In existing kinds of scorpions the median dorsal eye-
tubercles are, as a rule, far removed from the front margin
of the cephalo-thorax, and thus placed behind the lateral
eyes. Apparently the only fossil scorpions agreeing with
this group that have been hitherto discovered occur pre-
served in amber of late Tertiary age ; scorpions being quite
unknown in lower Tertiary or Secondary rocks. Needless
to say that this is not owing to their non-existence in those
epochs, but is due either to such rocks being unsuited to the
preservation of their remains, or having been deposited far
out to sea.

When, however, we reach the Palaeozoic coal-measures,
which are mainly of fresh-water origin, and, therefore, just
where we should expect to find such creatures, remains of
scorpions have been met with both in Europe and North
America, some of the species attaining very considerable
dimensions. Both in these Carboniferous scorpions and
also in certain still older ones from the Silurian rocks, the
eye-tubercles are placed either on the actual front margin
of the cephalo-thorax, or only a short distance behind it ;
and they are thus regarded as forming a group apart from
the modern scorpions. In the Carboniferous genus Clythoph-
thalmus^ the median eye-tubercles are immense, and occupy
almost the entire front half of the cephalo-thorax ; the lateral
eyes forming a semicircle behind and to the sides of the
larger ones. The maxillary palpi form pincers proportion-
ately as large as in the modern forms, while the legs have
similar double claws. The genus Eoscorpius, which is
likewise common to the Carboniferous rocks of both halves
of the northern hemispheres, has all the general features
of the preceding, with the exception that the arrangement

372 MOSTLY MAMMALS

of the eyes is different ; while Proscorpius^ of the upper
Silurian rocks of North America, is also of the same general
type. With Palaeophonus of the Silurian of Scotland and
Gotland, we reach, however, a more primitive type, in which
the walking-legs gradually taper to thin extremities, termi-
nating in simple claws or points, although the palpi still
form large pincers.

Such is the palaeontological history of scorpions ; and
very remarkable history it is, seeing that most of the
Palaeozoic types are almost as highly specialised as their
existing descendants, and thus show that we should have
to go much farther back before we reached the ancestral
type. With the exception of certain cockroach-like insects,
which occur in the middle Silurian, the scorpions are indeed
the oldest land animals, and are therefore entitled, in spite
of their unpleasant propensities, to our utmost respect.

We have said that in Palaeozoic times there existed a
south equatorial land-girdle, distinguished from the land
of the northern hemisphere (from which it was probably
isolated) by the peculiar character of its flora ; and as the
Palaeozoic scorpions inhabited the northern land, it is
scarcely likely that they were also found in the southern
zone. During the Secondary epoch the latter zone appears
to have been split up, and the continental areas consequently
assumed some approach to their present configuration.
The descendants of the ancient Palaeozoic scorpions began
soon after, in all probability, to migrate southwards, along
the different lines of communication ; and we thus can
readily understand why some of the existing sub-families
are represented in such widely separated areas as India,
Africa, South America, and Australia, without resorting
to any comparatively recent connection between these
countries.

SCORPIONS AND THEIR ANTIQUITY 373

If such an explanation holds good in the case of the
scorpions, there is no reason why it should not be equally
valid in the instance of Peripatus. It may be objected
that whereas in the case of the scorpions we have only
sub-families which occur over such widely sundered areas,
in Peripatus we have one and the same genus.* The
objection would, however, be equally valid if we assumed
that genus to have attained its present geographical dis-
tribution by the aid of a southern belt of land, seeing
that there is no evidence that such belt has existed since
the end of the Palaeozoic or the commencement of the
Secondary epoch.f

Although not coming strictly within the scope of its title,
this article may be concluded by a brief reference to some
of the habits of scorpions. All scorpions are nocturnal
and somewhat sluggish creatures ; but while some species
in which the tail is light carry it stretched nearly straight
out behind, those in which it is heavier habitually curve
it over the back ; and those forms in which the appendage
is carried in the latter manner are further distinguished by
raising their bodies much higher on the legs than is the
case with the others. Some kinds, again, when walking,
carry their large pincers stuck out in front of the head to
act as feelers. All scorpions are carnivorous, while many
of them, in spite of their sluggish appearance, are able to
capture and kill such alert creatures as cockroaches. Mr.
Pocock, who has kept scorpions in captivity, writes that
" as soon as a cockroach is seized, the use of the scorpion's
tail is seen, for this organ is brought rapidly over the
latter's back, and the point of the sting thrust into the

* By some writers Peripatus is split into distinct genera.
t There are objections to the theory of an Antarctic continent uniting
South America, Africa, and Australia, having existed in Tertiary times.

374 MOSTLY MAMMALS

insect. The poison instilled into the wound thus made,
although not causing immediate death, has a paralysing
effect upon the muscles, and quickly deprives the insect of
struggling powers, and consequently of all chance of escape.
If the insect is a small one — one in fact that can be easily
held in the pincers and eaten without trouble while alive —
a scorpion does not always waste poison upon it. Thus I
have seen a Parabuthus (one of the genera of scorpions)
seize a bluebottle fly, transfer it straight to its mandibles,
and pick it to pieces with them while still kicking. . . .
An insect is literally picked to pieces by the small chelate
mandibles, these two jaws being thrust out and retracted
alternately, first one and then the other being used ; the
soft juices and tissues thus exposed being drawn into the
minute mouth by the sucking action of the stomach."

Old fables die hard, and none is more persistent than
the legend that the scorpion, when surrounded by a ring
of fire, puts an end to its existence by turning its tail
over its back and stinging itself to death. No matter that
naturalists have proved that their poison is innocuous to
their own kind, and that scorpions are killed by a very
moderate elevation of temperature, the old, old story is still
as firmly believed as ever by the general public.

In an article published in the ninth edition of the
" Encyclopaedia Britannica," the Rev. O. P. Cambridge
refused to believe that there was any substratum of fact in the
popular legend, but Mr. Pocock, writing in Nature for 1893,
is more merciful. He thinks, indeed, that a scorpion may
occasionally sting itself, either by a random blow for an
unseen enemy, or when it has been irritated by the contact
of any strong stimulant, such as acid or mustard, or even
that in the madness of pain it may be driven to turn
its weapon on itself; but that in any case there is an

SCORPIONS AND THEIR ANTIQUITY 375

intention of causing its own death cannot for a moment be
admitted.

Although, probably, many of my readers are acquainted
with it, for the benefit of those who are not I must conclude
with a well-known Indian story. Where scorpions and
centipedes abound, it is the general custom of servants
in India to turn their masters' boots upside down before
helping to put them on. In the instance in question, where
this precaution had been omitted, a cavalry officer had just
put his foot into a regulation boot, when he felt something
sharp touch his heel. With the greatest promptitude he
lifted his leg and stamped violently on the ground, in the
hope of destroying the supposed scorpion before it had time
to use its sting. He found that a spur, with the rowels
uppermost, had been inadvertently dropped into the boot !

INDEX

Aard-vark, the, 141

Aard-wolf, the, 31, 139, 143

Acrobates, 243

Addax, the, 132

Aeluroptis, 168

Ai. the. See Sloth, Three-toed

Alactaga, 132

Alectoroenas nitidissima, 6

Amblyopsis spelaea. See Fish, Blind

Anna calva, 350

Anoa, the, 112, 304-7

Anomahirus, 142, 235, 238, 239, 240

Anophthalmus, 329

Ant-eater, the banded, 32, 34

,, spiny, 109, 342
Ant-eaters, the, 70, 75, 97, 98, 99,

102-6, 109
Aphyonus, 328
Arachntda, 369
Arctic animals, 5S-68
Arctogale. See Civet
Alius, 346
Armadillo, the, 70, 75, 88, 89, 91,

93. 95. 96, 308, 3?o
Arthj-olepis seychellmsis, 366
Arui, the, 50, 51
Aspredo, 346

Ass, the domesticated, 40, 49, 53
Asses, wild, 18, 53, 54, 259
Asteracattihus, 163
Asirapotherhtm, 85
Auk, the great, 3
Aurochs, 52, 293-302
Aye-aye, 179-87

Babirusa, the, 112
Baboon, the, 113, 139, 141, 143
Badger, the, 29, 30, 32, 37
Bandicoot, the, 32, 109
Banting, the, 19, 53

Barasingha, the, 25, 26
Bathyefgus, 143
Bats, 237, 322, 342
Bear, the grizzly, 69

,, Polar, 208, 214
Beaver, the, 244-51
Beisa, the, 131, 132
Bichir, the, 157
Bison, the, 46, 53, 69, 295, 296, 297,

298
Black buck, 19
Bongo, the, 13, 15, 31, 143
B'docerais enryceros. See Bongo
Bos banting. See Banting

,, frontalis. See Gayal

,, primigenius. See Aurochs

,, sylvestris^ 297

,, taunts, 302
Bower-birds, the, 109
Bow-fin, the, 350
Bradypus. See Sloth Three-toed
Brook-lamprey, 350
Buffalo, the African, 20, 141
„ Asiatic, 20, 53, 226
Bullheads, the, 349
Bushbuck, the, I1-16, 18, 140, 306
Bush-pigs, 139

Caiman, the, 72
Camel, the, 50
Camptolaemus lahradorius, 6
Canis azarae, 202

,, dingo. See Dingo

,, fat/iiliaris, 200

,, ,, tenggerana, 206

,, lagopus, 211

,, latrans, 200, 202

,, lupus, 200, 202
Capivara, the, 70
Capuchin, the, 148

376

INDEX

377

Carp, the, 114

CarpinchOj the. See Capivara

Cat, the bay, 34, 194

,, desert, 36, 193, 194, 195

,, domesticated, 49, 188-96

,, Egyptian, 34, 189, 190, 192, 194,
19s, 196

„ jungle, 190, 191, 194, 195

,, leopard, 193

,, marbled, 36

,, Mediterranean, 190, 191, 192,

195

,, Pallas's, 194, 196

,, rusty-spotted, 193

,, steppe, 191, 194, 195
Cat-fish, the, 114, 328, 346
Cats, the, 29, 31, 1S8-96
Cave animals, 322-30
Cavy, the Patagonian, 42
Cephalophus doriae. See Zebra-ante-
lope
Ceratophrys, ']2
Cercocebus. See Mangabey
Cercopithecus. See Guenon
Cervus hortuloruiii. See Deer Peking
„ ska. See Deer Japanese
„ ,, manchuricus. See Deer
Manchurian
Cestracion, 162, 163
Cetaceans, 308-13
Chaja, the, 72
Chiromys, 179, 180, l8i
Chillingham cattle, the, 300, 301, 302
Chimpanzee, the, 142, 154
Chipmunks, the, 30
Chiromantis guhiiensis, 362
Chiromeles torqiiata, 342
Chironectes, 31
Chiru, the, 178
Chital, the, 12, 14, 22, 23, 24, 26,

28, 31,45
Cholaepus. See Sloth Two-toed
Chologaster, 327

Chrysochloris. See Golden Mole
Civets, the, 27, 29, 30, 31, 36, in,

"5
Clam, the, 227
Clythophthahnits, 371
Cochliodits, 163
Cockatoos, the, 109
Coelodtts, 164
Coelogenys, 31
Colobus. See Guereza
Coney. See Hyrax
Coitus, 349
Coturnix novae-zealandiae, 6

Courser, the, 130

Cowries, 351-60

Cowry, the Argus, 355, 356, 357, 358

banded, 356

carnelian, 356

chestnut bordered, 358

cullender, 357

European, 359

fallow-deer, 357

lynx, 355. 357

map, 357

mole, 356

money, 352, 358

nutmeg, 357

orange, 35'

,, tipped, 356

panther, 357

" poached-egg," 359

prince, 351

pustuled, 359

r'ng. 351. 358
Scott's, 352, 353, 355
serpent's head, 358
spotted, 351
Surinam-toad, 351, 352, 353,

355. 358
tiger, 351, 352, 357
wasp, 356

" weaver's shuttle," 359
white ring, 358
Coyote, the, 200
Coypu, the, 70
Crab, the cocoanut, 227
Cray-fish, 328, 329, 347
Crocodiles, the, 156
Crossarchus, 31

Cuscus, the, 109, III, 116, 123
Cycloptenis, 349
Cyon, 199, 206
Cypraea. See Cowries

,, anmilus. See Cowry White

Ring
,, ai-abica. .S^^ Cowry Nutmeg
,, argits. See Cowry Argus
,, carneola. See Cowry Car-
nelian
,, guttata. .S^^ Cowry Spotted
,, Isabella, ^'^e Cowry Orange-
tipped
,, lynx. See Cowry Lynx
,, mappa. See Cowry Map
,, pantherina. See Cowry

Panther
,, priticeps. See Cowry Prince
,, talpa. See Cowry Mole
,, tigris. See Cowry Tiger

378

INDEX

Cyprinidae. See Carp
Cystignathiis fragilis, 363
,, mystaceus, 363

Dactylelhra capensis, 366
Daedicu7'us. See Glyptodon, CIuIj-

tailed.
Dassies, the, 140
Dasyures, the, 31, 35
Daubentonia, 179, 180
Deer, Chinese water, 45

,, European roe, 24, 45

,, fallow, 12, 20, 21, 23, 25, 26,
28, 31, 273, 284

,, Formosan, 22

„ hog, 26, 45

,, Indian spotted. See Chital

,, Japanese, 13, 21, 44

,, Manchurian, 44

,, Pampas, 74

,, Peking, 21, 25, 26, 44, 45,
^ 272, 273

,, Pere David's mi-lou, 274, 275,
276, 277, 278

,, Philippine spotted, 23

„ red, 13, 25, 26, 44, 273

,, rusa, 113

,, sambar, 12, 23, 24, 26

,, Siberian roe, 46

,, sika, 23

,, swamp. See Barasingha

,, white-tailed, 13, 24, 25, 26
Delphinopsis freyeri, 310
Dendrobates, 345, 365
Dendrocolaptidae. See \Vood-hewe<rs
Desert-chat, the, 130
Desert-finches, the, 130
Desert-lark, the, 130
Dingo, the, 197, 198, 204, 205
Dinosaurs, 225
Distichurus, 243
Dog, the bush, 199

,, domesticated, 49, 197-206

,, Eskimo, 197, 200

„ hunting, 139, 143, 199

,, pariah, 201
Dolichotis patagonica. See Cavy
Patagonian
,, salinicola, 42

Dolphins, the, 311, 312, 313
Domesticated animals, 39-57, 188-206
Dormouse, the, 142
Do7xatherium, 142
Doryichthys, 348
Drepanis pacijica , 6
Dromaeus ate?; 4

Duck, the pied, 6
Dugong, the, 87, 228

Earthworms, the, 122
Echidna, the, 109, 342
Eland, the, 11, 15, 31, 41,46,227,

252
Elaphurus davidiamis. See Deer

Pere David's
Elephant, the African, 41, 42, 47,
140, 144

„ Indian, 41, 49, 226
Elephant-seal. See Sea-elephant
Elephants, 20, 69, 71, 87, 226
Elk, the, 69, 297, 298
Emeu, the black, 4
Enhydriodon, 219
Eoscorpius, 371
Ecpiits caballiis, 54

.. q^Mgga. See Quagga
Ermine, the, 66, 207, 214
Erythrospha. See Desert-finch
Etipetaiirus cinereus, 242

Fallow deer. See under Deer
Felis bengalensis, 193

,, cahts. See Cats

,, caudata. See Steppe-cat

, , ckatis. See Jungle-cat

,, lybica, 188, 190, 195

,, maniil, 194

,, mediterra7iea. See Cat, Medi-
terranean

,, ornata. See Cat, Desert

,, rubiginosa, 193

,, tetnmincki, 194
Fennecs, the, 199
Fish, the blind, 325, 326
Fishes, enamel-scaled, 157, 158

„ soft-scaled, 158
Fox, the, 69, 199, 210, 284

,, arctic, 67, 209-15

,, blue, 207-10, 212, 213, 215,
216

,, grey, 209

,, long-eared Cape, 199

,, white, 207, 208, 209, 213, 216
Fox-bat, the, 142
Fregilnpus varuis, 6
Frogs, 344-6, 361-7

,, marsupial, 344, 364

, , pouched. Vide supra

,, tree, 344, 345
Frog, the Coqui, 366

,, Darwin's, 345, 346, 365

,, Goeldi's tree, 365

INDEX

379

Frog, horned, 72
,, Japanese, 362
,, Paraguay tree, 362

Galagos, the, 142, 144, 151, 314

Galidictis. See Mongoose

Galla ox, the, 53

Gastrosteus. See Sticklebacks

Gaur, the, 19, 304

Gayal, the, 53

Gazelles, the, 1 30, 237, 273, 274

Gelada baboon, the, 143

Gemsbok, the, 131, 140

Genet, the, 30

Genetta tigritia, 30

Gerbils, the, 130

Giraffe, the Somali, 15, 16

,, South African, 8
Giraffes, 27, 28, 30, 35, 69, 129, 140,

141, 227, 263, 264
Glossothere, the, 102
Glyptodon, the club-tailed, 92, 93, 94

,, pigmy, 91, 96

,, ring-tailed, 91, 92

,, smooth-tailed, 95

,, tuberculated, 94, 95
Glyptodons, the, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79,

80 (note), 88, 89, 90, 91, 9?, 96,

225
Gnu, the white-tailed, 256
Gnus, the, 28, 31, 35, 140, 253
Goat, the, 40, 49, 51, 71, 282
Golden mole, the, 143
Gorilla, the, 142, 227
Gronias nigrilabris, 328
Guanaco, the, 70, 71, 74, 76, 78
Guenon, the, 139
Guereza, the, 139, 167, 169, 170
,, Abyssinian, 168
,, East African, 167, 168
Guinea-pig, the, 42

Hanuman monkey, the. See Langur
Hare, the mountain, 61, 62, 63, 64,
65, 66, 207
,, variable, 62, 64, 65
Harnessed antelope, the, 31, 32, 34,

140
Hartebeest, the, 252
Hemigale, 31
Hipparion, the, 88
Hippopotamus, the, 20, 69, 71, 138,
140, 141, 142, 226, 227, 261,
262, 263, 264, 265, 267, 268, 269
Hippopotamus, the Burmese, 266, 270
„ Cyprian, 270

Hippopotamus, Indian, 267

„ Lemerle's, 269, 270

„ Narbada, 267

,, pigmy, 261, 262, 265,

267
,, Siwahk, 266, 267

Hippopotamus amphibius, 261
,, kippofiensis, 269

„ iravaticus. See Hip-

popotamus Burmese
,, lenierlei. See Hippo-

potamus Lemerle's
,, liberietisis. See Hippo-

potamus Pigmy
,, minutHS, 270

„ namadicus, 267

„ palanndicus, 267

„ sivalensis. See Hippo-

potamus Siwalik
Hotnalodoniotheruim, 84, 87
Hoplophonis. 5^^ Glyptodon, Smooth-
tailed
Horse, the domesticated, 40, 49
Horses, wild, 54, 55, 56, 57, 71
Humming-birds, 71
Humped cattle, 52, 53
Hunting-dog, the, 139, 143. 199
Hunting-leopard, the, 27, 30, 49
Hyaena, the, 29

,, spotted, 30, 140
,,_ striped, 31, 139
Hybrid dogs, 200

„ zebras, 42, 43
Hydrochoeriis. See C'apivara
Hyla, 344

,, abbreviata, 364
,, goeldii. ^^^ Frog, Goeldi's Tree
,, nebulosa, 363
Hylodes lineatiis, 366

,, 7nartinicensis. See Frog
Coqui.
Hypotoetiidia pacijica, 5
Hyrax, the, 81, 82

Ibex, the, 139
Ichthyosaurs, 225
Ictonyx, 30, 170
Idiuriis, 142, 240
Iguanas, the, 72

Jackal, the, 199, 200, 202

,, black-backed, 202
Jaguar, the, 27, 31

,, black, 211
Jerboas, the, 130, 132
Jungle-cat, the, 190

380

INDEX

Kangaroo, the, 46, 47, 341

„ tree, 109

Kob, Mrs. Gray's, 19
,, white-eared, 19
Kudu, the, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 31,

253. 306

Lampetra wihieri. See Brook-lamprey
Land slugs, 122

Langurs, the, 167, 172, 173, 174, 175
Lemming, the, 58, 59, 60, 207, 214
Lemuroids, the, 151, 184
Lemurs, the, 142, 151, 152, 342

flying, 237
Leopard, the, 27, 31, 141

,, black, 211

,, clouded, 31, 36

,, snow, 31
Lepidotus, 163

Lepus timidus. See Hare, Mountain
Linsang, the, 30, 153 (note).
Lion, the, 11, 31, 35, 131, 138, 141,

211, 355
Liptira, 329
Lizards, 130, 152, 156
Llama, the, 70
Loris, the, 137, 151
Lucifuga dentata, 327, 328
I^umpsuckers, the, 349
Lycaon. See Hunling-dog
Lynx, the, 30

Macaque, the moor, 113

Macrattchenia, 76, 79, 86, 88, 226

Macrorhiniis, 230, 231

Macroscelides. See Shrew, Jumping

Mammoth, 225, 226, 296

Mamo, the, 6

Manatis, the, 228

Mangabey, the, 142

Marbled cat, the, 31

Markhor, 52

Marmoset, the, 70, 148

Marmot, 70

Marsupials, no, 112, 121, 122

Marten, the, 191, 218

Mastodon, the, 75, 76, 79, 225

Meerkat, the, 143

Megalotherium, the, 75, 76, 77, 97,

100, loi, 103, 104, 105, 107
Mi-lou. See Deer, Pere David's
Moa, the, 227

Mongoose, the 30, 31, 36, 139
Monkeys, New-world, 70, 148

„ Old-world, no, n3, 115,
144, 148, 167

Mosasaurs, 225

Muflon, the, 51

Mule-deer, the, 133

Mules, 34, 40

Mulita, the, 95

Muntjac, the, 25, 26, 45

Musk-ox, the, 287-92

Mustela, 191

Myliobatidae, 159, 160

Mylodon, the, 75, 76, 77, 79, 97,

loi, 102, 103, 105
Myocastor. See Coypu
Myrmecobius, 32

Nectiirus, 326

Neophocaeiia phocaenoides. See Por-
poise, Japanese
Nerophis, 348
Nesodofi, 79, 82
Nestor norfokensis, 6

,, productus, 6
Nilgai, the, 14, 45
Notortiis albus, 5

Nototreina. See Frogs, Marsupial
Nyala, 18

Ocelot, the, 31
Oestrelata haesitata, 7
Okapi, the, 16, 17, 69, 140, 143
Olm, the, 325, 326
Ophidiidae, 327
Opossum, the, 70, in, 342
,, single-striped, 34
,, three-striped, 30, 34
,, water, 31, 34
Orang, the, 108, 114, 143, 148, 303
Orycteropiis. See Aard-vark
Oryx, the, 131

,, beatrix, 132

,, leucoryx, 131
Ostrich, the, 69, 141, 227
Otocyon, 199
Otter, the, 142, 217, 219

,, sea, 218-24
Oven-bird, the, 71
Ovibos moschalus. See Musk-ox
07)13, 50
Ovida, 359
Owls, 322
Oxen, domesticated, 39, 49

,, wild, 52, 71, 293-302

Paca, the, 31
Pachyruciis, 84
Palaeornis exsiil, 6
Palaeotherium, 88

INDEX

381

Palm-civet, the, 116

Panda, the great, 168, 169

Pangolins, the, 104

Patiochthus. See Glyptodon Tuber-

culated
Papio. See Baboon
Paradise, the birds of, 109
" Parallelism," 237
Peludo, the, 93
Pera meles gu n ni, 32
Peripaius, 368, 369, 373
Petaurista, 241, 243
Petrel, the burrowing, 7
Phalcurocorax perspkillaius, 5
Phalanger, the feather-tailed, 243

„ pigmy flying, 243

Phalangers, the, 109, iii, 237, 242
Phoca leonina, 230
Phocaena spinipitinis, 309
Phyllobates, 345, 366
Fhyllomedtisa hypochondrialis, 362

,, iheringi, 362

Pichiciago, the, 88
^^ Pigeon hollandais" 6
Pigs, 28, 34, 35, 39, 81, no, III,

263. 264, 355
Pike, the bony, 157
Pipa americana. See Toad, Surinam
Pipe-fish, 347, 348
Plesiosaurs, 225
Poecilogale, 30

„ albinucha, 170

Poiana, 30

Polecat, the Cape, 30, 37, 170
Polypedates niaculaius, 363
Porcupine, the, 115

,, brush-tailed, 143

Porpoise, the, 308-13

„ Croatian, 310

„ Japanese, 308, 309, 331
Potamogale, 142
Pottos, the, 142, 151
Proboscis monkey, the, 173
Procavia, 140
Prongbuck, the, 14
pj-opalaeohoplophortis. See Glyp-
todon Pigmy
Protective coloration. See pp. 8-38,

167-170, and 259, 316, 319,

354
Proteles. See Aard-wolf
Protetis, 326
Protoptertis, 349
Przewalski's horse, the, 54
Ptarmigan, the, 136
Pteroviys, 241

Ptyckodus, 161

Puma, the, il, 30, 35, 355

Quagga, the, 4, 18, 140, 143, 253-60
Quail, the New Zealand, 6

Paia clavata, 161
Paiidae, 161
Raita opislhodon, 366
Ray, the beaked, 160
„ „ eagle, 159

,, eagle, 159, 160, 162
Rays, the, 157-61

" Recognition marks," 10, 13, 23, 24
Red grouse, the, 136
Reindeer, the, 69, 268
Rhacophorus eqiies, 363

,, reticiilatus, 365

,, Sihlegeli. See Frog

Japanese
Rhea, the, 71, 74
Rhiiiobatidae, 1 60
Phinobatis, 160

Rhinoceros, the, 20, 69, 71, 81, 94,
140, 144, 226, 263
,, woolly, 226, 296

Rhinoderma darwini. See Frog,

Darwin's
Rhinoptera, 159
Rhodeus amarus, 349
River-hog. See Capivara
Rocky Mountain sheep, the, 69
Roebuck, the, 60, 61
Rorqual, the blue. See under Whale
Rusadeer, the, 113

Sable antelope, the, 19, 20

Sabre-horned oryx, the, 131

Saiga, the, 132, 178

Sambar, the. See under Deer

Sandgrouse, the, 130, 131

Sand-mole, the, 143

Sandpiper, the Tahiti white-winged, 5

Saurodelphis , 313

Scelidothere, the, 79, 102, 103, 106

Sciuropterus volans, 241

„ voluceUa, 24 1

Sciurtts, 240

,, viadagascariensts, 179
Scorpions, 368-75
Screamer, the horned, 72
Sea-bear, the, 228, 232, 233
Sea-cow, the Northern, 228
Sea-elephant, the, 228-34
Sea-horses, the, 348
Sea-lion, the, 228, 230, 232, 233

382

INDEX

Seals, the eared, 228, 230, 233
,, fur, 220

,, true or earless, 228, 232
Seriema, the, 72, 79
Serval, 30
Shark, the basking, 228

„ great white, 228

„ Port Jackson, 157, 162, 163
Sheep, the Barbary, 50, 51

,, domesticated, 39, 40, 41

,, fat-tailed, 283

„ four-horned, 282, 283, 284, 285

„ Rocky Mountain, 69

„ unicorn, 285, 286

„ wild, 50, 71, 280, 281
Shorthorn, the, 52
Shrew, the jumping, 139
Sika, the. See tinder Deer
Siluridae. See Cat-fish
Sine Ha, 329

Sing-sing waterbuck, the, 46
Skates, the, 157, 158
Skink, the, 130
Skunks, the, 30, 36, 169, 170
Sloth, the, 70, 75, 98, 100, 106

,, giant ground. See Megalothe-
rium

„ ground, 75, 78, 79, 80 (note),
loi, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106,
107, 225, 226, 315, 318, 320

„ pigmy ground, 97, 103, 104,
105, 106

,, three-toed, 98, 314-21

„^ two-toed, 98, 99, 314-21
Slow-lemurs, the, 314
Slugs, 122, 123
Snakes, 130
Snow-monkey, the. See Snub-nosed

Monkey Slaty
Snub-nosed monkey, the orange, 174,

175

„ „ slaty, 176

Solenostema, 347
Spea bombifrons, 365
,, hammondi, 365
Speothos, 199
Spider-monkeys, 150
Springbok, the, 129
Squalodon, 3 1 2, 313
Squirrel, the African flying. Vide
infra
,, African scaly-tailed, 235,
236, 237, 238, 239, 240,

243
„ palm, 30
„ pigmy flying, 241

Squirrel, true flying, 236-43

,, woolly flying, 242
Starling, the crested pied, 6
Sticklebacks, the, 349
Stoat, the. See Ermine
Strombidae, 353, 355
Suricata. See Meerkat
Surinam toad, 342, 364
Syngnathus, 348

Tamarau, the, 112, 305, 306

Tamias, the, 30

Tapir, the, 1 1, 20, 28, 31, 34, 71, 87

Tarpan, the, 54, 56

Tarsier, the, 113, 114, 151, 152

" Tchru-tchra." See Snub-nosed

Monkey Slaty
Testudo abiiigdoni, 4

,, atlas, 331, 338

,. daudini, 338

„ elephantina, 339

„ emys. See Tortoise, Siwalik

„ gigantea, 338

,, grandidieri. See Tortoise,
Malgasy

„ indica, 4, 336
inepta, 4, 332

,, perpiniana, 332

„ radiaia, 334

,, robusta, 332

,, sumeirei. See Tortoise,

Seychelles

„ triserrata, 4

„ vosmaeri, 4, 336
Theropithecus. See Gelada Baboon
Thornback, the, 161
Thylacine, the, 31, 34
Tiger, the, 8, 31, 35- 175
Tiger-cat, the, 30
Tinamous, the, 71
Toad, the Surinam, 342, 343, 344,

347. 364
Toad cowry, the Surinam. See under

Cowry
Toads, 342, 361

Tortoise, the, 90, 121, 122, 331-40
„ atlas, 227
„ giant land, 4, 332
„ Malagasy, 336
„ North Aldabra, 339
„ Rodriguez, 336
„ Seychelles, 337

SiwaHk, 331, 332, 334, 339
South Aldabra, 334, 337,
338, 339
Toxodon, the, 76, 79,81, 82, 83, 84, 226

INDEX

3^3

Tragelaphus scripttis, 32
Tree-mouse, the, 142
Tsetse-fly, the, 40
Turtle, the, 90
Tyfhlicthys, 327
Typhlomis, 328
Typotheriiwi, the, 83, 84

Uintatheres, the, 85

Unau, the. See Sloth, Two-toed

Vicunas, the, 70
Vipers, 341
Viscacha, the, 70, 74
Viverra niegaspila, 30
Vulpes, 199

Wallaby, the, 46, 47

Walrus, the, 228

Wapiti, the, 13, 44, 69

"Warning colours," 10, 19, 37, 169,

170
Wart-hogs, the, 139
Water-chevrotain, the, 142, 143
Water-hen, the great white, 5
Water-vole, the black, 211
Weasel, the, 218

Weasel, South African, 30, 37, 170
Whale, the, 89

„ blue rorqual, 228

„ Greenland white, 228

„ killer, 311

,, sperm, 228

,, toothed, 311, 313
Whalebone, 311
Wildebeest, the, 252
Wolf, the, 69, 199, 200, 201, 202

,, prairie. See Coyote
Wood-hewers, the, 71
Worms, 123

Zebra, Burchell's, 16, 18, 31, 253, 258,
259
„ Grant's, 18, 258
„ Grevy's, 15, 16, 31, 44
„ mountain, 31

Zebra-antelope, the, 28, 31, 35, 143

Zebra-hybrids, 42, 43

Zebras, 9, 28, 31, 35, 43, 44, 47, 140,
141, 143, 144, 168, 237, 259

" Zebroids," 43

Zenkerella, 142, 239, 240, 243

Zeuglodon, 310, 311, 312

Printed by Hazell, Watson &= Vincy, Ld., London and Aylesbury, England.

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